Mental Math and Money Madness

Am I the only teacher who cringes when I see a parent on facebook bashing Common Core math? My school didn't adopt Common Core standards, but we do teach a Singapore-based math curriculum so the concepts are very similar. Many of the Common Core standards were designed with Singapore-based math in mind. Why you ask? Because it works!

Buy, Sell, Save!

Singapore math teaches children the why and how of math. Kids memorize algorithms just as we did as kids, but they develop a much deeper number sense, too. The first year I taught Math In Focus was a mess. If you are in the middle of your first year, don't despair! The main reason I struggled was because I never developed a strong number sense myself. Math was my worst subject in school. I made my only C in elementary school in math. By the end of that first year teaching, I could add three and four digit numbers in my head! Mental math became my best friend. Trust me the concepts work! Now the worksheets some teachers send home with students are another story. Writing down something you work out in your head, is very difficult. Writing it down and leaving blanks for a student to understand and fill in later, is next to impossible.

Buy, Sell Save Game

I teach my students all of the strategies, but when I test them I allow the students to use any strategy that works for them. Practicing mental math strategies is a must! I am constantly trying to develop new ways to let them practice without filling out more of those crazy worksheets. Right now we are learning to add and subtract money mentally. I can't wait to share this new game with them after Spring Break! It includes 60 word problems. Students start with $30 and add or subtract as they draw word problem cards. The first one to save $100 wins the game! Check out Buy, Sell, Save! on TpT.

Declaring War on Math Anxiety!

Blank stares. Yesterday, I sat at my kidney shaped table with five students still struggling with long division and ten empty eyes stared back at me. Ten beautiful eyes that I've watched sparkle with curiosity and discovery this year. Ten eyes that were connected to five competent and bright brains. As a new teacher, those empty eyes would have frustrated me. I would have complained the students just weren't trying hard enough. After seven years in the classroom I know the truth. This is my fault. Somewhere along the path to mastering long division, I had slipped up and allowed these perfectly capable students to believe it was a concept too hard for them to grasp.

Anyone who has taught for very long and takes the time to truly connect to their students has seen this phenomena.  For some children when a problem is perceived as too difficult their brains simply shut down.  This is most evident to me in math. Specifically in math that requires multiple steps, such as long division.  Yesterday, one of my students who has mastered all of her multiplication facts could not tell me how many groups of 2 she could make from 4.  She was attempting to divide 47 by 2.  The multiple steps of Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Divide, Multiply, Subtract had her all discombobulated.  Once I started walking her through it and asked her what she would need to multiply by 2 to equal 4, she looked at me with those empty eyes.  Actually empty isn't the right description. Those pretty brown eyes were swimming with a mixture of fear, panic, and sadness. She has made great strides in math this year. She had begun to believe she is good in math and all of that confidence was crumbling in front of my eyes. I grabbed four markers because they were the closest objects to me, "Honey, divide these markers into two even groups." Yes, I call my students honey, honey bun, sweetie, darling, and the occasional sugar plum. I'm from south Alabama and these terms of endearment are as natural as the camelia trees blooming in January.

My student's hands trembled a little bit as she reached out for the markers. All of a sudden, those bright eyes flashed and looked up at me."Oh! It's 2. Like 2 x 2 = 4," she said before she dissolved into giggles. The other frustrated students around the table looked up from their work and started to giggle, too. Before I knew it they were all laughing out loud with her. What renders a bright student incapable of answering a question they could have answered without hesitation fifteen minutes before? 

I woke up before anyone in my house this morning and curled up on my sofa with a cup of tea determined to research the problem until I found out. I ran into a few roadblocks. First of all, it just took me three wordy paragraphs to explain the situation. I wasn't sure how to type that into a Google search. Most of my searches for students blanking or freezing brought up examples of children with serious attachment issues or autism. There are good articles on test anxiety. I assume it is related to this issue, but it isn't exactly the same. We were still in the explaining and teaching phase. I have children standing on the edge of a cliff, but I'm right beside them. I want to know how to walk children back from that ledge with my words and actions.The best information I found was in an article by Dr. Rick Nauert on psychcentral.com. He reports on a study from Stanford University School of Medicine that involved scanning the brains of 2nd and 3rd graders as they completed math problems. According to Dr. Nauert's article, "They discovered that those that felt panicky about doing math had increased activity in brain regions associated with fear, which cause decreased activity in parts of the brain involved in problem-solving." This tell me that when one of my students looks at me with those blank eyes, I need to stop.  I've already lost them. Their problem-solving part of the brain has already gone to sleep. 

