New Posters in my TPT Store!

Well, I realized that I had not actually posted a new product on TPT in a LOOOONG time. So, I remembered the Essential Questions Posters that I have been making for my class and posted the four that I have done so far. If you have purchased my whole store, they are already added to the dropbox account!

Here is a preview:

I also have them for Rational Numbers, Pythagorean Theorem, and Solving Equations. They are for sale for $1 a piece! What a deal :)

No work = No credit!

I have never met a math teacher that didn't require students to show some sort of work to justify their reasoning on every problem. If your students are anything like mine, they constantly whine about showing their work, especially if it is something they think they can do in their heads. If I had a nickel for every time a student asked me if they had to show work, I could have retired 3-4 years ago!

I am constantly telling them that No work = No credit. Most of them comply, but there are always a handful that will test the waters to see if I am serious. No matter how many times I say it, they are always shocked to see me follow through.

This year...this poster will be up at the very front of my room--so there won't be ANY question as to what will happen if a student refuses to show their work:

Clip art and Graphics used with permission from Lovin' Lit, Sonya Dehart, and Glitter Meets Glue

This poster is available for purchase in my TPT store and can be purchased here. Don't worry...the word "preview" isn't on the actual poster...just here on the preview. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know! Have a great Sunday!

Free (or ALMOST Free) Posters!

   

I am so over posters from the teacher supply store. Maybe that was a little harsh. I like some of the ones geared toward middle/high school because there is just a *hint* of sarcasm in there and frankly, if I am going to have to look at a poster for 9+ months...it better represent my personality!

I have received plenty of e-mails and FB messages lately from people who want to know about the posters I have and if I am making more...I wanted to share with you some of the great ones that I have found through different blogs and just plain old google/pinterest searching. Some of these have been in my classroom this year, and some will be this coming year. Some are specifically for math, and some are really appropriate for all classrooms...a little something for everyone, like a poster buffet!

First up, I LOVE this poster from 4MulaFun! I made mine into a hanging decoration, but it prints beautifully on it's own as well. You can download it from her TPT store here and you can see my blog post that lists out the details of creating this beauty here!

Next, I just adore these...I printed these last year and framed them, but this year, I mounted them on wooden plaques as well to hang in my classroom. This is exactly something that would come out of my mouth and has the perfect hint of sarcasm--just like I like it. You can find out how to purchase these from Farley at Oh Boy, 4th Grade!

This is one that I made and blogged about recently. You can download it for free from my TPT store here.

Mr. Magician has some posters for free in his TPT shop as well. Here is one of my favorites:

I'm sure I will have more to add to this :) Do you have some fun posters you would like to share? Leave links to them in the comments!

Exit Tickets

I love using exit tickets in my classroom. It is a great way to formatively assess what a student knows or may not know after a lesson or two. They can either put their name on it, or it can be anonymous.

After attending CAMT this summer and sitting in 4mulafun's session about Interactive Notebooks, I wanted to change they way I did exit tickets a bit. She uses the method, "Post It, Prove It" where students answer a question on a post it note and post it on the piece of chart paper where she has posted the question. Students write their names on the back of the post-it so that others cannot see whose it belongs to. Here is her original blog post that goes much more in depth.

I made this poster to post on the wall where I am going to do this:

Clip art from Sonya Dehart and Ashley Hughes

Anyhow, I think I may assign numbers to students instead...I am not sure why, yet. I think I need to think this through a little more before I implement :) It's a good thing that I have a few weeks!

How do you handle exit tickets? Since I have 6 classes, the big challenge for me will be clearing them off between classes!

Monday Made It -- Wood Plaque Posters

Oh my goodness...I am so excited to share this with you and link up with 4th grade frolics for Monday Made It!

Trust me, this is not some spectacular work of art...but it is easy, and it is cute. And, most importantly, I was able to do it here and there while my in-laws are in town! It's a win for everyone! 

Start with a piece of unfinished wood. I get mine from Hobby Lobby because they are the cheapest there...$2.99 is the regular price for this bad boy. You can spend up to $10 elsewhere. I vary between the different styles, but I got the basic rectangular plaque since I knew my poster would take up most of the space. 

Paint the edges and a border around the top a contrasting color. I didn't have black paint so I used metallic silver. I like that it is glossy and only takes 2 coats. Let it dry completely. This is important.

Trim down what you want to adhere to the plaque to eliminate any white space. I wish I would have taken a before picture, but I get so excited when I am working on something that we are lucky I remembered to take any pictures. Lay it out on the plaque and make sure it is centered...or off-centered if you like to live on the edge :) Make sure what you have printed is on thick cardstock or photo paper. If printing at home, the photo paper is a must or the ink may bleed when you do the next step. I had mine printed at Office Max for $0.50. A total steal when you think about how much ink this would have used at home.

