First Days of School

 There are just not enough hours per day in August to get everything done!  I either need longer days or the ability to go with less sleep :)  

There are a lot of things I like about my school and a few things that I don't, and the Back to School week falls under both of those categories!  We report to school on Monday / Tuesday, off on Wednesday, and kids come on Thursday.  I love that day off to get things done (like a pedi with my mom), but with all of the required meetings, it feels like there is so much to do in a very condensed amount of time.

But Thursday came and so did the kids, whether I was ready or not...

On the first day, we do...

• Posters around the room
• Name Tents
• And Math of course!

You can see some of the posters in the photo and on each table is a small container with some post-its.  They answer the 6 prompts and go around the room putting their answers on the board.  The 6 prompts are:

• A goal I have this year is...
• Our classroom should be ____ every day
• I learn best when...
• Mrs. __ can help me best by...
• Math is important because...
• To be successful in math this year, I need...

This activity infuses a bit of color as well as gets the kids up and moving around from day 1.  

After that, we work on their Name Tents, which has been written about quite a bit in the MTBoS, so my only change is that I don't print the form on the inside - I just have the kids draw a line down the crease and then two perpendicular to that to create 6 spaces for writing.  This was the first year (ever?) that everyone folded their name tent correctly!!!  (YAY!)

Finally, it's time to do Math!  This year, I tried a new-to-me activity using pentominos because I wanted to do something Geometric.  While I liked the activity, I found that it more challenging than I expected.  

The original task asked the students to use all of the pentominos to build a 10x6 rectangle, then to try again to build a 12x5, then again for a 15x4.  Next year, I think I'm going to work on some better scaffolding for this as the 10x6 was tricker than expected!

Thankfully, it did allow us to talk about Productive Struggle,  the importance of persevering, and why I like to use manipulatives a lot to test out theories.

So for next year, I think I would modify it using one of these two resources:

• Better scaffolding of the tasks, similar to the challenges shared here by Sarah Carter
• Using these puzzles by MathsKo

That pretty much ended Day 1, and I was happy to celebrate the day with a mini-bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes that was delivered by our Student Leadership group!

Then, on to Day 2.  My goal with Day 2 was to introduce students to some of the structures we would be using this year...

• Open Middle - Using the digits 1 to 9, find the sum of 3 digit numbers that comes closest to 1000.
• Whiteboards - Using "The Answers Are" task from Building Thinking Classrooms
• Setting our Group Norms (see previous post)

All in all, it was a GREAT couple of days of non-curricular tasks, but then it was on to an insanely busy weekend to prepare for Week 2. 

My Teacher Binder - 2023/24 Edition

Hey folks!  It's August 1 and that means that school is just around the corner.  I officially report next Monday and kids come next Thursday, but I am definitely not ready for summer to end this year!  I mean, if I'm being honest, I'm never really ready for summer to end.  I like the structure of school, but I don't like wearing shoes and having to people :)

This summer has been a summer of cleaning, organizing, and purging, which my house sorely needed!  We have one more load of stuff to take to the donation center and then my attention can fully shift to the new school year.  I did go up to my classroom last Thursday to get it mostly put together and to start working on my to-do list.  

One of the things on my to-do list was to put together this year's Teacher Binder and I realized last night that I never shared last year's binder - oops!  I have this year's made and printed, but I still need to assemble it.

Cover and Binding:

A few years ago, I ran across these pocket folders at Dollar Tree that were fairly heavy weight and with a customizable cover.  I haven't seen them in the stores this year, so it's possible they aren't carrying them this season, but I've only been to my Dollar Tree, which isn't in my favorite Top 10 stores if that tells you anything!  

For binding, I have been a huge fan of the DiscBound systems for many years - starting with the Arc system at Staples, but you can also find them with Happy Planner at various craft stores, TUL at Office Depot, etc.  I have found the 1 inch disc work the best for me, but the discs come in a variety of sizes. 

My cover and the dividers inside are all normal 3-hole systems, so I just cut the folder in half, then punch all of them (one at a time of course) using my disc bound punch.  I've used a variety of things for my dividers over the years, but this year, it's just a plain set of plastic pocket dividers that were on Prime Day sale :)  

Inside the Binder:
I typically have 6 or so dividers in use - The first 3 are for my calendars:

Monthly Calendar - this is a typical Monthly spread with a place to jot down reminders and notes under each Month.  This is where I tend to put long-term appointments and due dates.

