Typically, I use Desmos Activities at the beginning or end of a lesson. I have found it as a great tool to introduce or wrap up a class. However, recently I have been using activity builder more in my classroom every day.  A new thing I have been doing is  pairing Desmos Activites with  worksheets.

Pros of pairing them together

• Students are writing more!
  • After students complete one problem on their sheet, they follow along with the Desmos Activity until they are told to stop and move to the next problem.
  • Problems go more in depth after they solve it on their paper. Students are asked to explain their answers.
• Students can check their answers.
  • Instead of being called over to ask if “they did it right” students can check their answers on their own and move at their own pace.
  • Students can also compare their answers with other students all around the room
• You know how ALL of your students are doing at all times
  • You can see if they are doing it correctly all in one place. I’ll walk around with my iPad as I help students.
  • If you realize that a lot of students are struggling with a certain problem you can put the activity on teacher mode  and talk about it as a class.
• You get immediate Feedback!
  • This is a great space to give an “exit ticket”, see where students are, and how you can help them!

Here is an example of a worksheet and the Desmos Activity that goes along with it about graphing and solving systems of equations.

This example is practice graphing systems of equations: Worksheet & Desmos Activity.