Monday Must Reads: Volume 31

Happy Monday! It's President's Day here in the US which means a day off at my school. And, let me say that this day off is much needed. We haven't had a single snow day this year, and I've really missed having a few unexpected breaks during the school year. This was originally supposed to be a professional day for us, but we get the day off since we attended a PD day during the summer that counted for today.

Once again, I'm compiling a list of the great ideas I ran across on twitter and in my RSS reader this week. I hope you enjoy this week's "Must Reads."


Liz Mastalio shares an awesome graphic organizer that I will definitely be stealing if I ever have to teach exponent rules again! My students used to never know when they were done simplifying. I can't believe I never thought to give them a checklist!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MissMastalio/status/964603355787128833

My school struggles to get a good turn-out for parent teacher conferences. We're always looking for ideas that will get parents in the building. Liz Mastalio tracks how many students/parents came to conferences by breaking them down by their house. LOVE this idea!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MissMastalio/status/964171692821147648

I've been super-impressed with the immigration project that Rick Barlow has been having his students complete. Check out more information on Rick's blog!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/rickbrlw/status/964593486162006017

Maria Dunlap modified a slope activity that I posted on my blog last week to involve tooth picks, and it made the activity at least ten times more awesome!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MariaDunlapCJH/status/964572540231446528

Texas Math Teacher shares a creative way to help students estimate square roots that aren't perfect squares.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/wendytiedt/status/964337539044773888

As teachers, we often complain that our students are out of touch with the reality of the world around them. Ron King'sMillion Dollar Project works to tackle this problem by opening students' eyes to the realities of paying for college, buying a house, buying a car, budgeting for vacations, and researching charities before donating to them.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/mthman/status/964256794460614657

Nico Rowinsky shares a photo of an awesome bulletin board. I love this idea of showing off students' struggles instead of rewarding students who completed the task quickly on their first try.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/rowmath/status/806312448634613760

Kim Spek has blown my mind by sharing a step-by-step tutorial for creating a fabric hexaflexagon!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/kvdspek/status/965412168819728385

Illustrative Math poses an interesting question: which inequality would your students say doesn't belong?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/IllustrateMath/status/965345287240847360

I love this idea shared by Erin Schultz of creating a Demos Wall of Fame.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/schultzem/status/925818230907850753

Team Maths shares another awesome resource by Don Steward. These arithmogon puzzles give students critical practice working with integers! Be sure to check out Don's entire post here.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Team_Maths1/status/964946955196620801

Need a fun practice idea? Check out this activity from Erin Dunn. Students earned a cup for each equation they solved correctly. The final challenge? Build the tallest tower possible.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/TMSDunnMath/status/930229655029895169

10ticks shares a fun area-based algebra puzzle for your puzzling enjoyment.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/10ticks/status/964439634066354176

I know Valentine's is now a distant memory, but I can't keep from including this creative Valentine that Kassia Wedekind's daughter received from her preschool teacher.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/kassiaowedekind/status/963908481702088704

Shera Higbee brings out the creativity in her students by posting a student-created math pun on the board each day.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/HigbeesHeroes/status/963787628079443969

Planning for next month's Pi Day? Jacqueline Tishler shares the idea of engaging students with a kahoot on pi facts.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/jmtishler/status/709370504403099648

David Butler shares a heart-shaped puzzle he created for his wife for Valentine's Day.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/DavidKButlerUoA/status/963908145885032449

Have some popsicle sticks laying around? Check out this idea from Maria Dunlap.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MariaDunlapCJH/status/949321375516372993

Molly Hamilton inspires me. She created a twitter account just to share some awesomeness that her students created. How cool is that?!?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MsMathLab/status/963813006122668038

Cassandra Valenti engaged students on Valentine's Day by having them graph some cardoids by hand.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MathWithMrsV/status/963807869396291589

Steve Phelps shares some candy-based fun for your statistics lesson.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/giohio/status/963761642176688137

Jessica Silas wins the award for coolest use ever for a clinometer.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/JessicaSilas17/status/963606162804477952

Caitlyn Gironda shares a great real-world application of geometry by examining food deserts.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Caitlyn_Gironda/status/963515942125953024

Mark McCourt shares an interesting geometry problem from John Mason.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/EmathsUK/status/963352860766429185

Parmenter Math shares an awesome heart-themed WODB.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/ParmenterMath/status/963154991816028160

I love this question approach from Jae Ess where students are given the answer and have to create their own math problem to equal it.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/jaegetsreal/status/962374852823969793

Allie Webb shares a real-world example of compound inequalities.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MsWebb16/status/962855494665883648

Mariel Mates wants to encourage crafty math teachers to knit or crochet their own pi day scarf that has rows of colors corresponding to the digits of pi. I'm not sure I will pull this off for this year, but maybe next year will be the year?!?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/marielgm9/status/937260396708327429

Until next Monday, keep up the awesome sharing!