My Teacher Lifeline - Part 1: The Calendar

If you are like me it can be difficult at times to keep track of everything you have going on.  I had a desk calendar, a calendar on my computer, a calendar on my phone and then a calendar in my plan book. I could never find the exact thing I need to help me keep it all together.  Sooooooo I decided I would create my own.  I am a huge fan of Erin Condren and if you haven't seen her stuff it is a must for any educator, but I still just wasn't finding exactly what I needed for a middle school setting.  I did however use her teacher plan book as my inspiration for creating my very own calendar/planner/gradebook aaaannnddd because I love it so much I wanted to share it with YOU GUYS......

Introducing.... My Teacher Lifeline (calendar installment)

The calendar includes all twelve months, and some really great quotes on each of the those months. And while the design is really cute and catchy I think my favorite part is that it is very flexible as the actual dates haven't been filed in. Just circles where you can put the correct number in. This way you don't need to re-download a new version come December. I hope you enjoy it and get as much use out of it as I am. Please let me know if you have any questions or you see a correction that needs made. Keep checking back for the rest of My Te
aching Lifeline - my gradebook and lesson planning sections, as well as all those little miscellaneous documents that are vital to a teachers life. Enjoy!!!

My Teaching Lifeline - Calendar

Appy Monday: Multiplication!! and Division!!

Just wanted to take a quick minute to share two apps that I used in my classroom this week. One of the things that I notice each and every year with my seventh graders is that they seem to have forgotten how to do long division and two step multiplication. I always struggle with the fact that these are two time consuming activities that is usually practiced through worksheets Ugh! I hate worksheets!!

I am always on the look out for new and innovate apps, but sometimes it is just a good old basic app that is exactly what I need! That was the case with these two apps.

 

We used Multiplication!! and Divison!! this past Friday when, after a long first week, the students needed a little down time.   I really wanted to continue to work on basic operations in a fun environment. I loved that I could customize each students settings to enhance their difficulty or take it back down to the very basics of multiplication and division.

The apps were engaging enough to keep the students attention while still working through some of the mundane aspects of basic math. It was such a great way to practice, We turned the lights off, played some soothing sounds and just relaxed while we practiced multiplication and division.  I really don't think my students even realized they were doing math, to them it just seemed like play.

Checking for Understanding: The Drive By

I have a lot of different topics that I want to hit on soon but as I was working in my classroom today I thought I would throw this quick and easy idea out there.

One of the most important things about the flipped classroom is making sure that each and every student has that 1 on 1 assistance when they need it. In my class students are working on different lessons, multiple projects, and even taking a variety of assessments all at the same time. It is critical that I can quickly see who needs assistance immediately and who I need to meet with at some point during the class period.

Here is the link to the google doc: Teacher Time: Sign Up Sheet

I have come up with a couple different strategies to handle that. The first being a google doc that I created that allows students to schedule time with  me during class. I spend a lot of time working with small groups and wanted to have an easy way to see if there were several people who were in need of a little assistance on one specific topic. I form small groups all the time but usually use exit tickets and other informal assessments to form my groups I felt like this really gave students a voice in their learning.

The second tool I use to quickly access if my students need me are these little sheets that I have placed on each students desk.

It is kind of difficult to see but there are little clear velcro tabs on each of the red, yellow, and green rectangles. I have small buttons that have the other side of the velcro tab on them, that the students will use with these. At the beginning of each period students will start with their buttons on the green box and if they feel they need some extra assistance they can move their buttons to either the red or yellow box. This enables me to quickly see as I do a quick drive by around the room who needs immediate attention and who needs assistance as soon as I can get there. This little laminated sheet has saved me lots of lines at my table while I am working with other students.

If you are interested I have included the file here for you to download and use.

Check for Understanding: Drive By Sheet

If you have a really great idea to check for understanding quickly let me know in the comments.