Hour of Code and Math

Ms. Ralph,   Mrs. Allen and I worked with the math intervention students these last 2 days to on coding skills, pointing out math skills as we went.  Students started with https://www.madewithcode.com/ Accessorizer and focused on X,Y co-ordinates.  We then talked about the radius of a circle and how that worked into Anna and Elsa's coding on Code.org.     Those that finished early worked on coding a Holiday tree in Washington DC.  It was a great 2 days!

Sharing the Information!

The teachers at Ridgeview are getting creative in how they are sharing information and resources with students.  Recently in the United States History classes the teachers created a Thinglink that explained the famous engraving of the Boston Massacre and helped students explore the events leading up to and following this historic event.

In our Next Generation Digital Classroom  Ms. Raph and Mrs. Allen are grouping resources using Blendspace to allow students to work through the websites at their own pace and at the same time sharpen their math skills.

Mr. Clark's World Cultures classes are exploring Europe with the help of Symbaloo - an easy way to visually organize the links they will need to learn the material.

Math Loves Technology!

Sixth grade students started off the new year by diving into Think Through Math.  "Think Through Math is a Web-based solution that provides adaptive math instruction for students in grades 3 through Algebra 1. Developed by teachers and technologists to help students prepare for rigorous Common Core and TEKSstandards and assessments, " (http://www.thinkthroughmath.com/)


Seventh grade math spent much time in the fall semester using technology to review and practice math concepts with  various websites for math practice for students including Think Through Math, SumDog, and math-play.com. The students also used online quizzing software like Socrative for formative and sumative assessments.   Mr. Ritchie says "My students love using technology! I think it is the future of education. My students use an online educational software called Think Through Math. It is a self paced software that only lets you move on as fast as your knowledge will let you. There are also incentives for the students to be successful. That is an added bonus. "

Eighth Grade student have also spent time on Think Through Math to reinforce skills, especially in the Algebra and Geometry classes.  These students are taking the STAAR 8th Grad Math exam as well as the Algebra and Geometry End of Course Exams, so this program allows students to review math concepts that were covered in previous years.

Geometry Gets Flipped!

Students in Mrs. Rutherford's class get to take her home with them through the videos she creates and posts online.   Her YouTube Channel is full of instructional videos that explain the concepts they are learning in class.  She has also found videos from the textbook site to help supplement the instruction. She sends out the link to the videos and reminders to watch through Remind101.   Students watch the videos and take notes before they come to class and then spend class time clarifying what they do not understand and working through problems with their teacher there to help answer questions.

Here is a sample video Mrs. Rutherford posted for her students:

Math Review Gets Interactive

Students in Mrs. Rutherford's math classes reviewed for the upcoming Math STAAR exam with the help of the Turning Points Student clickers.  Students were able to read the question, solve it and then send in their answers through the clickers.   Mrs. Rutherford then showed the results of how the class did and explained which answer was right and why.  This gave students a chance to seek clarification on math skills they did not understand and showed Mrs. Rutherford what concepts the students needed more help with.  

Seventh Grade Mathematics

Ms. East, Ms. Ortega, Ms. Nunez and Mr. Ritchie are integrating technology this year into their seventh grade math curriculum.    With tools like Socrative to give online quizzes and games like SumDog that test student's math skills as they compete against each other, students are learning about rational numbers with netbooks.

Technology is up and running at RMS

Technology has played a big part in getting back into the school routine this school year.

•  Moodle is in use in sixth grade as World Cultures and Science are assessing student knowledge. 
•  7th grade math is using technology to reinforce math skills using Sumdog.   
• Science teachers are using Stemscopes and Explore Learning in sixth and seventh grade to teach concepts and run simulations.
• Math teachers are assessing Algebra readiness using TEA's MSTAR.

This is going to be a great year for technology at Ridgeview!

Math Students Collaborate

Students in Ms. Berner's Math classes collaborated on their assignments today with the help of a virtual whiteboard on http://www.dabbleboard.com/.  As Ms. Berner loaded a new question the students were able to write on the screen using their mouse to try to help solve the problem.   This was a great way to engage students to learn from each other and to talk about their math.

Teachers Use Moodle to Prepare Math Students for EOC Exams

Students in Algebra and Geometry are preparing for the online End of Course Exams by taking their class tests online through moodle.  Students are learning to read the questions on a screen, use scratch paper for computations and how to enter, review and submit answers so they will scored, all valuable practice for the End of Course in May.

Here is a sample screen of a test question:

Explaining the Math

Students in Ms. Burton's algebra class used the Flip cameras to record tutorial videos explaining how to find the area of a traingle and of a trapezoid.  The students were to videotape a paper triangle or trapazoid and explain the math behind the formulas.  These videos were then shared with other math classes for help ni learning these skills.  Some of the videos are below.