Action Research Project-Math Journals and Right/Left Brain thinking

My next action research project for my Master's of Teaching and Learning is math journals and right/left brain thinking.

At the beginning of the year, I started to use Math Reference Notebooks with my students. When I taught them a new skill or concept, I would have them get out their math reference notebooks (composition notebook with a table of contents and the pages numbered). Students would basically copy what I had written on the board. After doing some research, I decided I wanted to extend their thinking. I follow a blog called Runde's Room and I really like the way she uses math journals in her classroom. I am using her work that I purchased from Teacher pay Teachers to help me extend their thinking. Your can find that here. It is well worth the $14.99!

I just started implementing the right page/left page thinking strategy. What this means is when the students have their notebooks open to 2 blank pages, they copy what I have on the board on the right side of the page. On the left side of the page, students need to re-write the learning goal, tell me what they already know about the concept, and after the lesson they write what they learned in math class today. They also need to show me proof of what they learned and make a creative way to remember what they learned. This creative way can be a comic strip, mnemonic device, a rap, or anything else that will help them remember what they learned. I cannot take credit for this amazing idea, but I am using it every time I have my students fill out a page in their reference notebooks.

I am going to continue to do research and see what else I can find to help my students in math class.