Zombie invasion on Twitter

Greetings, oh fellow tech zombies. Long time no talk! Between working on a Learning Technologies certificate, jumping head-long into Google Apps in the classroom, and training for a half marathon, it's been a very busy spring. State testing is just around the corner as well... I am hypothesizing about how I can make the most of my digital resources to make cumulative review more interesting. 

I found a great scholastic article entitled "Using Games & Team Activities for Test Review" that had some specific strategies that would engage students better than a giant multiple-choice packet. It reminded me that my Holt/McDougal curriculum has a jeopardy style game show disc that we could use, for starters. I am still planning on running review packets by strand (Number/Operation, Algebra, Geometry, Data/Probability), but it will be a choice. In lieu of this, students can complete interactive games on my Schoology site for 30-60 minutes per night, depending on how many extra credit points they want. I'll share my strand-by-strand review sites in a few weeks once they're done.

Meanwhile in Zombie Land, my grad classes on technology have suggested that I need to step outside my comfort zone of Facebook and Blogger, to play around with some of the more popular social networking and tech resources. Kids today are all over the place on the internet. I wanted to look around and see how I could use their vast skills to make class more interactive, and help them use their knowledge for educational purposes (and not just fun). Here is what I've tried so far:

1. Google+ 

The biggest benefit to Google is that you can register with any email. You don't have to use a Google email to create a Google account. If your students know your school email, they can "share" documents with you.  The hard part is deciding which email account you actually want to use. I think I have 4 active Google accounts, counting my school account, my personal Yahoo account, my U of MN account, and a gMail account that came with my phone.

Need help getting started? I found a great online "binder" with many helpful links to using Google in the classroom: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/135530

2. Twitter

I am new to Twitter, so there's not much on my profile yet. But I keep hearing over and over what a great source it is for teachers, so I'm going to find out! I have already discovered that there is real power in "group thought". I made my first hash tag ever for "ihatewinter" to share that I'd seen a silly Minnesotan snow-blowing his sidewalk in a t-shirt and shorts, as the temperature had changed 50+ degrees in a day.  Just today, I made the first ever hash tag #zombiemathteacher which I will be using shortly to tweet all my previous blog posts. I am thinking it might be a helpful place to post online learning opportunities, as your tweets can feed directly into Facebook and Schoology, and various other teacher sites. So exciting!

An excellent resource for using Twitter in your classroom is "100 Ways to Use Twitter in Education, By Degree of Difficulty". I've barely scratched the surface of this site and have already found many helpful tips and tricks. 

3. Instagram 

My students are on Instagram all the time. Sharing on Facebook/Twitter, uploading, hash-tagging topics or tagging their daily lives. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could utilize this tool in the classroom? The photo editing and grouping tools (like Instapic Frame) are second to none. While students can visit Twitter and shared Google documents without having their own account, Instagram does require members to be 13 or over. This is probably most appropriate for high school. 

Classroom ideas for Instagram can be found at Edudemic

4. Facebook (obviously)

I have separate accounts for personal/friends/family, and one for current/former students/parents. There are very few pieces of information and/or people that apply to both spheres of my life. I have to apologize to those who do fall into both categories, who occasionally get repeat news that is worthy of sharing with both groups. Gone are the days when summer rolls around, that students and teachers stop talking to each other. I have already received several graduation party invites, via Facebook, for students whom I've kept in touch with for 5+ years. It gives a whole new meaning to teaching/mentoring. 

You have to be very careful what you share though; you never know what might get shared or posted. 

Here are some pretty obvious don'ts: "Eight Ways Teachers Get into Trouble"

Here are some uplifting do's: "100 Ways to use Facebook in the Classroom" 

And something to cheer you up for the day! We definitely need to work with students to develop appropriate online etiquette in various venues and social networking apps. Here's an interesting way to tackle it...

That's all for now! I'll continue to share as I find the best of the best in each suggested site, and let everyone know how it goes in the classroom.

iPad for Instruction: Zombie Cat Approved

Bruce waves his stylus at Zombie's new iPad and meows "I approve!"

My humblest apologies for the extended time between posts as of late. I have been playing virtually non-stop on the iPad provided by my school district and have had time for little else. Having owned a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet since my August blog post, I was unsure that an additional device in the classroom room would make much of a difference in my instruction. BOY was I wrong!!!! 

