And we all know that providing incentives for 5th grade can add up quickly, so when brainstorming this list, I only chose ideas that can be implemented without spending any money and without challenging systems to navigate.

Tips for Providing Incentives

I want to remind you that you do not need to give out an incentive every time you want to see a desired behavior. Verbal and physical recognition (thumbs up, high five) is a necessary part of managing a classroom and developing strong relationships. I recommend coming up with a system for how students earn these incentives after displaying the desired behavior numerous times over the course of a day, week, or month. 

Choose a day for all of the incentives to happen. Wearing a hat? Chewing gum? Bringing a stuffed animal to school? This only happens on Friday or whatever day you choose. This is one less thing to track or manage. In addition, you can use this same idea for when passes or incentives are distributed.

Have students contribute to your incentives! Put out the call to caregivers for items for your “treasure box.” The number of tiny trinket plastic stuff that I am itching to remove from my household at any given time is in the millions. 

Batch process creating your incentives and passes. Make your hat pass, print on colored paper and have a stack in your desk. Passes are only validated by your signature or special stamp. 

Ask your students what they like or want! While my ideas were loved and used by my students, your students may enjoy other things. Culture is ever evolving! One year my students could earn time flipping a water bottle (this was 2016 I believe). Capitalize on current trends and use them to your classroom’s benefit. 

Here are some ideas for free incentives to use in your 5th grade classroom:

 Incentives for the 5th Grade Class

• Extra Recess/Outdoor Time – This was far and above always picked by my class. I liked it too! Choose a positive behavior you would like to see, and everytime your entire class displays it, they get a letter. (Think: F R E E T I M E or O U T S I D E)
• Extra Tech Time – With a list of approved websites, this was a popular choice too!
• No Homework or shortened assignment – You will have to plan for something else to do in class if you don’t already assign homework.
• Fort Day – I saw this idea from a teacher Facebook Group. Students bring blankets to school and create a fort using their desk as the structure.  Students can still work on assignments or read during this time. This is such a great idea!

Incentives for Individual Students

• Bring in a stuffed animal (desk pet) – This could be the cutest idea on the list.
• No shoes in class/wear slippers – Create a pass for students to carry around to show their special teachers or anyone else who may inquire about said slippers.
• Wear a hat/hoodie for the day – See above for making a pass.
• Sit in the teacher’s rolling chair or other special seat – Since I rarely sat, this was an easy incentive to provide for my students.
• Chew gum in class – The kicker? Students have to bring their own gum.
• Be referred to as King or Queen for the day (a class crown seems like a great addition here). What a fun way to liven up your classroom. 
• Positive note or phone call home – This was a surprisingly popular choice!
• Choose a song for packing up – Create a teacher-approved playlist ahead of time, and have students choose from the list.
• Be the first in line for the cafeteria/lunch – Simple but effective with your lunch enthusiasts. 
• Prize box (students donate fun things) – Ask parents and students to donate on a rolling basis. Expect lots of goodies in August and January.

What incentives for 5th grade would you suggest? If you want to read more, check out 15 Creative Incentives for Middle Schoolers here.

The post Creative and Free Incentives for 5th Grade appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Homeroom is often the last thing I think about, but I have found that my school day and school year is so much more successful when I have taken the time to make the most of my homeroom.  Whether your homeroom is 30 minutes or 15 minutes, here are a couple of ideas.

Read until the end to find out what I did on each day of the week and get free homeroom slides.

1. Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.)

This is my favorite one by far!  On days where you are having to pass out papers from the front office or you are needing to collect and track the variety of permission slips that never end, students reading silently makes your job so much easier.  I like to keep Scholastic Magazines available for students to grab and read because they are super engaging, even for your most reluctant reader.  Incredible graphics, interesting stories, and real-world connections are just a few of the benefits. You can find out more about what’s included here.  

2. Character Building/Community Circles

I use community circles to build community and character amongst the students in my advisory.  We decide on norms for how we have discussions (this is key) and then I ask a question that we go around in a circle and answer.  The questions can be super light-hearted (if you had a superpower, what would it be and why?) or a little deeper (what is the biggest challenge that you are facing?).  You have to gauge the maturity of your students, but it does help you know your students better and for them to know you better.

3. GPA and College Preparation

To invest students in their grades, I talk about what grade point average means and what is required to get into various universities.  Because I live in Austin, many students want to go to the University of Texas, which requires a GPA of 3.75.  After I teach decimal operations, every Wednesday students receive a progress report, and they calculate their GPA.  To make it even more impactful, I have a list of colleges and their respective GPA requirements on the tracker.  Their middle school GPA might not count towards college, but there is no time like the present to invest students in their learning and grades.