Quarterly Calendar - This view only shows the first semester of Geometry, but these are just pacing type calendars for me to plan out the quarter.  I also put down holidays and breaks if they are known.

Weekly Calendar - This is my page with all of the day to day details.  On the left side is a place for me to put things for before / during / after the day, such as Lunch Duty, IEP Meetings, covering a class, etc.  Below each day is a checklist for daily habits like posting to Google Classroom, exercising, etc.  In the big empty space is a place for general notes and to-do lists and this space usually has a post-it note or two adhered :)

After the 3 sections of calendars come the sections for my gradebook and things like that, but since I don't have my class lists yet, those aren't ready for the binder!

What does your teacher binder look like?

Back to School Parent Contact - #MTBoSBlaugust Day 10

 

Last night was Back to School night and I have to admit, I love the energy that students and their families bring to the building.  I've been in my classroom off and on for the past few weeks, but in the summer, the building just seems kind of sad.  The floors are newly waxed, the carpets have been cleaned, but the energy is lacking.  I should also note that I am flat-out exhausted after last night because it was VERY people-y and that's tough for an introvert like me! 

But one of my FAVORITE parts of Back to School is sending out an email and short questionnaire to the parent / guardian.  This is two-fold - to establish that first contact, sharing my email and my excitement for the new year, and to ask the parents to introduce me to their student in an effort to get to know them better.

Attached to the email is a very short Google Form with just a few questions:

- What is your name?

- What is your Student's name?

- If I need to get in touch with you, what is the best way to contact you?  If phone, what time of day works best?

- Your student is an amazing person and I would love your help in getting to know them better.  You know your student best, so please tell me about your student as a person.  I would love to hear about hopes and dreams, goals for this year and for the future, challenges and successes, activities and interests, and anything else that you would like to share about your student.  Please feel free to write as much (or as little) as you would like!

- I would also love to know more about your student on an academic level. Please tell me anything you know about how your student learns best and the classroom environment that would best encourage and develop your student as a mathematician.  If you have any suggestions about how I can be a better teacher for your student, please let me know that as well.  Again, please feel free to write as much (or as little) as you would like!

- Do you have any additional questions, comments, or concerns?

I really love reading the responses as they trickle in!

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If you are interested in joining in the #MTBoSBlaugust fun, here's a post with some prompts to help you out!  The idea is just to blog / micro-blog during August to help us focus and reflect on the year ahead.  Please tag your post on Social Media with the hashtag #MTBoSBlaugust so we can support you in your blogging journey!

Welcome to Room 511!

 Kids come back to school tomorrow!  Moving school districts has been a challenge and change can definitely be difficult, but change can also be really good for us as it pushes us to learn and grow.  At my new district, there aren't many teacher workdays at the beginning, but I had already set up my room as I moved in, so I didn't have a ton to finish up.  I will say that one thing I LOVE about my new district is that today was a non-contract day, so after a couple of days of meetings and last night's "Meet the Teacher", it was so nice to have the day off, go out to eat with a friend, and just relax before kids come tomorrow!

But before the chaos of school starts, I wanted to share my new room with y'all, so Welcome to Room 511!

At the door, you'll notice the awesome Welcome sign from Sarah Carter and the Math Person sign from Scaffolded Math.  Also on the door are some curtains that my older sister sewed for me out of the remnants of my bulletin board fabric.  I love that my doorway reminds me of my family, my friends, and the MTBoS!

You'll also see the beginning peek of the classroom with Wipebook Flipcharts on the wall.  That was an adventure and I'm super grateful for a friend's help today to get those all hung and mostly level! :)

Moving on into the room, you can see a better view of the Wipebook Flipcharts as well as all of the tables. :)

My class is currently seated in groups and I hope that can continue.  They didn't tell us any directive about having students all facing the same direction this year so I'm hoping I can keep them in groups because I really missed those interactions.  Our directive is to keep the kiddos 3 feet apart and my tables are 3 feet wide and the kids can spread 3 feet side to side, so I'm hoping that works out okay!

Right now, my class sizes range from 18 to 28, so when I left yesterday, I had 6 tables of 4 and 4 extra chairs.  I had emailed the principal asking for another set of tables and when I arrived this afternoon, there were actually more tables than I needed!  I set up the last table and now every student has somewhere to sit... hopefully :)

As you enter the doorway, to the immediate left is one of the student areas with the calendar, turn in trays, pencil sharpener, etc.  The file cabinets are PACKED with school supplies because I apparently have a huge spending / buying habit when it comes to good deals on school supplies! LOL  

A few of my favorite things here..

