Thanks for visiting. I'm so excited to be at Twitter Math Camp this week. I'm sharing a strategy called "Math Maintenance," a ten-minute warm-up that is a spiral review meant to help students keep sharp on skills from throughout the year.
Here's the PowerPoint:
This is an example I've used with my Math 8/Maryland Algebra I class.
And here's a template to help you get started.
How do you start class each day?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
A bargain "toolbox" design
Since at least 2012, I've seen "teacher toolboxes" floating around Pinterest. Just doing a Google image search for that term yields a plethora of redesigned Lowe's drawer units. I liked them but I felt they wouldn't quite work with my style. Honestly, I'm lucky if my pen makes it back into a pencil cup immediately after use and I doubted that I'd be able to keep putting pencils and pens back in drawers. I also don't keep all of my supplies in the same place. Some live on my desk, some live on the cart where my document camera sits, and others are used infrequently enough that they stay in cabinets.
Since I'm moving to a new classroom in the fall and I'm considering gaining classroom space by exiling my desk to the attached closet (which is a huge room), I thought a small toolbox could be useful. My binder clips and paper clips are perpetually mixed up and I can't always find the size I need.
I picked up a few mini two-drawer units from Dollar Tree. That store has so many good teaching items at such a reasonable price. The inside dimensions of these drawers are about 3" wide, 4" deep, and 1 1/2" tall. They're not going to hold writing utensils, but that suits my needs just fine.
I used a few small dots of hot glue to attach the drawer units together. When you do this, I would suggest removing the drawers (bend the frame ever so slightly). Put the glue on the bottom of one unit, then place that unit on top of the next unit. This will keep you from putting glue where it could interfere with the movement of the drawer.
Next, I cut labels to size to fit each drawer. If you want to make your own, they should be 1 5/8" tall and 3 1/2" wide. If you want the sizing already done, feel free to download my file below and edit it to list the items you need, picking a font and color that you like. Use cardstock and the labels will fit nicely in the front of each drawer. There's sort of a little lip in front that holds the paper upright, so adhesive would be optional. You could use a little double-sided tape, glue dots, or the like to hold the paper in place if you're afraid it will shift, but mine are loose so I can change out the contents quickly if I decide to.
Here's the finished product (in a poor photo, sorry)! Total cost: $3 plus tax. Time to link up to #made4math!
I have designs on adding a few more drawers if I can find more at another Dollar Tree. I brainstormed all my ideas in the file below. The font is "KG What the Teacher Wants" and can be downloaded free for personal use.
Have you made any organizational changes for next year?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
 |
| Just a few of the toolboxes on the Internet |
Since I'm moving to a new classroom in the fall and I'm considering gaining classroom space by exiling my desk to the attached closet (which is a huge room), I thought a small toolbox could be useful. My binder clips and paper clips are perpetually mixed up and I can't always find the size I need.
I picked up a few mini two-drawer units from Dollar Tree. That store has so many good teaching items at such a reasonable price. The inside dimensions of these drawers are about 3" wide, 4" deep, and 1 1/2" tall. They're not going to hold writing utensils, but that suits my needs just fine.
I used a few small dots of hot glue to attach the drawer units together. When you do this, I would suggest removing the drawers (bend the frame ever so slightly). Put the glue on the bottom of one unit, then place that unit on top of the next unit. This will keep you from putting glue where it could interfere with the movement of the drawer.
Next, I cut labels to size to fit each drawer. If you want to make your own, they should be 1 5/8" tall and 3 1/2" wide. If you want the sizing already done, feel free to download my file below and edit it to list the items you need, picking a font and color that you like. Use cardstock and the labels will fit nicely in the front of each drawer. There's sort of a little lip in front that holds the paper upright, so adhesive would be optional. You could use a little double-sided tape, glue dots, or the like to hold the paper in place if you're afraid it will shift, but mine are loose so I can change out the contents quickly if I decide to.
Here's the finished product (in a poor photo, sorry)! Total cost: $3 plus tax. Time to link up to #made4math!
Have you made any organizational changes for next year?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Interactive Notebook Professional Development Presentation
I've been leading PD at my school for several years now; I think I did my first session back in 2010, but most times I've been part of a team unless I was just presenting to math teachers from my building.
My county organized a "technology conference" this week. Teachers signed up to teach sessions and other teachers were able to select sessions to attend. We all get paid, which is a fabulous perk! I hesitated to present because I wasn't sure what I had enough knowledge to present on for three hours. That's a long amount of time to fill with one topic! I knew I was proud of my Interactive Notebooks, so I decided to present them and to have my participants make their own ISN about ISNs before I set them free to explore the internet and find things they could use or more inspiration for their classrooms.