4. Missing Assignments

Homeroom is a great time for students to work on missing assignments! After students receive their progress reports, students with missing assignments can spend this time making up their work. Ideally, this is best for assignments that can be submitted digitally.

5. Student Helpers

Designate some “teachers’ aids” who have a dedicated job that they are capable of doing on their own.  This could be updating student work bulletin boards, feeding a class pet, double checking attendance, writing the objective on the board, or a variety of other things. You can read more about student jobs here.

6. College Pride/Shout Outs

My school’s homerooms are all named after the college the homeroom teacher attended.  I went to Texas A&M University, so I refer to my students as A&M.  I have a wall of A&M memorabilia, including a flag.  Fridays are Flag Friday.  I award a student who has shown the values of A&M that week by highlighting a specific action that I saw.  The student is awarded with the school flag and they get to wear the flag as a cape for the rest of the class.  My students love it and are super invested!  Every Friday, they ask “Who is wearing the flag?” as soon as they walk in the door.

7. CNN10

CNN10 is a kid-friendly, 10 minute news program that covers current events. There is a new episode each day which makes it a reliable option for homeroom. You can have students jot down a summary or put it on for students to watch as they are eating breakfast.

8. Homeroom Slides

These homeroom slides are a perfect way to start off your time in Advisory! Make your daily announcements, find out how your students are feeling, and share some inspiration – all great ways to start your students’ days!

Grab these free Homeroom Slides!

This list is not exclusive, but they are things that I do regularly in my homeroom.  In an ideal week, I do a wide variety of the items above. Paperwork is usually passed out on Mondays, D.E.A.R. happens the day I collect paperwork so it varies, GPA is tracked on Wednesdays, Thursday is reserved for community circles, and Friday is for building college pride through Flag Friday.  It is a flexible schedule that changes based on what we have going on that week. What are the ways that you use your homeroom?   

Maneuvering the Middle has been publishing blog posts for nearly a decade. This post was originally posted in November 2017; it has been updated for relevancy.

The post Ideas for Homeroom appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Pros of a 100 Minute Class Period

• More time
• More instruction
• More support
• More practice
• At the end of the year a student has had double the amount of time in that class than a traditional schedule
• You should definitely be able to get through your scope and sequence with 100 minute class periods
• If you had 100 minute classes, you probably have less students over all

Cons of a 100 Minute Class Period

• 100 minutes is a loooooong time
• Students get distracted
• Classroom management is tough for that long of a time period

Things to Consider

• Students are with you for double the amount of time, but that does not mean that you simply extend a 50 minute lesson. How can you be efficient and productive with the time?
• Students need structure. How can you develop a routine that breaks up the 100 minutes but still provides structure?
• Students (and adults) have a short attention span. A good rule of thumb is that new learning should not take longer than 1 plus your students’ age, so if you teach 12 year olds, your notes should last no longer than 13 minutes (12+1). 

Below is just one way to structure your 100 minute class period. Sometimes things do not go according to plan, but it is always a good idea to have a structured routine for both yourself and your students, especially if you will be with them for so long.   

Do First/Bell Ringer/Warm Up 5-10 minutes

I used a very straightforward warm-up routine to get students working when they entered the classroom. The goal is that students can get started without needing assistance from me or their peers.

I used this time to:

• Greet students with a warm smile
• Check homework completion (if I assigned it)
• Take attendance

I would start a timer after the bell rang for 5 minutes and project it. When the timer went off, I spent the next 3-5 minutes either going over the warm up, going over last night’s homework, or a combination of both. 

Hook 2-5 minutes

These few minutes are a great time to introduce the objective and make real-world connections. It can also be utilized to review prior content that is connected or to have students review any new vocabulary. Anything that can create a bit of buy-in is beneficial.

Instruction 15-20 minutes 

The goal of instruction is to give students enough information to understand the concept, but not so much that you are doing all of the heavy lifting in class. It is a fine line to walk.

If you need more than that recommended amount of time for direct instruction, that is okay! Give students the opportunity to practice and engage in a meaningful way before returning to direct instruction. Another idea is to assign our student videos, since they adhere to this time recommendation. 

Remember that direct instruction isn’t your only option to teach a lesson. You could:

• Have students explore using manipulatives
• Think aloud or model
• Ask students to build upon previous knowledge
• Use the Building Thinking Classrooms approach

Lastly, I think it is important to note that if you are using our curriculum, you do not need to go over every single problem on a student handout. Work the problems ahead of time, decide which are the most important, and then save the rest for small group work time. 

