Live and Learn - Seating Charts

Figuring out a structure for seating charts can be challenging. There are many options out there.

My first year teaching, I decided to make a simple chart that had all 6 class periods on the left side, and student names beside the class period. I taped them to the desks before students arrived, and unfortunately I had issue with this method all year long. When students got bored they would peel the tape off, and rip the name tags off. After replacing the name tags once, I also noticed that there was a gummy mess left behind. It's still there to this day, as you can tell from the picture.

My second year teaching, I have chosen to write numbers in sharpie on the desks. Each student is assigned a new seat number each quarter. I have seen this method from other teachers in the building, and on Pinterest as well. It definitely is an improvement over last year's mess. However, I still have an issue with it. The numbers slowly wear away either naturally or aided by bored students and their erasers. I often do see students taking an eraser to the sharpie numbers. I have lectured about respecting property several times, and I still see students trying their hardest to erase the numbers during class. Frustrating! Even so, they eventually start to come off, and I have to take the time to replace them. I have re-written them about twice this year already, and we are only at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Other than that, it has been very helpful.

What mechanism do you use for your seating charts?

Live and Learn - Time is of the Essence

While implementing centers this year, I have learned a great deal of things. One of which is that time constraints can affect your classroom management.

This year, I have implemented centers two days a week. However, I gave my students too much time to complete each center. Students would breeze through their current center in about 10 minutes, and then find undesirable things to do with their spare time. My rational for giving them 15 minutes for each center, was the fact that I am teaching a remedial math class. I thought my students would need the extra 5 minutes to complete the center activities. For some students this is true, but for many time isn't the issue.

If students are busy, then they are less likely to be disruptive. Simple things like setting your timer for a few minutes less, and spending that extra time reviewing a concept or making announcements at the beginning of class can save you a few headaches in the long run.

Of course this does not work for every student in the room, because you can't catch all the flies with one brand of honey. This will reduce your discipline problems some though.

Live and Learn Series - Weekly Schedule

Creating a weekly schedule for your class can be very beneficial. It helps you create a sense of structure. It also sets expectations for students. If students know what to expect, and what is expected of them, they are more likely to live up to those expectations. There will not be a grey area in which students are unsure how they are supposed to act, with the ultimate outcome probably being a behavioral issue.

My weekly schedule for my classroom is as follows:

Monday - Notes day

Tuesday & Wednesday - Centers

Thursday & Friday - Computer lab

Any time that I deviate from this weekly schedule because of teacher work days, holidays, etc I let my students know in advanced. This helps create a climate in which students are comfortable because there isn't any guessing when it comes to what kind of activity we are completing that day.

I do have more flexibility with how I structure my week, being that I teach a remedial math "connections" or "specials" class. However, I do think that you can achieve this in the regular classroom as well.

How do you structure your class?

What are your thoughts on keeping to a strict schedule every week?

Live and Learn - Trying New Things... One Step at a Time

Over the summer, I took professional development courses to improve my teaching after a very stressful first year. I then began to make a huge list of all the new things I'd like to try my 2nd year. However, I forgot one very important thing.

Change is gradual.. it doesn't happen overnight. 

So as I raced through my pre-planning days trying to get all of my new ideas in place, I just simply couldn't do it. I found myself stressing so bad because I couldn't get everything I wanted to try in place before the kids returned for their first day of school. That's when I started prioritizing. I took my list of new things to try, and decided what was... first of all manageable in the time I had left in pre-planning, and second of all what would make the biggest positive impact on my teaching.

Here's my list after I completed triage, so to speak...

The first 4, I was able to implement this year. Next year, I plan on trying my reward system. I am stock piling goodies for rewards as we speak. Whenever I see something on sale that my kids might like as a reward, I buy it for my reward box.

I will be posting what I have learned from implementing each of these as I go.

Middle School Math Centers - Specifics

Centers sound like an awful lot of work to put together. There is one very huge thing that you can do to make them easy though.

Find the common denominator

What types of centers can you do that can be used with multiple concepts?

What are centers that practice basics math skills that students will need for the real world?

What are some basic centers that will help students be successful in math class? 

Here's how I found the common denominator:

I took a unit from each grade level (since I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th), and for each standard I wrote down vague ideas for centers. I noticed that I could use a lot of the same types of centers with different concepts. All I'd have to do is change up the types of problems, and maybe tweak the directions for some of the centers. 

Here are my common denominator centers:

1. A vocabulary center - crosswords, word searches, vocabulary charts, vocabulary sorts, etc
2. A comprehension center - Short writing prompts, sorts, anything where students have to take the basic vocabulary and apply it 
3. A practice center (you can do multiples of this one) - white boards, card games, real-world problems, etc
4. A small groups instruction center 

If you are interested in starting math centers in your own classroom, I have a few low-cost TpT products that will get you started (below). I will definitely be posting more about my lessons learned as I implement math centers throughout the year.

Math Center Templates

Math Center Icons or Labels

Popsicle Stick Math Puzzles

With pre-planning just a couple of days away, I am putting some finishing touches on my summer preparations. I am using choice activities this year as a means to increase small group instruction time, to engage students in learning, and to motivate students to finish their work.

One of my choice activities is popsicle stick math puzzles. These are all over Pinterest. I created a few from Pinterest (with a couple of edits), and then I created a few of my own (shown below). Hopefully this will help you start up centers or choice activities for your own classroom.

Why Middle School Math Centers?

I have been thinking a lot lately about implementing centers in my math support classroom. I have been doing more and more research on the subject to prepare myself for implementing them this next school year. Although I do have a ways to go, here are a few things I have found out.

Retention is a very challenging problem that struggling students face. I saw this every day in math support. We would learn a new concept, and two days later students have already forgotten it. Therefore, we as teachers need to bring up those concepts often and further down the road. Centers can help you do this. For example, if you teach a concept on week one of a unit, on weeks two and three, you can include a center that practices that concept. You can also bring that same center out when you are reviewing for a unit test or for your state's high stakes testing. This teaches students not to brain dump information, because it will pop up again.

Centers is a strategy by which you can gain more small group time with struggling students. While all other students are busy practicing concepts in centers, you can pull 3-4 students aside for small group instruction. You can use any number of strategies for your small groups time, and you can pull students out for remediation or acceleration.

Centers build responsible people. During centers time, students will have to learn to rely on themselves or a partner because you will be busy doing small groups. They will have to pay attention to directions, remember directions, and find a buddy that they can ask for help.