Group projects – you either love them or hate them, right?

As a student, I absolutely hated group projects. I was one of the nerdy kids that was always striving for an A and felt like I was put into groups with people that did not care as much as I did. Therefore, I ended up doing about 90% of the group project – mostly because of my own high standards. I always viewed the requirements of a project as the minimum expectations, whereas many students viewed it as the requirements for a good grade. Neither of us was right or wrong but it was simply how my brain operated. (Maybe it still operates that way…!) Therefore, I always had this feeling of frustration or anxiety when group projects were assigned because I felt like many students were not carrying their own weight. Again, sometimes that was the case and other times it was my own expectations being slightly unrealistic.

As a teacher, I have really come to love group projects. I have found that this type of collaboration is beneficial for all students, whether they are your high achievers or struggling students. Many high achieving students don’t work well in groups, so it is an incredibly important process for them to go through to learn how to successfully work with others in their future careers. For struggling students, group projects can be beneficial by helping them to find their voice and get support from their peers. While I think we can all agree that group projects can be very beneficial to our students, the same question always arises:

How do we hold all students in the group accountable?

This can be a tricky question. Obviously, we don’t want to promote any sort of “tattle telling” if a student is not working with others in their group project. After all, this could lead to feelings of discouragement, frustration, or possibly bullying. However, we do want to hold them accountable for their roles in the project.

To help with this, I developed the following Google Form:

Click HERE for your own copy.

At the beginning of the survey, students are required to share about their involvement, roles, and accomplishments within the group project. After they evaluate themselves, they will share about the involvement, roles, and accomplishments of their fellow group members. In addition to this, there are also sentence frames to help students write their evaluations.

A few quick tips:

• Spend time discussing the difference between objective/subjective evaluations before they fill out the survey. Encourage students to write statements such as “I observed…” rather than “Jack did not…” Encourage students to use the sentence frames to help them maintain their objectivity.
• Encourage students to be detailed in their evaluations because collaboration will be a part of their final evaluation.
• As the teacher, spend time comparing their evaluations to the other group members, as well as your own observations from class. By the end of the project, you should have a strong feeling about which students were working well together, as well as which students were not.

Overall, I think it is important to note that the “Group Participation Survey” is simply one part of the evaluation process but it does help to maintain accountability. Remember to record your own observations and be actively involved with the groups to ensure that everyone is meeting their goals.

How do you create accountability during group projects? Share your ideas below!

After the success of our VR Haunted House Project in my Spartan Tech Squad course, I started brainstorming ways that I could incorporate a VR project into our AVID classroom.  For those that are unfamiliar to AVID, AVID is a program whose goal is to “close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society”.  What does that look like in a middle school classroom?  Basically, the AVID elective teachers and tutors provide students support by teaching them organization and critical reading/writing skills, monitoring their grades, facilitating weekly tutorials to assist in their content classes, and introducing them to colleges and universities.  It’s a program in which I have completely and utterly fallen in love.  It’s amazing to see the progress of these students over the two years in middle school.  I love the stories of students who were C and D students who have gained the skills to become A and B students.  More importantly, I love hearing stories from our feeder high school on how these students are doing in high school and where they plan to attend college.  It’s an amazing program.

Recently, I realized that our AVID students had been doing a lot of “work” work.  They had been participating in their weekly tutorials and binder checks, they had completed a research-based college presentation and participated in several in-depth critical reading and writing activities.  Don’t get me wrong – all of that stuff is great.  However, I try to be very cognizant of the fact that AVID is their elective class.  It is their “fun” class and yet they are still choosing to be in a rigorous program.  So, I felt it was time for our students to take a “mini-break” but still focus on something that was relative to the AVID elective class.

Just a few weeks ago, our AVID students had completed their research-based college presentations.  They were good – seriously, so good for 7th grade students.  It was about this time that my Spartan Tech Squad students completed their VR Haunted House projects.  The VR Haunted House Project was such a success with my Spartan Tech Squad class that I wanted to incorporate it into AVID as our “fun” activity and I realized it would work perfectly as a follow up to their presentation.  In addition to this, it also gave me the chance to develop a HyperDoc and take the VR project to a more rigorous and reflective level.

