10 Ways to Use Google Keep | Skillful Teaching Productivity Hack

5 TOP COFFEE MIXES YOU MUST HAVE: Coffee that Skillful Teachers Recommend!| YouTube Video

5 Top Coffee Mixes You Must Have: Coffee that Skillful Teachers Recommend | Wild-Out Wednesday

 

WAKE ME UP COFFEE SMOOTHIE RECIPE

Source: liveeatlearn.com

 

SALTED CARAMEL LATTE RECIPE

Source: spicysouthernkitchen.com

 

 

BROWN SUGAR COCONUT MILK LATTE RECIPE

Source: www.allrecipes.com

 

CLASSIC CAPPUCCINO RECIPE

Source: thespruceeats.com

 

 

 

Starbucks Honey Caramel

 

 

Starbucks Madagascar Vanilla

 

 

 

International Delight – Southern Butter Pecan

 

 

What Are You Reading?

7 Assessment and Grading Practices that Enhance Teaching and Learning

If you're a member of the @SimpleK12 community, join me at 4:00 eastern for 7 Assessment and Grading Practices that Enhance Teaching and Learning https://t.co/9aI4ZBk9H7 pic.twitter.com/qERiSuzgrf

— Dr. Angela McCord (@angelamccord) December 17, 2019

Quick Formative Assessment Strategy

Wheel Decide is a free online spinner that can be modified for just about anything! Below, I have created and embedded a quick formative assessment for a math class that we will call Idea Spinner. During the lesson, we spin the wheel for a quick formative check to check students' understanding. Give it a try!

Learning Math Stations That Work!

This is one way to structure your math block to include Math Stations. The important components of the instructional framework are still included, which makes planning more focused.

Learning stations and guided math are just one integral part of math workshop. Although it may not be likely for everyday instruction, The planning structures below offer a guide for teachers to implement with attention to students' needs and working with guided math groups. The first is an example shared by Dr. Nicki and provides two 15-minute sessions a day, Monday - Thursday, and Fridays for projects and collaborative activities. To expound, there are four groups and the teacher will alternate and work with two groups each day. For example, on Monday the Blue, Yellow, and Orange groups will have independent work or collaborative work that can be down without the help of the teacher while he/she works with the guided Green group. Then, the work stations change after 15 minutes.

When I presented this example to a group of teachers in a professional learning group, a common question was, "What happens when my day is interrupted with picture day, assemblies, etc.?" When thinking about skipping the day and staying on track with the next day, I created the B.U.I.L.D schedule, which provides flexibility. I prefer to look at the sessions as a number of days rather than on a particular day.


Example Planning Structures

Looking for the Perfect Gift for an Awesome Teacher??

"I Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Blogpost to Bring You This Important Message!"  This is the time of year that I loved as a classroom teacher! Students and parents alike adorn teachers with lovely gifts for the holidays. Well, if you're looking for something other than a gift card, but you've waited until now and need it quickly, check out the links below to some of the BEST TEACHER GIFTS on Amazon!! Shipping is quick and saves you from the in-store crowds and standing in lines. And, if you have Amazon Prime, most items arrive at your door in 2-Days, with FREE Shipping! What do you think?


                           

SCCTM 2018 Speaker: Sowing the Seed of Literacy to Improve Problem Solving

If you want to learn how to weave literacy and comprehension strategies into your mathematics instruction, take a look at the books referenced below. They give practical examples for using reading, writing, listening, and speaking to enhance problem-solving in the math classroom. I referenced these books for my presentation at the 2018 South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics. These are also referenced for onsite workshops, where I engage teachers with a deep dive into how to implement these strategies with students. I would love to know what you think about these books! 

South Carolina EDTech Conference 2018

SC EdTech 2018 @Nearpod session, 'High-Yield Strategies & Tech Integration'. https://t.co/z6LF658WkK Enjoy! @ssullivan3683

— Angela McCord, NBCT (@angelamccord) October 25, 2018

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Check Out My New Course for Middle School Teachers!!

