Long Multiplication

Growing up in Canada, I was taught how to do long multiplication through columns and adding zeroes.  Since having the opportunity to teach over seas, I have learned a few tricks of the trades that not only make MUCH more sense but are quite simple and easily (they also take up less space on the page).

Long Multiplication:
When you are multiplying two larger numbers, we can actually make a chart that does the same thing as the columns and adding zeroes does.  This way, the students can see why we need to have extra zeroes on some numbers instead of just following the rule.  Here is how we lay out the question:

The students do need to know multiplication of multiples of ten (multiply the non-zero numbers together, then count the number of zeroes in each number and it them onto the end of the multiplication) and place values. 

I always instruct my students to think about the number of ones (digits/units), tens, hundreds and so forth when creating their chart. 

 

After creating the chart, all students need to do it multiply the numbers together and add all of the answers together.  By doing this, the students will be able to visualize what they are adding and what influences their answer the most. Here is the worked out example:

Different Worksheets

Yes! I have managed to do it - well partly.  I have managed to have the ability to make different leveled worksheets for my students.  There are two or three different worksheets for each level.  Most of the questions are the same; but then there are also different extension questions and additional challenge problems.

Most of my students responded greatly to this idea, many wanted more personalized worksheets that would allow them to all excel and practice what they need to practice.  Some of the weaker students did not mind and took the opportunity to complete their worksheet ot the best of their abilities in hope to move up.  And, if they continue this, they most definitely will!

My next step is to make sure that I am able to put different levels to these worksheets.  The topics for concepts this half term are not as flexible as the others, so this does pose a challenge - but I think I am ready for it!

Stress and De-stressing

Stress comes and goes, and I have found as a first year teacher, that this stress is continually present.  I find that there are just not enough hours in the day to do my job to the full extent that I want to.

Ideally, I would have enough time to sit down and thoroughly plan all of my lesson and differentiate the material for each student in my class.  Personalized worksheets, instructions and homework set for each of their strengths and weaknesses.  This, unfortunately, I do not think will ever happen as I see over 200 students a week with 11 different classes.  In addition to all of this, I would love to have the time to sit down and mark each student's notes to ensure proper spelling and grammar and mathematical content.  If this was not correct, I would love to have work waiting for them in the next lesson to correct their errors.  As one set of books seems to take me 2 hours to mark (half decently; without extra notes or added activities being glued or written into them), again, there is just no way I could do this - especially with the classes I see twice or three times a week.  Then there is marking of coursework, planning, classroom management, classroom organization and decoration, after school clubs, coursework catch-up, and the list goes on and on.

From my experience so far, I have to say that I do not know how those amazing 1% teachers do it all!  Not only do they have flawless lesson plans and activities for their students, but they are usually the ones with families, other large roles in the school and so forth. 

So, not to rant about how I would like to do my job, I need to find strategies on how to do it more effectively.  Currently, I have implemented the use of stickers in my marking scheme.  The stickers (well they are more like labels) have pre-written sentences and next steps on them that I can differentiate for each student.  This does help A LOT with the motivation of marking, by the end of a class set of books, I do not feel run-down or tired, but it has not seemed to help with the amount of time I am spending.

I am using different Teacher Community websites, such as TeachersPayTeachers, to find different ideas and lesson ideas.  Unfortunately, as a newly graduated university student, I do not have the extra money to purchase the resources, but their sample pages usually give me an idea on how to go about my lesson. 

One thing that I wish all teachers within the school engaged in would be the sharing of lessons.  We all teach the same material and we all struggle (or I would like to this so) with creating lessons each day, week, month, term, year, so if we all shared them in a resource bank, I feel that that would definitely assist with the time allotted for this task.  I do realize that that could make lazy teachers who do not teach for their classes, but I think if I was given a sample lesson, it would take half the time to differentiate it for most of my classes.

