Reflecting on My Second Year of using 1:1 iPads in Math

One of scariest and best decisions I made last summer was to become a "Connected Educator" on Twitter and to start my blog to reflect on my journey as a Middle School Math Teacher. Even though I use this blog as a way for me to reflect on my teaching, I am excited to reach my 100 followers milestone.... :o)  Thank You for following me on my journey.

I have been very fortunate to use 1:1 iPads with my Math Support students again this year. Last year was my first experience using 1:1 iPads in my Math Support class.  My first year I discovered some great apps and I learned a lot about how to structure the class using 1:1 iPads.

This year I volunteered to take on three Math Support classes.  With this decision I knew that I had a big task ahead of me, because I was going to have to sell my product super hard because this would be their second period of Math each day. It took a lot of work in the beginning to teach them to be responsible with the iPads and that I had zero tolerance for bad decisions.  Creating all of the lessons I use in my Math Support classes was very time consuming, but seeing the students learn and grow was well worth all of the hard work.... :o)

Using Showbie
In order for all of my Math Support classes to be successful this year, I knew that every thing needed to be super structured.  The foundation of my structured 1:1 iPads classroom is Showbie. I have previously blogged about Showbie and how I use Showbie in my 1:1 iPads Math classroom.  Since I have written my previous blogs about Showbie's Awesomeness, Showbie has had many updates and has many new features. So Showbie has become even more "Awesome". :o)

For example: One of my favorite things about Showbie was the fact that students could annotate on my "Paperless" tasks and I could CFU and leave feedback.  I not only wanted students to annotate and solve problems on their "Paperless"task, but I also wanted them to leave written justifications on their assignments, so I utilized Showbie's Comment Feature.  Students would type their written justification in a comment and leave it on the assignment.

Here are some "Old School" examples of how my students used Showbie to solve problems and began supporting and justifying their answers by leaving a typed comment on the assignment.

Then Showbie updated their app and added a color palette to their pen tool. Showbie also added the ability to type text directly on assignments.  I was so elated the day I learned of their new updates. What is great about the new text feature is the students can change the text size and color, and students can go back and edit their typed responses without deleting them and starting over. They love this.  :o)

Here are some "New School" examples of how my students solve problems and support and justify their answers in Showbie using their new text tool.

Another reason I love Showbie is the ability to "Check For Understanding" and leave feedback for the students.  In their updates Showbie has added a "Quick Marking" feature in which you can easily go from one students assignment to another.  It is a huge time saver.  Thank You Showbie.... :o)

I make my students write a lot in my Math Support classes.  I love the fact that students can also leave a comment within the assignments in Showbie.  I leave a writing prompt for my students to complete after they finish each assignment in Showbie.
Here are a few examples of my student's comments after completing assignments in Showbie.

These are some of the reasons that Showbie is my students and my favorite app...  :o)
Here is a link to my Showbie Resource Page.

Using Socrative
One of my other favorite apps is Socrative.  I have tried many other similar apps but none really compare to Socrative.   I have previously blogged about Socrative and how awesome it is.  I have used it to create my"Self-paced" lessons and my "Collaborative Team" tasks.

I love Socrative because it is easy to create the lessons and the app is easy for the students to use.  I recently started making my "Self-paced" lessons and "Team Tasks" with "Digital Task Cards" and the students love them. I also make a lot of Scaffolded Self-paced lessons on Socrative.  My Scaffolded lessons will guide the student through the thinking process of the concept to help them better understand and make connections. :o)

Here are some examples of  my students doing my Socrative "Self-paced" lessons and "Digital Task Cards".

Here are some examples of my students and my Socrative Collaborative "Team Tasks" Space Race Style.

Along with Showbie, Socrative is one of my students and my favorite apps... :o)
Here is a link to my Socrative Resource Page.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.... :o)

Paperless Tasks and Student Learning Via Showbie

First Quarter Benchmark Week
We have reached the end of the 1st Quarter in Math 8 and the students spent last week completing a Benchmark Assessment, a Writing Assessment and a Benchmark Performance Task.  The idea for our assessment week is to prepare the students for the SBAC test in the Spring.  During this test in the Spring the students will take a multiple choice test and complete a performance task.  Our Benchmark weeks are like practice tests, to help students learn to persevere through struggle and do the best that they can. :o)

The last couple of weeks in my 1:1 Math Support classes I have been helping my students review the Math 8 concepts from the 1st quarter and prepare for the 1st Quarter Benchmark.  The Benchmark Performance Task was based on a real world situation that represents a linear relationship and a proportional relationship.

Here is an example of the Benchmark Performance Task.

Using Showbie in a 1:1 Math Class
If you have read my blog before you know how much I love Showbie.  I honestly believe it is by far the best app for any 1:1 class or BYOD classrooms.  Showbie is the center of my 1:1 Math support class.  I use it to organize the weekly assignments for my Math Support classes.  I use it to give the students links to important resources I want them to use, and I use it as a way for my students to reflect and write after each assignment.  Check out Showbie's Blog featuring my student reflections. :o)

My students also love Showbie. They love Showbie because I create paperless performance tasks, and assessments for them to complete via Showbie.   The students love the annotation feature  in Showbie because it allows them to write directly on the iPad and they can easily erase and rewrite their answers. Showbie also has a "Comment" feature that allows the students to type a written response on my paperless tasks. To utilize this feature I have created a symbol for the students to know when I want them to type a written response.

This is an example of what the students would see when I want them to type a written response.

Here are pictures of my students using Showbie to complete my paperless performance tasks.

Here are some examples of the paperless performance tasks my students did to help prepare for the benchmark performance task.

My "Paperless Performance Tasks" are usually require multiple days to complete.   The best part about Showbie and my paperless performance tasks is the fact that I can give feedback to the students via Showbie.   I look at my students' work every night and leave feedback on their performance tasks so the next day they can see their mistakes and make the corrections that are needed.

Here are some examples of the my annotations on my students' paperless performance tasks.

One of my newest ideas for my Math Support class is my paperless assessments. I love these because they allow me to check for understanding and give the students feedback.  The students take the assessment in class.  That night I can look at each of the students' completed assessments on my iPad and correct them using Showbie's annotation feature and leave a typed response using Showbie's "Comment" feature.  The next day the students can go back to the assessment and make the corrections and then they leave a "Comment" in Showbie explaining their mistakes and what they now understand about the concept.

Here are some examples of a recent CFU  assessment I used to help my students review for the benchmark performance task.

                           

 

 

Here are the paperless assessments I made to use in Showbie if you would like to download them: Writing Equations from Situations Assessments

I did a poll in Edmodo on my students' favorite app in Math Support.  After the students did the poll, they left a "Comment" in Showbie explaining their reasoning.  It didn't surprise me that Showbie had the most votes in the poll.

Here are some of the reasons the students left for why Showbie is their favorite app to use in Math Support class.

I have always known how great Showbie is and everything that it has to offer.  I had my students do an end of the quarter reflection.  In their reflections some of my students explained how important Showbie is to them and how Showbie helps them in Math Support. These are awesome reflections. :o)

Here are some examples of the students reflections.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and reading my post about my favorite app Showbie.  :o)