Our desks are white boards!

So this picture shows one of my favorite things about my classroom!

We can use the desks as white boards, and they erase with just a simple tissue. We've found that students who won't write something down on paper to save their life will do 10 problems in quick succession if they get to use a white board marker and write on their desk. If you have the students do group work on a worksheet, one person usually ends up doing the writing for the whole group. If white board markers are involved, everyone wants to write it themselves!

Fun Fact: We can also use the white board markers to write on our windows which are visibile from the hall! Sometimes we write messages to the other math class for fun.

Comments

God and Classroom Management

Ezekiel 20:11-13 "I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws," (God gave clear and consistent expectations. I would bet he made sure they were available in multiple formats so people could both read and hear them.) "for the man who obeys them will live by them." (I have way more wisdom and knowledge, not to mentioned a fully developed frontal lobe. I know the results of those bad choices already, so seriously, listen to me for your own good...) "Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy." (Here I imagine God feels like I do when I spend hours planning a hands-on lesson that would make me curious and excited as a student. I bet he looked forward to the Sabbath because he imagined how excited he would be as a human to have this day to rest and appreciate what a great and loving God they have. He wants us to know he loves us and wants what's best for us, just like I want my ...

School vs. Real Life

I read a post on facebook today about things in the real world that students don't learn in school. It got me thinking about how we spiral everything in Geometry and Algebra 2. Here's how it works... We teach a brand new unit for about 2 weeks. During that time, we review something from a particular previous unit each day so that by the end of those two weeks, they have learned all the new material a little bit each day and reviewed all the "spiral" material a little bit each day. Then we give two tests, one over the new material and one over the "spiral" material. By doing this, they will experience all material once as new and a second time as spiral. This will allow them to take two tests over every unit. Their first test score affects their grade, but if they score higher on the second test, they get to keep just the higher score. If they score lower on the second test, we average the two test scores. Most students score higher on the second test becau...

"I feel like a bully when I expect the same achievement out of all students at the same time."

I have been teaching exponents to freshman and sophomores for the last week and a half. I had a carefully planned graphic organizer. I planned on spending 1 or 2 days per exponent property and moving on with the year without too much difficulty... Little did I know what I was up against. Apparently, exponents are not as simple as I had always thought they were. I don't think I really cared in high school why the properties worked. I was great at memorizing things that I needed to know, and so I never had a problem or a need to know, "Why." I was a grade-chaser all the way. Well after teaching every exponent property in the unit and giving a 5-question lesson quiz, I learned that perhaps some of my students had learned nothing over the last week and a half... That's not really true. They had partially learned the properties in isolation, but putting everything together was just too overwhelming. I agree, the students need more practice, but if I had sent them home ...

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