PBJ Sandwich lab hilarity

Who would have thought, something silly like Sunflower Nut Butter would start a new trend!? What a smashing success the PBJ (or SFBJ lab) was. I don't know how many students actually liked the flavor of it, but we put those two jars and another two loaves of bread and several knives through the ringer and back.

Launch to the lab: "Many five-paragraph essays were vague at some points, even the A-papers. It was common to see sentences such as, 'The x-axis goes horizontal and the y-axis goes vertical and there is an origin in the center of the graph, and now you know how to graph!'. Well, no, unfortunately, I still don't. Or I don't know that you know how to graph." That got some blank stares. 

So we started a discussion of what steps actually are involved in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... and compared that thinking process to writing an outline to a paper. Then, we thought about how to break down the steps of each of our "bullet points" into its components, in order to complete the directions correctly. And then the fun began. They could not touch the materials. They could only look at them on the table. I know for a fact that some cheated, and went home, and made a PBJ sandwich step-by-step in order to perfect their directions. But whatever. You KNOW that scientists do that sometimes too ;)

The first day, I had 3 groups (1st and 2nd hour) and 4 groups (3rd hour) who were ready with their so-called procedures. During the trial run, the jars got spread on the bread, the bread got stabbed with the knife, the bag got ripped open from the side, and the jelly got smeared on the back-side of the same slice as the peanut butter. The success rate was around 60%. 

After doing the demo to the lab, my table was SWARMED with other students who wanted to try it for themselves, to see if they could be more specific. Some wanted to try it as is. Some wanted to try it with nachos or burritos or getting dressed (argh! start with your underwear on, PLEASE). Others wanted to make their siblings write the directions so they could play teacher/skeptic. Which I can't blame them for. It was really fun to think of how to mess with them ;). 

On the second day, results were better. Students had learned from prior mistakes about taking the lid off the jars, and placing the lids on the table, and of picking up the knife before sticking my own hand in  the jars. Still, some errors were found, and I got to dump the jars upside-down onto the bread, and my favorite, "cut the sandwich into 2 equal parts"... I PICKED UP A SCISSOR AND CUT THE SANDWICHES IN HALF!!!!

Awesome. I wish I had gotten a picture of THAT! I will say, though, the second day had a success rate closer to 80%, up from 60% the day before. And more importantly, students were starting to realize the mistakes in their directions as they were reading them, instead of after I had completed the directions. I heard groans and "d'oh"'s and other semi-appropriate exclamations as I flipped the bread around, turned the knife upside down, and then dropped it on the table. Memories were definitely made in my class this week. 

This may seem frivolous and a waste of time to those nay-sayers out there, so let me lay the objectives out for you. 

1. Giving clear directions and being able to articulate them in a meaningful, logical, understandable way is not only an important life skill, and cause of many a misunderstanding in life, but also it is a 7th grade language arts standard. 

2. I have the benefit for the rest of the year of using various code phrases, like "It's a sandwich!" or "That's definitely not a sandwich... your bread seems to be upside down", to tactfully tell certain students that their process needs refinement. Whether we are writing another essay, completing a lab report, giving a small group presentation or just sharing in class, I can say "be more specific" and hold up the scissor I used to cut the sandwich with, and they will get the idea. 

BECAUSE THERE IS MEANING TIED TO THE TASK. 

They laughed while we learned. They learned while they laughed. They were inspired and wanted to go home and replicate the feeling in their own way. And they received valuable life skills that will apply not only to many other aspects of their math career, and 7th grade, but to becoming better human beings, more understanding of the difficulty of clearly communicating meaning to fellow beings. 

3. Many students tried (or at least smelled) sunflower butter for the first time. They had never heard of its existence, nor realized that they could buy it at nearly any store, nor how difficult life is for highly allergic students to get around in the real world. We had a short, but meaningful discussion, about how wonderful it is for kids (and grownups) with allergies to have even a "fake" version of a favorite ingredient. 

