As teachers, we have all heard the statement “set students up for success” probably more times than we can count. Sometimes these statements can lose their meaning, but don’t let this one! If students feel successful in your classroom, then your workload will be less. Less make up work to follow up on and grade, less classroom management, less ... fill-in-the-blank. #1: ...
3 Tips for Increasing Teacher Productivity
Teacher productivity is a topic I could talk at length about. I love optimizing my time, building routines, and checking off a to-do list item. Check out some of these methods that will save your time and your sanity. LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY 1. GO SLOW NOW TO GO FAST LATER Teachers live in a very cyclical world. Most of the things that we do ...
Digital Math Resources in Google Classroom
For the last 9 months, Maneuvering the Middle has worked to support teachers who have shifted to online or hybrid learning. To best serve teachers and students, we have created brand new digital math resources and shifted our paper-based activities to digital resources through Google Classroom. To learn more about these updates as well as some of our favorite online tools that make ...
Teacher Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Often when I feel like a class period is not going well, I tend to blame so-and-so students or a lackluster concept. However, more often than not, the problem starts at the top -- the teacher -- me. Yikes! The good news is that I am in full control of myself, so I can make the necessary changes to improving said class. Here are some teacher mistakes that I made/make and some ideas on ...
10 Ways to Use Task Cards in Your Classroom
There seems to be no shortage of task cards out there as a resource for students and teachers. The question is how to incorporate these tools as meaningful and engaging work in your classroom. Here are some ways to get you started! 10 Ways to Use Task Cards 1. Extension This is a no-brainer. Print, cut, laminate, and put task cards on a ring. Store them somewhere in your ...
Rookie Mistakes: Grading All Student Work
Grading student work can give you valuable feedback concerning your teaching and your students’ progress. However, I don’t want to give you the impression that everything that students touch should be auto-graded or hand graded in order for this to happen. Let’s talk about a common pitfall that teachers fall into: grading everything. Note: Rookie Mistakes is a series of common pitfalls ...
How to Teach Slope
Slope is a heavily emphasized standard in high school math, but its origins (like all math really) predate high school by years. In fact, students are already seeing the precursor to slope in 6th grade -- rates, unit rates, and graphing an independent and dependent variable on a graph. Today, we are going to explore slope in all of its math glory. HOW TO TEACH SLOPE Here are a few ...
Teaching Functions in Algebra 1
Not only are functions fun, they are the basis of all of Algebra 1 - linear, quadratic, and exponential. Out of 49 Texas standards in Algebra 1, 20 involve functions -- that is over 40%! It is important that students have a firm grasp on understanding how to identify, evaluate, and graph a function to prepare them for more complex problems. Teaching Functions in Algebra ...
Free Back to School Digital Activities
The first days of school are upon us! (If you haven’t already started teaching, make sure to check out our post on remote learning routines and procedures to teach your middle schoolers.) This post will answer the question: “What is a fun activity to start the year off with my students online this year?” Here are our top picks for back to school math digital activities Desmos Four ...
15 Remote Teaching Videos to Get You Started
The school year has either started or is about to start. No time to waste! Here are 15 remote teaching videos that will hopefully help you make some of this technology transition a little bit easier. Note: We receive questions about "how to do _____?" so frequently. Below are our most popular. We also have a video library for any other FAQs related to using our resources that you ...