#MTBoS12Days: Classroom Wishlist

Where do I start? As I said, I teach at a rural high school in Tennessee that is very deprived of basic resources. I love where I teach, but it is heart-wrenching seeing so many great ideas on the MTBoS that I can't implement due to lack of basic resources. My wishlist is basically a list of necessities.

Absolute Necessities

1. New textbook aligned to the standards.
1. Our school district has cut basically every dime in textbooks. So, I have textbooks that I hate that are not aligned to the current standards. Although I am not a textbook teacher, I still would like a resource to write decent lessons. 
2. Whiteboard 
1. I have a whiteboard in the back of the room, but it's not where students can see without turning their heads. I have a shower panel board that is a makeshift whiteboard. Some colors will not erase, and I have to clean it every single day. It was installed in August, and it already has several scratches on it. I am sure if I want another one, I will have to buy it out of my own pocket. 
3. New desks 
1. I am sure the majority of the desks are as old as I am . Some of them have been welded together several, several times as a way to repair them. 
4. New calculators 
1. I would love TI-84 CEs. We have the TI-83 and TI-N-Spire with TI-84 faceplates. We used the TI-83 when I was in high school. I am almost 27. 
5. New test generator 
1. Our test generator is from 2009, and it will not even install on my personal laptop because it is so out of date. Does anyone have a spare that is aligned to the CCSS that I could borrow? 

Almost Necessities 

1. Laptops for every student (I would be more than grateful for a math department mobile lab) .
1. Our school has one computer lab for the entire school, and another lab that is also a classroom for three blocks a day. Our library has about 7-8 computers, and the "mobile lab" is completely broken. There are so many activities that I could do if I had computers, but I can't. Therefore, my kids are getting shafted. 
2. New mini-whiteboards
1. Mine are in ok shape, but they will eventually give out. 

#MTBoS12Days: 1 Thing I Want to Improve On Next Semester

I think that the one thing that I want to improve on next semester is to resist the temptation to be so lax. I don't have bad classroom management, but there were some things that I let students get by doing that I should have not. So, I want to improve on that.

For example.

Hats

• Our school has a No hats in the classroom or inside the building policy, which I fully support. Some kids like to say that it is their "Thinking hat." So, I let a couple of kids wear their "thinking hat" on a quiz one day. I guess that they interpreted it as "I can wear my hat all the time." So, no hats, period, next semester. As Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory says "No buts, no cuts, no coconuts." 

Cell Phones

• Our school has a No Cell Phone Policy in classrooms. However, it is very difficult to manage as kids can have them at morning break, afternoon break, lunch, and in between classes, as well as before and after school. I don't like to take up cell phones because I have a friend who used to teach in Mississippi who took up a cell phone, and the phone was stolen. My friend had to buy the student a new cell phone. So, I tried having students put up their cell phones in a calculator organizer when they enter the room and grabbed a calculator. I soon found out that students were not doing it, of which I should've issued consequences and detentions.
• One of my colleagues at work does a Cell Phone contract, which states that if a student has a cell phone out, then the student is to place the cell phone on the teacher's desk when entering the room. If the student refuses, their phone goes to the office. I am going to give this a try. 
• I would like to use cell phones in instruction more, but our school's Wifi only works sometimes with cell phones. I also have kids that do not have smart phones. On top of this, our school's computer ratio is around 10:1 (10 students:1 computer). 

First Five (Warm-Up)

• Some students did not do it, so I should've been better about doing random checks weekly. 

Not doing work

• I've generally had the attitude that if you don't do the work, don't expect me to help you. However, I need to get out of this ASAP! What are some ways that you all do that? 

#MTBoS12Days: Tried and True Strategies

Here are a couple of strategies that I can always rely on in the classroom.

Mini-Whiteboards 

• My kiddos always love the mini-whiteboards. I wrote a project through DonorsChoose in 2013 to get them for my room, and they have definitely have served their purpose. My geometry class last semester asked me often to use the whiteboards. I usually didn't say no because I think that they get students more engaged. 

