Negative Integer Exponents Stations Activity

So ... I've been teaching exponent rules in my Algebra 1 class.  

Although students learned the negative integer exponent rule in their pre-algebra course, my algebra students never seem to come to me knowing it particularly well.   

I didn't want to spend a lot of time on notes and examples.  Instead, I wanted to see whether or not they could extend the rule to more challenging situations. For this reason, I decided both to review the negative integer exponent rule, and to build on it by using a stations activity.

I designed the stations to demonstrate how the rule remains unchanged, yet the problems increase in difficulty.  My goal for my students was for them to work independently to review the negative exponent rule, then to continue applying it in progressively more challenging problems as they moved through the four stations.

Hint Sheet for Station A

I created a hint sheet with notes and examples to go along with station worksheet A, as well as one to be used with worksheets B-D.  The hint sheets were available to all students.  However, some students needed them, while others did not even pick them up.

All students began at Station A.  

Station A

There, they completed a ten question review worksheet, self-checked their answers with the answer key at that station, and asked me for clarification as needed.

They continued through Stations B, C, and D in the same manner.  You can find the activity here.

I was happy with the way this worked out.  Overall, it took much less time than teaching the lesson in a traditional manner. Students commented that they liked being able to just START since many of them didn't need to be completely retaught. Those who did not remember the rule, grasped it quickly as they worked through the first station and asked questions as needed.  I will definitely use these stations again!

Differentiating Doesn't Have to be Difficult!

Do you differentiate as often as you feel you should?

Sometimes the planning required to differentiate can be discouraging.  If that's the case for you, start out simple. Differentiate by student choice, because kids love having alternatives.  If you are concerned about leveled work, it is usually pretty easy to find lesson options at different ability levels even if you are primarily focusing on choice. 

You might think this would be chaotic, but I've found it to be great for classroom management!  In my experience, students are often much more focused on their work when the entire class is not working on the same assignment. 

Begin by choosing a topic about which you have lots of resources available.  Then, think about content, learning style, and grading.

Content

Begin with the end in mind.  

• What do you want your students to have learned at the end of the lesson?
• Are your students at very different levels of understanding or at similar levels?

Learning Style/Interest

Provide choices.

• Do you need easy, medium, and challenging assignment choices?
• Is each assignment choice relevant to the topic and productive in terms of resulting in student learning?
• Are you offering enough variety to address different learning styles? Brainstorm resources you already have or ones that can be found or created easily.
• A traditional worksheet or textbook assignment is FINE.  Some kids prefer this!  Visual learners and kinesthetic learners thrive on activities that require drawing or coloring, cutting and pasting, using task cards, or completing a card sort.  Partner activities are great for social and verbal learners.  Students who love to read and write may be prefer to read about the topic and summarize it by writing about it, creating a product, or producing a digital display to demonstrate their learning.
• Don't get overwhelmed when brainstorming lesson options.  

Grading/Planning

Keep it simple!

• Focus on the objective: What do you want your students to have learned at the end of the lesson?
• Realistically, about how many class periods should be allocated to completing the work? 
• I decide on a reasonable number of class periods.  Then, I make a final due date for all work a couple of days later.  That allows students who work slowly to finish up outside of the classroom without a penalty.  It also means that those who finish quickly are not left sitting around for a few days with nothing else to do.
• Making many of the lessons self check will make your life easier and allow students to get immediate feedback.  
• I usually have students check in with me each time they complete an assignment.  After checking it off as complete, I show them the answer key.  They check their own work and let me know if they have questions about anything.  I've found that this process keeps them honest and I am regularly touching base with every student.
• Should each student complete the same amount of work?  
• Don't get stuck on this quantity versus quality issue.  A lower ability student may complete a few relatively simple assignments while a higher level student only completes one or two more complicated tasks.  That's ok!  Other times, a lower ability student may take a long time to complete an assignment while a higher level student completes several.  That's ok, too.  It is hard to predict how this will work out.  As long as your students are working and learning, they are progressing.
• How should I grade the work?
• As the teacher, you need to decide whether or not you feel that each student made a concerted effort to learn the material.  After trying many grading methods over the years, I recommend that you either give a completion grade adjusted appropriately for effort and accuracy, or simply give an assessment (exit ticket) and grade that.

Tips for Success:

Remember, every student doesn't learn in the same way, in the same amount of time, or by completing the same number of assignments.  

Advise students to choose lessons that are appropriate for them personally ... neither too easy nor too difficult. The goal is for them to learn, and they are all starting out at different levels!  I have rarely had a problem with students choosing activities that are too easy.  However, I so sometimes have to redirect students who select a lesson that is too difficult for them.  Remind them that if they begin at the appropriate level, they will progress much more quickly!

