New Factor Pair Spoons Game

By Jon OaksMar 08, 2013
The Factor Pair Spoons Game is a new game that was inspired by participants in the Professional Development Series that I'm conducting every month this semester at my college.  Last month's topic was 'Playing Games to Learn Math' and I asked the participants to come up with a game for a topic that they felt was a difficult topic for students.  This game is a variation on what they came up with.  The spoons game was one of their suggestions, but they ended up turning it into more of a rummy-style game because they thought that the spoons might become too chaotic…
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New Logarithm Mania Game

By Jon OaksMar 07, 2013
Logarithm Mania is a new game for students to practice solving logarithmic equations when the base, the argument, or the value is missing.  I have always struggled with teaching this concept because although the basic equations included in this game are easy to solve, if they are not mastered, then solving more complex logarithmic equations becomes extremely difficult (you know, the ones where we ask students to do factoring and apply the properties of logarithms).  I hope that someone finds this game useful.  As always, any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Logarithm Mania Game
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Fractions Game for Math for Elementary Teachers

By Jon OaksMar 19, 2012
This is a game that I made specifically to show to my Math for Elementary Teachers class (I have been making a lot of stuff for the students in that class this semester which is why this blog has been sitting dormant).  However, I must say that I am very excited about this game that I just had to share it.  Long story short, it has been over 80 degrees in my classroom the last week or so, and going outside to demo this game with my students is the perfect excuse to get out of the classroom!  If you…
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New Games, Activities, and Projects

By Jon OaksJan 09, 2012
In this post, I want to talk about a few of the projects that I have been working on over the break to use with my students in the upcoming Winter 2012 Semester. 1.  Electrifying Truth Table – This is an activity that a friend of mine got from Pete Wildman during the 2011 AMATYC Conference in Austin, TX.  The idea is for students to build multiple different circuits to model truth tables in different situations.  The one in the picture above is the AND Circuit since both switches (sets of paperclips) must be closed for the light to turn…
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NOIR: New Statistics Game

By Jon OaksAug 27, 2011
NOIR stands for Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio, and is a game to help students distinguish between the four different levels of measurement.  I had been working on this game all week, and I finally had time for my students to play it in class on Thursday.  After the game, they filled out a review form for the game.  I have already tweaked the game slightly based on their feedback as the cards were not originally numbered, so it was very hard for the answers to be checked.  The students wanted the definitions on the game board somewhere, but I think…
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Algebra Games Day!

By Jon OaksAug 01, 2011
I had an Algebra Games Day with my students on Friday, July 29, to try out a few of my new Algebra games (as well as Mark Clark's exponent sort).  The students filled out feedback forms and I intend to update this post with some of their comments about the games in the next few days. and the feedback is now located here: bit.ly/algebragames.  For now, enjoy the pictures!  Freaking Functions! (file) What the Factor! (file) Slope Game (now called 'Slopes and Ladders') (file) Mark Clark's Exponent Sort (file) See the full gallery on Posterous
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