Interested in this project…?  Check it out below!

College Virtual Reality Project

Click HERE to make your own copy.

Objective: Students will create a virtual reality design of a college that they have researched.

Groups: Individual or Small Groups (2-3 Students)

Tasks: Students will:

• Research a college and/or university to find maps, photos, and 360 views of the college.
• Research specific buildings and landmarks within the college/university.
• Create a virtual reality design of the college/university via Cospaces.
• Reflect on the difficulties that were presented when designing their college/university.
• Reflect on what they have learned while designing their college/university.

View the template and a sample below:

College VR HyperDoc Template (Link)

Student Samples (x) (x)

Overall, our AVID students really enjoyed this project.  There were definitely times in which they were frustrated as they learned a new program (Cospaces) but it was an excellent way to teach perseverance.  More importantly, our AVID students continued to learn about the college and/or university in a way that did not feel like work – it was just fun!

Have you done any VR projects in your classroom?  How might you modify this HyperDoc for your classroom?  Share in the comments below!

Over the years, my students have participated in a variety of activities and projects on converting between fractions, decimals, and percent.  They have conducted surveys, designed pictures on graph papers, and designed and built Post-It Murals.  It is one of my favorite units to design because the possibilities are endless!

This year, I wanted to expand the project into some “game design” since many of my students have mentioned their interest in video games.  I remembered that our Math 8 department had created an “8-BIT” project so I researched ways to create 8-BIT characters/designs online.  This is when I found Piskel – which is amazing!  Piskel is a “free online editor for animated sprites and pixel art.”  If you haven’t heard of it, you have got to check it out.

Once I had my content focus and technology tools, I started to focus on how to design this learning experience by using HyperDocs.  As they say, the rest was history…!

8-BIT Project: A Fraction, Decimal, & Percent HyperDoc

Objective: Create an 8 Bit Character in Piskel and determine the fraction, decimal, and percent of each number.

Groups: Individual or Small Groups (2-3 Students)

Tasks: Students will:

• Create a two frame 8-BIT character or design in Piskel.
• Download the frames as a JPEG and upload into their Project Deck.
• Download the frames as a GIF and upload into their Project Deck.
• Determine the total of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.
• Estimate the percent of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.
• Calculate the actual fraction, decimal, and percent of each color of their 8-BIT character/design.

View the template and a sample below:

8-BIT Project Template (Link)

8-BIT Project Sample (Link)

What do you do teach students about fractions, decimals, and percents?  Have you used Piskel in any other classroom activities and projects?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

When I first began working at my school site, our students were given a year-long, physical agenda to track their daily assignments.  As a school policy, our students were required to fill this out and teachers would sign/stamp that students had filled out the daily agenda at the beginning of class.  It was a great system for students and taught them how to be organized.  Over the last two years, we have not purchased these agendas since we now have technology that can replace what we were doing for no cost, such as Google Calendar or Google Keep.  However, I have noticed that using Google Calendar is not exactly what the teachers are looking to use in their classrooms and/or they are not comfortable using it themselves.  Although I am a big Google Calendar user and have had success with my students, I can see their concern.  The calendar isn’t broken up by subject type and all of the information a student writes does not show up on the calendar view.  For my students, they are used to navigating Google Calendar but I decided to create something that more teachers would want to use with their students.

So…Over the last couple of months, I have been brainstorming ways to help keep my students organized during the school year and while working on projects, as well as creating something that is user-friendly to the student and teacher.

Here is what I created:

2017/2018 Weekly Academic Calendar (Link)

• Students can use this Slide Deck to track assignments, plan for projects, and more!
• Students can quickly navigate by clicking on the months at the beginning of the Slide Deck or in the “Timeline” at the bottom of each slide.
• Students/Teachers can delete any unused months from the template.

2017/2018 Monthly Academic Calendar (Link)

• Students can use this Slide Deck to track assignments, plan for projects, and more!
• Students can quickly navigate by clicking on the months at the beginning of the Slide Deck or in the “Timeline” at the bottom of each slide.
• Students/Teachers can delete any unused months from the template.