If/when you are able to afford or acquire an iPad for your classroom, you absolutely MUST get one. End of story. The tablet still has its uses, but seriously... the instructional apps in the Android/GooglePlay store for my Samsung Galaxy are far inferior to those available in the iTunes App store. Most notably, Doceri Desktop and Reflector App (currently only available for iPad) have made Smart products virtually obsolete in my classroom.

Here's a price comparison to make my point:

Typical "modern classrooms" outfitted with Smart products: ($6000-7000 per classroom)

• Wireless capable laptop ~$500
• Smart Notebook software suite ~$500-600 (very hard to find pricing!!!)
• Smart Board & Projector ~$5000-6000 (plus ~ $500 for installation)
• Teacher must be touching the Smart board or markers to interact
• Time wasted if/when students walk back and forth to interact with board
• Time wasted importing teaching materials, pdf, PPT into Smart program
• Needs specialized instruction and installation with all components
• Warranties must also be purchased for tech servicing/upgrades
• Good WiFi infrastructure/speed is helpful, but not critical

New "classrooms of the future" with iPads/projectors: ($1500-2200 per classroom)

• Wireless capable laptop ~$500
• iPad mini or 10.1 ~ $400-500
• Optional iPad Stylus ~ 10 for $3.24
• Computer Projector ~$500
• Optional Projector Cart ~ $150
• Optional roll-down Projector Screen ~80
• Doceri Desktop App ~ $30  (remote controls computer/projector from iPad)
• Reflector App ~ $13 (reflects iPad or iPhone onto computer/projector)
• Teacher can control computer from/with iPad from anywhere in room
• Teacher can hand the iPad to a student to interact with content from desk
• Teacher can interact and/or write on Doceri ink layer from any program 
• Teacher can record instruction with Doceri/other program and post online
• Any Joe Shmoe with wifi and average tech skills could set this up pretty easily
• Warranties only needed on laptops and iPads for drop/spill protection
• Bundle pricing discounts are available for school-wide use of apps
• District/school MUST have great WiFi infrastructure & tech support
• Access to online and/or computer versions of content is extremely helpful

Granted, I have a Smart board and LOVE it... having the flexibility to interact with either my Smart board, or my laptop, or my iPad from anywhere in the room. But if you don't have a Smart board yet, there is going to be less and less need for one in the future, and you simply cannot argue with the pricing difference. I mean really... a typical school has around 60 classroom teachers.... that's a difference of roughly $240,000!!!!!

Are you lucky enough to fall into the "classroom of the future" category? Here is what is working for many of the teachers in my district. 

1. Set up an interactive classroom. Schoology.com is free with no ads and can be accessed from anywhere. There are Schoology apps for all types of devices. Cloud Storage can be used to link your Google Drive. You can also share documents, links, pictures, class content and videos within classes and in "groups" with colleagues.

2. Try out lots of different Remote Desktop control apps. You never know which one you are going to like the best for your particular grade level and subject. For instance, many of my colleagues prefer Splashtop 2 over Doceri Desktop. Both apps remote-control your computer from your iPad. Splashtop 2 is nice because it is available in both Apple and Android formats, and many users find the interface more friendly. Doceri Desktop has a big advantage in its ink layer that will write over ANYTHING. But you have to close the ink layer to go back to interacting with your content. Both apps have recording capabilities.

Doceri Desktop is my favorite desktop app. Watch the video to see how I use it. 

1. Install the trial version of computer software at http://doceri.com/download.php 

2. Install the free app from the iTunes store on your iPad (not available on iPhone)

3. Launch the program on both your computer and your iPad BEFORE instruction

4. Search for the device or use the camera feature to locate the bar code

5. Once your iPad and computer are communicating, set up a Doceri password!

6. Minimize the app on your iPad to do other things if needed, like checking email.

3. Want to project a video or app or game from your iPad onto your computer? Download the free trial of Reflector App. You can show iPad content on your computer/projector for up to ten minutes before the free trial will shut the program down. That's usually all the time I need it for. I like to use it with the MyScriptCalculator app to show a math problem on the Smartboard (or projector). See the video below for how it can be used.

1. Install the computer program from http://www.reflectorapp.com/
    ( you do NOT need to install an app for this on your device)
2. Launch the program on your computer and set a password
3. Open the gray app tray on your device
4. Slide the tray to the right. You should be at your iTunes player bar
5. The bar should have a new rectangle button that is your Reflector app "mirror"
6. Click the button and search for your computer under the device list
7. Once you find your computer, toggle the mirror button from "off" to "on"
8. Right-click the iPad/iPhone image on the screen to adjust its view/width
9. Make sure to turn the reflector "mirroring" button back to OFF when done!!!!