Class Activity 20 minutes

This is the time period where students are engaging with the work in pairs or groups. In a 100 minute class, I recommend activities with movement, as well as collaboration. Sometimes we would do card sorts, but rather than sit at desks I would let students do the sort on the floor. Other times I would use stations or scavenger hunts to get kids up and moving or use math dates to have them work with various people. I would circulate and answer questions at this time. If you have a simple worksheet, make sure to read how to turn any worksheet into an activity.

Recap 5 minutes

As the activity wraps up, take a few minutes to recap what they have learned by asking students to summarize the lesson. Depending on the activity you could go over various responses or work a few of the difficult problems together.

Skill Practice 5 minutes

Most students have some need for remediation, gaps in their mathematical foundation, or need to expound upon their problem solving skills. Each day I would spend no more than five minutes addressing basic math skills. At the beginning of the year this was multiplication charts with various missing numbers or adding and subtracting decimals. I often spent several weeks on number sense by practicing converting between fractions, decimals, and percents.  

Station Work 30 minutes

I used this time to focus on small groups and remediation. I would work with small groups on their assignment, some students would work independently on a computer, while others would focus on concepts that they needed additional help with. This is also the time that my co-teacher would come into class, which was a life saver. You can read more about this on my math intervention schedule post.

You can read more about planning for and implementing stations here.

Clean Up/Close 5 minutes

By this time we are all wiped! It was time to wrap up, clean up, put away supplies, and get everything back in order.  

One Hundred minute classes never failed to wear me out, but the extra time was a gift! Especially when I think about the whirlwind of a 45 minute class. 

Who else has 100 minutes for math? How do you structure a 100 minute class? I would love to hear how you break it down!

Click to find out more about Maneuvering Math.

The post How To Structure a 100 Minute Class Period appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

If you want to learn more, check out this book, Mathematize It!, that covers the topic of teaching how to solve word problems in much more detail.

Be sure to read: Part 1: Three Word Problem Types to Teach | Part 2: Three Steps to Solving Word Problems

Diagrams are a way to model what is happening in a word problem. Diagrams help provide students with the “operational sense” that they need in order to write an equation and solve a problem. We cannot rely on keywords to determine an operation.

Let’s dive into two examples. (You can see my example of open number line diagram here.)

Tape Diagrams in a Relationship Problem

Let’s start with an example problem:

After we have restated the problem, we use a diagram to represent the problem. Notice that this tape diagram is helpful because of the whole in relation to the part.

There are 2 parts to this marching band: those in percussion and those NOT in percussion. These 2 parts will make up the total number of members in the band (this is our whole).

We also know that there are 28 in percussion, so one part is 28. That leaves the unknown value as our other “part” – those not in percussion. So we will write the variable x in our model.

And now we can use the bar model to write an equation.  We can see we need to add the two parts together and set it equal to the whole, so we could write the equation x + 28 = 196.

The model helps a student develop the operational sense to write an equation with addition, but then perform subtraction to find the difference between the two values. They can see that their solution needs to be a value smaller than the total number of members.

Tape Diagrams in a Comparison Problem

Without problem solving strategies, a student may write an equation like this, p + d + c = 10.50. They have an equation with 3 different variables and then are stuck. They don’t know how to solve for d, the price of the drink. Let’s try a tape diagram.

We know the popcorn is three times as expensive as the candy and the drink is twice as expensive as the candy. Let’s create a tape diagram under each food item in our bar model. 

We know the popcorn is three times as expensive as the candy. This can be hard for students to grasp, so give them an example with simple numbers: “If candy is $1, how much is popcorn?” $3. We want students to see that popcorn is more expensive than candy and that the cost of 3 candies is equal to the cost of one popcorn. 

Similarly, the drink is twice as expensive as the candy so the drink is equivalent to 2c’s. 

Finally, we know the cost of the candy is represented with the variable c. Now we are ready to make a connection between our model and write an equation.

The model clearly shows that 6c = 10.50. We have taken a complex word problem and written a one-step equation to solve for the variable c. Once a student solves for the value of c, they can refer back to determine the cost of the drink and popcorn.

Grab our Problem Solving Poster freebie to display in your classroom!

How do you use tape diagrams in your classroom?

P.S. Check out these related posts: Math Problem Solving Strategies and How to Teach Word Problems and Problem Solving

The post Using Tape Diagrams to Solve Problems appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

(Noelle recently presented an amazing math training – Practical Problem Solving Strategies – this summer, and I was truly amazed at just how much I learned. I will be breaking down the training into 3 blog posts over the course of this month, so if you missed the training, be sure to check back here for more updates.)

