Monday

Something to consider for organizing resources...any advice ?

    I am considering a platform to organize my resources. I already have a word document with a simple log of related items, but it is not the most convenient for my students source to use, since sometimes titles ( I want to say "text") can be not as helpful for them as pictures for identifying the type of information they may be looking for.
   This is my first experiment with  www.thinglink.com  basic account, which allows 5 free links per image.
 I have an image of a geometry mind map (bisectors) and my youtube videos with basic explanations attached to them. It is good to go for my 2-year-Geometry classes or for a Regents Geometry class Review.
    If not this, than I can see 2 other possibilities. One is: just post all videos and docs on my classes pages, in the order I teach them , organized by chapters. The other thought is to have a full unit mind map from www.imindmap.com with videos and docs attached. This may be costly, but faster to generate maps, and there would be no limit for the attachments...
    Can anyone advise me on this?

Thursday

First Geometry Bulletin Board of the year....

Geometry: Mind map on Bisectors

  Celebrating Chaos, Creativity & Team Work!

I am thinking, it should be something that allows to see students' progress, and yes: I want to use ...mind mapping for it! 
 I use this particular Geometry Bisection vs. Partition Bulletin Board Set for a number of activities, allowing  students to take an active role in putting it together into a mind map (as in a previous post) while we learn these new ideas (or, refresh them). 
Sometimes I may choose to put these  “puzzle” pieces up all at once, but mounting one piece at a time, as I 
teach a new idea, gives me an opportunity to visualize the process of creating a body of knowledge for students: one piece to another, somehow, possibly, connected to each other. 
  I prefer to spread assembling this      bulletin board over a few daysbecause I like the idea of using it as an instructional tool with a reference value that supports procedural fluency and exhibits authentic student models.  Sorting activity is another way to utilize this Bulletin Board Set: at the end of the unit students can be asked to generate their own summary of the material.  Later, as a follow-up activity, the sorting of the bulletin board pieces can be done in class and compared with your students’ work. This is, actually,  a good way to introduce (or strengthen) the idea of mind-mapping, which may serve your students well.   
   Below are the images of the bulletin board "parking lots” , which I use for a sorting activity  with the Unit Review. The idea is that after students complete their Unit Review practice, I ask them to sort their task cards (one per student) by placing each of them onto the corresponding cloud of the mind map (each type of the situation in the map is color-coded).
My students assemble the map itself before this sorting activity, as part of verifying their individual maps, completed for homework earlier. 
**This Bulletin Board on Basic Geometry Concepts is now ready to be both: our Word Wall and Active Reference**

"parking lot" clouds for task cards
 that illustrate variety of situations
where a given rule is applied.