The calendars above were primarily created to help students track assignments.  Once I started building those calendars, I started thinking about how I could create something for the 20Time Projects that my students would be doing in my AVID and Tech classes next year.  Immediately, I realized I had already created something useful while working on my Google Innovator Project.  For my project, I created a monthly planning process with new goals, ongoing goals, questions/comments/ideas, and status check.

Below are some “project planning” Slide Decks:

Weekly Project Planning Goals (Link)

• Students can use this Slide Deck when planning weekly goals for 20 Time Projects, Genius Hour, and PBL.
• Students can duplicate the following slide for the number of weeks of the project.
• When students complete tasks on the “New” and “Ongoing Goals”, students can right click and change to check marks.

Monthly Project Planning Goals (Link)

• Students can use this Slide Deck when planning weekly goals for 20 Time Projects, Genius Hour, and PBL.
• Students can duplicate the following slide for the number of weeks of the project.
• When students complete tasks on the “New” and “Ongoing Goals”, students can right click and change to check marks.

Feel free to use these with your class.  If you do, I would love your feedback and any ideas that you have to improve these resources!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you might have noticed the latest trend among students: fidget spinners.  Fidget spinners are “stress-relieving toys” for individuals who suffer from ADHD.  These toys come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.  Fidget spinners are selling online, in malls, and on street corners.  These toys have taken the world (and our classrooms) by storm.

Let’s be honest, though, the majority of students that are using fidget spinners do not suffer from ADHD.  To them, it’s a fun toy that looks cool spinning and something to show off to their friends.  Due to this, the fidget spinner has received mixed reviews in the educational community.  Some educators have even gone as far as to ban these toys from their classrooms, sites, or even districts.   Pretty intense, right?  As educators, I feel like we have two choices: 1.) Close our minds and our classrooms to new trends and fads or 2.) Embrace the fad and find an educational purpose behind it.

For myself, I have decided to embrace the fad.  Bring on the fidget spinners!

Fidget Spinners: A Measures of Central Tendency Activity

Objective: Students will build fidget spinners and use the measures of central tendency to compare the length of the spins.

Group: 3 – 4 students

Directions: Students will design and build fidget spinners.  They will make assumptions about the slowest/fastest fidget spinners in their groups and conduct an experiment to gather data.  Students will spin their fidget spinner five times each, record the data, and use the measures of central tendency to analyze the data.  Students will analyze the data to determine the fastest fidget spinner, make claims about the data, and discuss ideas for future fidget spinner designs.

Click HERE for a link the activity.

Reflection 

A few ideas that worked:

• Building the fidget spinners was not as difficult as I imagined it might be.  I showed some YouTube videos to the students, challenged them to find household items for supplies, and asked for donations from parents.  The students had immediate buy-in, so they found all of their own supplies.  The fidget spinners they developed were SO impressive and much better than anything I had attempted to create before I introduced this idea to them.
• The measures of central tendency was a good, starting topic for the fidget spinner activity.  The students were familiar with the concept and could apply their knowledge of these math concepts in a hands-on, creative, and meaningful manner.
• Grouping the students allowed them to compare their fidget spinners which sparked great conversation among the students.

A few ideas for next time:

• 3D Printer! So many educators on Twitter had their students design their fidget spinners on a 3D printer.  Although I have not used a 3D printer, it is a challenge I am giving myself for the next year.
• It would be beneficial to expand the math concepts in this lesson.  For my students, they were very familiar with measures of central tendency, so I would like to find some material that could be more challenging to them.  Geometry may be an excellent place to start.
• When I sent out the information about the project to parents, I was truly surprised at how interested the parents were in the project.  My greatest regret is that I did not invite parents into our classroom to participate.  It would have been a great way to show parents what is going on in our classrooms and increase communication and rapport.

Overall, I felt like this was the perfect end of the year project for my students.  At the end of May, the students tend to be tired and burnt out from state testing.  As educators, we must find a way to encourage them to continue learning.  By finding their interests and creating educational opportunities around those interest, I believe that we can continue to engage our students at all times of the school year.

