Weekly Warm-Ups #MTBoSBlaugust

It's the last day of August! Time to squeeze in one more post for the challenge.

I have always struggled with bell-ringers/warm-ups. There. I said it.

The last couple of years I have tried to incorporate daily spiral review using a product I purchased, but I found editing and compiling each week's daily problems extremely time-consuming. And then I would get so frustrated when kids just sat there waiting until I went over the answers.

I have read Sarah Carter's Weekly Schedule, and I decided I wanted to incorporate something similar.

I knew I wanted to be alliterative. So this is what I came up with.

Magnificent Monday
I got this straight from Sarah's "Good Things Monday." Through a prompt in Google Classroom, students tell me something positive that has happened recently. Then I ask for volunteers to share.

I'm learning what matters to my students. I learn things I can use to kick off conversations with individual students. I also learn things that are challenging for them, such as when one said, "Well, there's not anything positive right now; we just learned my grandmother has cancer."

24 Tuesday
I learned last year that students enjoyed "24" and bought a set of cards from Amazon.

Students are shown a card with 4 numbers; they have to use all 4 numbers and any operations to equal 24.

They get to use their dry-erase pockets for this! We get to talk about expressions and the order of operations and grouping symbols.

Right now our cards have been a little simple, and I think they're ready for more of a challenge.

WODB/Would You Rather Wednesday
Our first day of school was a Wednesday, and I did a "Would You Rather..." Cheez-It activity. This website has lots of mathematical ideas. (BTW, I learned "Would You Rather" can also be an inappropriate game played among middle schoolers. Can't anything stay clean?!?)

Since then, I've done "Which one doesn't belong?" on Wednesday. There is a website with lots of options. I also purchased this ebook from MashupMath.

I think kids like an activity where there is no wrong answer and they can share their thinking. Some like sharing their thinking a little too much, LOL.

Two Truths & a Lie Thursday
I have always loved Two Truths & a Lie. Students are shown three mathematical statements. They have to determine which one is a lie and explain why it is the lie. TT&L is wonderful at exposing misconceptions.

I have a few TT&L slides from the MashupMath Instagram account. I also purchased the ebook.

Eventually, I will have students create their own TT&L statements to exchange with other students, using this idea from Sarah Carter.

Fall Back Friday
This was the hardest one for me to alliterate, LOL.

I wanted one day a week to include some spiral review.

The teacher who created the spiral review product I had been using developed a digital version! The review is now done via Google Forms. It is so much easier for me to edit, delete, or add questions.

I choose 5 questions. I tell students to do what they can; the 5 questions are "for information only," and I want to see what they remember and what we need to review. Since it is now no pressure and no stress, everybody tries SOMEthing. Even if they have to make a guess. They also like using their dry-erase pockets for "scratch work," so that makes the whole thing fun!

Then, over the weekend, I look at the results (I LOVE Google Forms) and pick two or three questions to talk about on Monday.

The process is so much less painless than what I was doing before.

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I really like my new schedule. Kids come to class knowing there will be something low-stress and maybe even a little bit interesting and fun to do. In the Back-to-School reflection I asked students to do, at least one student mentioned enjoying the different themes for each day's warm-up.

I am having to prep each week's activities, but they're not time-consuming, and next year they'll all be ready to go.

I feel like I'm addressing lots of different thinking processes and that students will benefit from the varied activities.

Thanks, Sarah Carter, for the idea!

My New Love #MTBoSBlaugust

I have a new love.

It happened quite impulsively and rather unexpectedly.

It's a set of "Reusable Dry-Erase Pockets."

I was targeted (quite effectively, I might add) by a Groupon ad in my Facebook feed. Twenty-five pockets for $20.

I know teachers have been using these for some time, and I am extremely late to the party. The girl who covered my leave last year and my 8th-grade math counterpart used them some last year.

I got them not knowing exactly when or how I would use them.

And then I had a bell-ringer planned that would require a little bit of paper - either a notecard from me or a piece of scratch paper from students - and the lightbulb went off! I put a blank piece of paper in each pocket and set the pockets in the trays under the desks. I told students to use the pockets for their "think work."

That same day we had an activity where students would need to show some work, and I told them to use the pockets instead of getting paper out.

I think we've used them almost every day since.

And I'm in love.

Students show me more work than I ever see on paper. If I ask them to explain something, I get beautiful explanations, unlike anything I've ever seen. They'll even explain something when I HAVEN'T asked them to explain!

If I'm helping a group of students, I use a pocket to show MY work to them.

Twice I've put a template in the pockets that students use to work a problem. For example, my Pre-Algebra kids drew a reflection using a coordinate plane and pre-image on what I put in the pocket.

I can't wait until we are graphing lines!

Students are beginning to reach for the pockets any time they want to do some "think work."

I've had to figure out a few things. The little erasers I bought were a pain to keep up with - and didn't fit nicely in the pocket - and my coworker recommended flannel squares to erase. Now each pocket has a marker and a flannel square, and there's less for me to have to think about when we use them.

I mentioned to one class that their work and explanations were so good with the pockets. One student said, "Because writing on these is FUN!" I told them this was the first year I've used the pockets, and they said, "You've never used them before? We got to be FIRST!"

I find it a little funny that, in an age of finding the latest and greatest tech tool to use with students, something so completely low-tech is making such a difference in my classroom.

I may be late to the party, but I'm glad I finally arrived!

Back in My Happy Place #MTBoSBlaugust

I'm participating in the August Blog Challenge of the Math Teacher/Twitter Blog-o-Sphere (MTBoS). Some of my participation will be through my Instagram teacher page (mrsgibbsmathmatters).

If I can remember to tag my posts, LOL.

Teachers went back to school this week on Thursday. My last day in the classroom, due to an unplanned leave, was November 16, 2018.

That's been about 8.5 months.

I did a few official things at and involving school during my leave, but it was a day here and a day there. A couple of emails here and a couple of emails there. Now I'm back in the deep end.

I mentioned in a previous post that I did not really miss school while on leave and wondered what would happen if I didn't want to go back. As I participated in events - school functions, professional development - I realized I DID want to return to the classroom.

I've still had some (minor) anxieties. Would I still feel like I belong? Would I feel like a first-year teacher all over again? Am I still an okay teacher? Do I still "have it"?

Most of my fears have been alleviated over the past two days. AJHS is still my family, and I still feel very much a part of it. So many people let me know how happy they were to see me, and each time it strengthened my heart a bit more.

I don't feel - too much - like I'm starting over. I mostly feel like I'm picking up where I left off.

As I was working in my room Thursday afternoon - friends and colleagues buzzing about in their rooms, popping in to say, "Hi" or ask a question or chat for a few minutes - I thought, "I've missed this!"

I won't know if my teaching skills have remained intact until next Wednesday (LOL), but I'm not *too* nervous about it.

I am thankful for the time I was able to be home. I was where I was supposed to be, I enjoyed it, and I pray to see the fruits of that decision over time.

But I'm back in my (other) happy place. And I have meant it with all my heart every time I have said, "I'm glad to be back."