Mathematicians look like all of us project

Like so many awesome math teachers, I met Megan McLean through social media at some point over the last few years. Megan is a teacher all the way on the other side of the US, and with the help of Instagram, I get to feel like she is my colleague next door. Over the last few months, Megan has been researching mathematicians from all over the world and collecting their stories into her Instagram account @mathematicianslooklikeallofus. This post highlights a small sliver of the mathematicians she has found and also links to where we can learn more. Here is Megan's guest post on the work she has done so far on this important project. Megan has also started the blog Mathematicians Look Like All of Us.

Guest post by Megan McLean

@mathematicianslooklikeallofus

Digital Math Escape Rooms

Here you'll find no-prep digital math escape rooms that are fun for students and eliminate your need to grade! These self-checking math escape rooms are built in Google Forms with no outside links. The directions are simple -- enter a 4-letter code to advance to the next puzzle -- so students can focus all of their energy on their math. 

Update: Printable black & white versions are now included with every digital math escape room.

Evaluating expressions digital math escape room

Digital Math Escape Rooms

Teachers are using digital math escape rooms as review, as independent, partner or group classwork, as station activities, sub plans, and even as concept reinforcement during summer school. 

Pythagorean Theorem digital math escape room

The escape rooms can be assigned to individual students or worked on in pairs/groups. They are also nice paper-savers when students have access to technology.

"Students love these activities. They are just the right amount of challenging and self-checking." - Maggie V.

 

"My students love these escape rooms. The scaffold of challenge throughout each puzzle is awesome." - Stacey S.

After hearing from teachers that having printable versions would be helpful, every digital math escape room got a printable black & white PDF version added to its file. Every new math escape room will have both versions included. 

Now you can choose to assign the Google Forms version or the printable PDF version to your students. For the printable version, students can start on any of the 5 puzzles. They record their 4-letter code on their answer sheet, then check the "next step" box for which puzzle to visit next.

Area, perimeter, volume digital math escape room

Digital math escape rooms have been getting some great feedback from teachers and students:

"I've greatly enjoyed using escape room activities with students in the past and struggled with how to implement those types of activities virtually. This activity did a great job of merging the concepts and skills of parallel & perpendicular lines with the fun and intrigue of an escape room!" - Elizabeth J. 

"This was SOOO much fun to use with my students. They Loved everything about the escape room! Thank you!!" - Dani B.

"I like to spice up my teaching by offering my students a variety of math activities. Students are challenged with solving the math problems and they stay engaged. I time them to see who can unlock the locks first. Exciting!" - Leinani K.

"I love these activities and so do my students. We both love the self-checking factor: me because it actually requires my students to trouble shoot what they are doing incorrectly and gives them some motivation to figure out the solution; them because it is a 100 if they can escape and they enjoy the process of trying to break out." - Kristin K.

This feedback was nice to read because it was exactly what I had hoped these digital math escape rooms would be-- engaging, easy to access for all students and timesavers for teachers.

Quadratic word problems digital math escape room

How do these digital math escape rooms work?

Each digital math escape room is built in Google Forms with no outside links. Everything is housed within the Google Form. This way you never have to worry that a link will be blocked or broken. 

Probability digital math escape room

Each escape room consists of 5 puzzles. In each puzzle there are 4 questions to answer. Once students answer the 4 questions, they find their answers in the answer choices grid. This will generate a 4-letter code. Entering that code into the answer box on the Form will unlock the lock. There are 5 locks to unlock in each escape room activity. Each escape room is set with response validation, giving students the instant feedback they love and eliminating your need to grade.

Geometric transformations digital math escape room

Important note: Students do not need to be signed into Google, or even have Google accounts, for the escape rooms to work. As long as you can house the Google Form in your Google Drive, and Google is not blocked on student devices, you can send them to students no matter where they are working. Directions for sending the escape rooms to students are inside each escape room's PDF file, along with the Google Forms link. The printable black & white version and answer key are also inside the PDF.

Finding slope digital math escape room

Browse digital math escape rooms:

Adding and Subtracting Integers Digital Math Escape Room

 

Fraction Review Digital Math Escape Room

GCF and LCM Digital Math Escape Room

Domain and Range Digital Math Escape Room

Graphing Linear Equations Digital Math Escape Room

Coordinate Plane Digital Math Escape Room

Order of Operations Digital Math Escape Room

2-Step Equations Digital Math Escape Room

Multiplying Fractions Review Digital Math Escape Room

Pythagorean Theorem Digital Math Escape Room 

Quadratic Word Problems Digital Math Escape Room

Pi Day Digital Math Escape Room for Middle School

Finding Slope Digital Math Escape Room

> Browse all 100+ math escape rooms

Digital math escape room bundle for middle school

"This is one of the greatest purchases I have ever bought from TPT" - Kristi T.

