My Socrative Math Land Amusement Park Team Task

I know it's been a while since I have blogged and shared my classroom ideas, but I have been super busy with my new part time TOSA role as an Instructional Coach, as well as my normal duties as an 8th Grade Math Teacher.  :o)

I did some really great things with my Pythagorean Unit this year. Since I don't always have time to blog, follow me on Twitter and you will see everything I do.

Today I wanted to blog about my Math Land Amusement Park Team Task.  This has always been one of my favorite Team Tasks.  Originally, this Team Task was created as a paper task.  A couple of years ago, I made this Team Task into "Digital Task Cards".

My Socrative Math Land Amusement Park Team Task

Changes to the Team Task This Year
This year instead of having the students plot the points, I created the Math Land Amusement Park Coordinate Graph for the students.

My Math Land Amusement Park Coordinate Graph File. Feel free to download and use.

Team Task Structure
In this Team Task, the students took turns being Team Mathematician.

The Team Mathematician would:
- Facilitate the problem.
- Read the situation card to the "Team".
- Use the Amusement Park Key to find the points needed.
All Team Members would discuss and complete the problem as a Team.  Each Team Member would do the work on their own graph, and their own whiteboard.
The Team Mathematician would:
- Ask all of the Team Members if they agree before the "Team" enters an answer.

Math Land Amusement Park Attraction Key:

Math Land Amusement Park Attraction Key File. Feel free to download and use.

My Socrative Math Land Amusement Park Team Task Digital Task Card Examples

Math Land Amusement Park Team Task:  Feel free to use. :o)
Socrative Code: SOC-26989390
Socrative Link: Math Land Amusement Park Team Task Digital Task Cards

A Blast From the Past
If you would like the students to plot the points for Math Land Amusement Park, feel free to use this file from last year with the coordinates for each attraction.

Math Land Amusement Park (Part 1) Graphing the Points File. Feel free to download and use.


Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog... Feel free to leave feedback... :o)

Socrative 101 - Making "Digital Task Cards"

If you follow me on Twitter you know how much I love Socrative. I love Socrative because I can create (self-paced) lessons for students to work independently or I can create "Team Tasks" for students to work collaboratively.

To make my Socrative Assignments more intriguing to the students, I started creating "Digital Task Cards" to go with the questions in my Socrative Assignments.  Students love doing math in my Socrative Assignments with "Digital Task Cards". #happyteacher

How To Make "Digital Task Cards"
I use PowerPoint to create my "Digital Task Cards". I made a template to use each time I make a new set.  The template has a place for the problem and I can easily change the background on the cards to make each set of task cards unique.

"Digital Task Cards" Template in PowerPoint

Here is a copy of my Socrative "Digital Task Cards" PowerPoint Template. Feel free to download and use. :o)    My "Digital Task Cards" PowerPoint Template

To make the "Digital Task Cards", I start by choosing backgrounds for each of the task cards in the set.  After I have the backgrounds put in, I add the written part of the problem on the task cards.

Next, I add the math problem to each of the task cards.

After I have completed the set of "Digital Task Cards", I get them ready to put into my Socrative Assignment.

Making the "Digital Task Cards"into Images
The "Digital Task Cards" need to be images to use in Socrative. After you have saved your "Digital Task Cards" as a  PowerPoint, click Save As - then Save as Type - click the drop down and choose an image format. Choose save Every Slide. All of the slides will be saved as images in a folder.

Creating the "Digital Task Cards" Assignment in Socrative
Sign into Socrative and go to Manage Quizzes and Create Quiz.

Name your quiz and choose a type of question to add.

After the question is typed in, choose add image and add the image that corresponds with your question from the folder with your "Digital Task Cards" from your PowerPoint.

This is what the question will look like after the image is added.

Continue this process to complete your Socrative Assignment with "Digital Task Cards".


Making an Answer Key for the "Digital Task Cards"
I make my own math problems so I like to have an answer key. I use my PowerPoint slides to print a blank answer key and work out the problems next to each of the task cards. This also allows me to find mistakes and to make sure the problems will work out.

This is an example of what my blank answer key looks like when it is printed.

To print a blank answer key from your set of "Digital Task Cards". You need to change the Print Layout. To do this: Click File - Print - Full Page Slides - 3 Slides.

This is how it looks when you print out your blank answer key from your "Digital Task Cards".

Click "Print" and you will have a blank answer key for your "Digital Task Cards".


Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.  I hope that you have been inspired to create your own Socrative Assignments with "Digital Task Cards".

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)