Week 1: Hi, nice to meet you!

Hey everyone! My name is Karlie Minson and I am in my 7th year of teaching. This year I moved up to 7th grade math and I am loving it! I have been the math department chair for my building for 2 years and it is helping me grow as a leader. My goal for the future is to finish my masters in curriculum and instruction geared in math so that I can use that to help select curriculum for our district. I also want to be able to use all of the knowledge that I will have gained from these courses to teach other math teachers on best practices and to become a better math teacher myself. 

Creative Communicator indicator 6C asks students to communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital object such as visualizations, models or simulations. In 7th grade students are asked to graph and describe translations, reflections and rotations of figures on a coordinate plane (Math standard 7.GM.4.3.). Once students have learned about the way figures can move across the coordinate plane they can take their creative minds to make a poster, slide show, canva page or imovie to explain how each of them works. This would be taking their knowledge and enhancing it through creative measures. After creating their fantastic pieces, they then can showcase to others what they have learned by talking them through their design and how figures move across the coordinate plane.

Triple E is a tool that helps teachers meet three key components of instructional strategies: engagement, enhancement, and extension. I love Kolb's idea of making sure that teachers not only use technology for drill and practice but to use it for meeting the student's learning goals and staying on task. Some of the ideas from the Triple E that would go along with my lesson idea would be: modeling navigation of the tool, teacher monitoring, purposeful partnering, graphic organizers (canva), differentiation, share-aloud, and using authentic tools that are prominent in everyday life (canva, slides, poster). Kolb's ideas on how to use technology, help me process how to make the technology useful and purposely in this project instead of just using it for extra work or filling up time.


Citations:

Kolb, L. (2020, December 9). Triple E Framework. Triple E Framework. https://www.tripleeframework.com/

ISTE. (2024). ISTE standards: For students. ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students

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Comments

  1. Queen Mrs. CastleOctober 17, 2025 at 10:04 AM

    I am ecstatic to see another seventh-grade math teacher, even from Oklahoma. I have taught seventh-grade math for seven years now. Your idea to share their information on slides and Canva would be beneficial to many standards. I could even see creating a rubric that would allow this project to be a success. With their standard of choice, have you explored Desmos? They have a great online graphing calculator that they could use to create transformations. I genuinely am look forward to collaborating with you. I am eager to share insights and thoughts about schowcasing technology in a seventh-grade math class.

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    Replies
    1. Karlie MinsonOctober 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM

      Oh yay! I am excited to have another 7th grade math teacher as well! I was so nervous moving up from 5th grade and there are still times that I do not know what to do, but I am learning as I go. I have heard of Desmos but I don't think our district has an unlimited access. It would be something I would be into exploring. I am excited to collaborate with you throughout this course and maybe beyond the course!

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  2. Kristine SmileyOctober 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM

    Hi Karlie!

    I loved reading about your journey and how you’re growing as both a teacher and leader. Your lesson idea using ISTE 6C is such a creative way to help students visualize transformations while building communication skills. I like how you tied it to the Triple E framework — especially your focus on authentic tools and purposeful use of technology. Have you ever had students share their projects in a gallery walk or peer presentation? It sounds like a great way to showcase their learning!

    — Kristine

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    1. Karlie MinsonOctober 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM

      Last year I got a taste of using Ipads to create translations and was not able to do it with the students. I am hoping that this year, students can build their creations and then share out! I love the idea of a gallery walk, thank you!

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  3. KamilleOctober 18, 2025 at 10:40 AM

    Hi Karlie! I admire the fact that you teach 7th grade math. I worked for Epic Charter Schools from 2020-2022, and middle school math was by far the hardest subject for me to teach. I had to reteach myself (thank goodness for Khan Academy and YouTube videos). I have always pictured myself as a middle school ELA teacher and hope to be given that opportunity in the future if/when I decide to leave my current elementary school setting. I love your lesson idea! It is very creative and even though you mentioned being nervous about moving from 5th grade to 7th, it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job!

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    1. Karlie MinsonOctober 18, 2025 at 7:47 PM

      Thank you for the encouragement! I will say, I never thought I would be teaching the older kids, especially with my mom being a kindergarten teacher. My whole family was shocked to hear that I stayed in 5th and now moved up to 7th! It sure is fun! I hope that you are able to get that ELA job in the future, I am rooting for you!

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  4. Middle Math with Mrs. NewcombOctober 19, 2025 at 10:35 AM

    Karlie, after you posted on my blog, I had to come find yours to read how you connected your standards! What a fun idea for translations, this is my first-year teaching 7th grade math and I am reminded the difficulty of mastering a new level of standards. After teaching Pre-Algebra for 3 years, I thought it would be an easy transition, but I underestimated!
    I also would love to move up focusing on curriculum, after serving on my schools "curriculum adoption committee" I realized I really enjoyed it! We ultimately decided on SAVVAS but, I am curious, what curriculum you school is using currently?

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    1. Karlie MinsonOctober 19, 2025 at 1:58 PM

      I am glad you checked mine out! Maybe we can connect some more and share ideas! We have Big Ideas Oklahoma adoption. There are parts of the curriculum that I like, and the others that I don't or I don't know enough about.

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