Here is a great space-saving way to present lesson options when differentiating!

Happy Halloween!

Teachers and kids love holidays, right?

Elementary school students learn about different holidays and often create craft projects for each.  This is simply a part of the elementary experience.  

I think middle and high school students miss celebrating each season and holiday, yet the type of craft activities they did when they were younger may not be the best choice for them.  

So, how can secondary teachers incorporate appropriate activities for older students into class?   Luckily, there are now excellent academic resources available that are focused on curriculum.  Teachers can incorporate holiday or seasonally themed activities into their class without feeling guilty about doing something "just for fun".  You can find seasonal resources that specifically address academic standards.

Check out my Jack O Lantern Freebie.  Students will add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions to figure out the halloween joke. 

For older students, Partner Power: Multi-Step Inequalities is a FREE activity I've created that provides great practice.

You can find a huge variety of academically focused lessons for any subject Teachers Pay Teachers.  

Here are my other Halloween themed products: 

Halloween Multiplying & Dividing Fractions Color by Number

 

Halloween Coordinate Graphing

Halloween Solving Two Step Equations Color by Number

Halloween One Step Equations with Mixed Operations Color by Number

Have You Tried a Color by Number Activity?

Have you tried using color by number activities in your math classroom?
 If not, maybe it's time.

Color by number activities provide valuable practice combined with the creative, yet calming, outlet of coloring.  Check out some of the benefits.  (A Google search will turn up many more.) 

Another thing to love about color by number activities is that they are self-checking.  This not only helps teachers in terms of grading, but provides a way for students to monitor their progress as they work.

I receive lots of feedback from teachers who enjoy using the finished pictures to decorate their classrooms!

And ... if you think this type of assignment is easy, think again!  A well-designed activity can be very challenging.  

I usually hand out the questions and coloring page at the same time.  However, some teachers tell me that they have students complete all of the math problems first.  Then, they hand out the coloring sheet.  Some teachers make it optional.  

Obviously, I don't use a color by number lesson every day.  However, this type of activity is a great way to change things up and keep kids engaged!

The types of pictures I've designed for my color by number activities have evolved over time.  Take a look at them here.

I have bundled all of the 71 color by number activities I've created.  For the rest of October 2017, I am having a special sale with this Color by Number Bundle, a $144 value, marked down to only $50.  This is a growing bundle, so your purchase will entitle you to receive all future color by number activities I create FREE.  Enjoy!

Why Use Stations in Secondary Classrooms?

Have you thought about using stations (math centers) in your classroom, but aren't sure if they are for you?

Do any of these questions describe you?

• How do I get started?
• What types of activities should I use?
• How many stations do I need?
• Don't stations require a lot of time to set up?
• What if I don't have a lot of space in my classroom?
• How should students rotate from station to station?
• Isn't it chaotic having students moving around the room working on different things?
• Do stations really benefit students or is this just a different teaching method?
• How am I going to grade all of that student work?

These are all great questions!

Getting Started

What types of activities should I use?

Start simple.  As you become more comfortable using stations, you can build and expand on them.  Personally, I like to incorporate variety into stations work.  Think: reading, writing, manipulatives, digital format, traditional format, puzzles, task cards, problem trails, partner and independent work, student creations, instructional videos ...  

Begin with a few activities you already have so you don't have to create everything.  This can be as simple as placing a favorite worksheet at station one, a cut and paste puzzle at station two, a set of task cards at station three, and a QR code linked to an instructional video at station four.  I've created three or four stations from one set of task cards simply by splitting them into separate topics or levels of difficulty.

How many stations do I need?

You can start with just two or three tasks if you want.  My preference is to use four to six stations.  This way, there are never more than a few students at any location at one time.  In my experience, more than six stations would take too much time for students to finish.  Of course this is largely dependent on the length of a class period, the ability level of your students, and the types of activities you decide to use.

Don't stations require a lot of time to set up?

Setting up stations should be easy.  Write the station number on a paper or card and post it where you put the materials.  Trays, file folders, tubs, any sort of containers, or a hanging file will work great to keep things organized.  Also, you can just set the materials on a counter or desk.  Sometimes, all you need is a single paper with instructions for students.  Perhaps, you want them to watch an instructional video or complete an assignment online, which saves paper and facilitates set-up.  Students can read the instructions, go to their device, and get busy.

What if I don't have a lot of space in my classroom?

In a small classroom, you do need to be creative when it comes to station set-up.  Here are some solutions that may work for you:

How should students rotate from station to station?

I know some teachers who have students remain seated and pass the materials around from group to group instead of having students move.  My preference is to place materials around the room.  Then, I assign each student to a starting location and they move along in a circular pattern.  Students move along when they are ready.  I don't time this.  Remember that more challenging stations will take more time than easier ones.  For this reason, you may require students to complete a few more questions at the easier station.

