I had a fabulous time over the weekend at EdCamp Chicago. You can read more about my experience here. I am feeling a little of the EdCamp is over blues so I figured the “cure” would be to apply some of what I learned to my classes and that totally energized me.
Blind Kahoot
I wasn’t sure if this would work in my class but it TOTALLY did. We played a Kahoot on classifying triangles BEFORE I introduced the terminology. Mind you, these terms are middle school topics, so my students aren’t completely “blind” to the definitions. However, as happens EVERY YEAR, students mix up the words “isosceles” and “scalene”. They enjoyed playing the game a second time through on “ghost mode” where they competed against their original scores and times. The ratings students gave the activity at the end merited doing it again AND this year students actually noticed that there are TWO ways to classify a triangle. I loved how they verbalized this during the game when sometimes that nuance is lacking in my class. It was so much fun teaching this lesson today as compared to years past.
Sketchnoting 101
I am relatively new to sketchnoting myself. I am getting better about using more icons and containers. Today was the first time I tried to get my students to try it. I provided the “notes” and they needed to provide the sketches to accompany them. I was surprised that no one has complained about not being able to draw. Below are some of the sketches my students worked on. I will have to pass out color in the future. The “proof” on whether this activity merits future use will be in students being able to identify these terms in the days to come. 
Math Meanderings 