**PLEASE NOTE** You CANNOT use Doceri Desktop and Reflector App at the same time. Their program types make your iPad "compete" with your computer, so that one reflects the other, which reflects the other, which reflects the other, on and on into infinity. It takes some time to perfect switching between programs. But they both have their uses!

4. Math teachers - I highly recommend using and inviting your students to try MyScriptCalculator. You can add it to any devices, whether phones or tablets, Mac or PC. It's free and extremely helpful. You just need to have semi-decent handwriting. Here is a video that shows how it works:

Have fun playing! I will post more updates as I find cool new apps and instructional uses.

Zombie Gangnam Style

Happy Valentine's Day! Mine was full of sugar, some learning, some fun, and more sugar. And now for the crash... except we are packing to go to Wisconsin Dells after work tomorrow, so I can't crash. Also I should run on the treadmill to burn off some of the sugar. We shall see if that happens. 

I gift my Zombie fans with the lovely video above. Our Pennies for Patients fundraiser was an enormous hit. We creamed the previous years' totals of $10K and $11K and raised over $14K this year!! Amazing. A big shout out to one infamous coworker who pledged to shave her head if we hit $12K (which we did) and more amazing coworkers who dressed up in silly costumes (i.e. Minions) and others who slept in tents on the roof of the school after their totals were surpassed. 

I replied to a group email saying, "sure, I'll dance the Gangnam Style at lunch", assuming there would be lots of other teachers to sign up with me. Nope, just two... so the pressure was really on when the students hit the $6,000 goal. We practiced and practiced until our calves ached. The plus side, I didn't have to run for three days! And the result was exceptional hilarity at each of the 4 grade level lunches. That's me in the pink.

If you have any interest in learning our version, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MigOMlru67c

We are off on Presidents Day as well, so I'll see you on the flip side! Have a great holiday weekend :o)

Breeding a Culture of Homework Zombies

Greetings and Happy February! We have survived the worst of winter (we hope) and the days are getting longer. I would hope the warmer weather would mean that kids of all ages would be back outside, romping in the snow, and releasing their excess energy. Not so. Bad behavior abounds in the classroom. No amount of threats, shooshing, emails/calls to parents, seating changes or flat-out yelling seems to affect them.

What is the next step? Strap on their winter gear (or lack thereof) and make them run a lap around the school in the 10-degree weather? Bring in a squirt bottle to squirt them like a cat when they misbehave? Enforce a class-wide nap time? Make them work in silence all hour? Turn them all into REAL zombies instead of just seasonal ones? 

While I continue to ponder the answer to this conundrum of winter sillies, I stumbled upon a student Facebook post, whining about "a whole hour and a HALF of homework tonight", like s/he was so tortured to have more than half an hour. I couldn't resist clarifying, "You mean thirty minutes of homework per subject, right?" To which I got an immediate reply of "NO!" (which was quickly "liked" by another student). I reminded  the student that the following grade regularly reports 2-3 hours of homework per night, even on the weekends, (NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Can you hear the crickets chirp? I may have just been un-friended ;)

Which led me to re-open the conversation in my brain about homework in general. As an institution. Students don't like doing it. Teachers don't like grading it. There is growing data to support that assigning large volumes of homework, especially math, is actually detrimental to test scores. At least any more than the "times 10" rule, of a student's grade multiplied by ten. For example, my seventh graders should do 7 x 10 = 70 minutes or so of homework per night. Considering that they have 3 long classes, that regularly assign homework, and three short classes that most often do not assign homework, they should be doing about 20-25 minutes per night of homework for their core subjects.

Whether or not you include free reading time in the equation, is up to you. Data has been shown that assigning free-reading as homework does actually improve school success and raise test scores; whereas, doing any more than 15-20 minutes of math is going to shut down a kid's brain as fast as running for 15-20 minutes does for most adults (it used to for me!!). Where am I getting these blanket statements? I've heard them many times before, but I hate to pass on incorrect or unsubstantiated claims. I found a fascinating article that sums up much of the recent research on homework. It also gives concrete tips for teachers and parents to make homework valuable, meaningful, and engaging. It's totally worth the 10-15 minutes it will take to read it all. 

