New school means new classroom

I know we are already into the second quarter but I wanted to share some pics of my new classroom.

Toward the end of last school yeah I was notified, along with two other coworkers, that I would be displaced from my highschool to a middle school. I took the opportunity to seek employment in a better district and after 3 interviews I landed a job in my dream district...the one that made me who I am. I do not work at the high school I graduated from but the one that opened a few years after. I'm proud to be a Blackhawk!



The metal nameplaque my dad made found a new place on my windowsill next to the door.
                                           




This is a picture from the back of the room. I looooooooove all the built in storage and that the projector is hung from the ceiling.

This picture is from the front of my classroom. I made a cute pennant banner out of scrapbook paper

 and one bulletin board for student work and another for rules, bell schedule and school news/flyers. The CLASS posters are what our school expects from our students: Character, Leadership, Attitude, Scholarship and Service.  

This is on the wall across from my door where I post the date, standards, goals and agendas daily for my two types of classes. 

I am still using calendars for students to see what they missed when they were absent. My supplies bookshelf had to be moved when our laptop carts were delivered so this wasn't the original layout. 

The teacher that had my classroom before me did a flipped classroom so she had these four desktops. Now that we have laptop carts in our rooms these will me taken out. I found a new place for my BYU math posters. 

This is the wall where my supplies bookshelf originally was. The whiteboard is there for students to write their names when they borrow a pencil. Unfortunately my freshman think that it's there to doodle and tag their name so I had to take the markers down. Still thinking of a way to keep my pencils from disappearing. And there is my awesome laptop cart! Every math and English teacher received a class set of laptops which is great, but they take forever to all get connected and my students have no patience whatsoever. 

                                     




Lastly here is a view of my desk area. I still don't have any personal decorations really; I need to get some pictures up. I love having that back counter as well as my own fridge and microwave!

 

Hope you enjoyed my new classroom tour. It should get better over the years!

Geometry kaleidoscope

I haven't taught geometry in a couple of years but now that we have switched to the intgrated pathway I've been reflecting on the things we have to teach  from geometry in Integrated Math 1. Next semester there is a unit including translations, rotations and reflections. We did this fun activity in geometry where we reflected our name or a design across a  line over and over to make a kaleidoscope looking piece of artwork that students then got to decorate. It was fun and I'm hoping to use the activity again this year.

Here's a picture. 

Goals For Next Year

Here are my goals for the 2014-2015 school year. I hope that if I write them down now I will be able to reflect back on them during the year.


1. Increase rigor: I baby my students and I need to stop. They need to be challenged!

2. No cellphones: I need to be more strict about cellphones and send them to the office when I see them out.

3. Incorpotate technology: My students need to be prepped for the new SBAC testing and see more online activities.

4. Plan ahead: I may be at the middle school level next year and I need to make sure I am planning in advance for each unit.

5. Spiral assignments: I would like to add problems at the end of homework from the previous chapter so I do not have to review as much at the end of the year.



These 5 goals will get me started without being overwhelmed. Its a good place to start.

My Classroom

Since it is possible I will be moving to a different school next year, I thought I'd post some pictures of my classroom this year.

This is the view from the door when you first walk in toward the "front" of the class. The desks are on both side of the room facing each other.

This is the "back" of the class but I created my own large screen to project on, so the kids face this way often.

My projector cart in the middle of the room has wheels so it can be easily turned to to either project on the big wall when I use the Elmo or facing the SmartBoard when I use it. 

This is where I post Bellwork for the students to complete when they come into class. Next to it I have the agenda, standards and any other info they may need to know, like the next test or when something is due posted. 

Here is the calendar of assignments. When students are absent they look at the date and find any the notes and assignment they missed. The previous days notes and assignment are on in the folders on the wall while all others are put into filing boxes for them to retrieve, this is also where students find extra copies if they lose theirs. 

                                     

Here's a board of my class rules, school rules and graduation requirements. (Rules poster still has my maiden name)

These posters are all required for us to post, such as laws, policies, evacuation plan and the bell schedule. I also post any school flyers on the white board so it's like my news area. 

 

 

Some math posters from BYU and another white board used when students are in groups.

 

 

 

Here are the 8 Mathematical Practice standards in nice little 8.5x11 posters that can be found here.

 

 

 

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Just some general math posters I got at Lakeshore Learning.

 

  

 

 

A teacher made this poster for every classroom...not that the students listen to it.

 

 

This is the student supply area. I keep the pencils on my desk though so I can keep an eye on them. It's amazing how quickly they disappear.

 

 

These are some pictures of my desk. I try to keep it clear or else things get lost. And the super cute name plaque my dad made me on his plasma cutter.

 

 

Behind my desk I keep binders with all my lessons for the classes I am teaching. Students turn in late or missing work to the tray on top of the filing cabinet. The rolley cart holds papers to be passed back(I tend to hoard them and when I hand them back it takes a half hour oops) I keep pictures on my wall and any notes or appreciation letters my students give me.

 

 

 

 

Papers with no names get pinned here.

 

 

 

100% tests and quizzes get posted here.

 

 

 

My husband got me the cutest paper weight for Christmas with an equation that solves to say i <3 u.

Lastely these are my favorite dry erase markers. They write smooth, erase nicely and are refillable!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking at all my classroom pics!(I know there was a lot)