Warm-up

If it is 4200 miles from Chicago, IL to Madrid Spain and it takes 8 hours and 5 minutes to get there, how fast was the airplane traveling.

More On Google Forms In Math

I decided to talk more about using Google Forms more in Math since it has so many possibilities and can be used in a variety of ways.  In addition, there are some add-ons that make it easier to use in math to make forms more useful.  

There are several add-ons depending on which browser you are using.  If you use the Chrome browser, you can add-on EquitI0 which allows students to provide mathematical answers that might have radicals, exponents, or complex fractions.  It also has a feature that allows students to verbally give an answer for the program to write down.  

If you use the Safari browser, there are several math editor add-ons you can choose from.  I've used the EquatIO so I'm most familiar with those.  

Last time, I discussed using it for a spiral review but it could also be used to build quizzes in the same manner using either multiple choice or short answer questions.  For multiple choice questions, you choose the correct answer when you build the answer key.  You can also put in answers for the short answers but if the answer in the key does not match the one the student gives, it may not mark it correct.  What I means is that you write x = 3 with spaces and the student types in x=3 so you need to put both in.  The form automatically grades but if you do not want the students to immediate see their scores, you can set it up to mail the results at a later time.  I sometimes do it this way so I can double check the short answers just in case they wrote the answer in a form the answer key does not recognize.

There is also a choice to have a paragraph answer which I like because I can have students explain their thinking in regard to solving a problem, the steps they took to solve a problem, how they translated a word problem into an equation, or explain what is wrong with the way an equation was solved so they find the mistake.  This allows more space for students to record their responses so they don't run out of room in the short answer.  The other advantage to use paragraph form rather than having students write out their answers on paper is that you can actually read what has been submitted.

Google forms are great for bell ringers or warmups so students can start working on it as soon as they get into class and you have the results immediately so you can see where they need reteaching or support.  Forms is also great as exit tickets since the students answer the question and they are ready to go.  Both ways provides data you can use to meet the needs of your students.

If you need to do a pretest to see what they know before you start the new unit, forms is a great way to do this because of the data it provides.  It is much easier than trying to make copies, pass them out, collect, grade, and try to remember who didn't take it.  The results from this allow you to teach what your students need rather than just following the book.

Forms is also great for end of section tests since you can write problems,  include diagrams, pictures, and so much more.  In addition, you can set the form to shuffle questions so everyone gets questions in a  slightly different order.  You can also let students see which questions they missed and the correct answers but only after the results are released for the whole class.  Furthermore, you can set point values if you want so students know what each question is worth.

One of the tasks teachers often must do in the first day or two is gather parent contact information.  This can easily be done using Google Forms and then forms drops all the information into a spread sheet so you don't have to add it all in.  Yes, I know that many folks use a system where you can look it up but sometimes it is not as well organized or things like phone numbers change.

Google forms are a great thing to use in the classroom to help make your life easier so you can spend a bit more time caring for yourself while getting all the assessments done so you have better data for lesson planning.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

Spiral Reviews Part 2 - How To Do It With Google Forms

Last Friday, I discussed spiral reviews.  I looked at what they were, what the best ways of including spiral reviews into daily instruction.  This time, I'm going to look at providing digital versions of spiral reviews because many of us use platforms such as google classroom and it's easy to incorporate problems so students get to practice what they've learned.

Before you begin creating a digital spiral review, you need to determine which problems you should be using.  Look at the problems carefully to see which ones have students practicing a specific skill.  

Types of problems chosen for the spiral reviews can be problems students would have done in class or as part of the homework assignment.  It might be a new problem done in the same style they've seen before or slightly rearranged such as instead of x + 2 = 7, it is written as 7 = x + 2 or even 2 + x = 7.  This way they get used to seeing problems in multiple formats.

One way to create a digital spiral review is to use google forms because you can set it up so students receive immediate feedback on their answers if one uses multiple choice questions.  If you choose a short answer question, it will not provide the immediate feedback.  In addition, google forms will provide the teacher with data to see what they know or don't know. 

Google forms is quite easy to set up.  Begin by bringing up forms and hit the create a new from + button.  

When you see the first question, it will be an unlabeled form.  Just double click on the words "Untitled Form" and come up with a title.  It might be review, or exit ticket but put something on it to identify it with more detail such as the date.

