music being presented to the students. It was called Flocab, and it was a lesson on Least Common Factor, and Greatest Common Factor in math. I'm in sort of a transition mode, teaching wise, right now, so I'm auditioning myself to students. They were bopping along to it and it made me wonder: Is this working? Will this work? I've always been a learner who is easily distracted by music. I prefer a quiet place to think when I'm learning. But the cardinal rule in teaching is this: It's not about me, doofus. It's about them, the students. Some of them were WAY into the Flocab. As I continued the boring Mr. Gerber part of the lesson, I noticed lots of hands going up, answering questions. Now, as a person who was coming into their classroom uninitiated to any of them, it was hard to assess what they already knew cold turkey in the middle of November, no pun intended on the week of Thanksgiving. That's why I made sure to put an assessment at the end, so I could at least see if they learned what I presented. It turns out, they all got it. Now, AFTER the fact, their teacher told me they knew that pretty well, but feedback from the students was strong about Flocab, and how it reminded them what Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Factor were, so they were indeed primed by the video. It isn't A lesson, but it can be a wonderful filler in any classroom, especially with older students. I hope to get a chance to use it again soon.
The other thing I came across was a website called S.O.S. Math. This website is very old fashioned, design wise, but it is a GREAT tool for people trying to remember math. Like, most math teachers. Believe it or not, not all math teachers remember every aspect of math all the time. Some do, but from my interactions with them, a lot of math teachers need a little refresher. This website is perfect, as one can peruse it by topic (Algebra, geometry, etc.) and pick and choose on what they'd like to refresh their memory. I highly recommend this.
Until next time!
