Explain Everything….more than a screen recorder

May 23, 2014January 28, 2016 by Jon Orr

I’ve been loving the app Explain Everything more and more! Yes it’s great because when students record their work it forces them to think more about language and ideas than they are used to. I like that! That is what drew me to the app in the first place. But I’ve been loving it even more….. I’ve been using it lately NOT to record work. I’ve been using it to deliver content to students in a new way. We can use the app as a sort of enhanced digital workspace! Here is an example:

Click the picture to download the Explain Everything file

I created this for my lesson on periodic functions. Here is why this is awesome……

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OAME2014 – Using Videos/Images to Engage. Whatcha Thinking?

May 3, 2014May 8, 2014 by Jon Orr

Most of the resources below we have discovered because of twitter.

@MrOrr_geek @MrJeffreyLKDSB

Below is a list of resources we like and use. It is a hodgepodge of good stuff for teaching math with video and images.

Math Teaching Resources Menu

Appetizers:

Estimation180

Estimation180 is great for warm ups but even better for getting students to practice predicting their answer which allows them to decide if their answer they calculate makes sense. Here is an example:

Estimate: Day 53

What is the volume of the vase?

Questions we ask to get students thinking of reasonableness of their answers. Give an estimate that is too low. Give an estimate that is too high Give an estimate that is just right.

Video Answer

Would You Rather

ASKING STUDENTS TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN PATH AND JUSTIFY IT!

Great way to start a topic/or lesson. Students are eager to justify their choice. Relevant problems.

Here is another example: Would You Rather

Would You Rather

Visual Patterns

Fawn Nguyen’s site has 140 different growth patterns. Find the correct equation!

Here are a few examples:

Along the same lines as this are ….

Vine Videos created by Nat Banting

Click here to go to his blogpost on this… He takes a pattern like this one from a textbook: and turns it into this…. or one like this….

and turns it into this…

Main Course

Engaging Math Problems vs. Standard Math Problems

3-Act Math Problems

Original concept from Dan Meyer – Read about it – The Three Acts of a Mathematical Story

Here is a standard Math problem from grade 9

A water balloon is filled at a rate of 0.22L/s If a standard balloon will hold about 14L of water, how long will it take until it bursts?

Here is the 3-Act Math Approach

Act 1: The Water Balloon

Did you wonder when the balloon will blow? Give an answer too high, too low, just right.

Act 2:

Act 3:

Whatcha Thinking!!

We created a bank of 3-act math problems to use in your grade 9 applied class. The website is designed for student use.

Direct your students to the Whatcha Thinking site.

Thanks!!

@MrOrr_geek @MrJeffreyLKDSB

Instantaneously Awesome!

February 18, 2014January 28, 2016 by Jon Orr

So check this out!
Our lesson in Advanced Functions is “I should be able to determine the instantaneous rate of change of a function at a particular instant.”

Here’s what went down….

We began by grabbing an Explain Everything file from our Google Drive.

We watched Dan run!
After watching his run I asked… “Draw a prediction in the file of his Elevation Vs. time”

We used AppleTV to share our graphs…..brave students shot their graph up for display and for everyone to judge! Students were asked to support their prediction.

We then moved to the next slide….. And saw a Desmos graph of mimicking most of the student predictions.

Students were then asked to use the secant line on the desmos graph to:
1. Find the average rate of change between 2 seconds and 10 seconds.
2. Estimate the instantaneous rate at exactly 2 seconds….by manipulating the points.

After a consensus on what everyone thought was the instantaneous rate…and a discussion on what that means….we moved to the next slide to verify our result by looking at the tangent line at 2 seconds.

Lastly, we verified those results by calculating the instantaneous rate at 2 seconds using algebra!

Overall it was a pretty we’ll received lesson!
Any thoughts/feedback?

Sorting Out Explain Everything

December 1, 2013January 28, 2016 by Jon Orr

There are lots of great things in Math being done with the app Explain Everything! Explain Everything has been the go-to app of choice for many teachers, students to showcase learning and understanding.
Students in my class have used this app to explain major concepts from the course. For example, a student used the app to create a video on the differences between Direct and Partial variation.

The app can be used for other great uses besides video recording…

I have been using the app to create short Sorting activities.

Click the picture and download the Explain Everything .xpl file.

The white space in the app allows users to easily move, rotate, and sort images on the screen. In the example above, as a warm up my students were asked to sort the solution to the equation in the correct order. We then had discussions on steps to solve equations.

Below is another sorting activity on sorting out linear relations. They were asked to match up tables, graphs, equations, and descriptions.

Click the picture and download the Explain Everything .xpl file.

Another sorting activity: For MPM2D or MCF3M or MCR3U – Sorting the Quadratic Formula. Students were asked to sort out solutions to solving equations by completing the square. After sorting a number of solutions, they were asked to sort the general development of the Quadratic Formula.

Click the picture and download the Explain Everything .xpl file

Share this:

Like this:

@MrOrr_geek @MrJeffreyLKDSB

Math Teaching Resources Menu

Appetizers:

Estimation180

Estimate: Day 53

What is the volume of the vase?

Video Answer

Would You Rather

Visual Patterns

Vine Videos created by Nat Banting

Main Course

Engaging Math Problems vs. Standard Math Problems

3-Act Math Problems