Educating Students on Web Pages

Today we reviewed the boring must do state testing so students could see how to enter answers and ask any last minute questions on the practice test. I was working with a particularly hard group of students, 8 students total, most who struggle in math and whose interest in the daily grind of school is questionable some days due to other factors, but let's say they did alright.  They persevered and worked through problems showing work in pairs.

With under 8 minutes left I whispered to them that we were switching groups and instead of math practice and coding practice they could play games.  Yes, the excitement grew. They got to play physics games and cool math my arch nemesis, but oh well by the time they switched I figured it'd be nearly time to clean up.

To my surprise I look over and I see 4 out of the 8 students not playing physics games or cool math, but instead 1 opted to check grades, 2 opted to code, and 1 opted for math practice. All was not lost.  I have come to understand if we can guide and show students webpages that are beneficial, fun, and that they find relevant they will go their. Libraries and teachers need to do a better job of showing students these resources.

 As I begin to introduce coding into math class...thanks khan academy (but not really because codecademy.com is much better) I have been allowing them to spend about 10 minutes a day on code cademy a far better experience in coding than khan.  (This is for my 7th Graders only)
With my 6th graders I hope to introduce them to more of these activities and webpages that are more educational and thought based than sugar sugar on physics games etc.

Some of my go to's include:
- Code Cademy
- Lure of the Labyrinth
- Math by Design
- Villainy Inc.
- Math Moves U

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