- Team Cup Posters (Thanks Sarah!) - I LOVE using the Red / Yellow / Green cups and so glad they are back this year!

- Ladybug Welcome sign was a gift from my mom and it just makes me smile

- Problem Solver pillow made from a t-shirt I found in the girls section at Target several years ago

Along the front wall is the agenda board, the "main" whiteboard, and the puzzle / play corner.

This year, I'm teaching two levels of Geometry - regular and honors.  I've taught Geometry for years, but not two levels of it, so I'm a bit nervous about that.  I've already posted about the play area, but I do love the books in the windowsill!  I've been adding a few new books thanks to eBay, so I'm excited to have several books to swap in and out throughout the year!  

Back at the door, to the left, you'll see the row of cabinets with my second student supply area.  In this area, you'll see markers, colored pencils, patty paper, the group folders, and cleaning supplies.

Two favorites here...

- The Women of STEM posters look fabulous against the blue cabinet

- I LOVE the jigsaw puzzle!  In June, a friend and I had gone to Half Price Books and saw this Cardinal puzzle.  Since my new school mascot was the Cardinals, I decided to pick it up for the elderly neighbor man.  He loves doing jigsaw puzzles, especially in the winter and he was delighted to put this one together for me.  It really looks awesome in my new room!

The last area is my desk area and this was the MOST challenging area of the room for me!

First off, on the metal bookcase, you'll see my individual whiteboards and the cool holders my sister had made for me.  You'll also see the dry erase table tents that I had to have from Target Dollar Spot but haven't quite figured out yet! LOL

The red and blue back here was really hard for me.  I did better with the blue because I already had some ideas, like the yellow "Believe" sign from Ted Lasso (Thanks Meg!), but what do you do with a tomato red wall?  I knew I wanted something back there - a whiteboard, a bulletin board, something, but what???

Then, last weekend, I'm on Facebook Marketplace and up pops this yellow ladybug bulletin board - OMG - PERFECT!!!  I had already picked up the Home Sweet Classroom sign from Hobby Lobby, so now I had an anchor point.  I already had made a photo with my word of the year (Lego) and the photo of our bracelets, so throw in some quotes, a few more decorations, and my desk area is finally done!

Now, all that is left is for kids to fill those chairs tomorrow and we'll be ready to kick off the 2021-2022 school year!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Teaching Binder

This month, I am participating in a blogging challenge called #MTBoSBlaugust.  To read posts from other participants, click on the logo above.

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It's time to go back to school, which meant it was time to get my act together and get my teaching binder finished up for the 2019-2020 school year!  For many years, I have designed and printed my own personal planner.  (You can see last year's here).  I know it would be much easier and probably cheaper to buy a pre-made planner, but I am picky. :)

This year's planner has 3 sections - a Monthly Calendar section, a Lesson Plans section, and a Gradebook section.  As always, I bound it with the wonderful Arc System :)

The Monthly calendar got a bit of a facelift with the left side staying the same, but changing the right side to include a few things like "Start / Stop / Continue", a small look at the next month, and some notes and to-dos:

In the Lesson Plans section, there are two layouts - a long range quarterly look to help with flow and planning and a weekly layout with a more detailed view:

The long-range outlook has a 2-page spread for each semester.  I've included holidays and important dates to help with planning as well.

The weekly spread got a huge update this year.  I decided to put the lesson plans on a single page so I didn't have to have my binder open to the whole 2-page spread.  I also decided to only use this for school, so I took out the weekend areas.  On the left, I put in more of a weekly reflection place so that I could keep more of a teaching journal with some reflection questions inspired from Fairy Dust Teaching.  I also trimmed down my habit tracker and added in some other checklists (To Do, To Buy, Strategies Used).

Finally, it was ready to print!  I took it to Staples as they have a bit heavier pound paper than I have at home and had them print it grayscale.  While at Staples, I browsed through their Studio C 2 pocket folders as they are my favorite DIY Arc Binder covers!  Cut them in half, punch some holes and you have a sturdy cover with pockets!  The photo at the right shows the pattern I picked out for this year:  Doesn't that just bring you happiness and joy?? :)

As always, I've uploaded a generic version in PPT for you if you want a copy of the planner for yourself! :)

First Day Plans 2017-18

Just a reminder that the #MTBoS Sunday Funday challenge is back!  This is a weekly blogging prompt that is hosted over at Julie's blog and this week's theme is "First Day / First Week Plans"

Every week, Julie will push out a new topic, you blog about it and submit your blog post using this Google Form.  On Sunday, there will be a huge list of awesome blogs to go read! :) YAY!

