Snow, snow, snow and subtraction

We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning! It snowed steadily almost all day and my school district decided that parents could come and pick up their kids early if they wanted to, but we would dismiss at the regular time. Starting just before noon, the students slowly trickled out of the room as their parents came to pick them up. I had only half my class left, so instead of teaching the really important subtraction lesson I had planned, we played games on the Promethean board all afternoon! The kids got really stir crazy at one point and it seemed like they had each eaten about a dozen cupcakes. I had also planned to have them do my Snowy Subtraction QR code activity as a math center, but that also went out the window!

click here to get it

 

Oh well! I guess we'll do it tomorrow (or maybe next week). Some of my students have really been understanding how to do subtraction with regrouping. It really helps that they learned the little poem that helps them know when to regroup:

More on the top? No need to stop!

More on the floor? Go next door!

Number's the same? Zero's the name!

 

Sometimes all I have to do is tell them to ask "the question". It is so cute to see them whispering the little poem as they work through problems. Of course, I still have some kids struggling with the concept and they are using base-10 blocks or drawings to help them conceptually.

 

I have had such a crazy week and can't wait for the weekend to just relax a little bit. My tech team at school was chosen to do a presentation about using QR codes in the classroom at our district's Digital Learning Conference. It was quite an experience! I was so nervous because I did most of the talking, but it was really good for me to step up and show what I've been doing with my students. I was also really inspired by one presenter in particular that demonstrated some really great ways to use technology with students. I'll definitely be doing some research and playing around with some apps over winter break.  

 

Well, my daughters are hard at work finishing projects and studying for finals and it is time for me to go help with some Algebra (gag!). This just reminds me why I teach 2nd grade!