Trashketball 

• My kids also beg me to play Trashketball often as a review game, or even for the heck of it with lessons. I have generally has great success with Trashketball, the exception being once this semester. In my defense, there were 31 kids in the class, so it was hard to manage. Anyways, here is a brief summary of Trashketball in Room 105 at WCHS. 
• I will do a more detailed post later this upcoming semester. 
• Group students random into groups of 4 
• Have students make a school-appropriate team name 
• Take a box (or trash can) and put it somewhere in the room. I generally do near my desk. 
• Take a few Post-It Notes and do values. I do 1,2,3 points. 
• When groups get a question correct, it is 1 point. Then it depends on what they get when they come up to "shoot." 
• I make students alternate and take turns shooting so that way there is a fair advantage. 
• At the end, I usually either double or triple the points. 

Interactive Notebooks

• This was the first semester that I have done INBs, and I am already a convert. My kids generally loved the notebooks as it helped them keep more organized. Some of my kids also did a great job using color in their notebooks as well. I am looking forward to improving on these as well. 

#MTBoS12Days: Start, Stop, Continue

Start

• I am going to start giving students more feedback on quizzes and tests and letting students read the feedback before putting their numerical grade on there in the hopes that this will create a culture of not focusing so much on grades. 

Stop

•  I am going to stop doing the thinking for my students and let them do more of the thinking. One of the takeaways from the NCTM Conference in Nashville was that I do too much of the thinking for my kids, and I am not doing them any favors. 

Continue

• I am going to continue using Interactive Notebooks. I received very positive feedback from both students and administrators on them. My goal is to improve on them and eventually be able to present about INBs at conferences and workshops. They have been a blessing in my classroom. 

#MTBoS12Days: How I Relax and Rejuvenate Over the Break

This is simple. I don't do school work over the break, although the temptation was there. I had a tumultuous semester with my personal life, ranging from bronchitis, my grandfather dying, a car wreck (and the second car wreck this year) as well as finishing my master's degree, so I knew I needed the break for my own mental sanity.

1. I went and spent several days with family here in Tennessee as well as in West Virginia. Spending time with family was very relaxing as well as therapeutic (up to a point). I really enjoyed the time with my family, but I was ready to come back to my house. 
2. I read a book and started another book, which was so nice! It felt nice to read for pleasure again. 
3. I cleaned my house, organized my kitchen, and made my house a little bit more livable. I live by myself in a small, two bedroom rental home, but it has still been hard to maintain. 
4. I was able to watch some TV! I finished a couple of episodes of South Park as well as watched an episode of Hart of Dixie and The Office. I don't have cable, but when I was with family, I watched quite a bit of the Food Network and cable news. I even saw a guy who looked like Saddam Hussein's doppleganger. 

#MTBoS12Days: A Book I've Read, A Book I'm Reading, A Book I Want to Read

I recently graduated with my master's degree, which, coupled with teaching full time, left really little time for reading for pleasure. However, I have recently had the time to pick up reading for pleasure.

A Book I've Read: Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

• There are a few reasons why I read this book. I went with my girlfriend, mom, and grandma to see the movie Big Stone Gap, which starred Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jane Krakowski, as well as Anthony LaPaglia and Jenna Elfman, back in the fall. The book is about a lady who lives in Big Stone Gap, Virginia in the late 1970s who finds out a secret about her life and struggles to make sense of her life. I know it's a total chick book/flick, but as I stated, there are several reasons why I read this book. The first reason is that my grandma grew up in Big Stone Gap, VA, and my great grandparents lived there. I often remember riding with my grandma to Big Stone Gap when I was little. BSG which was an hour and 15 minutes from where I grew up. I also wanted to read the book because we went to see the movie, which was also filmed in BSG, so there were several places in the movie I remember from all the times we went up there. So, that was really neat. I liked the movie, but, I definitely enjoyed the book better. I recommend! 

A Book I'm Reading: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon 

• I had heard of the Broadway play when I was in New York City, so when I saw this book at our school book fair, I just knew that I had to read it. It's about a boy, who is probably either highly functioning autistic or Asperger's, who sees his neighbor's dog has died, and he is determined to find out who killed the dog. There are some other plot twists, but I don't want to be one of those people who ruins a book. I recommend! 