Tell me about how you have been using fidget spinners in your classroom in the comments below!

Every year that I have taught, there have been new fads or trends that has captivated the interest of my students.  This year, I have noticed that the top 3 fads of my students are:

• Fidget Spinners
• Bottle Flipping
• Slime

I have never been a teacher that has been bothered by the fads and trends that come around our campus.  In fact, I am pretty sure I am that weird teacher that enjoys them just about as much as my students.  As the end of the school year approaches, I started asking myself the question: How can I use the fads and trends that interest my students to encourage learning opportunities?  With less than week left of school, I knew that I needed to create an activity that would capture the interest of my students and…Well, to some extent, “trick” them into continuing to learn and engage in math practices.

Enter…Bottle flipping with probability!

Bottle Flipping: A Probability Activity

Objective: Calculate the probability of successfully flipping a bottle and having it land upright.

Group: 3 – 4 students

Directions: Each student will be given one minute to flip a water bottle as many times as possible.   The students in the group will log how many times the student flips the water bottle into the upright position.  Students will complete this process three times with different water levels – 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4 full.   Students will log the information and determine the probability of each student successfully flipping the water bottle and compare the results of the different water levels.

Click HERE or on the image below to view the activity.

I am sure there are so many more ways to use bottle flipping in Math.  Off the top of my head, I think that there could be a lot of great activities using measures of central tendency and comparing the average number of successful lands per water bottle level.  Next year, maybe?

If you have other ideas on how to use bottle flipping for educational purposes in your classroom, please share in the comments below!

As I mentioned in a previous post, Statistics & Probability is one of my favorite units to teach during the school year.  One of the reasons is due to the Statistical Research Project that my students complete each year.  In this activity, students are tasked with creating a survey question and surveying 50-100 students on campus.  Students will gather and organize their data, then they will use this data to determine the measures of central tendency, create graphs, and analyze their data.  Since students are creating their own questions, they have immediate buy-in to this project.  The students have created their own question and they want to gather data to see if their hypothesis about their question was correct.

Although I have been using this project in my classroom for several years, I have revamped it each year based upon the experiences of the students in the previous year, as well as ideas I have picked up on Twitter or at conferences.  This year, the project underwent a major revamp due to the use of HyperDocs and Smashboard.  HyperDocs, which was created by Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis, and Kelly Hilton, is a transformative, interactive Google Doc that supports significant lesson redesign and the blended learning classroom.  While modifying this project, I realized that it was lacking an engage, share, and extension activity.  So, I added in a YouTube video to initially engage the students in the upcoming project, as well as an extension activity.  The extension activity is something that I am really excited about but did not have the time to complete this year.  In this activity, students would be paired with students from another school and would create a question, poll their school site, and compare the results between the two sites.  Although I did not have the opportunity to do this part of the project this year, it is definitely something that will be a part of our project next year.

Next, my project went under some significant redesign due to the smashboard concept that was created by Dee Lanier.  A smashboard is “a Hyperdoc that leads students through the design-thinking process, involves app-smashing, collaborative goal-setting, and iteration. The main objective is for learners to create a unique product that solves a real-world problem.”  While I was redesigning this project, Dee gave some great advice on designing the gameboard to create a board that would be appealing to students.  Honestly, I have a tendency to be a bit “wordy” sometimes.  (Can’t you tell by my blog? ha!)  He encouraged me to use icons to represent tasks that student need to complete and now I love the look of the gameboard!  In addition to this, I also incorporated the app-smashing dice to encourage and challenge students to find new ways to showcase their projects.  As I revisit the definition of a smashboard, I think that the idea of having them solve a real-world problem is lacking from this project but could be easily incorporated.  When I revamp the project again next year, I want to look into some ways to incorporate solving a real-world problem into their question development.

The Statistical Research Project

Objective: Students will create a survey question, survey students on campus, and analyze the results of their survey.

Math Concepts:

• Students will be able to determine the population and sample of the data set.
• Students will be able to organize information into a frequency table to create a bar chart and pie chart.
• Students will be able to calculate the measures of central tendency and create a box-whisker plot
• Students will be able to calculate the probability of events occurring in their data set.

