Math Practice

Basic math facts are so important for students. I noticed that many of my students lacked the memorization of basic math facts. I was introduced to xtramath.com from my children's teachers. They started working on xtramath as a part of their homework.

I introduced my students to the program, it is a free website to help practice the basic facts with students. It tracks their progress and shows them what they need to work on. Students earn a certification for completing all of their addition fact, then a different one for subtraction, multiplication and division.

I've already seen a lot of progress in my students with their mental math by knowing their basic math facts. It only takes 3-5 minutes each day for the students to practice their facts. The website can be accessed on a laptop, desktop, chrome book or an iPad. My students use our iPads and desktops in our classroom.

I hope you can use it to help your students improve on their basic math facts.   :)

Water Cycle

     My first year in 5th grade is off to a great start. The past few weeks we have been studying the Water Cycle. Students have had a lot of fun doing experiments, investigations and reading selections all about the Water Cycle.
      For our culminating activity, I asked my students to create a presentation about the information they have learned. We checked out our school's brand new Chrome Book cart, and I gave each child their login information. That was confusing and an adventure all in itself (each child had to remember to put a period between their first name and last name, they accidentally put spaces in and couldn't remember the long k12.nc.us part, or got it mixed up). The student had this information on an index card, but still struggled putting it in correctly. ;) (really there were only 2-3 students and easy mistakes). It was neat seeing them help each other find mistakes.
    Students grouped themselves into groups of 2 or 3. I helped them create a blank presentation and showed them how to collaborate. One of the teachers on my grade level created a rubric for them to use and they were off. Off to create, share and work together. The students did amazing with this project and I'm so thankful we were able to start out this year with a fun dose of technology.

Technology Decisions

So.. I just found out that I can decide to keep my Dell laptop, Macbook Pro, and 6 iPads (2nd generation) with a docking station....

or trade them in for 10 iPad Airs and a laptop,
or 15 Chrome books and a laptop.

I know that I will have wireless and I work with elementary students. All of my students have Google accounts.

What shall I do???

What would you do and why?

And, I'm a bad blogger, I'm sorry.