Measurement and Cooking Fun Math 1512 Post #5

Measurement--We see and use it every day!  We measure things in miles, drops, steps, feet, inches, gallons, quarts, milliliters, and the list goes on forever!  How do we keep these all straight?  To be honest, I don't

I keep a magnet on my refrigerator much like the one pictured here.  I refer to it when I'm making some juice or cooking.  My eyes are glued to it when I can vegetables.  You are probably thinking, "Um, so?" 

Here is my point.  Why memorize this?  Let's show our students HOW and WHEN they will use these measurements as well as distance, space, and other types of measurement.  Have fun with it! 

I think cooking activities are perfect for this.  It's simple.  Here is a site to hundreds of EASY cooking ideas for children.  I think the important thing is that the students take their time and pay attention to the measurements.  I don't think it's important to remember how many quarts are in a gallon, but students should know that a gallon is indeed larger than a quart.  Here is an ADORABLE video of a couple of kids cooking.  They are missing the explanation of measurements, but they sure had fun! 

ToonDoo Math 1512: Post #4

For my Math 1512 class, we made something called a ToonDoo.  We used a free online software called ToonDoo.  It's a site where ordinary people can create cartoons/comic strips.  At first, I was super frustrated with the program.  When I started playing around with it a bit more, it was a lot of fun!  I'll share one of my ToonDoos with you here. 

This ToonDoo was about rounding.  I think that students will remember more of the concepts we teach them if we give them a reason to remember.  During the middle of a breakdown on a standardized test, I hope my students will remember my our high-energy discussion about rounding, or my cartoon.  What is better than cartoons?
This is sort of random, but I work as a waitress at Famous Dave's of America.  The secret to getting a large tip from a table is to butter up personalize and relate to them on the same level.  I think the same applies to teaching.  If we can relate to our students and give them the tools they need to succeed (which is perhaps a bit more difficult than a few butter packets or an extra napkin) they will indeed go far. 
We get so tied up with testing and meeting the standards that we forget about about the 5 W's + H of teaching.  I'm not sure there is such a thing, but I think about it all the time!
W-Who is our audience
W-What are we teaching? What do we want them to remember?
W-When will they use this?
W-Where might they use this?
W-Why are we learning this?
H-How are we going to remember this?  (Give them a reason to remember!) 
I think things such as ToonDoos are a great way to get our students interested in the tough subjects like English and math!  
WE DON'T WANT THIS!  HERE IS TO QUALITY TEACHING!