Isn't it chaotic having students moving around the room working on different things?

Most of the station work I do is independent work with an occasional partner activity included.  I've found that students focus better when working independently or with only one other person.  However, this is a personal decision each teacher makes that depends on the types of stations being used.

In my experience, station work is not at all chaotic.  (I was surprised, too!)  Kids tend to be super-focused on their own task when everyone is doing something slightly different. 😄 

Do stations really benefit students or is this just a different teaching method?

I have been won over by stations.  My students seem to accomplish more while maintaining better focus when they are doing station work.  They often solve far more problems and are more on task than when doing a traditional assignment.  Of course, we don't do this every day.  If we did, it might lose its effectiveness.  I try to incorporate stations work into each chapter in some way.  Stations can be used very effectively as review.  Adding in a "Meet with the Teacher" station will allow you to touch base with each student to provide additional support or enrichment.

How am I going to grade all of that student work?

I believe in creating stations that are mostly, if not entirely, self-checking.  This allows students to work, check, seek help as needed, and move along.  I was skeptical about how this would work when I began using stations, but it has worked very well for me.  If I grade the work, it is for completion only.

I've come to love "stations days" and I enjoy creating them.  Kids look forward to these days as well.  I hope you give this a try!  Please let me know if you have questions I can help you with by leaving a comment!

Incorporating Movement Into Your Secondary Classroom

Have you ever been in an elementary classroom and marveled at how students are scattered all over the classroom engaged in a variety of activities?  Is it hard to imagine secondary students staying as focused on tasks in a similar setting?  Have you wondered when this change, from an activity-based classroom to one in which students are primarily seated, occurs?

I can’t explain how elementary teachers are able to keep their young students on task.  However, I always wonder whether they have magically superior classroom management skills, or if little kids are so excited about school and learning that it is easier to capture and maintain their attention.  Whatever the answers to my questions might be, I don’t expect that I will ever find definitive ones.

What I do know is that class size, room design, the teenage psyche, and engaging activities play a role.  I’m sure the differences I notice between elementary and secondary classrooms have much to do with these factors.

By the way, I do think that we secondary teachers have been making strides toward creating more student-centered classrooms recently.  We are striving to incorporate more interactive, inspirational ideas into our classrooms.  (Thus, the title of my blog!)

Here are a few suggestions for those of you who are wanting to ease into a more active environment in your classrooms.

1.   Begin with baby steps.

• Choose activities that you can manage easily.
• Incorporate limited movement.  As you become more comfortable with students being out of their seats, become more adventurous.

2.   Teach routines!

      How? 

• How do you expect your students to behave as they move around the room?  
• How should the room sound?  
• How will students work … in groups or alone? 

      What? 

• What task(s) do you want students to compete?  
• What materials will they need to complete the task(s)?

      When? 

• When do you expect work to be finished?

      Where? 

• Where are materials located?  Are they at stations, loaded on your digital learning platform, ... ? 
• Where will completed work be turned in or checked?

3.   Choose opportunities for movement that can be easily 
      managed.

• One simple way to begin incorporating more movement into your classroom is by setting up a location where students may go to check completed work.  I often have them check it, bring me their paper, and report their score.  This gets kids up out of their seats.  Limit the number of students who can be at this "checking" location at one time.  It works best if they have another task to be working on while they wait their turn, or if they check during work time because all students won’t finish at once.
• Bellwork is an opportune and efficient time to get kids moving in a controlled way.  I project a Google slide listing two or three tasks for students to complete.

         Students know where answer keys and handouts 
         are located in my classroom, so they can do these 
         things quickly and quietly.

• Task card activities are perfect for easing movement into your classroom.  To begin, hand each student a card or have a few students at a time pick them up.  Put extra task cards into a container.  As students finish one card, they may check their solution, return the card to the container, select another, and return to their desk.
• Do you have students seated in groups?  Have one student pick up handouts for the entire group.  If there are other materials they will need, have a different student go get those.  Maybe a third student will bring the group’s completed papers to you, return materials, toss scraps, and so forth.
• Have you tried a problem trail?  This is another great way to get students up and moving around your room without it being chaotic.  Check some out here.

Start small and your classroom management skills, confidence, and comfort level will grow from there!

When in Doubt, Expand it Out!

I have been teaching exponent rules the past couple of weeks and that is my mantra.  I repeat it over and over, encouraging students to understand the rules.  They are often in such a rush to use a "shortcut" exponent rule, that they try to apply it before they actually understand how, why, and in what situations it works.  

Now, don't misunderstand, I actually DO want my students to learn the exponent rules and use them.  I just want them to fully understand WHY they work first.

What do YOU repeat to YOUR students over and over?