While some students disliked the flavor of the sun butter, I reminded them that to a kid who could get deathly sick from smelling, let alone tasting peanuts, this is a really special treat, that makes them feel kind of "normal" for a while. We talked about what it must be like to find foods to eat when you are milk- or -egg or nut-allergic... how difficult must it be to find anything to eat at all, let alone something healthy or that tastes good? I felt, at least, that it was a good reality check for many of my kiddos. 

4. Essay writing quality will undoubtedly improve, due to this activity, and already has, in the 10 re-writes that I have since graded. Each student was given specific feedback as to how to add "meat" to their essay, and after the PBJ lab, they saw exactly what I meant. How specifically do you make an input/output table? What specifically does it help you to understand about linear vs. non-linear data? Do you prefer a table to a graph? How do you make a graph from a table? What is better about a graph that you like?

As the day winds down and I sink back into my zombie tired state, I will now head to the bathroom to clean the remaining sun butter goo from under my nails. I spent a whopping $10 over 6 classes and 2 days of labs to facilitate this wonderful learning experience. Lesson for me for next year? GET A P.O. for MACKENTHUNS AND STOP SPENDING YOUR OWN MONEY ON WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!   

You'd think that would sink in one of these days.

SFB&J SANDWICH LAB LAUNCH

We are entering the mid-trimester week of our fall semester! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. It sounds like a broken record, I say that every year; but, this year especially, I feel that I have lived every second possible over the last five weeks to its fullest. 

Many firsts have taken place in my classroom: first Barbie Bungee, first graphing performance assessment, first 5-paragraph essay IN math class, and tomorrow, another first! The dreaded "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" lab moves from the science classroom into the math classroom. 

Why, you might ask? Well, because the number one, biggest issue that I saw from students in their five-paragraph essays, was an inability to articulate precise meaning and directions. Great, you know how to make a graph, but specifically how do you get to a coordinate on the grid? What is it used for? How can you use a graph to understand change in math? The essay topic was describing linear patterns in graphs, tables, equations and words. While the class average was 80% in my regular classes and 90% in my accelerated class, the inattention to specifics in language and procedures was a major red flag in nearly every essay. 

Hence the PB&J lab... though with nut allergies in today's classroom, we will be using "Sun Butter", (short for sunflower butter) instead. Same concept, new twist. And I have NO idea how it will taste! Neither does my kitty Toby, but he sure was willing to sniff it out! (I hope that doesn't invoke pet allergies now)

So what exactly is the point of the PB&J or SFB&J lab? Whatever you want to call it? The point, which I referred to in my "Ghosts of Zombie Teachers Past" blog, is to master the skill of giving specific, exact, step-by-step instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You can't say non-specific things like "put the peanut butter on the bread" because you probably forgot to tell the lab rat to open the jar, or to open the bag of bread, or to open the lid to the peanut butter jar, or to take a piece of bread out, or to put it on a plate, or to pick up the knife, or to put the peanut butter on the knife.... get what I mean? Or what I meant to say? D'oh! Do what I mean, not what I say.

The main objective for students is to sit down and stare at the materials, and to work in their heads, breaking down a seemingly easy task into its components. The best reward for correct completion of the procedure... is that you get to eat the sandwich! More likely, it will be a big mess of sunbutter on the desk, bread on top of the bag, jelly on fingers, and so on and so forth. 

Students will have the image engrained in their brains forever that there is a reason for precision and accuracy in life. Especially in math and science.

I am hoping that after this activity, our next attempt at writing for meaning in math class will demonstrate much more thoughtful reflection into the individual steps and procedures we do in our brains, to solve mathematical problems. It is NOT good enough to be able to solve a problem, if you can't explain how you solved it, or why it is the correct answer, or even if it is the correct answer. And most importantly, what it means in real-life terms. 

Isn't that the whole purpose of math? Of school in general? Of LIFE in general? 

Peace out, PB&J zombies.