"BEST BUNDLE EVER. My students say they LOVE the problems in these escapes. I have used many of the escapes this year, and I LOVE that they cannot submit the assignment until all of the questions are answered correctly. Thank you so much for making this resource!"  - Lori M.

"I have never seen my students more engaged than when we are doing escape rooms! They love the challenge aspect of it and it has helped them build their team working skills. I recommend this resource to almost every math teacher I meet!" - Katie R.

If your students are in middle school, this middle school digital math escape room bundle includes digital and printable math escape rooms for integers, like terms, order of operations, fractions, decimals, percents, the coordinate plane, expressions, exponents, GCF & LCM, mean, median, mode and range, area and circumference of circles, probability, angle pair relationships, ratios, slope, ordering rational numbers, 1-step equations, 1-step inequalities, 2-step equations, 2-step inequalities, unit rates, scientific notation, area, perimeter and volume, geometric transformations, composite figures, and simple interest.

Solving 2-step equations digital math escape room

There are also bundles for algebra, geometry and upper elementary school.

Angle pair relationships digital math escape room

How do I send a digital math escape room to students?

This is simple to do. These directions are also inside each escape room's PDF:

1) Once the escape room is in your Google Drive, open it and click the purple "publish" button in the top right corner.

2) Then click Manage. 

3) Under Responder view, choose "anyone with the link". Click Done, then Publish. 

4) Next, click the Published button in the top right corner. 

5) Lastly, click Copy responder link (making sure accepting responses is on). This is the link to share with students. 

Are digital math escape rooms aligned to the standards?

Yes! The standard or standards each math escape room covers is listed in its specs. Students will think they're just having fun while secretly practicing their math.

Can students just guess the code?

Each 9-answer puzzle has 3,024 possible 4-letter permutations, so the likelihood of guessing correctly is pretty low.

I hope your students enjoy the escape rooms!

BROWSE ALL MATH ESCAPE ROOMS

How-to Guide to Attacking Word Problems

Word problems confessional: I dread teaching them. They're one of those things I have had a hard time teaching. My personal word problem solving technique, if you can even call it that, goes something like: "Read it over and over and over again until it makes sense, cross out words I don't like because they're unnecessary and I don't like that they were added as a distraction, read it again, imagine myself in the problem, pull out the numbers, make them into an equation, does the equation make sense?, solve it, does the solution make sense?" How could I ever teach this? It's a heaping disaster!

Word problems don't all fit into the same neat little box. There is no one graphic organizer, or magical online math word problems solver, that works well for all word problems. Each word problem is completely unique. This has always felt so incredibly messy to me when it comes to teaching word problems. 

But this all changed when I came across this paper on George Pólya's Problem Solving Techniques. There are no graphic organizers, there is no overarching goal to fit everything into neat little boxes on a 1-pager. The messiness is expected and embraced and a welcomed part of it all. If you haven't heard of George Pólya's problem solving technique, here is a partial summary:

How to Transfer a File From One Google Drive to Another

Have you ever downloaded a Google file for school, only to have it get "stuck" in your home Google Drive? Or maybe a file you'd like in your home Google Drive won't seem to budge from your school Drive? 

Below are simple directions for how to move a file from one Google Drive to another. I'll use the example of how to move a file from a school Google Drive to a personal Google Drive because I have gotten this question a lot! 

Moving Math Forward: Virtual Math Conference October 2020

I am very excited to be presenting at the Fall 2020 Moving Math Forward virtual conference with 14 other awesome math educators. This will be a 3-day event starting Monday October 5, 2020, with options to attend 1, 2 or all 3 days.

Algebra Tiles Tutorial Video

In the video, you will learn how to use algebra tiles to teach solving equations, simplifying expressions, integer operations, multiplying polynomials and factoring quadratics.  
Read more

Print and Digital Algebra Activities

Here you'll find PDF printable and interactive digital algebra activities built in Google Slides and Forms. Some started as printable, while others started as digital, and all now come in both forms in the same file. This way, you can choose to assign on paper or online depending on the needs of your students. 

Algebra word wall

Above are a few references on an algebra word wall for the Quadratic Formula, systems of equations, parts of an equation, domain, range, increasing, decreasing, and second difference. 

This is the interactive digital version of the algebra word wall. It's clickable in Google Slides.

There are a bunch of free math cheat sheets on my blog here that support students as they learn algebra and algebra 2. The number of reference sheets included there has grown over the years, and some now have videos in their posts. The algebra cheat sheet above is to help students graph linear equations.

If you cover domain and range in interval notation, I recently made this domain and range finder tool that guides students where to look when analyzing graphs for domain and range. 

