Ms Kochan's Bio

By popular demand, here it is :)


I received a BSED in Elementary Education with a teaching certificate from West Chester University. I earned my Special Education teaching certificate from Cabrini College and I am currently enrolled in Immaculata University, where I am working on a Masters in Education Leadership with a Special Education Supervisory Certificate.

I have taught 6th grade, K-12 Special Education, and I am currently teaching 1-3 CAAP. I was also a Special Education Supervisor for 5 years. I have worked at McDonald’s, Devereux Kanner Center, Greensville County Schools (VA), Norristown Area School District, Chester School District and at Renaissance Academy-Edison Charter School. I’ve had other short-term jobs, but the most important thing is that I’ve never been fired!!! I have never worked as a secret agent in the CIA.

I collect Mr. potato Heads, Lunchboxes, stuffed animals, Harry Potter stuff and Dust Bunnies. My favorite food is Peeps, oh, no…wait…that’s not right, it’s Chinese Dark Chocolate, no..wait… Chinese and Dark Chocolate. My favorite drinks are sweet tea and water, although my students would say that it’s Pepsi.

I have a beagle named Holly, who’s 10 ½ years old. Around Christmas, we deck the halls with her! My favorite place for vacation is the Caribbean Islands. Once, I saw Jack Sparrow there! I have never been on an expedition to Mt. Everest. My students say that I have a fun way of teaching and they all think that I rock!

** Thanks to my 3rd Grade students for helping me write this!!

Lattice Multiplication

Here is a great video that shows how to use the lattice method to solve multiplication problems

(March's) Now April's Monthly Challenge

GO FLY A KITE!!!!!!!!!!!

Your challenge is to construct a "functional" (Yes, it's my favorite word!) kite!Will your kite be big or small? What shape will you make?

Here are some links to help you brainstorm!!

http://www.skratch-pad.com/kites/make.html http://www.kckiteclub.org/DaveEllis/boxkite.htm
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/kitepart.html

Due Friday, April 20th. We'll have another "engaging parents" activity after school. I'll post the exact date after I have approval for the date!

Online Games to Practice Division

Sum Sense
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SumSense/sumdiv.html
re-arrange the number tiles to make a division problem

Divider Machine
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/dividermachine.html


UFO Mystery Picture Division
http://www.dositey.com/addsub/mystery1D.htm


Division Matho
http://www.aplusmath.com/games/matho/DivMatho.html
a BINGO-type game


Tic Tac Toe
http://www.funbrain.com/tictactoe/index.html
(add, subtract, multiply and divide)

Speed Math
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/maths1.html
Beat the clock! This one is cool! Mult and division

Some online multiplication games to play :)

Multiplication hidden puzzle game
http://www.aplusmath.com/games/picture/MultPicture.html

Multiplication Tunnel Blaster
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/tunnel/multiply.htm#
Solve the multiplication on the upper right and left part of the game. Shoot the wall that has the correct answer before the wall reaches your ship. After creating a hole in the wall fly your ship through the hole that you created.

Multiflyer
http://www.gdbdp.com/multiflyer/
As the pilot of a space ship far in the future, you must save the solar system from gravitational anomalies while learning and memorizing the multiplication tables. This site also has printable worksheets and other printables!

Projected Math Topics for the Rest of the Year

***This is by no means a definitive list :) It is subject to change based on timing and student ability levels. But it will give you a good idea on where we are headed!

BEFORE PSSAs
Geometry (shapes, solids, perimeter, area volume, linear measurement, congruency, symmetry, flips and turns)
Fractions (equivalent fractions, reducing fractions, comparing and ordering, mixed numbers and improper fractions, adding and subtracting fractions)
Decimals (place value, omparing and ordering, rounding, adding/subtracting)
Probability (understanding and finding probabilty)

AFTER PSSAs We're bumping everything up a notch (or two, or three!)
Multi digit multiplication and division (including remainders) whole numbers, fractions and decimals
multiplying and dividing fractions (finding the GCF/LCM)
divisibility rules

IF There's time:
Geometry (lines, parts of a line, angles and planes/ parts of a circle/angles)
Ratio and proportion

This Week!

We continue to practice basic multiplication and division facts while reviewing problem solving skills for word problems. Problem solvingis the most important skill on the PSSA because when solving the open ended problems on the test, the correct answer isn't important....being able to tell how to get the answer is. Students will get more credit for explaining their problem solving then just having a correct answer!

We will have a test on basic multiplication and division next Thursday (2/22). The children will have 2 parts to the test. To show fuency (knowing facts at a flash), the children will be expected to answer 60 multiplication problems in 3 minutes or less and 60 division problems in 3 minutes or less. They will also have multiplication and division problems to solve along with some word problems.

This Week

We dove into division this week! We learned what division is and how it relates to multiplication. We will begin division mad minutes on Tuesday. A division mad minute book was given out this week to take home and is due back completed on Friday, Feb 23. As with the multiplication, anyone answering 60 division problems in less than 3 minutes will be exempt from turning in the completed packet and will automatically get 100 on it. Any student that had answered 60 problems in 3 minutes or less IN CLASS, has a note in their homework log that has been initialed by me. In addition, I will post their names in the blog.

Exempt from Mad Minute Multiplication so far:
Ralph, Michaela, Josh, Brady, David :)

Next week we'll be continuing to practice division to become fluent with the facts.. Please remember to study facts at home. The more practice, the quicker they will be at recalling answers and the quicker we can move on with content!!!!

Multiplication

Last week we studied multiplication basics. We know that multiplication is repeated addition, groups of and arrays. This week we will study the basic facts. We will make flashcards to help us study. We will also learn how division is related to multiplication.