Bungee Barbie gets schooled

I hate to say I told you so, to Kathleen Porter-Magee regarding her CCMS+Bungee Barbie = Epic Fail blog post, so instead, I'll say NA NA NA BOO BOO! This was the most fun I've probably had in any math class EVER! For my students too! My other classes can't wait to try it out for themselves. And guess what... we actually LEARNED a few things!

A little background, for those who have not been following my blog long: the article above insinuates that the Bungee Barbie lab boils down to throwing barbies around the room, and that students don't really get a good grasp of linear equations from the experiment. I have concretely and soundly proved this WRONG. Or my students did anyway. 

Over the past few weeks, my accelerated class has been learning how to calculate slope using "rise over run", making steps on their coordinate grids, following the online analogy of "Joan the Chameleon" to graph lines using slope intercept form. We then took the concrete visual/kinesthetic approach to a more mathematical, algebraic understanding, playing with x-intercepts and y-intercepts, solving equations for both variables, and making input/output tables to demonstrate linear patterns in the numbers. 

Upon introducing the Barbie problem this past Monday, I gave them a simple ratio tool from my own trial, stating that I tried 2 rubber bands, and Barbie fell around 48 centimeters. They were asked to predict intuitively or mathematically how many rubber bands they would need to drop a doll to a height of 530 cm (That is the distance from the top rail of our balcony to the floor below). Predictions brought forth various comments on weight of the dolls, elasticity of the rubber bands over time, and ability to accurately measure the drop height. They also named their dolls (the headless Ken doll, now called "Leonardo", as well as "Tape" and "Ian" for Barbies) and to practice the slip knot method for 2 bands, as well as the drop motion to be used.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students practiced and perfected drop measurements; many decided to redo data that did not seem accurate, or to adjust the number of rubber band inputs to meet the height constraints of our 2.5 meter - high upstairs ceiling. I suggested trying odd numbers of rubber bands, instead of the even numbers given in the spreadsheet, as 10 and 12-bands made all the dolls hit the floor. We determined that our rubber bands were bigger than were probably used in the initial design of the experiment. Groups then averaged their data, plotted their coordinates, and drew best-fit lines. 

The REALLY cool part of the project came on Thursday, when groups were able to calculate the equation for their best fit lines. There were moments of real joy and understanding when they realized that the y-intercept of the equation, the value of x=0 (no rubber bands), was the height of the Barbie herself! This prompted many students whose best-fit lines didn't seem quite right, to go back and measure their actual doll, in order to write a more accurate equation. 

Other break-throughs came when I asked students what their "3 boxes rise / 4 boxes run" slope actually meant. I queried, "are you counting by 1's on either your x-axis or your y-axis?" Student response: "ummm, no?"... my response: "then what do 3 boxes actually represent from your experiment?".... pause.... thinking... "Oh! That's the height of the drop!".... my response... "and so what did you count by?"... student response: "We counted by 20's... AH! So the rise of my slope is SIXTY!!!" ... I prompt the same question for the x-axis... pause for thinking... "AH HA! That is for 2 rubber bands! We skipped every other line!" (queue heavenly music of bliss as actual learning takes place)

It didn't take much more prodding for students to interpret their slope as a unit rate, shrinking their 60 cm/4 rubber bands to roughly 15 cm per band. Then they could set up their slope intercept equation, and actually get a visual, kinesthetic, tactile interpretation of y=mx+b with "m" as their drop rate, and "b" as the Barbie height. Solving for the equation of 530=15x+30 was an absolute cinch. They had that down for over a week. 

But now it MEANT something. 

Leading into the actual drop test on Friday, with all Barbies poised on the cliff... and the final drop challenge proved a little more complicated. Groups found out quickly when their Barbie hit the floor, or only dropped to the ceiling of the floor below, that their experimental bands had stretched out. About half of the groups had taken into account the variables of aging/usage of the rubber bands, as well as the weight of the doll and the slight added pull of gravity from the greater height. Theirs were the drop heights of 18, 36, 40, and 48 cm's from the floor. The top two groups actually tied, with heads dropping to a dare-devil 15 cm's from the ground. No one had a clear photo, and even after two trials, I couldn't venture to declare a winner. So both groups will get silly bragging rights certificates on Monday. 

