Class of 2015

Today was my last day with students...and I can barely contain my excitement!!! This has been quite an interesting year for me, full of "firsts". This was the first year that I taught 7th grade science. This was the first year that I taught 7th grade math, and this was the first year that I had a full time student teacher from the first day of school to practically the last day of school.

Aside from all of the "firsts", our school district went through some pretty drastic changes this year as well. We extended our school day from 7:25-2:20, 1/3 of our plan time was taken away, we had one full class added to our daily schedule, and we added an hour long advisory class to our Wednesday schedule. I tell you truth...if I didn't have my AMAZING student teacher this year I would have lost my mind!!

So, I want to reflect on this past year. I want to share with you some of my success this year and also some things I would like to tweak for the upcoming year (I can't believe I'm already thinking about that).

• I tried multiple reward systems throughout the year. I tried to place stickers on their assignments and if they filled up a "sticker" sheet then they could pick out of my prize box. The only problem with that was that I had a really hard time keeping up with it and consistently placing stickers on various assignments. So it got to the point where the idea accidentally fell off the face of the Earth and students were left with a half filled in "sticker sheet". After that, I moved on to my "Den Dollar" system (our school mascot is the wolf). This was great because I was able to use it for so many things. Students earned den dollars for:
• High test scores
• Coming in after school to work
• Completing a weeks worth of a classroom job (another success)
• Participating
• Winning review games
• Good attendance

          Once students earned money, they could use it for so many things. Here are just a few ideas:

• Pay for a hall pass
• Full credit on a late assignment
• Candy
• Sitting in the teacher's chair
• Spinning my wheel of fortune board
• Getting an extra copy of an assignment they lost
• Homework pass
• Another success was assigning classroom jobs. I am such a control freak that I never thought of classroom jobs as a good idea. It was my student teacher that finally convinced me to try it...and I LOVE IT!! We came up with a long list of jobs, but I think that for next year, I won't have as many...only because a lot of the jobs were not a "daily" thing, so they lost their value. Some of my favorite jobs were:
• Attendance 
• Homework Checker
• Captain Planet (They were responsible for placing our recycle bin out on certain days of the week
• Paper passer outer
• Teacher's assistant
• I found the BEST blog for science teachers!!! This blog was so SO so helpful. The teacher of the blog was amazingly organized, he shared all of his assignments, and many of them were redesigned to specifically fit into our composition books (just a little glue stick action...and waa-laa...instant organization. The name of the blog is: My Science Lessons. And I am so excited because he just posted that he is assigned a Life Science class next year, so I can't wait to see what lesson plans/assignments he will be using!!

• For Christmas, this year, my husband surprised me with making two of the COOLEST things for my classroom: a Wheel of Fortune and a Plinko board!! They were such a hit in the classroom. I just couldn't believe how much the kids were into it...and boy did they want to save their money up to give the wheel a spin. Craig colored each section a variety of colors so that I could use it for my "probability" lessons in math. I laminated different amounts of "den dollars" so they could lose money OR gain money depending on where the spin ended. I even had a bankrupt and a jackpot section. This was such a huge success. I could envision using it as a review game. I used velcro to place the money on the different sections so they could easily come off and I could come up with different questions. As I'm writing this, I just thought of using it as an entry task somehow. Having a variety of questions/tasks that they had to complete...I could even have it become a "job". One student, at the beginning of class, would have to spin the wheel to see what their entry task would have to be for the day. YEA!!! I amaze myself sometimes. I'll be thinking more about that this summer and I'll get back with you!

• Towards the end of the year, I came up with a new table arrangements and I couldn't be happier. Basically, I have taken two tables and created multiple L's around the room. That way they are sort of zig-zagged around the room. I like it because there really isn't a "front" section of the classroom, or a back section. One student isn't the highlight of the rest of the tables, essentially taking the spot light off of the class clown. I also placed the desks in such a way that it has created a divider between each of the lab stations around my counters so that the groups are well separated and staying on task.
• One of my favorite things I did, was use this itty-bitty tape (I actually think it is called white-board tape) and I created a M-F calendar on my white board. I love to plan ahead at least two weeks in advance. For each class, I used a different color pen, and then tests were always written in red so that they stood out. This was so much fun to fill out (for the obsessively organized person), but I also loved it because the students would go right up to the calendar to see what we were doing each day, they new when tests were coming...and it, for the most part, alleviated me from getting 30 questions from the class, "What are we doing today?" 

So, for next year...I have a few ideas up my sleeve. They just need to be perfected.