A Book I Want to Read: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee 

• I didn't get the chance in late summer to read this. School here in east TN starts back for teachers in late July, and I was on vacation until basically school started. However, I noticed it was in the library a couple of weeks ago, so I am going to go check out a copy when we go back to school. 

#MTBoS12Days: My Holiday Favorites

I am able to write of three options:

1. treats & recipes to share
2. inexpensive gifts to give
3. holiday memories

I don't really cook treats that much, but there is one recipe that I will share with you all. I will say that I find gift giving to be stressful. My girlfriend and I have had several conversations about this. 

1. Treats/Recipes

The one recipe/treat that I make at the holidays is the Sausage, Rotel, and Cream Cheese Dip 

Here it goes 

Sausage/Rotel/Cream Cheese Dip 

You will need 

1 roll of sausage 

1 can of Rotel 

1 block of cream cheese

Directions: 

Fry the sausage like normal, then add a block of cream cheese to the sausage. Let the cream cheese melt and stir frequently. At the end, add the can of Rotel and stir together. Let simmer until cream cheese is melted and is mixed with the Rotel. 

This can also be done using a Crock Pot on low heat. Just be sure to fry the sausage like normal. 

I will say that I originally got the recipe from my aunt, but I have made it at school for the past three years. This year, it was gone by the time lunch came when I brought it in for our Christmas snacks day. 

#MTBoS 12 Days Yule Blog Challenge

I probably should've started sooner, but alas, I did not. I had seen the #mtbos12days on Twitter, but I wasn't for sure. Thanks to help from @MrsDavisAlg2, I decided to go ahead and do it.

Anyways, here is the original link. #MTBoS12days Yule Blog Challenge

• “My Holiday favorites” (you choose)

1. treats & recipes to share
2. inexpensive gifts to give
3. holiday memories

• a success story from this semester
• How I relax and rejuvenate over the break
• a book I’ve read… a book I’m reading… a book I want to read…
• Reflection on last semester… What will I start, stop and continue in the new semester?
• a tried and true task/strategy – I can always count on
• a Moment / a-ha that challenged me as a teacher & how I handled it
• 1 thing i want to improve next semester
• classroom wishlist
• looking forward to in 2016… 
• New Year Resolutions – Personal and/or professional
• Something that makes me proud to be a – Laker, trojan, Knight, Wildcat, Eagle… etc.

Let's do this!! 

Follow-Up: Keep, Change, Start, Stop Fall 2015 Personal Reflection

Yesterday, I did a post called "Keep, Change, Start, Stop Fall 2015 Student Reflections where I allowed students to give me some feedback on my classes. Then I decided to do my own personal reflection.

I went ahead and wrote it out, but I have terrible handwriting.




Let me elaborate on a few.

• Interactive Notebooks/Foldables: This was something new that I started doing this year, and I can honestly say it has been a success!! I can't wait to improve on the notebooks, make more foldables, and see how the next classes enjoy them. Nonetheless, the INBs and foldables are here to stay.
• Being energetic and positive: I am definitely my own worst critic, but I think that one of my positives is that I try to be positive and energetic in the classroom 
• Bathroom passes: I know that we are all human and nature calls, but I feel that sometimes kids take advantage of that. I used to do two passes a week, but sometimes kids do have issues, which I won't elaborate about here. I think that going back to two passes a week will help my sanity as well as help on any issues with that. I will also reiterate the point many times that I will not recreate class time, and what they miss is their responsibility to make up. 
• Trashketball Rules/Games: My kids generally enjoy playing Trashketball, which I will write about in a future post. However, I think that I need to spice up my games and routines with that. I also need to make a list of definite rules for Trashketball, because I feel like I sometimes make some of them up depending on the situation. 
• Calling on students/Asking for volunteers: I need to get out of this habit, but I sometimes rely too much on volunteers. To fix the problem, I am going to let students write their names on popsicle sticks, and I will use these to group and cold-call. 
• Holding kids more accountable for mastering the standards: I feel like kids pass my class but they do not learn anything, and I absolutely detest this. I have decided to list the standards on my assessments. I am also going to introduce my lessons with the standards at the beginning. 
• Letting kids go to the board: I have two whiteboards in my room, but the main one isn't a whiteboard, but a shower panel board that has issues with being able to be erased. I think that I might use the backboard more next semester, but using the front one is somewhat difficult because I know that I will probably never get another one because of massive budget cuts. 
• More Projects: Thanks to the great resource that is the MTBoS, I plan on doing more projects. I feel that projects have 
• Helping students so much on quizzes/tests: I must get out of this habit because I feel that students need to experience productive struggle, and I feel that tests are the time where they need to shine. I just have issues with students not retaining information from day to say, so I think that is where I need to hold students more accountable. Does anyone have solutions to this issue? 
• Being so easy on students: I try to set high expectations, but some students do not meet my expectations. I need to hold kids more accountable once again. I like the quote I read on Twitter that stated "It's pretty satisfying and magical when you figure it out, so I don't want to steal that from you by telling you." It was a quote during the session by Kate Nowak at the NCTM Conference in Nashville last month. I need to use this quote more often in my classes. 
• Giving to many warnings: I definitely need to "Lay the smackdown". So, my goal is to only give one warning. Then I will take it from there. For a 26 year old teacher, I don't think that my management is horrible, but it needs improvement. I sometimes feel like I will hurt students' feelings, but at other times, I don't feel that way. I need to be able to do it in a way that states my point without raising my voice and sounding harsh. 