We then returned to the classroom where students were given reflection time; to think about why their dolls exceeded or failed to reach an appropriate drop height. Were their predictions correct? How did their experimental accuracy help or hurt their data analysis process? What tips might they use in the future to minimize error? 

I was greatly pleased to see that several students chose to take their packets home, to continue reflecting over the weekend, rather than rushing through answers to get it turned in today. How many would have done the same thing, had it been a boring old pencil and paper test? Fewer, I'm sure. One thing I do know for sure... they will never forget the day that Barbie plummeted off the balcony. And I wouldn't be surprised if they remember some of the math behind it too.

Giving thanks a little early this year

It's Wednesday, which means we had our weekly team meeting at work this morning. Between hall duty and being sick, it was my first one of the year. I felt a little bad because I could not think of anything to say during the "thanks and appreciations" jam session. But I have plenty now!!!

On this gorgeous eighty-degree September day, I have a lot of things to be thankful for. The amount of my paycheck is not one of them. After surviving two days with a total zombie frog voice, I am thankful that my cold did not render me mute. My favorite comment of the day, repeated frequently, was, "Mrs. Bellm, are you sick?!?!? Awww."  (No really, I am talking like Kermit from the Crypt just for the heck of it).

I had a gloriously peaceful drive home through the country side of Watertown, listening to Persuasion by Jane Austen, stuffing my face with an entire bag of popcorn. Really good for my sore dry throat too, eating popcorn... at any rate, I am thankful to not be living in the 1700's as many of Austen's characters are, getting ready to marry a cousin. EWW!

After my marvelous drive, I pull up to our cul-de-sac and spot three energetic boys and my hubby Chris and his mom "Nanny" running around in the back yard, wearing out our filthy dirty boys. THANK YOU BOTH!! They were so tired that they crawled right into bed after their baths and virtually collapsed. Despite the streaks of mud on their faces and random scrapes and bruises, they are both really lucky to have 1+ adults at home during the day while I am at work, bonding with their cousins and breaking each other's toys.

The first thing I see on the counter in the kitchen, which I have been greatly anticipating, are the Coborns Penny Pincher coupons!!! YESSSSSSSS....  these are way better than Mackenthun's "Dollar Days" because even on a busy day at Coborns, there are like five cars in the parking lot. Seriously, have you ever tried to shop at Mackenthun's during Dollar Days? You'd think Justin Bieber stopped by and the teenagers had been camped on the curb for weeks, the way the cars fill the lot and the lines inside reach back to the isles, and crazed soccer moms and elderly grannies are elbowing and shoving (sometimes not so gently) their way through the produce section.

Now I am not usually a coupon person, but these are just too good to miss. Milk for $1.48! Cereal for $1.83! Chili beans for 47 cents a can! Shredded cheese for a DOLLAR!!! I can make CHILI this weekend! Add on the 24-oz pop bottles at 24 for $9.96 and $1.96 frozen pizzas, $1.71 12-grain bread loaves and $5.97 twelve-packs of TP, and Mommy is a happy camper! Gotz to make that dollar stretch as far as possible. So THANKS Coborns!

While I am talking slang, I absolutely must throw a shout-out to the awesome website Icanhazcheeseburger.com for their many hilarious, cat-themed, grammatically incorrect posters. You can type just about anything into Google, add the word "funny", click on the images tab, and you'll get a silly picture and phrase that will make you laugh and go "awww" at the same time. I regularly insert these into my Smart lessons just to make the kids laugh. However I do advise the kids NOT to visit their website directly, as there are some not-so-appropriate comments and pictures mixed in with the cute and cuddly ones. Stick to Google with "safe search" on and you should be fine.

