Happy Halloween

From my pumpkins to yours!

It always amazes/inspires me when teachers make the most of the seasons like this one that used pumpkins to teach estimating of height and weight and teach circumference!  Way to go!

Katie

Positive Attitudes Win!

I had the pleasure this fall to coach a 7th and 8th grade girls Intramural basketball team.  I always find girls sports more enjoyable because middle school girls just love to talk and so do I!

So it was our second game of the season and we were playing a team that had some not so nice girls that had some bad attitudes.  Along with bad attitudes, they were pretty physical too.  This really got to my team and all they could focus on was the negatives of the game.  After we lost that game 10-0, we vowed the next time we played them, we would have a better attitude.

Believe it or not, the next time we faced them we won.  Not because we had more talent but because we didn't let their actions get to us.   After we won that game, we did not lose a single game after that and went on to be intramural champs!  I am so proud of my 'Green Lanterns'

Bringing Integers to Life!

When I was in my first year of teaching, I had stumped upon this activity somewhere.  I wish I tracked everything during that time but lets be serious, I was barely keeping my head above water.

The concept behind this integer activity is to get kids out of their seat moving while seeing if they make any connections from adding integers to subtracting integers.  

Directions: 

1. Start on the first number in the problem

2. Face the negative numbers for subtraction and the positive numbers for addition. 

3. Walk forwards for positive number and backwards for negative numbers. 

Check out this short clip.   Kids love this activity!  It isn't perfect so I haven't posted it on TPT yet.  If you would like it, leave a comment and I will send it to you!

This year kids cheered when I rolled out the GIANT number lines.  It really has nothing to do with anything but it sure felt good that they were excited!

Katie 

The Little Things in Life

There are times as a teacher that you tired, have more grading than imaginable, way behind in your class, students are acting up amongst other things then one little thing cheers up your day.  When I came back to my desk after the passing period, this instantly made my day better.  

Say hello to a piece of gum left on my grade book by a student after the previous class.  

We've hit Integer Season!

An important topic in 7th grade is integer operations.  This is the first time that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers are formally introduced.  I went about it differently this year than 2 years ago.  CMP3 suggested using chips to introduce addition, so that's what I tried!

I really liked it.  I felt that students really grasped the idea of adding integers.  They could see when adding a positive and negative number which had more and that determined the sign of the sum.

I also found that this concept really helped those struggling students.  This is a picture I snapped while helping a student one on one build her confidence in solving. 

After the introduction, I set students on a journey with a partner to answer questions from our online book.  This is where I saw students helping students the most.  They were explaining it in terms that made sense to them.  

The journey through integers is not always easy but I highly suggest using chips.  After using chips, I also taught students how to use the number line to add integers.  I left it up to the students which way of reasoning worked for them and never actually taught a formal way to add integers.  I would say 93% of students are confident in their integer abilities.  The other 7% I am working with daily.  

What are some methods of teaching integers you have tried?  Even if they didn't work, we can always learn from mistakes!

Katie 

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 

    

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!