Okay, whew, lots to digest! Hope this inspires you to go into the next semester.

Keep, Change, Start, Stop Fall 2015 Student Reflections

Let me first state this disclaimer. I totally stole this idea from Sarah Hagan over at Math Equals Love. I have done this project in the past, but I did more effort with it this semester. I incentivized students for a small extra credit assignment if this were filled out and returned to me. I then took what was said and put it into an Excel spreadsheet over the past couple of days. With so much testing going on at our school over the past week and a half, there has unfortunately been not much instruction going on. I encouraged the kids to give me honest feedback. Let me share what they said. Then I will do my own personal reflection in another post here in a few days. Forgive me in advance, but I had a hard time deciding what to eliminate. 
KEEP

·      Pace of working +1

·      The way we do work in the interactive notebook

·      Hands-on work +3

·      Making Mean Girls References

·      Doing interactive notebooks +13

·      Doing fun activities +2

·      The savageness alive

·      Interacting with the kids like you do already.

·      Practice notebooks +4

·      Being happy and positive

·      Doing projects

·      Sticks for students

·      Assigned seats +1

·      Games

·      Handouts +4

·      Movie quotes

·      Group work +5

·      Retake quizzes +1

·      Foldables +10

·      The fun lessons

·      Teaching at the same pace you are

·      Doing song videos, it helps us memorize

·      Having a great sense of humor

·      Teaching the way you do

·      Doing partner work

·      Trashketball +3

·      Different activities

·      Explaining everything clearly

·      Being awesome

·      Videos +1

·      Reviewing +1

·      Encouraging students to do better

·      Notebook checks

·      Powerpoints +1

·      The having fun in class but learning

·      Your personality

·      The way you teach; it helps me learn +2

·      The attitude, its not too mean but not too nice

·      Joking around, it makes me laugh

·      Your positive attitude

·      Your teaching strategies +1

·      The class announcements on the board

·      Note taking techniques

·      Almost always bright personality

·      Whiteboards +2

·      Your attitude

·      Super high energy

·      Keep doing what you are doing +2 CHANGE ·      Give more time to work on assignments ·      Spend more time on lessons ·      Amount of time spent sitting down ·      Getting so much off the internet ·      Change the notebooks a bit ·      More freedays ·      Change your name to J-Dizzle Swagcraft ·      Giving two bathroom passes a week rather than one +5 ·      Show us more videos ·      Having more multiple choice on tests ·      Find more fun songs to help us learn ·      Helping so many students on tests. They should know it. ·      The way the seats are arranged ·      Writing on both sides of board (depending on the class) ·      All tests to multiple choice ·      More group work ·      Notes on tests ·      More diagrams in your power points. ·      Make the First Five more interesting in the mornings ·      The amount of music you play! We need more! ·      The notebook set up. Some people have skipped pages. Some do not. ·      Try to make sure that everyone has the exact same page for assignments in INB ·      Don't watch so many videos ·      Play Jeopardy for review +2 ·      Don't take so many notes ·      Change trashketball ·      Speed of work ·      More whiteboard work +2 ·      More partner work ·      Call on more kids to read and volunteer ·      The size of the factoring poster ·      The phone/calculator policy. No one really does it ·      The rules so one of them says "Be Savage." I'm not kidding. ·      Your name to SavageCraft or Schoolswag, please. ·      Not really sure ·      The amount of ways to get the class's attention ·      Lighten up on notebook checks ·      Independent Practice ·      First five ·      Print shapes for