Get 'em to think the second they step foot in the door

Part of my new role as CARC's Mathematics Teacher Facilitator is creating and locating resources for teachers to use in their classroom.  I will be focusing on different units of study for different grades, sifting through online resources, collecting and sharing those resources.  If at any point in time, I put an all call out to my readers, please, please, PLEASE share what you have created or found!  It won't be for my benefit alone.  Many people will benefit!  Don't even worry about the date of the post.  I don't care if you find a post 2 years after it's written.  Share anyways!

Ok.  Enough of a spiel.  On to today's thought.

I want my students thinking mathematically from the second they step in the door until they are out my door and beyond the classroom.  Let's start small and work with "stepping in the door." 

Last year while I was prepping for Math 10C, I was introduced to two Alberta teachers who were teaching Math 10C and posting all of their resources online as part of a project.  One of the first things that caught my attention was an activity that Bonnie Layton posted.  It is one that I quickly adopted in my classroom.  Although it takes a bit of time to prep, it is something I can use year after year, especially if I laminate the cards.

The Reasoning:
Let me give you a bit of my reasoning first.  I find that students tend to sit with the same people every day.  Sometimes this is a good thing.  Other times it can be detrimental.  However, I believe that it's imperative that students learn to work with many different types of people.  We will not always have the opportunity to work with our best friends, right?  So, I needed an activity that would force students to work with different people each day and engage their math brain at the same time.  This fit the bill perfectly.

How it works:
When students walk into my classroom, they reach into a little basket and pull out a card.  That card will help them find their partner for that class.  That is the key.  Students are only paired up for one class.  Everybody can work with someone for 84 minutes and survive.

On that card, students will find information that will help them figure out who their partner is.  For example:  one card might say (x^2)(x^3) and the other card might say (x^7)/(x^2).  Both students would have to figure out their answer of x^5, find each other and come to me to check their answer.  Each card has a number.  For example, if (x^2)(x^3) had 3 and (x^7)/(x^2) had 10, they would say "3 and 10".  I would check my answer key (which I just wrote on the outside of the envelope that I stored each set in.  If it said 3, 10 then I could tell them they were correct.  If not, I would just say "nope" and send them on their way.  In the beginning, I didn't have an answer key and would have to figure each answer out every time.  Pretty easy when it's simple exponent laws but get more complicated and talk about a lot of wasted time.

What I Would Change:
I've considered making a Smart Notebook file that would allow them to check their answers themselves. There's two main reasons why I haven't done that yet. 

1. When students find their partners, there's an activity displayed on the SmartBoard for them to get started on right away with their partner.  There'd be a lot of flipping back and forth while students checked their answers and worked on the question.  Could get very annoying.
2. I like having the students check with me.  I know right away if there's misunderstandings and can offer feedback as needed.

What I Still Need To Do:

1. I still need to attach all of the curricular outcomes to the pairing activities I have already created.  I made these activities for Pure Math 20.  Since the curriculum is changing next year, I thought it was silly to waste my time assigning it to the old curriculum but I didn't have time to focus on the new one yet.  I just made each set up after my lesson for the day.  This way it would be focused on the lesson from the previous class.
2. Finish making pairing activities for the lessons I didn't have time to do.

Where Can I Find These Resources?
I will be creating a moodle website for all the resources I find/create.  As soon as I have that created, I will post a link.  I have attached a sample one  so you can see what I'm talking about.  Students had to find someone with the matching leading coefficient or degree (depending on the statement on the card).

Degrees of a Polynomial

Where do WE go from here?
Create your own pairing activity and share!  Indicate Course name and outcomes covered so we can adapt as necessary.  Share a link in the comments.  Can't wait to see what you share.  Remember, it doesn't matter if you see this post 2 years from now.  Share anyways!