It always shows a place for the first question.  Multiple choice is a good one for this type of review because students know at least one answer is correct and they can use that to help them look at their answer to compare it with all the possibilities.

Then you type the question into the spot that says Untitled questions.  For this I made sure type of question next to it was labeled multiple choice.

In the spot that says option 1, I wrote one answer.  then I clicked on add option so I could type in another answer.  I continue until I have all the answers.  If you need a picture, you can click on the photo icon to the right and use that to install a illustration.  

In order to set the questions so you can identify the correct answer, you need to go to settings and click on Make this a quiz.  This allows you to identify the answer by clicking on the blue words answer key that appears in the lower left corner of each question.  

When you click on answer key, you click on the correct answer so that it allows you to place a check mark on correct answer.  You do this for every question on the quiz.

When you have the proper answer identified, you click on the done button and move on to the next question. When students finish the quiz, they submit it and they get an immediate feedback telling them what they got right and which ones they missed.

 If you go back on the settings page, you can collect e-mail addresses so you can provide your own feedback.  

In the middle tab, you can look at all the student responses so you can see how they did.  You can see responses by question, by individual, or an overall summary that can be downloaded.

Although this can be done in something like Google slides, I usually use Google Forms but Google slides does allow students to show their work.  It all depends on what you are after.  On the other hand, if you choose the short answer question, you can have students show their work step by step or explain their thoughts.  

Hope this is enough to get you started.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.  

Happy Labor Day

 

Warm-up

 

If twenty four trees are needed to make 200,000 sheets of paper, how many reams of paper is that if each ream is made up of 500 sheets?

Warm-up

One acre of land can grow 450 trees.  If one tree produces 16.67 reams of paper, how many reams of paper does one acre of land produce? 

Spiral Reviews Part 1.

 

One of the hardest things to do is to remember to include spiral reviews as part of the classroom routine.  Some books include a small spiral review section but it doesn't always focus on previously learned material. Instead, it focuses on materials learned several grades ago.  A spiral review is defined as giving students problems of topics they have learned for the rest of the year as a way of moving the learning from short term to long term memory. 

I took a professional development class that talked about including spiral review as part of class instruction.  The idea was simply after students have learned the material, you include problems for them to do so they continue practicing the material. In some districts, it is mandated while in other places, some teachers choose to do it.  Fortunately, this class made some practical suggestions to implement it but they didn't tell you when you should no longer focus on certain topics.

If you begin a spiral review at the beginning of the year, it doesn't take long before you have so many concepts and topics that you won't have time to teach a lesson introducing new material.  Since the goal behind spiral reviews is so students have a chance to master the material so it is important to base what you include in the spiral review on data you have gathered.  Data can be used to see what topics students have to master and which ones they've become experts on.  As they master topics, you can switch to asking questions on that topic once a week, or one every couple of weeks.

Since research indicates students are only able to focus for 8 to 10 minutes at a time, it is important to keep the spiral review short if it is done in class.  If you are doing it in class as part of the warm up, ask between 3 and 5 questions so students finish before they lose their focus.  If you place the spiral review in the homework, you'll slip a few questions into the whole assignment so they get practice that way.

It is important to make the spiral review a part of the class routine because the more time we spend on task, the more students learn.  When it is part of the routine, you don't lose time explaining how to do things or transitioning once you've taught students how to do it and when it will be done, it becomes automatic.  If the spiral routine is done correctly, it will only take 3 to 5 minutes of your class time while providing you data so you can determine if they've mastered the skill or they need a bit more instruction.

Sometimes, you might hear folks who talk about spiral reviews and spiral instruction as if they are the same.  They are not. Spiral instruction is when the skills and concepts are broken up and taught across the school year so they are introduced to new facets or components of the topic across the year.  While spiral review refers to give students the opportunity to practice skills they've already learned across the year.  

Spiral reviews are an excellent way to assess what they've mastered and what they still need practice on.  In fact, it can be used to provide the data you need to see where they are so you don't have to wait till the end of the section to find out what they need.

For the best use of spiral reviews, make sure you are indeed have students practice problems of material they've been taught rather than trying to teach them.  Keep the number of questions to between three and five so the review is short and can be done within 5 minutes.  Make it a part of your daily routine so it becomes automatic. 

On Wednesday, I'll discuss ways to do spiral reviews digitally so you don't increase the number of papers you have around and can reach all your students.  Let me know what you think, I"d love to hear.  Have a great day.