I am so late to the Desmos party!  I used to think Desmos was just an online graphing calculator, but it is so much more!  The team at Desmos has developed so many great activities and I recently discovered the card sort feature that is AMAZING.

In a nutshell, a card sort is a digital matching activity.  You can use it for about any activity where you want students to categorize or sort things.  I created a Graphing Linear Equations Card Sort to show you how it works!

In the activity I created, students have to match up the linear equations with their corresponding graphs.  I made 7 cards with equations and then used the Desmos graph tool to add the 7 matching graphs.  When students open up the activity, Desmos will randomly mix up the cards so they'll see a screen like this:

*This post contains affiliate links.

Have you discovered Boom Cards and want to start using them in your classroom?  Here's an overview of the set up process to help you get started.  Just be careful - Boom Cards are addicting!  (Did you land here and have no idea what Boom Cards are? Check out the Top 7 Reasons to Use Boom Cards!)

1) Go to Boom Learning and click on the green Sign up button.
2) Join with your email, Facebook, or Google account. 
​3) Once you've created a username and password, click on the Library tab.​

Assign:  Click this to assign the deck to students.  You can assign it to one class or multiple classes (or to individual students).  If you choose this option, it will record student scores.
Fast Pin:  Use this option if you want students to practice and don't want to record their scores.  It will give you a link that students can use without needing to log in.  Once students have this link, they click on the FastPlay option at the top and type in the pin to start.   
​Hyperplay Link:  This gives you a link that will prompt students to log in and then play will begin.  Grab this link if you want to post it in Moodle, Google Classroom, etc.
Print:  Click this if you want to print a hard copy of the cards.
Hide Cards:  Use this if there are any cards in the deck you don't want students to see.  Great option if the deck is too long or if there are cards that aren't quite what you were looking for and you don't want to assign them to students.

Hope that helps you get started!   
​
-Sarah

P.S.  Want to learn how to create your own decks of Boom Cards? Check out my Boom Cards Bootcamp!  It includes 18 short video tutorials and 100+ images you can use in your own decks!

If there's anything teachers need more of, it's TIME! I am always on the lookout for anything that can save me time grading assignments. Did you know there's an add-on that can automatically a Google form? It's called Flubaroo and is FREE and super easy to use.  Check out the steps below to see how to use Flubaroo to automatically grade a Google Form!

Open up your Google Drive and click the New button.  

Next, click on the Google Forms option (you may have to click on the More button to show the option).  You can choose a template or start a blank one.  

Type your questions or upload images to use for your questions.  You have several options for the type of answer you'd like students to submit: short answer, paragraph, multiple choice, etc.  Click on the plus sign on the right to add another question.  You can move questions around if you want them in a different order.  

​Want to see an example of a Google Form? Check out this FREE Translating Algebraic Expressions Activity.

This may seem like a lot of steps at first, but once you've installed the Flubaroo add-on and tried the process once, the second time will go much faster! 

​Do you use task cards in your classroom? If you like task cards, you are going to LOVE Boom Cards! These digital, self-checking task cards are my new favorite way to differentiate learning. Here are the top 7 reasons I'm a fan:
1) They're DIGITAL.  No more printing, laminating, and cutting out sets of paper task cards. Less prep = more time for teachers.
2) They're SELF-CHECKING.  Students type in their answer and get instant feedback!  If they get a question wrong, they can submit a new answer or "give up" the card and go to a different question if they get stuck.
3) You can track student progress.  Right now, Boom Learning is offering a three-month free trial of student progress reporting for up to 150 students.  (Students can still use the cards even if you don't pay after your free trial, you just don't get student reports anymore.)

4) You can preview 4 cards from any deck for free.  Try it before you buy it! Check out this preview to see an example.
5) It's super easy to differentiate instruction with Boom Cards.  Once you have a deck of cards in your library, you can assign them to individual students or to the entire class.
6) Not 1-1? Use them on a Smart Board or use a projector to work on one with the whole class.
7) Boom Learning lets you show the cards to students in a random order.  You could even use them as an assessment and not have to worry about students looking over shoulders!
8) I know I said 7 reasons, but I wanted to add just one more.  Did you know you can use Boom Cards with your Google Classroom?  Check out this video to see how.

Update: Boom Learning just added a new feature that makes me love them even more! You can now hide any card in a deck that you don't want students to see.  Simply go to your library and open a deck.  You can go through the deck of cards and click the "Hide Cards" button on any you don't want to be assigned.  

​Ready to see them in action? Check out these Boom Cards. Click on the full-size previews to test them out! 

Working on solving systems with elimination? Check out these resources for Algebra 1 teachers!  First, there's a free lesson on solving systems with elimination.  The online lesson includes examples, a video, and even a practice quiz with instant feedback. 

There's also several accompanying resources available to use with the lesson.  There's a study guide, an assessment, and an activity where students have to solve systems using elimination to fill in the words to a funny poem.

Looking for some extra ways to help students learn to factor quadratics? First, there are two FREE Algebra 1 lessons on factoring.  The first is on factoring quadratics with a leading coefficient of 1 and the second is on factoring with larger leading coefficients. 

There's a great set of factoring quadratics task cards available to help students practice factoring on their own. You can print the cards with or without QR codes (students can quickly scan the QR codes to check their answers!).  

There's another printable activity available to accompany this lesson: factoring quadratics speed dating.  Never tried speed dating in your classroom? It can also be called Quiz Quiz Trade.  The idea is for students to quickly "date" as many other students as possible.  Students form pairs and answer questions on small printed cards. They check the answers on the back, trade cards and quickly find a new partner to repeat the process.

There's also a set of percents, decimals, and fractions task cards you can use after the lesson. What a great way to help students practice switching back and forth between percents, decimals, and fractions.  Never used task cards before? They're so easy to use! You can use them at stations, with whiteboards, or with partners (just google task cards to see lots more ideas).  There's a set with QR codes if you want students to be able to check their answers right away (students love this option!) and there's also a set without QR codes if you decide not to use that technology. ​