My final thanks is to my sister Ashley, who is flying back from Boston tomorrow night on a random cheap ticket she found (probably on Kayak.com) and is actually willing to drive out and do lunch with me in my classroom. Granted, she's never seen it, but how many people actually ever go to school when they don't have to? It's got to be about an hour drive both ways, plus another hour to hang with me and catch up, so she's basically willing to give up her entire afternoon just to see me. I'm blown away. Thank you Sis!! 

And now, thanks to Top Chef: Just Desserts, I get to watch other people cook really delicious food that I wish I could reach through the TV and devour, but thank goodness, I really can't. Already microwaved myself a S'more and ate that in about 30 seconds. Thank you taste buds for returning, I've missed you!

Laundry, Lewis & Clark, and Linear Equations

Before I head to bed with my first cold of the season, I thought I'd share some random tidbits from the weekend. Ethan studied the letter "L" in pre-school last week, and apparently "L" has been on my brain as well! 

Today marked officially the biggest "Laundry Party" in the history of the Bellm household. Both boys get super excited when they hear that it is about to commence. Loads of laundry are dumped all around the trampoline on the carpet downstairs... and I'm not talking one or two loads... I think I dumped seven buckets FULL of clothes all over the floor. Not only did it all get sorted, but some actually got put away too! I have clean underwear in a readily accessible drawer! Wrinkly work pants and button-down blouses have been tucked away for a future zombie ironing frenzy in 2-3 months.

Also of note, I finished my first actual turn-the-page, hard cover book in... oh... I don't know, eight months??!? Since joining Audible.com, it has become increasingly silly and unthinkable to sit down and devote myself to reading words on a page. When instead I could be listening to the words in dramatized form, while driving, doing dishes, sitting outside watching the kids... so I don't regret it, but in a weird way, I think I missed it. 

The book was called New Found Land, and was loaned to me by a dear colleague, looking for feedback on what parts of the Lewis & Clark fictional history novel would be good to share in a language arts class. Now this is not my typical genre of YA sci/fi or modern fiction. I normally DESPISE reading history, whether fiction or non... but this was something totally new and different. 

In New Found Land, the Lewis & Clark adventure is dramatized, from beginning to end and back, jumping back and forth between characters, including the famous adventurers, their slaves and soldiers, Sacajawea, and even Lewis' DOG! It reads a little bit like Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. The pages look like poetry more than novel. I will sadly admit, that once the party reached the Native American peoples of the pacific northwest, I had an obnoxious desire to hear a shout out to the Quileute nation of the Twilight saga.

Now that I am through with the book, I am hoping it will fill my dreams tonight of far off mysterious lands and peoples; compared to last night, when I spent many fitful hours tossing and turning about the linear equations lessons I am scheduled to teach in math class this week. I am not sure why! The students are ready for it. But I guess all caring, involved teachers have the same tendency to worry as much about our students and our curriculum while we're sleeping as we do when we're awake. 

Maybe it's the stress of standardized tests. Or from differentiating menus of homework choices for two separate math classes... but despite the tiredness and the fragmented sleep I may or may not get tonight, there is always coffee and cold medicine awaiting me in the morning! So I will bid good night, hoping the zombie-inducing cold symptoms magically disappear overnight.

School through the eyes of a Zombie Parent

It's always fascinating to read a story through the eyes of another character, to see the world from the perspective of a different person. I think that's why I enjoy reading sci/fi fantasy fiction so much. You get almost an out-of-body experience that let's you sit back and say, "Huh. I never thought of it quite like that before".

I had one of these body-snatcher experiences today, opening my eldest son's backpack. Ethan has graduated from pre-pre-school, to plain old pre-school this year, where he'll probably stay for the next two years. Some parents hold their kids back from kindergarten because of sports or academics; Ethan is just not going to be ready for the social scene, or mature enough to deal with the rigors of today's competitive kindergarten classroom for a while. 

You might think I say that sarcastically, but I don't! I have subbed in kindergarten classrooms, and the kids are already flex-grouped by skills, reading level, and neediness pretty soon after walking through the door. Add in full-day madness, and you've got a huge stress ball for a high-anxiety kid. Not a good match. 

