Race for Inequality Graphs

This is an activity to help my kids to practice recognizing the graph of an inequality solution. I love "kill and drill" practice disguised as an activity; I love it even more if I can get them up and moving around the classroom. This short activity does both.

Materials:
--3x5 notecards
Prep:
--Copy one inequality solution onto one notecard - I cut mine in half for this part. Copy the inequality graph on a separate notecard. (I have 5 students in this particular class, so I've made 10 pairs.)
--Tape the graphs around the classroom with masking tape.

Game Time:
--Pass out two solution cards to each student.
--Students are to find the inequality graphs that match their solution cards. I'm planning to have my students check their first match with me before moving on to their second.
--The first student to find both of their matches wins!

Short and sweet :)

Mrs. G versus Students

A couple of weeks ago, a student called me out on a mathematical mistake during class. I don't remember what the situation was exactly, but I was inspired by the way this student caught my mistake and then clearly articulated their correction. (For the record, I make mathematical mistakes all the time, but this particular situation sparked the following reflection.) So I began thinking about a way to reward this student and any other student who catch my mistakes.

During this time, I was also becoming increasingly frustrated by the number of irrelevant questions that my students were asking. Middle Schoolers are AWESOME at distracting themselves and others around them and even me... everything from "I like your hair" to "What's for lunch today?" They truly have a talent! In a close second to these types of questions are questions that should be irrelevant. "Please turn to pg. ___ and look at #___," I often say while I'm also writing the appropriate page and problem number on the board. **30 second pause** "Mrs. Gosnell, what page are we on?" **Insert groan.**

These two thought processes are what led to our new game! Right now I'm just calling it "Mrs. G versus Students." Please lend me any creativity you have to offer! Here are the rules:
--I (Mrs. G) score if a student asks an irrelevant question (including a question that I have answered in the past 5 minutes).
--The students score if they catch me in a mathematical error.
I keep a tally on the whiteboard divided by class. I'm winning in most classes, but my 9th grade Honors Geometry class is currently beating me by two or three points... I hope to quickly remedy that situation ;) We haven't decided what the reward will be for any class that beats me. I'll probably do ice cream sundaes or a pizza party at the end of the year, of course that is IF they beat me :)

My only issue has been that, in some classes, I apparently wasn't clear about what sort of "error" they get a point for. As soon as I stumble over a sentence or reword something, some students cause a scene trying to say they deserve a point. I point out that it's not mathematical and have even told a few students that they won't be allowed to continue playing if they use the game to distract from class time. Overall, it's been a success! The students are really on the lookout for me to make a mistake and they're getting better about catching themselves before asking an irrelevant question. We think it's fun!

What do you think? Any ideas for a better name?

Replying to a Wrong Answer

I recently discovered the mathtwitterblogosphere... you know, because I have nothing else to do ;) Anyways, through their site, I found this blogging initiation. I'm too late to join in on the actual initiation, but I decided to read through their prompts to get ideas. One of the options from week one was to take a picture of something in your classroom that you're proud of and then write about it. Clearly I don't have a picture, but I am proud of myself for thinking through this issue and finding a productive way to improve my teaching style.

When a student raises their hand in class, they're taking a risk. Whether they're asking a question or answering one, there is the potential that their classmates will think them particularly smart or particularly dumb. I've often struggled with how to respond to students in particular situations, but one that bothered me recently was what to say when a student answers incorrectly. I don't want to emphasize their wrong for fear of embarrassing them, but I'm obligated to make a point of clearing up any misconceptions.

So what's a teacher to do? Turn to google, of course. These are results of my search or results of my thought process that the search invoked. The most helpful reference was here.

When a student answers incorrectly...

• Emphasize any part of their answer that is correct: "I really like that you remembered to subtract first, but can someone else help us with what comes next?"
• Accept answers from other students: "Ok, thanks! Did others have a different response?" The idea here is to have several students answer and by the time I affirm the correct answer, the students have mostly forgotten about the original wrong answer.
• Affirm their thought process: "That's not quite what I'm looking for, but I understand why you think that." Sometimes I explain the misconception here, others times I move on to give a correct answer. It usually depends on how "popular" I think their misconception may be.
• Lead them to a correct response: "Are you remembering that trapezoids have only one pair of parallel sides?"

These have been immensely helpful to me and my students have benefited as well. I love discovering ways to be a better teacher! This idea will definitely be something I continue to mull over and seek to improve.