Extension: Students will have the opportunity to develop a question with students at another school site, preferably in another part of the country or world.  They will go through the same steps of the project but will compare the survey results of the two sites throughout the project.

End Results: Students will have an analysis of their data and will display that information in a creative and visual manner.  Students can use the “app-smashing” dice that is located on the gameboard to discover online applications that they can use to create this visual.

Important Considerations:

• Students must create a question that produces a numerical number.  Such as, “How many times per week do Cedar Middle School students visit Starbucks in a week?”  Without the numerical value, students will not be able to calculate the measures of central tendency and create the box-whisker chart.
• The gameboard guides them the project and gives them videos resources.  However, most of the work will be done on the Google Doc found under “Create”.
• Students can use Google Sheets to compile data quickly – it’s a great resource!
• Google Drawings can be used as a way to create the box-whisker plot.
• If doing the extension activity, try to find a teacher that has the same number of students as you and/or multiple teachers.
• Give the students deadlines for each step of their project.  There are quite a few pieces to the project and deadlines will help keep them on task.
• This is very similar to a project-based learning activity (PBL) so should be completed throughout the entire unit.

To access the project, click HERE or on the images above.

Student Samples

Student Sample #1                                       Student Sample #2

Three Things to Do Next Time

1.) Extension Activity – Collaborating with Another School

The extension activity is my big “must do” on this project next year.  I was really disappointed that I didn’t have the opportunity to do this part of the project this year but it would have been rushed if I had attempted to do it.  I have a couple of teachers that are interested in participating in this project with my students, so I think it should be very feasible to have students collaborate with students from other schools next year.

2.) Real-World Problem Solving

The smashboard idea had me thinking…Could the students create a question that points out a real-world problem?  As they survey the students on campus, could this guide them towards creating a solution to the problem?  I think that this could be a possibility but I would need to find a way to embed more time into the project to truly allow them the opportunity to solve the problem.

3.) Small Groups

This project is one of the only projects that I have students complete individually.  Mostly, I think it allows the students to be creative with their questions and cater it towards something that they truly find interesting.  However, I always think it is better to have students collaborating.  In particular, if I am going to add pieces to this project such as the extension and real-world problem solving, then the students will find more success when they are able to discuss and collaborate with other students.

I hope you enjoy this activity and feel free to ask questions and offer feedback in the comment section below!

Statistics and Probability has always been one of my favorite units to teach in Math.  I’ve always felt like this unit has so many real world applications that are engaging to students, so creating projects and activities based upon these concepts has always been an enjoyable and creative process.  In this unit, my students complete a project-based learning activity (which I will share in my next post) where they are asked to create a question, survey students on their question, and organize and analyze their data.  To introduce them to this process, my students participate in an activity where they survey students in their classroom about their shoe size.  Students are asked to determine the population and sample, gather and organize the data, determine the measures of central tendency, and draw conclusions from this data.  Overall, I have felt that this activity is a great introduction to the project and immediately engages students on upcoming projects, activities, and assignments.

Last year, my students completed this activity in Google Docs.  However, this year I felt that Google Slides would be a student-friendly way for them to interact with this activity.  Google Slides has quickly become one of my favorite Google apps because it can be used in so many ways beyond a simple presentation.  Students can easily interact with specific material on each slide, add/edit photos, insert charts linked to Sheets, and a variety of other features that extends the learning process for students.

To access this activity, view it below or click HERE.

Template

The “Analyzing Shoe Sizes” activity contains many mathematical concepts and student activities for students to complete.  Ideally, this activity would be appropriate for students in the 6th – 8th grade.  For my classroom, my students are 7th grade students and tend to come with a lot of background knowledge on these concepts.

Key Mathematical Concepts & Ideas:

• Identify the population and sample of a survey.
• Create a frequency table.
• Create a bar chart and pie chart.
• Calculate the mean, median, mode, and range.

Student Activities:

In this activity, students will be asked to:

• Gather data on the shoe sizes of ten students in their class.
• Determine the population and sample of the survey they have completed.
• Organize the data they have gathered into a frequency table.
• Create bar and pie charts with Google Sheets.
• Calculate the mean, median, mode, and range.
• Analyze and describe their findings from the data they have gathered.

