The Math Coach

I remember back in my undergraduate class I had to create a Google Site for an assignment and oh boy did I hate it.  For as easy as other Google Apps were, Sites was... "clunky" is the first word that comes to mind.  Fast forward to this week in my Master's class and it's time to work on my final project: make a Google Site.  Before this, I personally preferred Weebly and that is currently where my class website is hosted.  I was somewhat dreading having to work with the clunky Google Site tools I remembered from 5 years ago.  That's when I saw that Sites has gotten a MAJOR upgrade.  Major enough where I would consider moving on from Weebly and switching over to Google Sites.  Check out this video below to see just how easy it is to make your own Site! Needless to say, I had an absolute blast making my MathCraft site for my final project.  And that's one reason I've loved every single class I've taken from Baker University; every single assignment

As we wrap up our final triangle and quadrilateral units, I wanted to get my students started on a project that can last us the rest of the semester.  My idea was a Floor Plan project where students design the floor plan of their dream home as well as incorporating similarity, perimeter, area, and unit cost.  I found and will be borrowing a project already made and shared on TpT (pinned below), because I really like the way the author allows for some creativity on the student's end while still making them bring in knowledge we've covered in class.  Sometimes when I make projects, I try to align them so much to what we've learned that it takes away opportunities from students to be creative.  This TpT project is just phase one of what I have in mind.  I want to keep coming back to our dream homes each time we learn something new.  Here are just a few ideas I have! Incorporate perimeter and area of regular polygons by putting in a  hexagonal shaped window in our dream hom

This week in my college class we explored the features of Google Earth and Google Tour Builder.  When it comes to exploration, Google Earth has some great features for any classroom.  My favorite was the Voyager feature where you can explore 3D tours of educational topics such as " Wonders of the Ancient and Modern World " and " The Day the Dinosaurs Died " where students explore different locations with evidence of how the extinction of the dinosaurs might have occurred.  You can also choose locations on your own and create your own 3D tour of a topic you're studying.  The possibilities of virtual field trips are pretty much endless and I feel like Google Earth is a great way to bring wonder, exploration, and excitement to a classroom! If you already have a field trip idea in mind, and you want to take students on a quick journey, Google Tours might be your best option.  Google Tours does lack the 3D features of Google Earth, but it does incorporate Google S

I made this quick video talking about a way to teach much needed online skills to young students using Google's Interland.  I hope you enjoy!

Don't get me wrong, I'm pumped  that ClassCraft stole my idea.  I took an Undergraduate class called Integrating Technology into the Curriculum during the summer of 2013 at Wichita State.  For an assignment, I had to come up with my own game idea for use in a classroom.  Here is what I submitted: See!  They totally stole my idea... kind of.  Okay, not really but I'm actually excited they did because I do not have the programming abilities or money to make a game like I had in mind a reality.  And ClassCraft came pretty darn close to what I envisioned. Now, where does that leave me?  I'm currently exploring the possibility of implementing ClassCraft into my high school math classes.  What is ClassCraft?  Well you can explore their site here , check out these two student and teacher tutorial YouTube playlists I made, or just keep reading to find out! ClassCraft is a classroom dashboard where students create an avatar to play as for the entire year (and possibly be

Okay, I'll start this week's post with a couple off-topic items.  First, since I'm living off of caffeine right now, this meme made me laugh. Next, an update on our basketball season.  We got 2nd at our League Tournament last weekend, which isn't what we wanted but is still great for our program.  The girls played really well the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters, but we didn't start the game well enough to win.  After that Championship Game on Saturday, we played the #4 ranked team in 2A on Tuesday (we were ranked #8).  We bounced back with little practice and rest and won 50-44, moving us up to 3rd place in 2A.  We're down to the final stretch of games as we fight for a second seed in the Sub-State tournament.  The first seed will be locked up by defending State Champ, Central Plains, but we want our chance to play them so it's all hands on deck the rest of February. Okay, let's move on to today's topic and that is, how I use Google Classroom.  Eve