<Click here> to receive a coupon for $10 off the price of the course!!  This course is a self-paced, self-guided, and interactive professional development course where you will be able to apply the practical information, technology tools, and handouts in your classroom immediately. <View Course>

In this teacher training course you will learn:
1. How to effectively structure and manage your classroom to improve 
student behaviors 
2. How to structure Lesson Plans to engage students bell to bell 
3. How to communicate with students and parents 
4. How to choose appropriate grading and assessment strategies 
5. ...and much, much more! 
Certificate of Completion will be emailed after satisfactory course feedback is completed. View the trailer on Facebook and like my page! Thanks! 

Easing into Technology Integration with Plickers!!

First, I have to give a big HATS OFF to the teachers pictured below. They were a lively, enthusiastic group ready to learn and share on a Saturday morning. I had the pleasure to facilitate training to this awesome group of teachers during their Saturday Technology Academy on 2/4, where the topic was Embracing the 1:1 Classroom.  I shared Plickers as a great formative assessment tool that can ease even the most reluctant or skeptical teacher into integrating technology on a regular basis.  The power was in the live view, where teachers felt good about providing instant feedback to students and displaying results to spark discussions around learning. Teachers were excited that they would know immediately if students "got it" or if they need to reboot and ask different questions to ensure student understanding. The teachers shared other cool features they enjoyed: free, printable cards, survey mode, and non-threatening environment with hidden names.  

                                                  

Improving Mathematical Thinking with UPS Check Problem Solving Template

For many years, I have watched students catch on to a mathematical concepts, often displaying a huge smile and sense of pride.  However, when it was time to apply that conceptual knowledge to a word problem, sometimes, even the brightest students would just shut down!!  During my work as an instructional coach, I was able to offer professional development to an awesome group of teachers who learned the UPS Check strategy for problem solving, utilized it with fidelity in their classes, and offered feedback to perfect the template and the process. As a result, our students achieved great gains in the area of Algebraic Thinking and Problem Solving.  Students went from skipping most of the word problems to really persevering to problem solve! The template is pictured below.  You may <CLICK HERE> to download it.  Also, check out Ms. Mickle, as she used this strategy as a formative assessment with her Geometry class. Please share if you have other strategies that help with solving word problems.

   

Increasing Rigor with Accountable Math Talk: Starters for Students

Last time, I shared the need to increase the amount of time teaching conceptually, as compared to teaching only procedural knowledge. As a teacher of mathematics, my work and my coaching are strengthened by visiting several classrooms and observing teaching strategies.  In order to support and build teacher capacity, I often compare practices of teachers with high student value added results and those that are not so high. One take-away I am focusing on is based on the Standards for Mathematical Practices (SMP) #2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively and #3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.  Self-reflection and evaluation are two themes that are no longer limited to teachers and adults.  With our increased focus on rigor and standards mastery, it is imperative that students are able to evaluate their solutions for reasonableness, as well as critique the mathematical thinking of others. 

So, what is common in classrooms with high achieving students? One practice that has "stuck out like a sore thumb" for me over the last few weeks is allowing students opportunities to engage in mathematical dialogue.  The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards states that "Accomplished teachers deliberately structure opportunities for students to use and develop appropriate mathematical discourse as they reason and solve problems.  These teachers give student opportunities to talk with one another, work together in solving problems, and use both written and oral discourse to describe and discuss their mathematical thinking and understanding." In classrooms where students are struggling with math, I ask that teachers reflect on the day and/or week, by asking:  1. Have my students had time to engage in "math talk" during my class?  2. Have I intentionally planned for "math talk" today or this week? and 3. How do I know that each student has engaged in "math talk" this day/week?

One lesson I learned as a classroom teacher was that arranging students in groups (close proximity) did not automatically mean that they would have meaningful learning dialogue. I can remember giving students a group assignment and saying, "be sure to talk with your group members and give feedback."  But, now I am sure that students were thinking to themselves, "what does she mean or what should I be saying or asking?" While preparing for National Board Certification, I learned that this communication skill must also be modeled and taught.  In my research to offer assistance with this in my schools, I took several of the "starter phrases" and put them together in card form so each pair of students can have readily available examples of how to have "math talk" when they are defending their work to come to a consensus. Here are 3 examples of the 16 cards that are held together nicely with a small ring binder. Click here if you would like to download the entire set. 