Click here to read all about it. (From www.challengesuccess.org ) 

The article brings up a lot of good points about the generalizations that dominate common teacher practices today; even new teachers who are trained in modern pedagogy. We tend to revert to the way we were instructed in school, because it is comfortable and convenient; thus perpetuating antiquated beliefs that may or may not have any value. Or may have not have ever had any value. 

I have blogged before about "no homework" weeks. But I felt the need to restate a more permanent philosophy that I can stick to, not just for special occasions, but on a daily basis. I don't want my students to become homework zombies who are programmed to jump through hoops just because they're told to. I want them to be creative thinkers who push themselves further than they thought they could, because they want to. As far as homework is concerned, my goal is to stick to these guidelines:

1. Assign 15 minutes or less of homework per night (unless they've wasted their class work time and have to bring it home, that is their choice)

2. Assign homework that can be done independently, and doesn't strictly need a teacher/parent/tutor present to complete it. (like taking notes on readings, watching a video, participating in an online discussion, doing a home-based project, completing a small quantity of independent practice, taking an online quiz, playing a content-related computer game)

3. Offer differentiated assignments (variety of levels of difficulty and learning styles) that involve meaningful skills. Worksheets can be engaging, depending on the topic and delivery. Our Holt/McDougal worksheets are awesome. And we have 6 different choices for every lesson! And chapter projects! And online study resources. Really, I don't make any money off these little plugs, but if you are looking for new textbooks, I highly recommend this one.

4. Grade assignments timely and meaningfully. Or make students grade/peer-grade their work themselves if at all possible. Making students take ownership in grading is the best way to get timely and relevant feedback; especially if students take the time to ask for help if/when they bomb a worksheet or don't understand a concept. 

5. Avoid assigning homework on weekends and holidays (except makeup work and extra credit). Students need family time and re-charge time, just as we do. I keep reminding myself how miserable I feel leaving school at 5 pm on Friday, after working two hours after the students leave, and still having another 3-4 hours of work to do over the weekend. And I'm an adult. Kids need time to be kids. 

6. Make myself available to help students after hours. It really doesn't take long and it doesn't have to be in person. I currently have an open-text policy and an open email / schoology messenger policy on my iPad. My phone and iPad beep when I have incoming messages, which are usually only 3-5 questions/comments per night. 

I'm sure I could think of more, but 6 goals seem like plenty for now. You may think the Zombie is crazy already, just off of these six. Wish me luck! Now go make your own list.

Zombie's Mid-Winter Crack-Ups to fight the blues

Fun fact of the day: Zombies DO get sick! I am on Day 7 of my bout with the flu. The first couple days weren't so bad, so I went to work... then the flu SLAMMED me into the wall at Conference night and I called in the next day :o(  And laid on the couch all weekend and today before finally going into the doctor this afternoon.  Doc says, "Congrats! You have a flu virus. Antibiotics won't help. If you're not feeling better IN A WEEK, come back and see me again".  Thanks Doc.

If you're as down in the dumps as I am, I figured you could use some cheering up. So here are some pointless teacher memes to make you feel better. All of the pictures are linked, so click away to pin all the originals or make your own meme. I'll warn you, it's addicting :o)  Fun to insert into lessons and Smart files just to make the kids laugh.

To Teacher: From, Students

(We are covering ratios/proportions/percents/protractors for the third year in a row, not just learned it three years ago, but still true!)

To Dumbledore: From, Ministry of Magic 

(Burn!!!!!)

To Sci-Fi / Fantasy Cross-Over Fans Everywhere: From, LEEEEELUUUU

(For no reason whatsoever except an LOL. Corbin Dallas Multipass!!!)

To Snarky Students: From, Snarky Teacher

(Yup, I'm just that quick-whitted. And like any student nowadays says "May I")

To Test Anxiety: From, Math Students everywhere

(Just about everyone has seen this, but it still makes me LOL)

To my 2nd grade teacher: From, Ryan Gosling

(Everything's better laminated)

To Bad Student: From, Wise Parent

(Not so much an LOL, but a SO TRUE!!)

To Every Teacher Everywhere: From, Every Other Teacher

(LOL Yup, it's happened to all of us)

To Teacher Teams: From, annoyed Students & Parents

(Yup, this happens unintentionally more than it should... but welcome to life kids!)

To Math Teachers: One last "haha" for the road

(Yay! One I can finally use in my classroom!)

