Its been so LONG!!!

Alas, how does time get away from us.  One minute it is August, and we are fresh-faced and looking forward to a brand new year...and the next day it is December!  Wow, how time does fly.

Anywho, we have been doing some great stuff in my classes this year.  I have been challenged to come up with ways to get my special needs students (many times performing 3-5 grade levels below expected) to perform grade level work.  This is a task in and of itself, especially since I can't use anything commercially produced, and I have to make everything from scratch.  To add to that, I have been blessed with a Program Director (I teach at a private school) who LOVES technology (and so do I:)), so we are expected to use some type of technology each and every day - no worksheets in these parts.

So, in order to get my students to practice the math concepts they need to understand, I have been using lots of QR codes for the kids to scan and solve math problems.  Yes, the codes are printed on a worksheet, but they need to use technology in order to work out the problems.  (Once I figure out how, I will share them on here).

I have also been doing lots of stations.  I set up 3-4 different stations in my room - one matching activity, one review activity, one computer game activity, and one teacher activity.  Students rotate through the stations every 7-9 minutes, depending on how much time we have in class.  This definately gets loud sometimes, but I think it is worth it, because the kids are engaged!

Well, with any luck, I will be back tomorrow with "What's App-ening Wednesday" and some fun new app finds! 

What's App-ening Wednesday!

Hello all!  I am so fortunate to work in a school that has rolled out a 1:1 iPad program!  That also means I had to dive head first into the world of math apps with very little guidance.  If I had the iPads, of course I was expected to use them:)

So I have collected a pretty decent list of apps at support middle school math instruction.  Each Wednesday, I will post one (or two) apps that I think will be useful.

So without further ado, this week's app is:  Middle School Math HD. This app is 2.99 on the app store and packs a big punch!  It covers a variety of topics such as adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers, place value of decimals, plotting points, and solving one step equations.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pitner's Potpourri giveaway!

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My first blog!

Hello! My name is Stephanie and I am beginning my 5th year as a middle school math teacher at a small private school for special needs students. Since my students are able to move at their own pace, I teach grades 2-8 for math. I have been blog stalking for several months now, and I decided that now is the time for me to start one of my own. I hope I am able to give you guys new ideas to use in your classroom, freebies that are useful, and a glimpse into my little classoom and all of the wonderful things that happen there.