But for now I will continue to search the Internet, talk to other teachers and hope that the answer to time saving practices will come soon to me!  Best of luck in all of your planning and marking and teaching!  We do make a difference, one student at a time!

Christmas Dilemma

Christmas is a wonderful time to celebrate and be with family, but in a classroom it possess some difficulties. Especially with the last week right before the holiday break begins.

School strive to give their students the best education possible and they do a wonderful job; but part of this is that students should be learning to the best of their ability all the way up to the holiday break. Teachers would not mind doing this as it would allow us to get through a lot more of our curriculum. Students on the other hand have a different thought.

A majority of the students are too excited for the Christmas celebrations, too excited to have time off school to continually focus throughout class.

My solution, activities that still teach the students, but are fun for all of the students. I'm a Maths teacher, so this can sometimes be tricky. My biggest success lesson for this week will be with my Year 8. We are doing probability next term so to introduce them to the concept we are going to test out some unfair and fair games and then create our own! This way the students are using their own ideas and creative sides while incorporating what they have learned through investigation about probability!

Another one I love are worksheets with additional activities. Activities may include word searches, riddles or coloring images. These may seem like "not Maths related" but the students are required to solve the Maths questions before they can complete the activity.

Anything more than textbook questions or worksheet answers allow students to use more than just their Maths brains during the last week of the holiday season!

Classroom Reward System

Over the past few weeks I have been trying my best to come up with a good strategy to use with some of my "more difficult" classes this year.  I have tried the "all rules" side of teaching, which did the complete opposite from what I was trying to accomplish.  I have tried that "laid back teacher", which again, was unsuccessful.  I have tried handouts vs. notes from the boad, and group work vs. class discussions vs. independent work, and honestly, nothing seemed to work.

After feeling very frustrated, my colleagues and I were discussing some of their classroom management strategies that had worked for similar classes.  One of my fellow Canadian teachers suggested that he has used a rewards system for them.  I feel in love with the idea so I ran with it.

Each day, the students can now earn stickers and stamps that can be "cashed in" for rewards.  Rewards include "get out of homework free" cards, sweets, positive referrals and 5 minutes of YouTube, etc.  After speaking to the students about this, they seemed to be very excited!   Let's hope this keeps up and the students keep earning stamps/stickers for good work in class.

Half Term Break - Day 1

One of the benefits of teaching in the UK system is definitely these half-term breaks!  I officially have two weeks off to rest, relax and get prepared for the next half-term.  In addition to the forementioned, I will also be organzing and furnishing a house and all the adventures included in that.

Unlike over the summer, where timetables were not finalized, I now know the classes I will be teaching and the students (or most of the students) enrolled in them.  Now, I can use some of my time off to get all of my planning and class ideas completed, on paper and prepared before the next half-term begins.  Hopefully, if all goes as planned, I will be able to get fully prepared and planned until Christmas, then I can use time during the half-term to get ready for after the holidays. 

So, here is my to-do list for the break:
1) Organize my new flat so that it is livable (right now there is no large furniture in it except the bed)
2) Catch-up on all of my marking (this is complete, except for one class-set of books!)
3) Prepare all lesson plans for my ten classes from now until Dec 21st
4) Have all lesson plans and class documents organized for inspection (occurring after the term break)
5) Have at least one lesson a week (for classes I see three times a week) and one less every two weeks (for classes I see twice a week) that goes up and beyond the regular "explanation then worksheet" set-up.
6) Decorate my flat!

Yes, it is quite the large list, but as I have two weeks and nothing but whatever I feel like that day planned, I think (and hope) it is do-able.  I will update you all on how it goes!

As Day 1 is coming to an end here is what I have accomplished:
- Caught up on sleep (even though my alarm went off as if I was getting up to go to school!)
- Domino's Pizza tastes just like home :)
- Marked one set of class tests
- Began initial/rough planning for one of ten classes

Not much, but hopefully tomorrow will be more productive!

Food for Thought

Author: Unknown

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. Th...

ey agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.