Cheers and Happy Tuesday everyone! Think HAPPY and HEALTHY thoughts :D

-Zombie

Zombie Finance Education 101: Career Project

Happy almost MLK Day everyone! We are in the midst of a cold weather smack-down in Minnesota, so severe that we *might* have a late start tomorrow. It's a bummer too, because we have our annual Martin Luther King Day of Service (I blogged about it last year, check it out!). What a conundrum it must be to have to make the decision in such a situation... risk angering parents over hypothermia at the bus stop, or risk angering the community for shortening and/or canceling one of the most meaningful days of the year. Glad it's not my call!

One of my classroom MLK Day activities is showing the Minimum Wage episode of Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days (info on the Day of Service link). This seems most appropriate this year as tax hikes just took a nice dent out of my pay check. I keep telling myself it's okay as long as everyone got the same hike... but did they? Click here to see how it affected your family. It's not quite so depressing as I was fearing. The vast majority of Americans, even the wealthy, saw increases of between .8% and 1.5% due to the expiration of one of the Social Security tax cuts. Still hurts though.

I like to torture myself even further this time of year (as if life and winter isn't depressing enough) by updating my monthly budget. Between the reduction in my salary, the impending full-day kindergarten and 3-day a week preschool costs for my two boys, and payments to various loans/bills/insurance, there is virtually NO WAY to break even each month in the foreseeable future. Unless we give up eating. Then there might be a chance. Which made me laugh in that crazy cat Joker way when a student blurted out last week that "teachers are rich". HA!! 

Enough about my own money woes. Time to give the students a reality check! As promised, I have FINALLY downloaded and then re-uploaded the Career Project resources I blogged about last spring. It turned out quite a bit differently than I had planned, mostly due to time constraints. My goal is still the same... for students to get a good idea of what jobs they would be good at, and for them to see the type and cost of education they will need to get there. Then of course what it will pay, and what lifestyle they might expect to have. As opposed to just sitting around and bashing "those rich teachers" all day. 

Day 1: Who am I?

-Print off enough copies of the Career Cluster Interest Inventory .pdf for all students. It's a four-page document that should be run back-to-front and probably stapled. You will want to hand-write on a "Name" spot on pages 1 and 3 before running the copies. Pass out to students at the beginning of the hour, explaining the goal of the assignment. I usually tell students, it's one thing to say "I want to be a doctor" or "I'm going to be a professional basketball player", but do you really know what professionals in each career do all day? What particular tasks? Because that might change your mind. Knowing what skills and tasks you like to do can better help narrow down prospective career fields.

As your students work through the survey, read-aloud may be beneficial for understanding of some of the vocab words. Also, when you get to page 3, students should rip off the top page so they don't have to keep flipping back and forth in their packet to tally their preferences. There are 16 career clusters that they will tally. For most students, their top three or four choices will emerge as clear favorites. Then they will flip over the back page and read about their top career clusters. Just off the descriptions, they may be able to decide on one or two favorites.

Day 1 Homework: Post the Career One-Stop site on your school page or pass out in some sort of assignment rubric. They can type their career cluster, or one of its key words, into a variety of search boxes to find more information about particular fields. Leave the assignment fairly open-ended, as each student may have different quantities and depths of interest that they want to pursue. They should, however, be able to find pay information, job skills and training needed, typical work environments, as well as state-specific statistics of job availability in their field. 

Day 2: What do I already know?

-Take some time to have groups share what they learned in their research. They could meet in career clusters, or share with friends/neighbors. What surprised them? What looks daunting? Did their research change or reinforce their vision of their future? Had they never thought about it before?

-Introduce Resumes. What is a Resume? What is it used for? Here are a few of my Smart file screen shots. I also have a wonderful .docx Resume template that I can't upload here. Shoot me a message on my Zombie Math Teacher Facebook page if you would like a copy.

-Describe how resumes are used to apply for jobs and get into colleges. It's important that they start thinking about how the skills and jobs and volunteering they do now (even in middle school!) are an important stepping stone to bigger things. They should know that the material that is stored in their resume will change, depending on who their target audience is. So it's good to keep a working document in a safe place, that they can edit frequently.

-Show them an example, such as this Lisa Simpson resume that I made. Ask them who they think the target audience is. (could be a college, or a high school job) 

-Talk about the content that is in each category. Is it important? What is special/unique about each bullet point? 