Here's my presentation. If you're thinking of getting started with ISNs, feel free to go through it and ask any questions you may have. I'm also going to post pictures of the pages we did about interactive notebooks. Know that they're blank because they're from my example book. Everyone filled them out as we went through the presentation.
Here are the handouts that go into the notebook:
And here are the notebook pages. Remember, they're not filled in because my students were adults and I left the notetaking up to them as I went through my slides.
One of the coolest things about today was talking to colleagues in all disciplines about how they would use ISNs. I had a cosmetology teacher, an alternative school teacher (for students who are expelled from a traditional setting), special education teachers, an art teacher, math teachers, and ELA teachers. Everyone today taught at the secondary level. I will give this presentation again tomorrow and I know there are one or two elementary teachers registered, as well as more secondary teachers.
What questions do you have about implementing ISNs?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
My county organized a "technology conference" this week. Teachers signed up to teach sessions and other teachers were able to select sessions to attend. We all get paid, which is a fabulous perk! I hesitated to present because I wasn't sure what I had enough knowledge to present on for three hours. That's a long amount of time to fill with one topic! I knew I was proud of my Interactive Notebooks, so I decided to present them and to have my participants make their own ISN about ISNs before I set them free to explore the internet and find things they could use or more inspiration for their classrooms.
Here's my presentation. If you're thinking of getting started with ISNs, feel free to go through it and ask any questions you may have. I'm also going to post pictures of the pages we did about interactive notebooks. Know that they're blank because they're from my example book. Everyone filled them out as we went through the presentation.
Here are the handouts that go into the notebook:
And here are the notebook pages. Remember, they're not filled in because my students were adults and I left the notetaking up to them as I went through my slides.
One of the coolest things about today was talking to colleagues in all disciplines about how they would use ISNs. I had a cosmetology teacher, an alternative school teacher (for students who are expelled from a traditional setting), special education teachers, an art teacher, math teachers, and ELA teachers. Everyone today taught at the secondary level. I will give this presentation again tomorrow and I know there are one or two elementary teachers registered, as well as more secondary teachers.
What questions do you have about implementing ISNs?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
That kid...
...you all have that kid. You know, the one who grates on every nerve in your body. The one that somehow knows every button to press. The one that seems to invent new ways to get in trouble and is always being clever at circumventing your attempts to get him to actually do his work. Or is it just me? :)
Today I was surprised by a visit from that kid from my first year of teaching. I still remember writing a referral which included the term, "musical nose blowing." Yes, indeed. There were other antics, but that moment stood out in particular.
This student is now in college. He came in to visit today and told me he's had a successful year with good grades and is looking to transfer to a school closer to home. He's studying a math and science heavy major and doing well. Yay!
Of all the kids to come back, visit unexpectedly, and give me a big hug, I couldn't have been more surprised that it was this student. And a good surprise it was!
Tomorrow, I get to go see a great group of students graduate from high school. I haven't seen most of them since they left 8th grade, but I'm excited to get to watch them graduate to the next chapter!
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Today I was surprised by a visit from that kid from my first year of teaching. I still remember writing a referral which included the term, "musical nose blowing." Yes, indeed. There were other antics, but that moment stood out in particular.
This student is now in college. He came in to visit today and told me he's had a successful year with good grades and is looking to transfer to a school closer to home. He's studying a math and science heavy major and doing well. Yay!
Of all the kids to come back, visit unexpectedly, and give me a big hug, I couldn't have been more surprised that it was this student. And a good surprise it was!
Tomorrow, I get to go see a great group of students graduate from high school. I haven't seen most of them since they left 8th grade, but I'm excited to get to watch them graduate to the next chapter!
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Interactive Notebook Supplies
Next month, I'll be presenting my use of interactive notebooks and Foldables to teachers in my district at our Technology conference. (Admittedly, the "technology" is a stretch, but I'm presenting in four sessions, so I guess it was something they thought people would want to hear about anyway.) I'll be presenting on implementing these notebooks and on making Foldables with MS Word.
@misscalcul8 asked, "Anyone have a list of supplies needed for interactive notebooks?" and I thought I'd respond. It's a good time of year to reflect on what supplies I've used now that the year is wrapping up and it's time to write next year's supply list. I'll break it into two categories based on what I provide versus what students provide; based on the availability of resources in your school and the socio-economic status of the families in your school, you may make other choices. More than half of my students receive free or reduced meals, so I try to keep parents' out-of-pocket costs very low. My students could get these supplies for $2 total at Walmart last summer.