As always, this is a no pressure blogging challenge, so if you don't feel like blogging, that's okay!  But since one of my yearly goals is to blog more, this is a great way to get myself back into the groove!


Next week starts my 20th year of teaching.  OMG! Where did time go??  There's no way that I'm in year 20, I'm still just a young whipper-snapper, right?  (Said as my knees start to creak and I grumble like an old curmudgeon.)  I officially start on Monday, but I've been up there off and on for the past few weeks working on my classroom.  Our kiddos report next Friday... eekkk!  I have *so* much lesson planning to do!

This year, I will have 3 preps:  AP Statistics (Year 18);  Forensic Science (Year 6); and Geometry (Year ?? but really year 1 again.. last time I taught it was 2008 or so!)

All Classes:
On Day 1, I'm definitely a fan of getting my students to work right away on math and critical thinking.  Since we start school on a Friday, it's a great way to get them started with our first High Five Friday of the year!!!

I tend to have big classes and I'm horrible with names, so I have my kids make name tents.  I originally stole this idea from attending (many) AVID summer institutes and workshops over the years.  Each student has a piece of cardstock that they fold "hot dog" style and the following instructions are on the board:

While they are working on their name tents, I go around and greet each student individually to help me take attendance and learn to pronounce their name.  This also gives me an opportunity to look at what information they have chosen to share.

With AVID, the inside of the name tent is printed, but I just have my students draw lines, mainly so I can save on my copy count :)  These name tents serve as my exit tickets each day as well as my Visible Random Grouping for the first week of school.  Each day, I respond to the students, then shuffle the name tents and toss 4 on each table.  Super simple! :)

AP Statistics:
After the name tents are made, it's time to dive into some statistics.  For the past 8 years or so, I've started the same way - the story of Kristen Gilbert.  Many years ago (2008 maybe?), I was shopping along in Borders (which hasn't even been in existence since like 2011), I ran across a book titled "The Numbers behind Numb3rs".

Like many math teachers, I enjoyed the Numb3rs TV show, so I quickly purchased the book and started reading.  Low and behold, the 2nd chapter was entitled "Fighting Crime with Statistics 101".  This chapter quickly grabbed my attention and I knew I had to build a lesson out of this story.

I immediately contacted Hedge, who was also teaching AP Statistics at the time, and we collaborated on a first day lesson, you know that whole 'hook em with a story' idea. :)

Over the years, I've contemplated doing a different activity, but I always end up coming back to Ms. Gilbert... :)


Geometry:
With Geometry, my plans are a bit more fluid.  I haven't taught Geometry in many years and I'm not quite sure what to expect.  Right now, I have a lot of mini activities, all stolen from the MTBoS planned for them:

1. My classroom is always set up in groups and we change those groups often.  After their name tents are done, I plan to start with Sara Vanderwerf's 100 numbers activity in order to start that discussion on what makes effective group work.
2. Then, each group will get a deck of cards to do Sarah Rubin's 31-derful activity.  I've used this activity as a first day activity in Intermediate Algebra as well as a time filler in Pre-Calculus and it's always a hit.  This encourages critical thinking, communication, and some low-floor math.
3. If there is time remaining, Julie (@fractionfanatic) posted some awesome puzzles this week from @1to9puzzle, so I quickly started following that twitter account.  Each day, they post a new challenge and I definitely plan to use these as time fillers over the year!

Sadly, this is about as far as I've gotten on my lesson plans! :)  Now I'm off to figure out day 2! :)

Goals for 2017-18

For the past several years, I have done an August blogging challenge, but this year, I just didn't have it in me.  However, I'm super excited that the #MTBoS Sunday Funday challenge is back!  This is a weekly blogging prompt that is hosted over at Julie's blog and this week's theme is "Goals"

Every week, Julie will push out a new topic, you blog about it and submit your blog post using this Google Form.  On Sunday, there will be a huge list of awesome blogs to go read! :) YAY!