Student Example

By the time my students complete this activity, they have a good understanding of the concepts and activities in their upcoming project.  In addition to this, they tend to be very excited about the idea of choosing their own question and surveying students outside of the classroom.  As I mentioned before, I will share this project in an upcoming post and I cannot wait to get feedback on this project.

As always, if you use this activity in your classroom, let me know how it goes.  I love feedback!

The Follow Up:

A couple of weeks ago, I shared an Area of Shapes Scavenger Hunt that I created for my students to use during our upcoming Geometry Unit.  (To read more about this activity, view my “Area of Shapes Scavenger Hunt via Google Slides” post.  As always, I find it is important to reflect on what worked, what didn’t work, and what I would do in the future.

Originally, my intention was for my students to complete this activity over a two day period in our math class.  However, I was unexpectedly out of the classroom and had to modify my plans.  My modification was that this activity would become an “enrichment activity” for my students who had completed their assignments while I worked with my “intervention” group in small group tutorials.  Although it was not my original intention, I found that this worked really well as an enrichment activity.

Student Samples:

Five Takeaways:

So, here are my five takeaways from this activity:

1.) Students needed the two days that I originally planned on giving them.

Even as an enrichment activity, one day was not enough for students to finish this activity.  Finding the shapes and uploading them into the Google Slide took some time, so it would have been beneficial to have more time to complete this activity in class.

2.) Students need time to reflect on their learning.

Next year, I want to add a reflection piece to the Google Slide to challenge students to reflect on what they learned from this activity and how calculating the area of shapes in the “real world” would be important.  At the moment, I am imagining a slide at the end of the Slide Deck that has questions and/or a text box for a written reflection.  Nothing to complicated – but something that does require them to reflect on what they have learned from this activity.

3.) Student wanted to go outside the classroom and explore the shapes on campus.

Since I had students in tutorial groups, we were limited to exploring the shapes on campus.  Mostly, the students found shapes in our classroom and right outside the door of our classroom.  It worked but the students really wanted to go outside and find other shapes.  This would be one of those amazing activities to get students out of our “four walls” and into the world.

4.) Trapezoids are difficult to find in the “real world”.

So…Trapezoids are really difficult to find on campus.  Next time, I need to spend some time looking for trapezoids on our campus to give the students some clues.  Since we couldn’t seem to find a lot of trapezoids in our classroom, some of the students reverted to creating their own trapezoids, finding them online, or in a textbook.

5.) I should have bought more measuring tapes from the Dollar Tree.

At one point, I had about 12+ measuring tapes that I had bought from the Dollar Tree but I think the wear and tear of student use has brought my count down to 5-6 measuring tapes.  Students were able to use rulers to measure the shapes but it became difficult when some of the shapes were over 1 foot.  There are so many measuring tapes at the Dollar Tree for (duh) $1, so I need to purchase more in advance for the next time we do this activity.

Overall, I felt like this activity has a lot of potential, even though I did not feel like I had the time to allow all my students to participate in the scavenger hunt.  However, it did prove to be a great “beta” test with my student that challenged them to think about Geometry that is in the “real world” rather than just on their Chromebook or in a textbook.

The Road Trippin’ Follow Up

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an upcoming HyperDoc I created to help students explore ratios, rates, proportion, and scale factor.  In this HyperDoc, students were introduced and applied their knowledge of these concepts by creating their own Road Trip.  (To read more about this HyperDoc and get your own copy, please read my post “A Ratios & Proportion HyperDoc” post.)

It is important to note that, although this HyperDoc was an enormous and important part of our unit, it was not the only piece of this complicated teaching puzzle.  My students still completed notes, as well as a set of skills-based lesson practice.  One thing I have tried to do this year is find a balance between all three of these – the notes, the skills practice, and real-life application.  Each piece is incredibly important but it must be balanced.  Personally, HyperDocs have been a great help in balancing these parts in my classroom.

