#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 23 - Sunday Summary

My Sunday 3-2-1 Summary

3 things I'm looking forward to this week:

• This week will be the first week to really delve into the "Make It Stick" plans that I've made... I'm hoping it goes well!
• In AVID, I'm assigning their first big project... to make videos for the younger students!
• Dinner and a movie with great friends to end the week... if I can make it to Friday! :)

2 awesome things that happened this week:

• High Five Friday!  I didn't get up the nerve to high five my students daily, even after multiple internal pep talks.  However, on Friday, I decided to make it a weekly celebration of getting through another week.  My students responded very positively, so I think it's something I can keep up each week!
• Some former students came back to say Hi this week on their way off to college.  I always love seeing my former students and appreciate that they took a moment to pop in!  Yesterday was also the Class Reunion Tour for the Class of 2005, so I had an opportunity to see some former students there too.  It's always fun to see them "grown up" since in my head, they are frozen at age 18.  To see them at age 28 with spouses and children just messes with my mind. :)

1 thing I'm not looking forward to:

• This is going to be a VERY busy week, with meetings every single day after school, then plans with friends on Friday.  I'm hoping that I can juggle everything successfully and get through the week without being too grumpy :)  I know I will eventually get back into the swing of things!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 22 - Week 1 is DONE! :)

I had all intentions of blogging last night, but I got home from school around 7:45 and by 8:30, I was asleep in bed!  That first week back of 12+ hour days is a killer after a relaxing summer.  Hopefully I will adjust soon!

One of my goals this year is to blog more often.  I've been posting a photo to my 180blog, but thought I would reflect on this year so far...

Wednesday:
Happy first day of school!  It was a rough start with no internet until after 2pm, but we made it through!
AP Stat:  In AP Stat, we started by making our table tent name-tags, then for the lesson, I went with my go-to of Kristen Gilbert.  I have toyed with changing to a different first day activity, but Kristen pulls me in  every time.
AVID:  Today was a day of "Getting to Know You" as I'm new to this group of kiddos.  I have several of them in my AP class as well, but it was fun to get to know them on a more personal level.

Thursday:
Today was a much better day.. the internet worked! :)  One thing that I am doing differently this year (and really like) is going around from table to table to take attendance each hour with eye contact and a "Hello, (Student Name Here)".
AP Stat:  Our warmup was an AP problem from several years ago and the kids worked on it independently at first, then did a table-share out and revision.  I talked to them about my homework expectations (max 10-15 minutes), then we set up our notebooks.
AVID:  After finishing up the "Getting to Know You" questions, we watched an AVID Student Speaker Video and did a Learning Log.  Several of them seemed surprised at how quickly you could do a page of notes with a Learning Log! :)

Friday:
We made it!  Week 1 is in the books!  I declared today "High Five Friday!"
AP Stat:  After starting class with "High Five Friday!" (which my 6th hour totally loved!), we got down to business with starting a chapter, taking our first notes, and getting our first homework assignment.  The kids did a great job of working with their groups.  The exit ticket today was #myfavoriteFriday and there were some great responses, including one table in 6th hour where everyone said "High Five Friday!" was their favorite thing from the week.
AVID:  We did some work on Cornell Notes vs Learning Logs and when to use each one.  These kiddos are experienced at C-Notes, but trying to get them to *use* them effectively is more difficult.  Today I worked in my classroom most of the day and made bookmarks for this class with C-Note instructions on the front and Learning Log prompts on the back.  So much fun! :)

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 20 - First Days

This daily blogging thing isn't too bad this month other than I'm exhausted at the end of the day!  I'm not stressing out about it though... I've tripled my post count for the year, so I'm going to count that as a success! :) 

Year 18 officially started yesterday as the kids came in the door.  I couldn't bring myself to do the high five (YET!), but I'm okay with that.  Maybe it will be a Friday special event now that my kids know me a bit better. :)  This year started out rough with no internet access in my room yesterday, but thankfully none of my lesson plans required the internet.  :)  My students seem like really awesome kiddos so far and I've enjoyed some of the fun quirkiness of the new group.  For example, here's a conversation from today:

Scene:  Beginning of 6th hour, while going around to take attendance and working on learning names...

Student:  Mrs. T, I have a question for you.

Me:  Okay, (Student name), what's up?

Student:  What was your favorite grade in school?
Me:  Grade?  Like Grade Level?
Student:  Yes
Me:  *thinking*  Probably 5th grade
Student:  Yeah, that was a good grade.  Why?
Me:  I had a great teacher and it's that age where you are old enough to be independent but young enough that you are still a kid.
Student:  Good answer!
Me:  So turn about... what would be your answer?
Student:  I don't know yet - I'm not done with this year!

I have a feeling that my kiddos this year will be a blast!  :) 

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 18 - My Classroom

Kiddos come tomorrow, whether I'm ready or not!  This morning, I had *most* of my room ready (at least physically) for them to arrive.  

