After

I haven't been able to write much lately. We're in the middle of state testing - again - and now getting ready for that paperwork marathon known as end-of-the-school-year. Not a big fan of paperwork. Does anyone ever really read all that stuff?So I procrastinate. Which sometimes is not as much of a time waste as it sounds.This time, my procrastination(s) proved fruitful. I've discovered two really useful - in my opinion - websites that I've already started using in math classes with students.Learnzillion is a video treasure of lessons started by a charter school in Washington, DC and recently opened to teachers willing to shared taped lesson snippets. In addition to being tied directly to Common Core Mathematics Standards, a teacher can sign up for a (FREE!) account and create a playlist of videos. Teachers with more technology available to them that I currently have in my school, or than my students' families have, may find using a playlist with "homework" that confirms whether or not the students has viewed and understood the concept presented powerful. But even without this piece, I thought the video lessons were quite strong. Anyone who uses Lucy Calkins Units of Study will appreciate that the videos begin by addressing students as "mathematicians".Currently the videos support Common Core standards in Grades 3 through 9. And while not all standards are in the video library, there are plenty of visual lessons to help students understand math concepts.Another new to me site is K-5 Math Teaching Resources. These are not video lessons but they are wonderfully constructed explorations of mathematical concepts. The activities are categorized by grade level, linked to the Common Core Mathematics Standards and, for the most part, are free. The only for-fee sections appear to be the downloads of math projects, math vocabulary wordwalls, and math journal problems. Each of these downloads are $7 for a single-user PDF file.