The study divided the students into two groups. One group claimed they felt panicky about doing math and the others didn't. Although the article didn't state it, I'm going to assume that those students who claimed they feel panicky about doing math would also claim they were bad in math. The interesting part of the study is that the children in both groups had similar IQs, reading and math abilities, working memory and generalized anxiety levels.  Math anxiety is real, folks, and it isn't related to ability. Isn't related to ability? Students who feel they are bad in math, may have just as much ability to tackle math as the "good math students?" Maybe I'm making too big of a leap but maybe there is no such thing as being bad in math.  After all, I know all of my students are capable of mastering third grade math. A few may take a little longer to grasp it, but they are all going to be able to do long division by the end of the year. Instead of spending hours on Pinterest and TPT looking for a better way to explain it, perhaps I need to spend more time looking for ways to ease that anxiety, so the problem solving center of their brains will be able to shine. Good thing we have an awesome school counselor and two of my dearest friends are phenomenal psychologists.  I have some phone calls to make. I'll keep you updated as my rowdy kids and I launch our war on math anxiety!

I highly recommend you read Dr. Nauert's entire article. It has excellent information.

QR Code Quick Start Guide

http://rowdykids.blogspot.com/

The rowdy kids in 3 love using QR codes. It makes them feel very tech savvy! I've incorporated QR codes into our school day in many different ways. One way that is mutually beneficial to me and the students is to add the QR codes to task cards. I link the QR codes to the answers to each task card question. It is super simple and allows the students to check their own work and works so much better than simply printing the answers on the back of each task card. I know the students can't check the answer until I give them a device with an app to scan the qr code. It eliminates any temptation to take a peek before solving the original problem.

http://rowdykids.blogspot.com/

There are several websites to generate QR codes, but my favorite is QR Code Generator. This site is completely free. Most only offer a limited amount of QR codes for free or limit how many characters you are able to use. To link an answer, click on the icon of a page and enter your answer in the box. The site automatically generates a QR code. Hit the download button and choose jpeg. An image of this unique QR code is downloaded to your computer. Just insert that image into your document. If you are using a ready-made worksheet, just print out your QR code and paste it onto your worksheet before copying for the students.

http://rowdykids.blogspot.com/

Once the QR code has been generated, in theory it should work indefinitely. I have yet to have a problem with QR codes no longer linking to the original information.  The QR Code Generator site also allows you to make color QR codes, but I prefer to work in black and white for most situations.

http://rowdykids.blogspot.com/

To see an example of task cards with QR code answers, check out my Multiplication Review product on TpT.com. If you have any additional questions about using QR codes in the classroom, just leave a comment below or send me an email.

Learning Games

Kitten Rescue

As a third grade teacher, I find multiplication terribly frustrating. Having my students truly master math facts, seems to be just beyond my control. I can teach the concept of multiplication and provide practice, but nothing seems to work like old school drill and kill. Many students need to practice every single night to accomplish mastery and most 8 year olds just don't have that level of dedication to school work. Of course it comes easily for some students, but I have a soft spot for the others. I was one of the others. I try to explain to my students that math will be easier for the rest of their lives, if they take the time to learn the facts now. I explain that I took too long to memorize my math facts. I don't always admit that there were a few facts that I still had to think twice about until I started teaching multiplication in my late thirties. Yep 7 x 8, I'm looking at you.

Kitten Rescue Multiplying 0 - 6

As education shifts away from simply memorizing information, math facts remain one of the areas where rote memorization is still necessary. We now attempt to teach students to think for themselves, find solutions, solve problems, and become independent learners. In the area of math, this is infinitely more difficult if a student is still trying to count out 7 x 8 on her fingers.

Kitten Rescue Domino 
Playing Cards

I love knowledge. I love passing new knowledge on to my students. I even love math now, although it was my absolute worst subject all through school. I blame it on not mastering my math facts in third grade. I believe with the right attitude learning anything can be fun. I don't create games for my students to make math fun. I believe math already is fun. I create games for my students, because I believe a happy child at play remembers information better than a bored, stressed child.  A roomful of happy children at play soaking in new knowledge they will use for the rest of their lives. Is there anything more beautiful?

To add a little fun to your multiplication practice, visit my TPT Store to purchase my latest product, Kitten Rescue Multiplication.

I Scream! You Scream! We All Scream For Ice Cream!