Apply a layer of mod podge underneath the poster to glue it down. Use the regular orange bottle of mod podge and a sponge brush. Let dry completely before moving onto the next step. I let mine dry overnight.

Then you are ready to "seal" the top. Apply a generous layer of mod podge over the top and around the sides to have that "sheen" around the whole plaque. Make sure you are spreading the mod podge from left to right each time so that it looks neat.

Let it dry. If it looks like this, you are on the right track. I let it dry for about 2 hours. Apply another coat if necessary. I didn't need to this time, but do what works for you!

Then it is time to apply ribbon to the back to hang it. You could always just hang it on the wall as is...but I LOVE ribbon and use it all over my room. These wood plaques are soft enough that I don't even need to get my staple gun. A regular stapler does the trick. 

I staple about 5-6 times on each side and that sucker isn't going anywhere. 

AND...done! I LOVE how it turned out.

If you would like a copy of the poster itself, you can download it from 4mulafun's store on TPT here!

I can't wait to make some more of these!

"IDK" is not an option this year!

The most infuriating thing to me is when a student doesn't know an answer on a test and writes "IDK??" in the sloppiest of handwriting. Those of you who teach elementary may not know what I am talking about , but I know my secondary friends can for sure relate! Even if you teach completely angelic students who always know the answers, please just nod your head and smile so I don't feel alone...okay, thanks.

I never allow that as an answer in class, but up until this summer, I never felt like a had a good response when a student says "IDK" because I can't help but think they really mean "I don't care." My friend Melanie and I went to a session when we were at CAMT and the presenter talked about other sentence starters for students who need more help to answer questions. In essence, they are 5 alternatives to using "IDK" in the classroom. Of course, we both had to make posters to put in our classroom! Here's mine:

Don't worry, I wouldn't share anything if I wasn't going to make it available to you...so click here to download it for FREE from my Teachers pay Teachers store!

This is formatted to print out on 11x17 paper. You can send it to any office supply/printing center and have printed. Office Max is printing mine for less than $2! 

Let me know what you think! Do you have any ways to get kids past the "IDK" statements?

My Classroom 2012-2013

If you are new to my blog, be sure to enter my HUGE giveaway happening here!

Better late than never, right? Ha! I spent the better part of last summer planning out the decor plan for my classroom. I spent more money than I care to admit at Hobby Lobby, and after all was said and done, took pictures of about 20% of the cutesy things in my room! I had every intention of posting this when I started this blog last summer, but life got in the way and I never got around to it. Now seems like the perfect opportunity to reflect on what I liked and didn't like about how I set up my classroom last year since I am moving campuses and will be able to start from scratch. Oh, how I love a clean slate!

First up, my bulletin board:

I am proud of this for several reasons. I had to hunt down this fabric in several locations because I couldn't find enough for one continuous piece! Also, for the first year, I stayed away from typical teacher border and bought tulle to frame my bulletin board! I was more difficult to get up, but it stayed. all. year! (In middle school, we don't change them multiple times.) Love the Audrey Hepburn quote as well...one of my favorites for sure! 

You can also see that I numbered my desks! I did that for several reasons, but one in particular was so that I could use these Order of Operations Seating Cards the first week of school! 

Next up, is something I don't really have a name for :)

At the top of the picture, I have my expectations. I like to keep my class rules short so that they look attainable!

In the middle, I have my 4 passes hanging. I got the rack from hobby lobby in the unfinished wood section and painted it pink (we have a theme going in my room!) and then made the passes by mod podging scrapbook paper to unfinished wood door hangers (again from Hob Lob). I used scrapbook papers that I already had lying around and letters that already had an adhesive backing. I am all for multipurpose. I put my name and room number on the back so that if they were lost, they could find their way home.

Sitting on the table I have 3 different trays for the 3 different classes I taught last year. In these trays I would place handouts (if there were any) for that day's lesson. Since we had 50 minutes per class, I didn't want to waste time passing things out. Students picked up on this procedure quickly and would pick up handouts from the trays before the bell rang. I instituted this in my room 2 years ago and will never go back to passing papers out again! The only exception are tests and quizzes.

 Close up of the passes

Over to the left of that "Command Station," I have file folders for make-up work. They are separated by class period, and I usually would have a student write the names of absent students on any handouts that were picked up that day. This put the absent student in charge of getting missed work and I didn't have to remember who was absent out of 160 kids!

