Technology + Homework = Stress + too much time with Chromebooks.

Dear parents,

It has come to my attention that some students are coming home and spending a LOT (way too much time) on homework especially around the use on their chromebooks. I would like to share some of my thoughts and beliefs around the subject of homework and technology.

It is my belief that math should take no more than 30 minutes (including any use with techology). 6th grade students are 10-12 year old children and it is my hope that they can find balance between school work and play time. Both are equally important. If at ANY TIME there are tears, too much stress, anger, frustration or any other negativity, PLEASE pull the plug, take the math away, and make them go play for a while. Please let me know what the problems are and I can take the stress and worry away from home and we can handle it here at school.

As for the technology, I have heard from some that this is a grand struggle.  I have told the classes that there is a variety of ways to do the work and it does NOT have to all be done on the computer. 

• There are some students who are amazingly talented with the electronic draw feature and can pop them out in seconds. So, I allow for this to be one opportunity. 
• Some students prefer to use paper and pencil and I allow for that as well. We don't use the computers much in class because I find so much value with math, graph paper, and tools. I encourage this as well. 
• Some students take pictures of their drawings and upload them.
• And some just give me the papers. 

As you can see, there is a variety of mediums to share their mathematical thinking/learning. I want to provide exposure and opportunities to all students. I don't want anyone to think that they have to do it all in one way. I am very flexible. I will be reiterating these opportunities as opportunities and not assignments.

I truly hope this helps. Just like you, I want what is best for all of our students and I am working so very hard to provide opportunities for learning, growth, challenge, support, and balance.

Namaste 

Week before Halloween

If no one has told you, math is everywhere. The students are now discovering this for themselves. I have heard numerous students share with me things like...

" While I was at my MMSC meeting, my coach was using RATIOS!"

"I was listening to the news, and the news guy was using ratios in his story"

In addition to these wonderful quotes, one of my students was making an observation on some math work being done by an adult. There was interesting conversations about the neatness and accuracy of this adult's math (a grad student). I was so excited to hear that our 6th grade student was concerned about this grad student's work and had asked his mom, "What would Mrs. Emory say?"

These examples are so exciting to hear about, because it tells me that our kids are thinking and making connections to what is happening in our classes and extending the learning into their world. ((SO AWESOME))

I have also asked students to share pictures with me for my blog. I would love to see more examples of math in our world.

In Language Arts we read the book "Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown. This is such a wonderful book. Today the class presented their understanding of the book. The students needed to be able to identify a possible theme of the book, cite evidence to support their claim and provide a visual. We had an amazing share this morning and here are a few of the visuals that students made.

Math + Art + Baking + Ratios = Happiness😃

Here is a book I recently discovered. I am going to have to do some ordering at home. It combines multiple passions - Math + Art + Baking + Ratios (timely, don't you think?)

Week Ending October 21st

Over the last 2 weeks, we have been working on so much new learning.  In Math class, we have begun using Schoology as a new platform for educational delivery. We have been learning all about ratios and had a small design challenge based on gear ratios. Here is a video that we watched in class to first learn about gears. Thank goodness we have a 4 1/2 day weekend to regather, breath, and refresh!