Mathsational

This is week six of the Sunday Funday blogging initiative.  It's never too late to join in!  You can read more about the challenge  here  if you like.  This week's challenge is to write about our plans for substitutes if we must be out unexpectedly .   First, let me say that I have had a similar version of this plan in a file folder for about 10 years and I've thankfully never had to use it.  Also, since I've switched to a blended model in my classroom, I am completely confident that my students could survive a day or two without me and without any type of sub plan. Here is my current online organization for students: I try to keep lessons posted about a week in advance.  This way, if a student is planning on being out, they can work ahead if needed.  I've also built a routine where students log into Schoology first thing each period to see what the daily assignment is.  I include everything in a Google doc.  This ...

This is week five of the Sunday Funday blogging initiative.  It's never too late to join in!  You can read more about the challenge  here  if you like.  This week's challenge is to write about teacher hacks. I had some trouble thinking of hacks that I use, so I went around my room, looking for creative ideas that I have learned over the years. Hack 1: Never buy a stylus!  Pick them up for free at conferences :) Hack 2: Buy a $20 electric tea kettle.  It's perfect for  Millie's Sipping Broth  and tea during study hall or a planning period.  Hack 3: Tony Riehl   posted this idea to twitter awhile back and then shared it again at #TMC17.  Phones are not the only distraction, so have something large enough to hold, say yearbooks, in May.  I also keep a pad of post-it notes in the box so kids can label their distraction with their name before putting it in the box. Hack 4:  Label all the thing...

This is week four of the Sunday Funday blogging initiative.  It's never too late to join in!  You can read more about the challenge  here  if you like.  This week's challenge is to write about organization. Organization: Well, seeing as how I'm posting this entry several hours past the deadline, I certainly could use some organization pointers for sure.  However, I do have a few pointers. Do everything digitally if possible.  My students will have 1-1 iPads before the start of the second marking period.  Until then, I'll continue to use my class cart of laptops.  I am fortunate enough to have those as part of a grant that I signed-up for circa 2007.  The machines were updated one time in those 10 years, so the technology available is anything but cutting edge, but it is functional. The reason I love organizing digitally is that it is easier for me to make lots of folders inside of other folders and to move/update things as needed. ...

This is week three of the Sunday Funday blogging initiative.  It's never too late to join in!  You can read more about the challenge  here  if you like.  This week's challenge is to write about classroom management. I'm about to start my 14th year in the classroom and classroom management is something that I still strive to improve.  When I first started teaching I felt the need to have lots of rules and procedures along with consequences, all in writing.  My go to resources were Harry Wong's The First Days of School  and Lee Canter's Assertive Discipline .   Both books have some great ideas for new teachers, but you need to wade through other ideas that won't work for you to find the ones that will.  I even took Sarah Carter's idea of using a few of Harry's quotes to put up in my room.  Unfortunately, my kids just laughed at his name :(  Within a few years, I found that the many rules and consequences were ...

This is week two of the Sunday Funday blogging initiative.  It's never too late to join in!  You can read more about the challenge here if you like. Last week, we wrote about our goals for the year .  I touched on my first day plans at that time, but here is a bit more info. I mentioned in the last Sunday Funday post that I wanted to begin incorporating HyperDocs as a way for students to be engaged in independent work while pull daily small groups.  Here is the HyperDoc that I'll use on the first day of school for my students to get to know me and each other. I got the idea for the Meet me by Slides activity from one of Alice Keeler's books.  I read all three this summer, back-to-back.  So I'm having trouble recall which book it was. They were all good by the way. Even though I don't intend on using Google Classroom and will only have student access to iPads for the most part, I was still able to get a ton of ideas from these thr...