notebooks ·      Have students move around more ·      Be more hands-on +1 START ·      Having a section in the INB for First Fives ·      Sassing more students ·      Using more movie quotes ·      More than one bathroom pass a week +4 ·      Review 10 minutes before every test ·      Letting us have more freetime +1 ·      Letting us do more fun activities ·      Lettng us go to the board to work problems ·      Showing what we made on our tests at the beginning of class ·      Having Halloween, Christmas, Easter, fun math pages ·      More games for studying ·      Change assigned seats every week ·      Promethean board work ·      Letting kids write on the board when working problems ·      Study guide +1 ·      At the end of year, count up bathroom breaks and the ones that you didn't use, give points for them ·      Giving extra credit +1 ·      More projects instead of tests or quizzes ·      Giving a little more Homework for practice ·      Drawing sticks more often +1 ·      Putting up more math posters, we do notice. ·      Doing more fun projects, and use the projects to decorate the room ·      Playing Jeopardy. Helps us memorize ·      Letting people sit where they want ·      Doing more FUN activities +1 ·      Look up songs to help us learn the lesson ·      Every once in a while, have an off day to work on make up work or tests ·      Catch people's attention ·      Agenda, everyday ·      Only helping kids who need help, not the ones who ask on every questions just to get answers ·      Come up with other review games ·      Doing more group work ·      Making people read with funny voices ·      Taking a little longer on some subjects ·      Addressing yourself as Swagcraft ·      Playing music during assignments ·      Having back up info and ways to do problems ·      Giving detentions instead of warnings ·      More group projects +1+1+1+1 ·      Group homework ·      Keep charger strips (JK!) ·      Trying to talk slower ·      Put soft talking kids in front ·      Giving more examples of everything  ·      Doing different things ·      Being more patient ·      Adding games to the lessons ·      Explain the lessons more in depth ·      More hands-on activities +2 ·      Start doing a folder instead of practice notebook ·      Being more sarcastic ·      Using activities that are hands-on, creative, and will benefit learning ·      Make students say answers aloud ·      More random calling on people ·      Letting students use the board ·      More foldable STOP ·      Talking so fast +1 ·      Homework ·      Yelling (nah) ·      Clap once if you hear my voice, etc. ·      That's it. You're a beast made teacher ·      The table of contents ·      Making people put phone in calculator organizer ·      Counting off points if answer is right but work is wrong. ·      Don't make a practice notebook +2 ·      Not letting people go up to the board and work things out ·      Being so picky about whiteboards ·      Being so stressed. I love your class! ·      Giving only one bathroom break +1 ·      Closing the blinds. I love natural light. ·      Bell ringers ·      Notebook checks ·      Less work when a sub is here ·      Letting people be rude to you +1 ·      Putting yourself down when something goes wrong +1 ·      Getting mad when people talk +1 ·      Nothing! You're doing wonderful! +1 ·      Some of the quizzes and tests ·      Doing a test final and make it a project ·      Being so easy on students ·      Assigned seats +2 ·      Picking our groups +1 ·      Lots of individual work ·      Getting off topic a lot ·      Worrying so much. You're a great teacher. ·      Letting us do so much team/group work ·      Making us wait until the end of class to see our grades ·      Giving students 3rd and 4th chances to stop being loud ·      I don't know what else. You're pretty savage already. ·      Don't ever stop being a hoss ·      Don't stop being a great teacher ·      Stop thinking sometimes you are unprofessional. You're an amazing teacher! ·      Letting people get off topic too easily