I also encourage teachers to go a step further and generate reflective data on students' mathematical discourse.  In other words, how often students respond with the correct or incorrect answer, and from what level of Blooms Taxonomy or DOK do these questions come. What valuable data to have for reflecting on lessons, using in parent conferences, or preparing for special services. This can be done with a chart on a clip board or using one of my favorite tech tools, the Stick Pick app, which conveniently serves as a random student picker as well as a tracker of total student responses, % correct, and Bloom's level. Click here to view the Stick Pick Blog for more information. 

Below is a snapshot of data from Stick Pick. Feel free to comment. I would love to know how you ensure and track student accountable talk in the classroom.  

Teaching Mathematics for Conceptual Understanding

There is a common thread with many students I have come in contact with over the last few years, when teaching and discussing mathematics.  Many students are:  1. not remembering math from year to year; 2. not able to easily transfer math skills to other subjects, and 3. not able to problem solve. As a teacher of mathematics and math coach, this is troubling. 

In this microwave era of, “I want it now,” and “what’s taking so long,” many teachers of mathematics have resorted to equipping students with a series of algorithms and procedures to commit to memory.  However, as we are preparing our students to be college and career ready, long gone are the days where mathematics equates to numbers only.  To equip our students to compete locally and globally, our focus must shift to helping students develop insight, versus only procedural skills.  Thus, the much debatable topic of teaching for conceptual understanding and learning is worth delving into. It is not surprising that when polled, many K-12 teachers are not familiar with what teaching conceptually looks like, and how it is carried out in the classroom. Many of us sat in classrooms where we watched a teacher go through solving a problem, wrote down the “steps,” and then proceeded to practice fluency by working another 25 to 50 problems. No wonder many parents have labeled their child’s math homework as “new math!” This is understandable because of the early focus in education to produce industry workers (i.e. assembly line workers, welders, automobile workers). But what this teaching lacked was equipping students to: make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, reason abstractly as well as quantitatively, construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, model with mathematics, use appropriate tools strategically, attend to precision, look for and make use of structure, and look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.  Sound familiar?  It should, because these are the Standards for Mathematical Practices, the way in which we should deliver math content. Now, our task as teachers is to prepare students for jobs and careers that may not exist yet, and teaching through the lens of the Standards for Mathematical Practice will ensure conceptual understanding. This knowledge takes them far beyond procedures and fluency, arming them with the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed to be successful today and in the days to come.

The Learning Principle from the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) is a good resource to gain an understanding of conceptual knowledge.  This principle states: “Students must learn mathematics with understanding, actively building new knowledge from experience and prior knowledge.” This supports the fact that rote memorization is not the key to high achievement in mathematics, especially if our students don’t understand the math.  However, I do not discount procedural fluency in any way.  But, there must be a balance in order to improve student achievement. 

So, how do we correct this lack of conceptual understanding in the mathematics classroom?  Allowing students to model concepts, use manipulatives in class, and express their findings in words will help students gain an understanding of complex ideas.  Give students opportunities to express and defend their thinking, as well as receive constructive feedback from peers and the teacher. This should not be limited to learning at the elementary level.  Take time to incorporate the practice of estimating.  Also, giving students an opportunity to express math concepts in multiple ways leads to conceptual understanding, in essence, understanding the why before practicing procedural fluency (the how).  Dan Meyer says it best in his TED talk, Math Class Needs a Makeover, and offers examples on how to begin changing our delivery to best meet the needs of students of mathematics.