Students provided:
I provided:
What is the most important school supply for your students?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
@misscalcul8 asked, "Anyone have a list of supplies needed for interactive notebooks?" and I thought I'd respond. It's a good time of year to reflect on what supplies I've used now that the year is wrapping up and it's time to write next year's supply list. I'll break it into two categories based on what I provide versus what students provide; based on the availability of resources in your school and the socio-economic status of the families in your school, you may make other choices. More than half of my students receive free or reduced meals, so I try to keep parents' out-of-pocket costs very low. My students could get these supplies for $2 total at Walmart last summer.
Students provided:
- 1 composition book, cardboard (not plastic) cover strongly preferred.
- 2 rolls Scotch tape (label these with a Sharpie...trust me!) We attached something to almost every page, so if you expect to write directly in the notebook for lots of pages, one roll might be sufficient.
- a few colored pencils or highlighters (They don't need an entire set; three colors will accomplish almost any color-coding you plan to do. Encourage kids to bring left overs from previous grades if they have them at home.)
I provided:
- Lots of glue sticks. On the order of 100, I think. Check Walmart a week or two after school is in session for mark downs. You could have students provide these. I chose to have glue sticks available so no one had an excuse to not attach a page, but I also NEVER gave out tape. I wasn't willing to buy hundreds of rolls of tape, and the kids largely understood when I explained I was not going to buy hundreds of rolls of tape. Most of my kids mooched off their neighbors if they really wanted tape for a particular page. Some teachers use liquid glue and have success. I wasn't willing to wait for it to dry or to police the potential misuse of liquid glue, but it's incredibly cheap, so it's worth considering.
- Ziploc bags (one gallon size). Every student had a labeled bag in which to keep their composition book if desired, plus any tape or colored pencils they'd brought in. I learned that 8th grade kids aren't adept at regular Ziploc bags; the slider kind would be a smart purchase.
- Storage space. I had sturdy bins on a shelf where kids could leave their notebooks if they didn't need them for homework on a given night. We're 160 days into the year and not one of my 80 math students has lost a notebook permanently. A few have gone on short vacations, but they've returned!
- A class set of scissors (and trash bowls to minimize trips to the trash can)
- A set of highlighters and/or colored pencils per table/group. (My kids just weren't all going to have these on their own due to finances, so I had some available to borrow.)
- One stapler per table/group. If you're going to buy these, do yourself a favor and spend the extra money to get the full-strip staplers. I had no idea how much I would loathe the half-strip ones when I have to refill a few of the staplers every time we staple anything!
- Colored paper to help Foldables stand out.
- Gigantic rubber file bands. They're about 7" long. Punch a hole in the back cover of the book near a corner. Loop the rubber band through. Kids can use it to hold the book shut. These can also be used to rescue a book that detaches from its cover. Two students have had this happen this year and I was able to secure the cover by doubling one of these rubber bands around the middle of the book when unfolded.
- 6x9 manila envelopes with clasps. Glue on the inside of the back cover for works-in-progress that don't get glued down immediately.
What is the most important school supply for your students?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Submitted!
I submitted my National Board portfolio today. Yay! I've been working on it for months and I'm so glad to be done. Results won't come in until December, so I'm just thrilled to be finished for now!
My evening was capped off by two former students, a junior and a senior, stopping by to see me. They work with my school's after school program. The senior remembered that I'd had her class write letters to themselves after listening to President Obama's first inauguration speech. I promised to return them at graduation. So, she came to ask if I still had them; graduation is in two short weeks. In some kind of amazing miracle, I actually knew exactly where they were and went right to the file in my cabinet. I pulled out the letters, handed hers over, and she read it to herself. She was laughing at first, "Look at my handwriting!" Then she started reading and was proud of herself; she accomplished the goals she set out for herself in 8th grade: learning a language and taking Calculus. "I got a 5 on the AP test last year," she told me. Then she stopped reading and teared up. She handed the letter to her friend, who read the last part aloud. "Give [my little sister] and Grandpa a hug." The senior said, "Grandpa died in 9th grade."
When I asked her about post-graduation plans, she told me she's going to my alma mater. :)
That, friends, is what this profession is all about. Whether I get NBPTS certified or not, I took this as a sign that I am doing something right.
Mathematically yours,
Miss B.
