My favorite project from this summer

I was out on a run and it happened to be trash day and I came upon a coffee table someone was throwing away.  It was a little dog chewed but it was cute.  It was painted blue and was probably 3'x3'.  I wanted it, inspired me to run home a bit faster.  I came home and got my husband and the van and we went on a mission to save this table.  We got there just before the trash truck.

My husband rounded off the dog-eaten corners.  I sanded the table up a bit and painted it green for our school colors.  Then, I went to pinterest and found my favorite quotes, uploaded them to snapfish, ordered some pictures, and mod podged them on. 

I have a bunch of kids each year who ask "can we sit and work in the hall".  My hall is a nice quiet dead end, so I usually let them.  But, now I have a cute little work station where they can sit on the floor or maybe a few throw pillows and have the table to work on. 

Here are a few shots.  I love it!

My math classroom so far....

I have spent a lot of time on twitter this summer and reading blogs, so I got a lot of new ideas for my classroom.

Here is some of my classroom so far.  We still have 9 days until the kids arrive.  I am still waiting on some posters to arrive.

Here are my 2'x2' whiteboards I made and a little thing to use to wipe them. 

Here are my signs (idea borrowed from someone) 

   Here is my twitter bird @hhsmath 

Here is my supply center:

A little garden of fake flowers

8 common core practices (again borrowed)

I need to firm up my first few lessons and then bring on the students!

literally...a whiteboarding problem + a football bonus (QRs too)

I bought the materials for making group white boards then I decided to turn it into a math problem.  I put it on google docs and made a QR code for it.   Hopefully this will work.  QR codes are so easy to generate.  This is a static one but apparently there are new "dynamic" QR codes.  I haven't looked into that.  You need a QR reader on phone or computer to read it.  I-Nigma is a free app for the phone to read it.







If you can't do the QR code thing, try harder.  And, if you still don't succeed, here is the problem on my google docs. 

White Boarding Math Problem

I also did one for Dick's Sporting Goods as my son and I were shopping for football stuff.  We had two coupons and wanted to save money. 

QR code for this:
 And google link if it doesn't work:  Dick's Sporting Goods - football questions

Creative Juices are flowing

Nothing like a good workout - 4 mile run followed up with a 6 mile bike ride to get my creative juices flowing.  I couldn't bike home fast enough to write them down before I forgot them.  Here is what I came up with this morning - a lot of my summer ideas for projects for school involved doing math - go figure!

I went to Dick's sporting goods to shop for football stuff for my son.  We had two coupons and wanted to use one.  I will do up a problem with pictures once I get back to Dick's to take the pictures.  How can I save money?

I think I am going to look on Craigslist for a cash register because I have a group of 7 seniors I will be teaching and we can "play" restaurant and have someone be the waiter, take the order, total it, figure out tax, the people eating would figure out how to split the bill and what the tip should be.  I don't know about my fellow math teachers, but this always turns out to be my job when we are out to eat.

I found a table and am going to redo it and cover it with pictures of quotes.  = math problems - how many pictures to order? 

And, those 2x2 white boards I made yesterday, I am going to go back to Home Depot to take a picture of the cost of the board, then onto AC Moore to buy more Duct Tape and take a picture of the cost and ask - how much will it cost to make the boards.

Also, inspired by #HowToLearnMath, I pieced together a quote I will put in a nice font and make a poster.

Always
Be
Curious
    so you will wonder,
Courageous
    so you will try, and
Confident
   so you will believe you can succeed.


Off to school to pick up my new Apple laptop :)

So much to do...let the countdown begin

We start school 3 weeks from today.  I know it is a lot later than a lot of you but keep in mind we went to school until June 28th! 

I have been reading, blogging, take the "How to Learn Math" online course, and following tweets all summer.  I feel so "connected".  I have lots of great ideas which leads to lots to do before school starts.

I have a notebook dedicated to Dan Meyer's 3 acts.  I am doing each of them, writing them all down, doing the work, categorizing them according to difficulty level and subject matter.  That way I can determine which ones I want to use when.

I started a google doc for each of my three different preps (Algebra I, Algebra II, and Futures math (I can do what I want with this small group of seniors- we will do lots of projects and 3 acts and the like))  In the google docs, I am linking to all these great ideas and websites.  Just saw the TI Zombie one today.  I am going to have to spend more time reading up on that one. 

I just bought some panel board and am making 2'x2' group whiteboards for my class with duct tape on the edges.  I have a class set of individual boards, but am looking forward to doing more group work, so these will be perfect.

I found a 3'x3' square coffee table on the side of the road.  My husband will have to round out the dog eaten corners and I will repaint it.  Then, I am going to print off inspirational quotes and mod podge those to the top and it will be a work center for the kids.  I have a lot of kids who like to sit on the ground when working.  Now, they will have a surface.

I am taking the "How to Learn Math" class which I love and am almost done. 

I need to get my edmodo groups ready, make some QR codes for online books and such, find more number talks, write some letters of recommendations, and just get ready! 

1st Day of School Seating Chart Activity

I have done this for years and I like it and I think the kids like it, so I figured I would share it. 

I wait for the kids to come to my classroom door and I greet them with a "Hello and Welcome" and give them an index card.  It has a mail label stuck to it with a math problem on it.  They are solving order of operations problems with negative, positive, and even fraction answers, oooh.  I have the directions on the board so the kids can jump in and start while I am still at the door greeting kids.  They can sit anywhere to start and work.  They can write on the index card.  They can ask anyone for help.  Once they figure out their number answer, they find the desk that has the tape with the number written on it.  I put the smallest number up front and weave through my desks.  These become their desks and then I pass around my seating chart and they fill in their name.  It is an interesting activity and takes a little bit of time, but it has them working from the minute they walk into the room, not waiting for the bell.  And, they do offer and ask for help which is nice to see.

Here it is if you would like to see it.  1st Day of School Seating Activity

Happy 1st Day of School.  (Mine isn't until Sept 4th, so I enjoy reading all of your blogs on your 1st day of school activities)