After sharing these ideas with my middle level colleagues, I was pleased to find that several teachers have changed their practice to include the modeling of concepts with an understanding of why/how it works, before delivery of procedural knowledge. Also to my delight, while conferencing with a reflective teacher, she shared a new practice she will incorporate to begin assessing conceptual understanding.  By simply inserting a “think check” component into her daily lesson, she will learn if students are taking away an understanding of why, and not only how.  This will also remind her to plan for conceptual understanding in her delivery, so students will be able to answer such questions each day. 

Here is an image of an example:

Related Resources to aid in teaching mathematics for conceptual understanding:

Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics: Developmentally Appropriate Instruction for Grades 6-8 (Volume III) (2nd Edition) (New 2013 Curriculum & Instruction Titles) - Illustrates what it means to teach student-centered, problem-based mathematics, provides references for the mathematics content and research-based instructional strategies, and presents a large collection of high quality tasks and activities that can engage students in the mathematics that is important for them to learn.

LearnZillionInstructional Videos -  See visual, conceptual explanations of the Common Core State Standards, along with guided practice and note-taking guide.

3-Acts Math Tasks Inspired by Dan Meyer - Storytelling to provide a framework for certain mathematical tasks that is both prescriptive enough to be useful and flexible enough to be usable. One minute of video or one photo to tell the start of a mathematical story that will engage learners in asking a question.

Mathalicious -Real-world lessons help middle and high school teachers address Standards while challenging their students to think critically about the world.

Conceptual Math.org - Promotes math as a tool for understanding yourself and the world around you.

Statistics Education Web - Improve statistics education at all levels, with relevant, useful, and meaningful applications.

Works Sited:

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM.

Teaching Problem Solving to Young Mathematicians

Problem solving in mathematics is an important skill as outlined by the first CCSS Mathematical Practice: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Students who master this skill early are better prepared for more complex math and problem-solving tasks. So, why do our young learners have a difficult time mastering this skill? As a math coach, I have been stressing integrated problem solving with my teachers. However, last week I was able to observe a teacher as she worked through a problem with her students, and realized that students would have benefited from being familiar with strategies to assist in thinking and problem solving. She also recognized that most of the students were fearful when viewing so many words written closely together, providing information about the problem. It is math class for goodness sake! 😅 Middle school students are still at the stage where they need visuals and mnemonics to help with recall and understanding. So, I found the visual below, shared it with my teachers, and they thought it would be useful. So, how do we as teachers of mathematics help our students reach a proficient level in problem solving? A practice guide entitled, Improving Mathematical Problem Solving in Grades 4 Through 8, published by IES outlines 5 recommendations to improve mathematical problem solving by our students. These research-based recommendations have specific examples of how each should be carried out. View the practice guide below. 

Improving Mathematical Problem Solving by Angela on Scribd

Formative Assessment with Mastery Connect: Best Find So Far!

Most educators agree that formative assessment is a powerful practice when it comes to improving student achievement.  After-all, how do we know how to tailor instruction if we don't make "spot checks" along the way?  I attribute my successful track record of growing students in the mathematics classroom to frequent formative assessments. In 2010, my favorite tool of choice was the SMART Response interactive response system, generically know as "clickers."  I was able to assess students quickly and often, while tagging questions with standards. This allowed me to differentiate for each student and learn what standards students had mastered and when they were ready to move on.

Now, in the age of mobile devices to aid teaching and learning, the "clicker" has taken a back seat to several on-line tools and Apps.  I recently discovered Mastery Connect, which has a free version that allows teachers to track the Common Core or state standards for every student.  What a powerful tool!  With the free version, up to ten questions can be administered to students, where they answer on their iPad or fill in a bubble sheet that is scanned by the teacher's mobile device (iPhone/iPad) or Web Cam.  Students get immediate feedback and results are tagged with mastery, near mastery, or remediation.  Several math teachers that I have shared this with are excited to have this data at their finger tips. Another plus is the collaboration with a huge network of teachers who have uploaded assessments to share. Watch the video below to see how some of the features work.

Reframing and Refining the Worksheet | Edutopia

Reframing and Refining the Worksheet | Edutopia ( An Insightful article which expresses the need for periodically using worksheets in the classroom, but in a meaningful way.)