Jeff


 * Jeff Verkest**
 * jverkest@bcps.org**

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan as one of three boys. We were all highly competitive, often with one another, and I played football and baseball growing up. Upon graduation from high school, I attended Central Michigan University for 6 years...yes, I enjoyed my undergraduate years a bit too much. After graduating, and crying about having actually become an adult, I moved to Maryland and took a job teaching seventh grade math at Stricker Middle School in BCPS, where I met my wife and now mother of two children. Last fall, I made the switch to elementary school and currently teach fifth grade at Timonium Elementary. The switch has been great, but it is riduculous how much more work elementary school is compared to middle school.
 * Bio**


 * Links to Mobile Apps:**

[|Equivalent Fractions] [|Number Link] [|Math Operations 4 Kids] [|Math Run]

I couldn't figure out how to link a few apps that I only found on my iPhone. [|Geogebra] [|Edmodo] [|Facebook] [|Classdojo] [|Khan Academy]
 * Possible Web 2.0 Tools for Project:**

Web 2.0 is nothing more than what most people use the internet for on a daily basis. Web 2.0 refers to a shift from using the web only as a static environment where we simply can access information into an environment where information can be freely shared between users. Web 2.0 tools allow users to interact via social media. Users are invited to not only view content, but also to offer their insights and information about topics. Tools include things such as wikis, blogs, and uploaded videos.
 * Work from Class 1:**

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[|Edutopia Survey Results]

[|Discovery Survey Results]

How I might use a wiki page in my class: I could use a wiki page in my class to communicate with parents. I get a lot of questions about how their students are doing certain things from their homework as many of our methods differ from 20 or 30 years ago. I could answer their questions or use the wiki to post links to other places where students and parents can find the answers they need.

Todaysmeet.com lesson plan:
 * I was hoping to use todaysmeet.com with my classes today.
 * I broke my students into groups. Most groups were broken heterogenously although my inclusionist likes to keep my IEP students together to make her life abit easier.
 * Students were given pattern blocks and were given a question where they had 5 cupcakes to give evenly to 3 people. They were not given any further instruction, but were asked to consider the yellow hexagon as one whole cupcake. Students were allowed to break the cupcakes in any method possible to split them evenly into the three groups.
 * I wanted to ask students to use todaysmeet to explain what they were doing as a group as they worked. They, we would go back and compare different strategies that each group used and would discuss how the groups could share ideas through the webpage.
 * Students foudn multiple ways to break their five cupcakes into smaller pieces. Some broke all five into thirds while others broke only 2 into thirds, or into halves and then the last half into sixths.
 * We used this as a jumping off point to discuss how the answer of 5/3 is the same as 1 and 2/3 and also 1 and 4/6.

Again, I don't have a todaysmeet.com transcript because the website is currently blocked for student access.


 * Work from Class 2:**





Journal Prompts for Math Class: [] [] []

Kidblog Website: []

Word Cloud Ideas:
 * Use a word cloud as an opportunity to review vocabulary before a test. Create the word cloud and have every student choose three words for which to create a poster.
 * Use a word cloud for units of measurement. You could, for instance put the word gallon and then the word quart four times and the word pint 8 times and the word cup 32 times to discuss equal measurements. You could also use this for fractions, writing eighth eight times and whole once.
 * Use a word cloud to dicsuss theoretical probability. You could put a certain amount of items into your word cloud, this is the same as putting them into a bag and pulling one out. Kids can find the probability of randomly selecting a certain word.


 * Work from Class 3:**
 * [|Multiplication Glogster Poster]**




 * Work from Class 4:**
 * [[file:Verkest SAMR Model.docx|SAMR Model]]**


 * Work from Class 5:**

[|Practice Google Form] [|Observation Rubric]

Google Form for classroom observation used in my class: [|Classroom Obervation]


 * Work from Class 6:**

Video Lesson Plans:

Lesson 1: I would use the videos of Olympic times to work on creating line graphs. We would be able to plot the points as they change over time and discuss why the line graph is the proper graph to use.

Lesson 2: I would use some of the winning Olympic times to work on decimal operations. Students could be asked to find how much faster today's Olympic champions were than some of their predecessors.

Lesson 3: I could use the long jump video to design a lesson about fraction operations. We could discuss how much further Bob Beamon jumped than today's Olympic champions.

Lesson Plan 1:

I would show my students the video [|the physics of the homerun.] Students would then be asked if they think that the angle at which the bat hits the ball effects the distance the homerun travels. As my students discuss this, I would pose another question. I would ask them what they think the optimum angle would be for the ball to travel the maximum distance. We would listen to different hypotheses and then could break into groups to try launching objects, such as a small rubber ball from different angles. Students would be asked to track the distance that the ball traveled along with the angle at which it was launched. They would then be asked to construct a scatter plot of their data and could discuss the correlation in order to answer the question about which angle causes maximum distance.

Lesson Plan 2:

I would show my students the video [|"An Unfair Game: English Football's Rising Ticket Prices."] I would then ask students for their opinions on sports tickets for American sports. I would separate my students into groups and would assign them the task of searching for average ticket prices for some of their favorite teams and sports over the past 25 years. Students would be allowed to use the computer to research and find their data. Then, they would be asked to graph the data on a line graph and to analyze any trends that they see. They would be asked to make a decision about which sport they feel is the best value. As an extension, and to connect the lesson to another content, I would ask the students to write a letter to their favorite sports team or league illustrating their views about the rise in ticket prices.

Lesson Plan 3:

I would show my students the video, [|"Animals are Persons Too."] I would then ask my students to design a Google form that they could use to give as a survey asking people their opinions on animal rights. Students would be asked to pose questions that responders could rate on a scale from 1 to 5 as to how much they agree or disagree with the statement. Students would then be asked to compile the data and analyze it, looking for trends within different social groups. For instance, are young people more likely to view their animal as a person than people over the age of 50? Students could find trends in the data and could present their findings graphically and with charts to either prove or disprove a hypothesis that they formed.

Learnzillion Lessons: []

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Khan Academy Lessons: []

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There are things about both sites that I like very much. In my opinion, Learnzillion is a bit easier to use, so parents may prefer this site to Khan Academy. It is also more welcoming and probably looks a bit less overwhelming for younger kids. While Khan Academy looks a little more daunting and requires a little more navigating, I prefer how this site offers a series of lessons about different topics. Students could use the entire progression if they have missed a topic, or could simply view the vidoe they need to fill in the holes. Personally, I prefer Khan Academy.


 * Work from Class 7:**



[|Popplet - Fractions]

[|Padlet]


 * Work from Class 8:**
 * [|Educreations video on Multiplying with an Area Model]**


 * Project:**

[|Model Hole]

[|Student Sample Work]

[|Division TestMoz]
 * Work from Class 9:**