Traditionally I don't make make New Year Resolutions in January because my new year comes in August as the start of a new school year.  I don't know if other teachers feel the same, but that's what works for me :)

Here's my Start - Stop - Continue for my 2017-18 goals :)

I want to START:

• Using Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces (VNPS) in my classroom.  I have read the research and really feel convicted on this one.  That's not to say that I don't feel scared as all get out, but I want to set a goal to try this at least once per unit.
• Asking better questions.  Pam presented on this during TMC and it was part of several of the Formative Assessment books I read this summer.  I have printed off several question stem pages based on recommendations from my Twitter pals.  My goal is to use these question stems while I am lesson planning to help me develop my questioning skills.
• Being more involved in the Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere (MTBoS).  This online teacher community has been my family for 8 years now.  However, for the past few years, I've pretty much kept to myself due to a variety of reasons and this just needs to stop.  I am a better teacher when I'm involved in the MTBoS, so my goal is to blog at least once a week with Sunday Funday and to be involved in the #geomchat and #statschat on Twitter.

I want to STOP:

• Trying to "rescue" my students.  There's a lot to be said about productive struggle and if I am trying to use rich tasks and VNPS, I need to let students have that struggle, to really own the math.  I am hoping the better questioning will help with this as well.  
• Eating lunch in my room.  I used to eat with other teachers and we had a great time.  However, last year, the environment in the lunch room was too politically charged, so I just stopped going.  I miss the fun, light-hearted conversations that we used to have, so I need to focus on "being the change."  My goal is to eat lunch with my colleagues at least 3 days a week to give myself a break from my classroom.

I want to CONTINUE:

• Learning more about effective Formative Assessment techniques.  This was the focus of most of my summer reading, which I've blogged about a few other times.  My goal is to integrate at least one FA technique per day to inform my teaching and to teach my students how to use it for their learning.
• Working on my personal health.  Over the past few years, I've gotten busy and combined with stress, did not prioritize my mental, emotional, and physical health.  This summer, with the help of #fitbos17 and some encouraging quotes that continually run through my head, I've been able to lose about 15 pounds.  My goal is to lose about 10 more pounds and I know I can do it!
• Using Interactive Notebooks (INBs) and the Make It Stick strategies in my class.  I have noticed so much more content retention since utilizing these strategies!
• High Five Fridays!  This simple technique is really a game changer when it comes to your classroom culture.  If you haven't tried it, I highly encourage you to just give it a shot.  I resisted for the first year because I am an *extremely* introverted person, but I promise you that it's worth it!

What are your goals for 2017-18?

Anxiety Sets In... and a #Made4Math

For me, the month of July seems to zoom by and before I know it, the back-to-school nerves start setting in.  This weekend was a time of school supply shopping, blog reading, pinterest searching, and saving tons of ideas for next year.  

I officially report 4 weeks from today, although my building is the only one on campus that isn't under construction, so that's a bit nerve-wracking for my colleagues in other buildings!  At least I can go up and work in my room if I choose to.  

Today was a day of little projects and organization.  I didn't get anything officially finished, but here's what I worked on:

In no particular order...

- Printed off 80 protractors on transparency sheets (10 per page)

- Printed off my new GEOMETRY agenda board header 

- Printed off my new Geometry binder spine labels

- Printed off my new table folder labels 

- Cut out all the Contact Paper to go over said folder labels

- Created, printed, and laminated new table bucket labels

Still to do from these projects...

- Cut apart those protractors

- Laminate the GEOMETRY header

- Adhere the table folder labels with the contact paper

- Adhere the table bucket labels

- Switch over from the old table buckets

- Test out the "whiteboard" paper that I'm trying to straighten

There are so many things left to do that I haven't started on!  I am a fairly organized person by nature, but with 160+ students, I have to figure out some new strategies for keeping up with the paper trail, staying on top of INB handouts, etc.  

Part of today was just sitting in my classroom, staring at the wall and trying to wrap my head around all that needed to get done in the next four weeks.  (OMG - ***4*** weeks!!!  EEKKKK).  I don't know about you, but I love to-do lists, so when I'm overwhelmed, I often have a tendency to create a new cute to-do list to help me stay organized. :)  (I know.. what a great use of my time today, right???)  I forgot to take a photo of it, but I printed it on bright yellow paper, laminated it, and dug into my stash of fine tip dry erase markers to help me make a list. :)

It's nothing fancy, but if you want a copy, feel free to download it here :)