Encouraging an entire class of students to truly master all of their multiplication facts, is one of the hardest parts of my job. It is kind of like house-breaking a puppy. You can explain it until you are blue in the face, you can offer incentives, you can offer consequences for failures, and you can look up endless advice on the internet and in books from experts who promise their way is foolproof. Sometimes none of this makes any difference. Just like I have a five year old dog who still occasionally has accidents, almost every year I have a student or two who can not master all of their facts.

 When my son was in 3rd grade, his teacher created an ice cream party incentive program. He vividly remembers this because he did not earn cherries, but snuck one anyway. A little girl in his class ratted him out to the teacher. Why is it we always remember the embarrassing moments more vividly than the triumphant ones? Last year, I crafted my own system for ice cream multiplication.  Although I won't promise that it was foolproof, it definitely helped.

After Christmas, we will launch our Ice Cream Multiplication Incentive.  For each multiplication quiz 0-12 the students pass, they earn a part of their ice cream sundae. Mastering all of their zero facts earns ice cream, mastering all of their ones facts earns a bowl, and so on until they earn the cherry on top after mastering all twelve facts. My Ice Cream Multiplication Celebration is available on TeachersPayTeachers. I have a color version for sale, too. Although I'm not sure who has the budget to run that many copies in color! Of course you could also visit the wonderfully free site, Math-Drills to print your own timed multiplication tests, come up with your own schedule and write your own parent letter if you, like me, have blown through most of your classroom budget already.

I have a few other tricks for helping students learn their facts that might help. If we are learning twos facts, I make the children count off by twos each time we line up.  Of course, this is super easy for third graders. Not so much when you start learning sevens facts. I make nametags for each child and myself with the more difficult facts we are studying each week.  For instance my nametag may say 7 x 8.  For that week, I will only answer to Mrs. 56. The students love this. The best part is catching me forgetting to call someone by their fact answer name.

How do you encourage students to master their multiplication facts? I would love to hear your tried and true techniques!

Taking the Stress Out of Math Test Review

The closer we get to a math test, the more stressful math class becomes.  I know there is a limited amount of time to help each child master the skill.  We started using Math In Focus three years ago.  I finally have a group of students with enough experience with this Singapore based curriculum, that I feel like we can move at a reasonable pace.  However, we still have that test deadline looming and not everyone is ready.  After a particularly stressful day-before-the-test review, I invented a better way.

In 3B, the rowdy kids have a Math Dance Party.  Task cards with review questions are placed around the room.  Each child has an answer sheet and a pencil.  I play appropriate dance music, and the kids work on the problem in front of them.  When they solve the problem, they may dance to the music.  When the music stops, everyone moves to the next task card and starts again. The task cards are closely matched to the test.  If a child is able to get most of the problems correct with music blaring, I assume he or she is well prepared for the test.  The rowdy kids have a blast dancing and burn off some energy.  It also lets me know who is still struggling.  If several students missed the same question, I know it is a topic I need to review.  Any set of task cards in any subject will work for a dance party as long as you have enough cards for each child.  If you need to review for Math In Focus: Chapter 4 for 3rd Grade, Subtraction to 10,000, visit my TPT store for the same Subtraction to 10,000 Dance Party used by the rowdy kids in 3B.

Failing Up on a Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Like many teachers, I've used Teachers Pay Teachers for the past few years.  Several of my colleagues recommended I start posting some of my creations, but my first attempt can only be described as pathetically halfhearted.  In August of 2013 I signed up to be a seller and posted the Place Value Chart Signs I had designed for my own classroom.  It was my first product and it was listed for free.  In the past two years, it has been downloaded 367 times.  Woohoo! Sadly, my first paid product, Place Value Dance Party, was not quite so successful.  It was only downloaded once.  I guess I'm not the only one that peruses the free products before I pay for anything.

My son started high school this fall and is taking a Digital Design elective.  His excitement about this class reminded me why I majored in Advertising and Graphic Design twenty years ago.  So, I'm challenging myself to post one new product each week.  I'm already constantly creating new resources for my own students.  It just takes a little more effort to post them on TPT.

As a working mother of two teenage kids, it isn't like I have free time.  I could let the whopping $1.80 I've made on Teachers Pay Teachers in two years deter me from devoting any more time to this endeavor. However I'm jumping in with both feet!  I teach my children to embrace failure. Without failure we would never learn to push ourselves harder. We would never learn to accept our own shortcomings, so that we can grow, learn and become better.  You must take a risk to fail. Risk takers rule the world!

Click the title to download my free Place Value Chart Signs.