Right above these folders is this beauty:

I have now blogged about this twice, and it is posted for free in my Teachers pay Teachers Store until July 15, 2013! Grab it while you can!

This idea was floating around the blogosphere and on Pinterest and I, too, had to have it! I used a $4 cookie sheet from Walmart, some 50% off ribbon from Hob Lob and some adhesive backed magnets! 

Each student was assigned a number and would move the magnet to the appropriate box when he/she left the room. This way, in case of an emergency, I could glance and see who was missing and where they were!

Having 3 preps, I knew it was going to be a challenge to stay organized! I needed to separate my chalkboard so that students would know exactly what they were doing in class, what assignments they had for homework, and anything upcoming that they needed to know such as quizzes, dates, projects, extra credit, etc. This was extremely useful!

Here's how I did it:

I made the letters from adhesive backed vinyl that was easily removable with a razor blade. They stayed put ALL year! I used my cricut to cut the letters. Hot pink, duh! Then, I got two colors/patterns of contrasting ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I used way more than I originally intended! If you do this, measure first! I didn't account for the two bordering columns on the far left and far right and had to make another trip. Also, wait for it to be 50% off...every other week!

Phew! glad I got this out before I start to think about next year's class! I guess I should get on that...I go back to work in 5 weeks :)

Throwback Thursday - Ten Commandments of Math

I'm linking up with Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade today for her Throwback Thursday Link-up! Although I haven't been blogging forever, this post still gets more traffic than any other!

About a year ago...I posted this poster that I had made for my classroom and it was pinned like crazy! A few people have asked me to post the file online and I have decided to post it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE for a limited time! See the original post below, and be sure to find the link to the file at the bottom of the post!

Original post from August 18, 2012:

I swore I would just relax this weekend since this is the "last" real weekend before I have to go back to work. Where the heck did the time go?!? Anyhow, since school is the only thing on my mind, I figured I should just give in.

A while ago, I found this pin on pinterest and thought that I just HAD to have this in my classrooom. However, I wanted it the size of a poster and not in my own handwriting. I was about to settle in for the night with my cricut when my friend, Melanie, sent me a link of her poster and told me to read this blog. Within 10 minutes I was rocking and rolling. The website, picmonkey.com, is SO easy to use. After about 30 minutes total, I had this masterpiece to call my own!

I know it wasn't the most lengthy blog post...but the point was to showcase this beauty!

Click here to download yours for free until July 15, 2013!

Ten Math Pin Linky Party!

This is the first time I am "linking up" with another blogger...because I couldn't resist that the theme of these one was to share your 10 favorite pinterest pins related to math! Let me clarify that I am a middle school math teacher, and most of the other posts I am seeing are for elementary...so mine look a bit different that others. So, here goes!

**Disclaimer--I seriously have no idea what other people are doing when they "link up" so if I did it wrong or look like an idiot...please tell me!:) **

Ok, now we are ready:

1. I love this way to store dice for a game. I did this last summer (it did take me FOREVER to find the perfect size containers), BUT it ended up being fabulous for classroom management when kids were playing games and I no longer had dice flying throughout the room--remember--middle school!?


2. I LOVE the idea of a "movie trailer" to show before you introduce a new unit. I have only previewed a few...but it is worth a look, right?


3. If you know me at all, you know I (as well as my students this year) LOVE to play Bazinga...Of course, I use it for math--but it is general enough that you can use it for any subject since you create the questions you want to review your kids with. The Bazinga board part is just a way to keep them engaged:)


4. The next thing I love is this word wall. This blows away the one that I made myself...need to purchase!


5. If you use interactive notebooks in your classroom, you need this...anytime a student would ask, "Do I have to write this down???" I would just respond with, "What is Rule #6?" By October, the kids would answer that question for me. They own their work when they have their own notes and things to refer to. This goes on the inside front cover of their notebooks and they sign it the first week of school.


6. I saw these at the training I attended this week. LOVE them. These are for pre-algebra, but they also have a set for basic facts as well...let me warn you--these puppies are not cheap! I actually found them cheaper on amazon...it is a very kinesthetic alternative to flashcards and the kids love it.


7. Like many of you, I have purchased Jen Runde's Interactive Math Journal from TpT...it is phenomenal for incorporating more writing in the math classroom as well as facilitating good note-taking. Here is a pin that leads to her blog with tons of good ideas!


8. This is a poster that I have in my classroom - and I love it!


9. I have already blogged about these...but I don't care. I can't wait to use these--would be GREAT for sub plans!


10. And, last but not least...task card organization!


I hope you find some of these pins interesting!