Alas, I digress. So as I'm digging through Ethan's backpack, I come across yet another "letter to the parents" and start groaning. In big bold print across the top, is the sentence, "Please discuss with your child", complete with a parent/kid worksheet stapled to the back. And here you thought that preschoolers and kindergarteners didn't have homework!  That's right, they don't! The PARENTS DO.

Parent Assignment #1- before Ethan even started pre-school, we parents had our own homework, to sign up for a separate parent/child class to get our "rounding out" of the ECFE experience... OR we have to complete what is literally called a "parent homework" self-directed learning packet, or Ethan gets kicked out of the class.

Parent Assignments #2 and 3- attend a pre-school conference (during my work day), and then a pre-school open house (also during my work day), and OH YEAH you can't bring your other kids. So add in Homework #3B - find a sitter.

Parent Assignment #4- Check the snack schedule and pack adequate food for the entire brat pack, and don't forget, no nut products, and there's a milk and egg allergy too. Graham crackers it is!

Parent Assignment #5- Read the weekly/daily agenda, try to talk to Ethan about the topics covered, fill out the little post-class reflection for families and tuck it back in his backpack. Getting a 4-yr old to talk about his day is literally like pulling teeth. "What did you have for snack today, son?" (he looks at his dinner plate, picks and item, and states that that is what he ate). "Who did you sit by at snack today?" (he mumbles some name I didn't understand, but I think was a kid from last year's class). "What did you do at school today?" (cars and trucks!) Helpful.

Parent Assignment #6 - Find yet another wall space or door frame to hang the ever-growing collection of childhood art. Honestly, does anyone ever look back on their pre-school art and say, "wasn't that just the neatest thing ever?"  Maybe a couple turkey hand-prints, or poems to mom that the teacher obviously helped them to finish. This worked great last year when I had crappy wall-paper space to stick all the tape and glue-covered creations. But now that the kitchen is painted, where does the junk art go!?

So my epiphany, after having assigned my own "parent homework" at my middle school, was to NOT be too hard on the parents who didn't complete it. I have one kid, in one class, in preschool, and I'm already super tired of looking through all the scraps and treasures and instructions every night. Can you imagine how bad it must be to have 2-3 kids, with 6 classes each, and nearly every teacher asking the parent to sign something? or read something? or fill out 10 paragraphs about what is neat or challenging about their kid? AHHHH! 

I have passed through to the other side of the mirror and am looking back at my zombie self, saying, take it easy on your students' parents. They have a lot on their plates; like teen know-it-all attitudes, masters classes, full-time jobs, soccer practice, band concerts, friend drama, and maybe some time with their spouse. (probably not any for themselves). It's time to cut them a break and let them have a life. God knows I WANT ONE!!!

9-19-11: Official Website Launch

www.mathbymandy.com

Holy techno babble, Zombie Bat Woman! You have a website? 

Whoaaaa....

After putzing around sending emails from my Yahoo! account to various local teachers and not making very many sales on my book (5 to be exact, and at least 2 of which came from close friends), I realized that I needed to get legit. Too legit to quit.

So I sucked it up, spent $10 on a domain name from GoDaddy.com (yes, I know, go ahead and snicker) and purchased a software hosting package with 1000's of templates. And boy oh boy, is this junk easy to use!!! The hope now is that I can help my hubby to get his own eBiz site up and running, thus saving on a zillion eBay fees. 

(Insert shameless plug here:) http://stores.ebay.com/HockeyRealm

In the mean while, I need to download the Mobile site app, research the insanity of starting a classroom or facebook blog, check into Hoobble to see how that mobile homework app is coming along, and FIGURE OUT HOW TO SKYPE!!! 

My poor sister is all alone on the east coast, teaching Freshman English 101 at UMass/Amherst... and I have hardly been able to talk to her except on Facebook and LinkedIn. As tech savvy as my family is, even I feel like a shmuck. Hang in there Ashley, I'll get there soon :o)  Miss you honey!