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Tag: George Woodbury

MyLab Monday – Personalized Homework

MyLab Monday – Personalized Homework

Last week I made a post about using quizzes in MyLab. Today I will expand on that topic to include personalized homework. In MyLab you can use the results of a quiz to load a personalized homework assignment. These are powerful tools, as they help students to determine which topics will require further study and then generates a homework assignment focused on those topics. Creating Personalized Homework I begin by making the quiz first. In my current algebra classes I…

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Recommend an iPad Screen Capture App?

Recommend an iPad Screen Capture App?

Requesting your help … I’m trying to find an iPad app for making/recording screencasts for my students. So for today’s Technology Thursday, I’d like for you to recommend an app for doing this. Please leave your recommendation as a comment. Thanks – George

Learning from Mistakes

Learning from Mistakes

I tried something new in my intermediate algebra class. Over the last 3 classes we covered absolute value equations, absolute value inequalities, and graphing absolute value functions. I tried to tie these ideas together through the magic of Desmos, and although it started strong, it could have ended better. We began with the equation . Students solved this by hand and we went over the solution. Then I had students use Desmos to graph and determine where it intersected the…

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TBT – Graphing Absolute Value Functions

TBT – Graphing Absolute Value Functions

This week in my intermediate algebra class we covered graphing absolute value functions. I began by having students create an x-y table for . We plotted the points and they could tell the shape of the graph, and I asked them which point was the most important point. They knew it was the turning point of the graph. So far, so good. Next, I put up this equation: . I then gave them a few minutes to figure out where…

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MyLab Monday – Quizzes

MyLab Monday – Quizzes

Since the beginning of MyMathLab, I have incorporated quizzes into my courses. Creating a quiz is identical to creating a homework assignment, and many MyLab Math texts come with quizzes already loaded to copy into your course. Quizzes do differ in a couple of ways from homework assignments. Learning Aids Learning aids are automatically turned off. Students who over rely on “Help Me Solve This” or “View An Example” will hopefully realize this while taking the quiz. (I like to…

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Statistics Blog – Week 1

Statistics Blog – Week 1

My first week of day-by-day blogging is complete. If you’d like to see where I go in week 2, including an introduction to inferential statistics through simulation and randomization, check out the blog here: https://georgewoodbury.com/statblog/. I created the blog to discuss the power of Interactive Statistics, Interactive Reading Assignments (read a little, watch a little, do a little), Learning Catalytics, StatCrunch, and the Flipped Classroom. I promise you will find tips and tools that will increase student learning.

Flipped Friday – Using MyMathLab for Pre-Class Assignments

Flipped Friday – Using MyMathLab for Pre-Class Assignments

This semester I will be posting about my experiences with the Flipped Classroom. I am using this approach in my Statistics class, and you can read about my day-by-day progress here. I am also using this approach in my Intermediate Algebra class, as well as some of my materials in an online Elementary Algebra class. If you have questions, comments, or topics you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter. Pre-Class Assignments…

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Technology Thursday – Instagram

Technology Thursday – Instagram

I have dedicated a significant amount of time over many years to helping students with math questions when I am not on campus. I have used a Smart Pen, Jing, YouTube, … Last semester I started helping my students using Instagram, and it has been an effective tool. I give my students my Instagram username (which is in the Social Media links on this blog), and when they are having difficulty with a problem they simply take a photo and…

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Wildcard Wednesday – Sending the Right Messages

Wildcard Wednesday – Sending the Right Messages

In all of my classes I have been focusing on sending the right messages to my students. I have become more aware of the importance of this through Jo Boaler (Mathematical Mindsets) and Carol Dweck (Mindsets). HereĀ are the messages I have been stressing. Speed is not important. Math takes time, and you want to work at a pace that leads to your understanding. Praise effort, not ability. For example, I told my statistics class how proud I was of how…

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TeachBetterTuesday (TBT) – Involving Students in Discovery

TeachBetterTuesday (TBT) – Involving Students in Discovery

Yesterday was the first day for my intermediate algebra class, which meets for a 2-hour block. Students spent the first hour solving linear equations (a review topic) with no instruction. We followed up with a class discussion regarding which problems they struggled with, and got students to offer their advice for those problems. It was a great start – students being responsible, communication, positive classroom atmosphere. I also had opportunities to sneak in some growth mindset ideas: speed is not…

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