Thursday, September 25, 2014

Control Center of the Classroom

Any teacher knows that a paper management system (also balled being organized) will make the world of different.  Here is my 'control center'

There are a few key components that keep my life going.

1.  Make Up Quizzes
So I used to play the game of 'track the student' to make up grades and I was horrible at it!  I realized after I implemented SBG that it is not MY responsibility to track them down but it is the students.  I give a quiz each Thursday so the students know that if they are absent on a Thursday, their make up quiz will be push pined onto the board waiting for them.  How do I remember to do this?  When I pass out the quiz, I see who is missing and immediately write their name on a quiz and tack it up there.  Easy peasy!

2.  Hand in Papers Here!
What you can't see is that each bin is marked by period so students know where to place their papers.  This is where anything/everything goes into, I take nothing on my desk or in my hands.  

3.  Papers to be Passed Back
This is for me.  Once I grade/check-in any papers, I put them directly into the corresponding slot.  I find that this has helped me keep the clutter off my desk and motivates me to finish everything.  As an added bonus, I also have found that when kids see papers in there, they will offer to pass them back!  Double bonus!

4.  No Name Papers
I still don't understand how middle schoolers fail to put their names on papers but it happens!  So when I find one, I grade it and hang it up.  From there, it is up to the student to claim the paper and hand it in again, with their name this time. 

5.  Crate in the Middle 
You know when a student is absent and they come back and go "What did I miss?" This takes care of that!  When I hand out something in class, I immediately put it in the corresponding file folder.  My advanced math has its own section and the other class periods have their own section.  I made a file folder for each day of the week.  The new papers I put in standing up and the old papers are then turned sideways into the file folder.  This part of the control center is the hardest for me to remember to everyday but it makes my life SO much easier!

Of course there are some math cartoons that are funny and spruce it up a little bit.  What does your control center look like?  I would love to hear more ideas/suggestions!

Katie 

    

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Sharing the Love, My Newest Goal!

So as I am still awake (way past my bedtime) I decided that I need to put more of the things I create out there for others.  Here are a few reasons why:

  • I know that it will make someones day a whole lot easier
  • I spend a lot of time on things and it should be shared, not hidden
  • I think it would be really cool to have my things in other peoples classrooms
  • How cool would it be to be TpT famous? 
  • What teacher can't use the extra money...
With that being said, visit my store!  I will be posting more (I have SO many things I have created the past two years)

Here is a preview of the activity I made tonight...for tomorrow!  It is a constructing triangle stations set that has students draw conclusion and write about what they see.  


As you can see at the very bottom of the preview, I am still working on those mathematical practices.  It was one of my goals and truthfully, it really isn't that hard!

Hope to see you at my store soon!  If you have any requests for anything related to 7th or 8th grade math, feel free to post a comment here, I am CONFIDENT I have made it!