Solving equations mix-match - digital version

Here is the digital version of a solving equations mix-match where students mix and match two sides of equations, then solve. In the digital version, students drag and drop the expression pieces to build their equations.

Solving equations mix-match - printable version

Above is the printable version of the same solving equations mix-match activity. Students cut out their slips, then build 25 equations to solve. 

This 2-step equations digital math escape room started as digital-only and now also comes as a printable PDF activity. The digital version is a self-checking Google Form.

Linear inequalities digital math escape room

This linear inequalities digital math escape room is also self-checking in Google Forms, eliminating your need to grade. There are 5 puzzles set with answer-validation so that students can't move to the next puzzle until they type the correct 4-letter code. 

Linear inequalities escape room (printable version)

Every algebra escape room also has a printable PDF version for days you'd like students to work off devices.

Linear equations puzzle - digital version

This linear equations puzzle is digital in Google Slides. Students build 6 puzzles by matching their equations to their graphs. The equations are in point-slope, slope-intercept and standard forms. There are 3 puzzles on a slide so that students do not have to copy and paste from one slide to another. 

Linear equations puzzle - printable version

Above is the printable version of the linear equations puzzle. Each digital version calls for a unique format and it's been a fun challenge figuring out the best way to add the new versions.

Domain and range sort - digital version

This domain and range sorting activity spans 5 slides in its digital form so that it's chunked into manageable pieces. This format makes the activity more accessible for students working independently on the computer so that they do not have to switch between slides.

Domain and range sort - printable version

Both the paper and digital versions are in the same file so that you can choose which to give to your students and you always have access to both forms.

Quadratic word problems task cards - printable version

These quadratic word problems task cards were always a hit in my class. By the time we got though the activity, students had a solid understanding of when a word problem was asking for a zero or a vertex coordinate. Above is the printable version.

Quadratic word problems task cards - digital version

And the digital version of the quadratic word problems task cards are in Google Forms.

Linear equations digital math escape room

Above is the digital version of a linear equations digital math escape room. It's a self-checking Google Form where students enter a 4-letter code to move to the next puzzle.

Linear equations digital math escape room

In this video preview, the first puzzle's code was entered correctly, but the second code wasn't. Students can keep trying until they get the right code by answering all questions correctly.

Linear equations digital math escape room - print version

The printable version of the escape room comes with an answer sheet where students enter their 4-letter codes. After recording a code, students check the "next step" box to find out which puzzle they should visit next. Students can start at any of the 5 puzzles.

Graphing exponential functions - digital version

To update this graphing exponential functions activity, I made the Google Slides version a drag-and-drop matching activity. The paper version asks students to hand draw their graphs and fill in the parent and shifted tables.

Graphing exponential functions - printable version

Here is the digital version of a graphing linear inequalities matching activity:

Graphing linear inequalities match - digital version

And a closeup of part of its printable version. Students match linear inequalities written in both standard and slope-intercept form to their graphs.

Graphing linear inequalities match - print version

I've made a bunch of math temples over the years to make preparing warm-ups painless. Here is an algebra warm-up template set up for linear equations that also comes digital in Google Slides:

algebra 1 warm-up template

Students match function graphs with stories in this interpreting function graphs matching activity:

Interpreting function graphs task cards

The digital version is drag-and-drop in Google Slides. There are 4 graphs and 5 stories on each slide so that students can't use process of elimination. You can delete the distractor story from each slide before sharing with students to decrease the difficulty of the activity:

Interpreting function graphs digital version

If you are interested in using algebra tiles to teach polynomial multiplication, factoring trinomials, solving equations and more, there are a few algebra tiles blog posts here with links to videos and free digital algebra tiles in Google Slides.

I recently put together a printable algebra tiles visual guide for factoring quadratic trinomials. It has a series of examples of using algebra tiles to factor and common student misconceptions about arranging the tiles.

This algebra 1 word wall also got a digital update. Here is a portion of its printable version:

Algebra word wall

This growing Algebra Activities Bundle includes all of the algebra activities in this post along with 200+ more:

Algebra Activities Growing Bundle

"There are so many resources, I love that there is a ton to choose from. The digital escape rooms are so much fun! My students love them. I love that they are self checking!" -- Julia P.

"Such a comprehensive, engaging and value for money bundle as Shana is always updating resources. There are google slides and digital activities being added all the time. Students find the activities fun yet they are also learning cooperatively. I can't say enough about how Scaffolded Math and Science bundles are well worth the money. They are low prep as well. I seriously don't know how Shana creates so many good resources. She must never get to sleep! Thank you Shana." -- Sarah M.

BROWSE ALL ALGEBRA ACTIVITIES