-Discuss the layout of a resume and HOW IMPORTANT correct spelling and grammar are, if they are going to be taken seriously. Also talk about the importance of developing and maintaining good references. 

Day 2 Homework: Create a rough draft of a resume that highlights necessary skills for the college and/or career field you researched the day before. You can include things you plan on doing that you haven't done yet. Like a high school job you might want, or an award you hope to get, or a volunteer opportunity/activity that they have done or likely will do. You may want to post the Lisa Simpson example on your school site so they have an example to work from. 

Here is a good template you could copy or attempt to print, if you don't want my original:

Day 3: Time to Shine

-Book a computer lab or laptop cart so each student has access to their own internet and/or word processing. Show them either on a Smart board or if you can control their monitors, where to find the Microsoft Word resume templates. Click here if you need a refresher or want to learn. Click here to see a demo that you can show your students. It's not particularly exciting, but it's informative. 

-Students could also be working on the Career One-Stop site listed under Day 1 during this time, either before, after or concurrently as they work on their resumes. Their rough draft homework should be the foundation of their typed resume, so I would just check them in as complete or not complete, rather than collecting them at the beginning of the hour. 

-Be sure to save time at the end of class to show students how to save their documents either to a flash drive, or upload to googledocs, or how to email it to themselves.

Day 3 Homework: Finish your working document / have a parent edit and/or add to it?

Day 4: Final Project Day

-You may want computers for today as well. A final peer edit of the resume with peer sharing and idea generating is advisable, with some time to polish and then print their final draft. They should of course email/save the final working document somewhere that they can access it later in life to update it. 

-Final reflection activity: Write a summary of the career clusters and specific careers they found in their internet research, and staple to any documents they printed from the career site. Describe how their resume will help them achieve their goals and stepping stones to achieve the career they want. Write about what they are already doing now (or should be doing now) to help them get started on the path to success. 

Possible further activities: present their career and/or resume to the class, interview someone in the field they want to work in, further research days to look at colleges, expense calculations for college/interest/loans, lifestyle and budgeting

And that's all she wrote! Have fun! If you have questions, I'd advise posting them on my Facebook page listed above. It's more interactive and then everyone can see if we post/share documents and ideas.

-Zombie out.

Zombie Box-o-Shame + Bungee Barbie 3.0

Happy mid-winter to everyone. We have reached that lonely stretch of January in which it becomes exceedingly difficult to get out of bed in the morning. The highlight of my day lately has been choosing which new pair of boots and/or colorful scarf to wear. So to spice things up, as promised, I brought in the Box of Shame. Somehow we got off on a tangent during one of my lectures about silly fake punishments and the kids insisted that we should have our very own box (or three different sized boxes) for the classroom. This box was just the right size!

Everyone wanted a picture in it during first hour... then second hour whined "how do we get into the box of shame? should we be good?? or bad???" so I settled on "good". One of my talkative boys was actually quiet for 15+ minutes straight, so I let him sit in the box of shame to do his homework at the end of the hour.  

I asked kids to make sad faces before I took their picture but most cracked up laughing instead and couldn't hold it together to look properly sad and shamed. Oh well. It was fun. We'll see how long it lasts! At least it's something new to look forward to for the week. Maybe we can turn it into a math problem by calculating the surface area to cover the outer walls and around the face opening with the blue paper ;D

We also finished our Bungee Barbie 3.0 reflection today. My 1st and 2nd hours are doing the project as an introduction to a unit on slope/proportions and scaling instead of as the culminating activity. It will be interesting how the students' perspective on y=mx+b form deepens, having this background knowledge in place that the drop distance per rubber band is an example of "slope", and the dolls' heights were an type of "y-intercept". This latest lab was the first time that students really grasped that y=mx+b form is more accurate than just solving a proportion using "criss cross multiply, divide by the lonely guy". 

It was a good time to revisit independent versus dependent variables, discrete versus continuous data, the parts to a graph (like labels, scale, title) and how to solve two-step equations. Plus having no homework the week back from break was a nice breather for both students and ME! And it's so darn fun to chuck a doll off the school balcony. 

In conclusion, I'd like to thank my giant new 20-ounce Bubba coffee mugs for getting me through the first dark and cold days of January. We are barely over two weeks away from the mid-point of the year! Yet another four months of school that has gone really slowly and really quickly at the same time. Never a dull moment. Except when grading papers. 

Zombie out.