The feedback that I received from my students on this project was amazing.  They really enjoyed it!  They had so much fun designing their maps and creating budgets for food, hotels, and gas.  Many of the students commented that they enjoyed this HyperDoc project much more than the “Cell Phone Plans: A Systems of Equations HyperDoc” that we completed in February.

In this post, I would like to share with you:

• Examples of student work, as well as the road trip website that contains all of the student creations.
• Five (5) takeaways that I had from assigning this project to my students.

Road Trippin’ Products: Examples of Student Work

In this HyperDoc, students submitted two main pieces of work: 1.) A Google Map that outlines their road trip, including food, hotels, and destinations, and 2.) A Google Doc that explains and breaks down the math within the project.

The Google Maps

One of the first things that the students began creating was the Google Map that outlined their road trip.  Each group completed a map in Google My Maps and this accounted for 50% of their grade on the project.

To view all of our road trips, please visit our Road Trip website: Road Trips (16/17)

The students completed all of the Google Maps that are listed within this Google Site.  From there, they submitted a title, description, cost, and link to their map via Google Forms and I added this to our website.  For the students, they were so excited to see that their work was published on the internet.  In addition to this, they found the idea that other people could view and use their road trips to be very relevant and engaging.

The Google Doc

Each student completed a Google Doc that broke down the math behind a road trip.  Students explored how to create a Google Map, how to budget for food, gas, and hotels, and how to find the scale factor of the Google Map compared to real life.

To view some examples of completed work, please visit these examples: Example #1, Example #2, and Example #3.

Road Trippin’: Three Takeaways & Three Ideas for the Future

Three Takeaways

1.) Students love projects that have a real-life application.

In Math, students often say, “When will I use this in real life?”  Through this project, I was able to offer them some insight into how math is used in the real world and…they loved it!  It was relatable and relevant which is instantly interesting and engaging to students.

2.) There is a balance between skills practice and real-life application.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a balance between the skills practice (DOK 1) and the real-life application (DOK 3+).  In skills practice, the students should be able to receive immediate feedback on their progress to see if they understand the basic skills practice.  In applications, students may be developing a long-term project that is receiving consistent feedback over an extended period of time.  Both are important and have their purpose.

3.) By moving from a teacher-centered to a student-centered (with choice!) learning environment, student engagement will increase.

Over the last two years, I have tried to create a learning environment that is student-centered, rather than teacher centered.  It is a long process and is constantly being modified but I have found that it has great benefits for students.  Again – there is a balance.  It is not all one or the other.  For myself, I equate it to a scale that is tipping more heavily towards the student-centered side but still has some weight on the teacher-centered side.  However, students love being in charge of their own learning and having the option to choose the types of projects that they will explore.  This automatically increases buy-in which, in turn, increase student engagement.

Three Ideas for the Future

1.) The students were introduced to the real-life application but there could be a short assessment to see if they understood the important concepts that were being taught.

Although they had a lot of practice in the math concepts listed above, I would be interested in assessing their knowledge of these concepts to determine if they truly understood the material and did not get lost in the “glamor” of creating a road trip.  This assessment should be short and could include something skills-based or a performance task.

2.) It would be helpful to create short videos or gifs to walk students through basic technology skills and instructions.

Unfortunately, I know that I lost too much time by explaining the same directions for certain technology skills multiple times.  In the future, I need to create short videos or gifs to assist students with these skills if they do not understand the directions.

3.) Some student tend to work with the same students for each project.  It would be beneficial to use Flippity to create new groups that would allow for collaboration outside of their regular peer group.

In our environment of student choice, I usually allow my students to choose their own groups.  Although this has its benefits, I often worry that my students are not able to learn how to work with students that are outside of their regular peer group.  Using Flippity to create random groups could be an excellent option to mix up our classroom groups during future projects.

Final Thoughts

The HyperDoc took about two weeks for the students to complete but they seemed to enjoy every second of this project.  It is a great reminder that we need to spend more time finding ways to create learning environments that are engaging for students but also helps them to reach their learning goals.

As I have mentioned before, I highly suggest that you try the HyperDoc model in your classroom – I promise that it will transform how you teach your students!