• I have never truly found a hugely successful system on what to do with absent student's work. I get so annoyed with different students coming to me every single day asking me, "Did I miss anything". Then I have to figure out how many days they were absent, and what assignments they missed. It would be so WONDERFUL if I had a system in place where they could be responsible for getting their own assignments. Last year, when I taught one prep (8th grade science), I created three different binders (labs, notes, classwork) and placed all of the extra assignments in the binders. If a student was absent, then they could go to the binders themselves and get what they needed. It was great...for the most part. Unfortunately, this year I moved to three preps...and I just didn't want to keep up a bunch of binders for each class. Hmm...I'm thinking I'm going to have to suck it up next year because it worked pretty well. In trying to find another system, I found the idea of using my extra filing cabinet in the same way as I used my binders. I'm not exactly sure how I would make it work, but I would name the folders M-F instead of by the name of each assignment...that way I would be able to reuse the folders each semester. I am envisioning hanging a large sign above the filing cabinet "Were You Absent?" Then the students would go straight to the cabinet and find the day that they were absent and take out each assignment for that day of the week. Hmm...I'll think more about this!
• My student teacher had a great idea for my pencil dilemma. I can't tell you how many students would come to class without a pencil. I ended up charging them "den dollars" every time they needed my pencils...but it got so bad, that I didn't like that I had to actually pay real money for their lack of supplies. I will get two cans...one can for pencils that are sharpened and one can for pencils that need to be sharpened. Students could earn "den dollars" for sharpening the pencils...but now that I'm thinking about it, I need to come  up with a system that would make sure that my pencils actually get returned at the end of each class. More brainstorming!!!

There you have it. If you have some more ideas, or systems that were successful for you, I would love for you to share it with me!!

2 comments

My Students Actually Said They Enjoyed Taking Notes Today!!!

I couldn't believe it! Today, for my science lesson, I was presenting a power point for my science lesson. Normally, I either prepare a worksheet for the student's to fill out as I go through the presentation (which is somewhat successful, but I feel like sometimes the students can check out. All they are interested in is filling in the blanks and not really listening to the content of the actual presentation) or I have students take down their own notes in their science notebooks (SNB's)...but unfortunately what usually happens is they end up writing everything down word for word, slowing the presentation down tremendously.

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I decided to take this presentation slow and model for the students how to take organized notes. Students pulled out different colored pens, highlighters, and their SNB. I have my classroom set up in such a way that the projector screen is at an angle just at the end of my whiteboard. So, as the presentation was projected onto the screen, I was able to model how to pick out the important information and how to organize it in such a way that it makes it easier to refer back to and to study. Not only did no one complain about having to write down notes (which is a miracle in and of itself), but I actually had a few students comment about how fun it was...imagine that!! This was actually fun for me (I am an organized freak!!). I will definitely keep this up. The more practice the students have, the more capable they will be in the future!! YEA for organized notes!!

Classroom Experiment

I don't know how I came across this article...I was probably searching for more strategies on classroom management ( I can never get enough of classroom management...mainly for my own sanity). The headline of this website drew my attention right away: "Where Hands-Up In Class Is Banned".

I found many of the points made in the article to hold true to my class. I have the SAME students raising their hands to participate and the same students zoning out and not paying attention. It doesn't take long for those students to get quickly behind in the new concepts...giving them more reason to get lost and zone out and, as a result, not participate in class discussions.

After finding this article, I was excited to put it to use because I was so tired of having only half (on a good day) of my students raising their hand to participate. I would try whatever I could think of...I would bribe them with my classroom den dollars, I would pull "sticks" with their names on it, etc. So, after reading this article, I put it into action the very next day in my math classes. I passed out my small white boards and expo pens. We continued to take notes together in our spiral notebooks, but the change came when we worked on practice problems. Instead of having students raise their hands to give individual answers, they all had to write their answer on their white board. I have a bell that I rang when I wanted them to present their boards...and to my amazement ALL of my student's white boards were lifted up. I was able to instantly see how many of students understood the concept and if I needed to provide more practice problems or if they were ready for me to move on. PURE GENIUS!!! I only wish that my principals could have walked into my room at that very moment. All of my students were listening, taking notes, and PARTICIPATING!

I have been using this system for about a week now, and the students still enjoy it. I don't know if it is the fun of writing on a white board, or maybe it is taking away the fear of being wrong and saying the incorrect answer in front of the class. I make sure to not call out any students who have the wrong answer. I only make a comment to tell them an estimated percentage of how many students have the correct answer. Another thing that I have noticed is that it has increased their desire to find out where their mistake occurred if they got the answer wrong.

I totally recommend this system. I also teach science classes, so I imagine that I would have to be much more purposeful in creating questions that students can give a quick answer on their white boards.