My evening was capped off by two former students, a junior and a senior, stopping by to see me. They work with my school's after school program. The senior remembered that I'd had her class write letters to themselves after listening to President Obama's first inauguration speech. I promised to return them at graduation. So, she came to ask if I still had them; graduation is in two short weeks. In some kind of amazing miracle, I actually knew exactly where they were and went right to the file in my cabinet. I pulled out the letters, handed hers over, and she read it to herself. She was laughing at first, "Look at my handwriting!" Then she started reading and was proud of herself; she accomplished the goals she set out for herself in 8th grade: learning a language and taking Calculus. "I got a 5 on the AP test last year," she told me. Then she stopped reading and teared up. She handed the letter to her friend, who read the last part aloud. "Give [my little sister] and Grandpa a hug." The senior said, "Grandpa died in 9th grade."
When I asked her about post-graduation plans, she told me she's going to my alma mater. :)
That, friends, is what this profession is all about. Whether I get NBPTS certified or not, I took this as a sign that I am doing something right.
Mathematically yours,
Miss B.
Monday, April 21, 2014
I need to blog...
So, I'm writing/editing NBCT portfolio entries today and I need a break from precision writing. These next three weeks are going to fly by and I'm somewhat fearful that I'm not going to finish getting everything together the way in needs to be.
I thought I would tell you about a left side assignment gallery walk I did about a week ago. First of all, you should know that I do Interactive Notebooks with the right side as teacher input and the left side as student output. The thing is, I've just started ISNs this year and I had a hard time giving complete control over to kids for the left side, especially since I didn't know exactly how ISNs would pan out. I love ISNs and I still think it's great that I wrote a list of LSA choices last summer, but I think a few of my assignments are a little too "easy" and that I need to somehow make them more similar in the level of effort required before next year (or at least put some in a category that indicates they're going to earn at most an 80% if they're done as written).
Anyway, I gave complete control over for an LSA on simplifying radical expressions. It was mostly successful because it was their last assignment in that unit, so they had the big picture ideas down.
When students brought their work in, we did a mini gallery walk in which they spent five minutes walking around and reading other students' books. Then I asked students to nominate someone who did work that we should all see. Nominees were invited to the document camera to share. Kids are SO eager to brag on their classmates! What made this valuable was that I wasn't the one initiating the praise; I also hadn't graded the assignments yet, so we saw what the students thought was quality work. They selected the songs (including two versions of Katy Perry's Dark Horse rewritten as rules for simplifying radicals), the colorful pages, the comics, and other creative work. I don't think anyone chose to highlight a page that was a plain problem set.
I feel like when I start doing more LSAs next year that offer choice, I'm going to absolutely build in time to do this at the beginning of the year so that students can see exemplary work.
I only have one picture right now, but I'll get some more. Flashcards were popular choices; this student chose to write questions that we ask ourselves while solving on the flashcards. She wrote answers and explanations on the back. The orange is a pocket meant to hold them.
How do you help students grow?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
I thought I would tell you about a left side assignment gallery walk I did about a week ago. First of all, you should know that I do Interactive Notebooks with the right side as teacher input and the left side as student output. The thing is, I've just started ISNs this year and I had a hard time giving complete control over to kids for the left side, especially since I didn't know exactly how ISNs would pan out. I love ISNs and I still think it's great that I wrote a list of LSA choices last summer, but I think a few of my assignments are a little too "easy" and that I need to somehow make them more similar in the level of effort required before next year (or at least put some in a category that indicates they're going to earn at most an 80% if they're done as written).
Anyway, I gave complete control over for an LSA on simplifying radical expressions. It was mostly successful because it was their last assignment in that unit, so they had the big picture ideas down.
When students brought their work in, we did a mini gallery walk in which they spent five minutes walking around and reading other students' books. Then I asked students to nominate someone who did work that we should all see. Nominees were invited to the document camera to share. Kids are SO eager to brag on their classmates! What made this valuable was that I wasn't the one initiating the praise; I also hadn't graded the assignments yet, so we saw what the students thought was quality work. They selected the songs (including two versions of Katy Perry's Dark Horse rewritten as rules for simplifying radicals), the colorful pages, the comics, and other creative work. I don't think anyone chose to highlight a page that was a plain problem set.
I feel like when I start doing more LSAs next year that offer choice, I'm going to absolutely build in time to do this at the beginning of the year so that students can see exemplary work.
I only have one picture right now, but I'll get some more. Flashcards were popular choices; this student chose to write questions that we ask ourselves while solving on the flashcards. She wrote answers and explanations on the back. The orange is a pocket meant to hold them.
How do you help students grow?
Mathematically yours,
Miss B
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