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Showing posts from September, 2017

Getting to Know...

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After making the change to CC Geometry a few years ago, and after much #MTBoS influence, I took a chance and made a big change in the way I start my school year. Last year, I didn't give out a course outline and require the Ss to have it signed and returned. I didn't lay out the rules and requirements of my course and classroom. Instead, I started with "One Cut Shapes". The inspiration for this came from a PRESENTATION that I took part in last year with Dan Anderson and some other NYS Master Teacher colleagues: It was an interesting investigation that I got into last summer: So last year, I started the first day of class with: "Hi, I'm your geometry teacher, Mr. Kaercher. Let's play with one-cut shapes." It was a freeing experience and probably different than the first-class-of-the-year-experiences that the Ss had that day. I'm starting this year the same way, but I have also revamped my first Geometry unit on "Es

Adding a Button/Script to a VRG Generator Google Sheet

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As I am planning my preparations for the new school year, I came across a recent tweet from Meg Craig: She included very simple instructions for using a Google Sheet as "The Easiest, Most Customizable Seating Chart and VRG Generator Ever™". The acronym VRG refers to "visible random grouping", a method for setting seating charts and student groups. Her very detailed directions can be found HERE . After setting mine up to fit my classroom layout, I got the idea of adding a button to activate the randomizing. I had limited experience with buttons and scripts from my days of working with Excel. So I started Googling. First, I found the directions to add a BUTTON .  Once the button was added to my Google Sheet, I needed to develop a script to make the button do it's job. Unfortunately, I am not a computer programmer. Fortunately, with some Googling, I was able to find the SCRIPT that would randomize the name cells with a click of the button.  I m

Things I Learned - Summer 2017

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As I begin the final days of summer vacation, I find myself in a reflective mood. I think it started as we made our way home from our week-long family vacation in Rhode Island. The picture you see above is a photo of Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown, RI. While my family read, I was content to sit and watch the ocean and think about the summer-behind and the school-year ahead. The long car ride home was also a good time to look back and look ahead. So here is a list of random thoughts from the Summer of 2017: I'm glad that I spent a lot of time playing with GeoGebra, especially the 3-D calculator. With the help of some #MTBoS friends, I was able to construct some pretty cool files. The whole #MTBoS vs. #iteachmath debate was interesting. I do a lot more with math than teach it, so I'm sticking with #MTBoS. College visits with my son were really fun. It so exciting to imagine where he will end up one year from now. As I drove with my son to a concert in the Finger