Starting from my desk area, here's the view toward the back of the room.  To the immediate left of this image is the wall of windows and to the immediate right is the classroom doorway to the hall.  Notice my new "Be" bulletin board!  I'm really excited about this addition! :)

Moving on around the room, here's the view toward the classroom door.  One change I really like this year are the desks that are turned at an angle for better viewing of the front of the room.  Ignore the big pile of stuff in the "nook" area.  That's all AVID stuff that is waiting on our new professional library area to be finished! :)

Continuing on to the front corner of the room, you can see my podium with the "Change Your Mindset" poster and yet another shot of the AVID/laptop mess in my "nook".  My poor student aide's desk is in that mess somewhere. :)  Also note the Exit Ticket pocket chart that I posted about yesterday!  You can see the corner of my desk with the snowflake tissue box. :)

Here's my desk area and the messy countertop and desk that haven't been dealt with yet.  I could use about another week before kids come!  Honestly, we had 4 days of "prep" time, but today was the first day that I was really able to be in my classroom.  

The window wall is one of my favorite features of my classroom.  I love the storage space and the countertop.  Below you can also see my "Classroom Friendly Supplies" pencil sharpener and the instructions above it on the wall.  :)

One of my favorite new additions to my classroom is my Normal Model Plushy from the wonderful Kay Endriss.  I can't wait until we get to that chapter and kids realize the fun that is hiding in the window sill with the ladybugs! :)  Thank you, Kay! 

Thanks for stopping by for the tour!  I hope you enjoyed it. :)  Now I'm off to bed before a long day of high fives and lots of stress! :)

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 17 - Made4Math Monday

It's been a long time since I've done a Made4Math post, but with school starting this week, it is time to get things done! :)

Project #1 - Organizing the MC Problems

On my "to-be-done-someday" list was to organize the released AP Multiple Choice questions so that it would be easier to use them in class.  I've tried random ideas throughout the years, but on Friday night, I randomly had the idea to use sheet protectors.  On Saturday morning, I made sheet protector "envelopes" for each chapter of my textbook, then started the long process of printing out the AP problems and organizing them.  I'm really excited to see if this helps me use more questions this year to help prepare my students for the AP exam.

Project #2 - Exit Prompts

(I don't know why this is sideways.. I'm so sorry!)
I purchased this pocket chart at Target earlier this summer in the Dollar Spot and had it on my "to-do" list for a while.  (Off topic, but I wasn't impressed with this year's Dollar Spot goodies as compared to previous years.  It made me very sad!)  Since kids come this week, it was time to narrow down my choices, so I asked the MTBoS for help!  Justin, Kathryn, and Emily came to my rescue and together we created the prompts above.  I will admit that the handwriting drives me crazy, so I will probably type it tomorrow and replace the strips. :)  My idea is to roll a die and that becomes the exit ticket on those "unplanned" days.  :)





One more day of planning and then kiddos arrive... Wish  me luck! :)

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 16 - Sunday Summary

My Sunday 3-2-1 Summary

3 awesome things that happened this past week:

• Our Staff Meeting on Friday was "EdCamp" style and I loved it!  Our principals gave us a reflection paper to keep track of ideas as well as asking each session to have a "scribe" to record the main ideas.  I really got a lot out of it!
• I had an opportunity to spend time this weekend with my mom, which was a lot of fun.  We did some shopping, had dinner, then went to a "singing".  Lots of laughs and good memories :)
• The weather this week was *gorgeous*, which means I had the opportunity to sit outside and read.  I got a tad bit sunburnt, but at least I have color on my legs now! :)

2 things that I keep telling myself:

• For some reason, I'm not as pumped about this year as I normally am.  I think part of it is that I actually took the month of July off, which hasn't happened in about 5 years.  I keep telling myself that it's okay to not be 100% ready yet.. the kids don't come until Wednesday! :)
• I've been batting around the "Daily High 5" from Glenn (@gwaddellnvhs) for a few weeks.  Several Tweeps (Meg, Elissa, etc) have tried to encourage me, but I've been resistant.  I'm such an introverted person that this idea really scares me.  Then I had a realization this week that I ask my students to do all sorts of activities (Jigsaw, Give One/Get One, etc) that would have driven me crazy as a student, but I am able to pull it off through lots of faking. :)  I keep telling myself that the high 5 will be the same and that I can fake it until it becomes part of the culture of my class.  Based on Glenn's reports, it can really transform a classroom and that's what I really want.  

1 thing I'm looking forward to this week:

• This year, I've taken back on an AVID elective class.  I will have the seniors and I'm really excited about working with them.  It's been several years since I've had an elective class, so I'm nervous (like REALLY nervous), but I'm looking forward to it!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Day 14 - Sheer Exhaustion

I have so much going on in my mind today and so little energy to do it. :)

This morning started with a 2 hour "EdCamp" session that was probably one of the best PD sessions I have attended in many years.  I walked away with a lot of strategies that I want to think about and incorporate into my classroom.

One strategy that I heard today that I like a lot:
"I think..."
"I wonder why..."
"This reminds me of..."
The teacher that shared this strategy is an ELL teacher (I think) and was referring to reading a text or looking at a photo.  It reminded me a lot of "I notice.. I wonder.."

I wrote myself a ton of notes but then left them at school :)

Sorry for the rambles... I think I'm going to bed... #snore