If you want to learn more, check out this book, Mathematize It!, that covers the topic of teaching how to solve word problems in much more detail.

Be sure to read Part 1, Three Word Problem Types to Teach, and grab our freebie below!

Here are the 3 steps to solving word problems:

1. Restate the Problem Situation

Let’s use this word problem about Pedro as our example:

(Check back to last week’s blog post to understand why this scenario falls in the action category.)

By restating the problem, we want students to avoid seeing phrases like “leftover” and decide immediately that they must subtract. We want students to focus on the action taking place. Here is an example of restating the problem. You could have students do this verbally (think, pair, share style) or write down bullet points. Notice that there are no numbers present. 

• Pedro makes a pitcher of lemonade.
• He pours some for his friends and now he has some left over.
• How much lemonade did he start with?

2. Represent the Problem Situation

There are numerous ways to represent a problem: draw a picture, create a diagram or model, use manipulatives, or write an equation (don’t think numbers and variables; it can be something like “Pedro’s pitcher = leftovers + what he poured”).

The primary goal of this stage is that representations give students that “operational sense” they need in order to write an equation. We want them to know what to do next.

The 3 diagrams we use most in middle school math are open number lines, bar models, and ratio tables. For this problem, I recommend using an open number line.

You can also make the number line a vertical number line. Liquid in a pitcher as a vertical number line might make more sense visually to students. 

There was a starting amount of lemonade in the pitcher, but we actually don’t know what that is, so that is our unknown value that we will represent with the variable x on the number line.

Then Pedro pours 34 ounces of lemonade for his friends, here is our action or change, so we will represent that with a jump on the number line. Since we know our action describes removing lemonade from the pitcher, our jump will point down.

Now he looks at the pitcher and there are 20 ounces of lemonade left, this is the resulting value. The open number line allows us to identify what each value in the situation represents, and now we know that our unknown value was the starting amount. 

To finish out our lemonade problem, let’s use our representation to write an equation.

We have a starting amount, x, then we will subtract the amount he poured, 34, and that is equal to the amount remaining in the pitcher, 20.

Notice how the equation has subtraction in it, (which makes sense because the situation describes removing a quantity) but the operation we will perform to find the solution is addition. This is what we mean by developing operational sense for a situation.

The number line also helps students see that the solution needs to be a value greater than 20, since x is higher on the vertical number line. 

These representations can be so powerful as we help transition students from the concrete to the abstract!

Be sure to grab our free Problem Solving Posters that have examples of all of these representations.

3. Solve and Reflect

When we think about problem solving, we often think about the end goal being to find the solution, which of course is important.

But in order to grow our students as problem solvers, it’s important to also take time for individual and classroom reflection. Reflection is such an important part of making meaning. If students can construct mathematical arguments to justify their solutions, you know they fully understood the problem.

After students have worked through a word problem, encourage them to share the different models or equations that they came up with, and have them explain the operations they used to solve a problem. Students will learn from each other as they are exposed to different ways of thinking about the same problem.

P.S. Check out these related posts: Math Problem Solving Strategies and How to Teach Word Problems and Problem Solving

The post 3 Steps to Solving Word Problems appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

However, there are so many interruptions that you can minimize to maximize the effectiveness of your classroom time. Every minute counts!

Let’s chat today about common classroom interruptions and some ways to combat these time wasters. Plus, I have included a freebie to help get your time back.

Locker and Bathroom Requests

Problem: You see a raised hand and anticipate a math question or observation only to be met with, “Can I go to the bathroom?” 

Or perhaps, a student left their math folder in their locker. Whatever the reason, a student needs to leave the learning environment and we all know class time is precious. 

Solution 1: Know what a student needs before you call on them. Our classroom poster pack has hand signs for RR, locker, answer, question, and more. You don’t need our classroom poster pack to implement this procedure, but having the visual will serve as a reminder for students.

Solution 2: Use our MATH FAST PASS to hold students accountable to the number of restroom breaks or locker requests you deem necessary based on the length of your class period. I am not a fan of limiting restroom breaks for students who genuinely need it (and passing periods do exist for this very reason), but this tool can serve as a way to manage that interruption.

Personally, 3 emergency passes per grading period usually did the trick!

This freebie also has some helpful math tables and concepts to keep in students’ folders or binders, so it is a win-win for math teachers everywhere. Before a student could ask to use the restroom, they have to have their MATH FAST PASS out for you to sign and date.

GRAB OUR MATH FAST PASS FREEBIE

First Aid Needs

Maybe it is a math teacher thing, but if you aren’t actively vomiting, then I think you are healthy enough to learn math.

Keep band-aids, mints, and paper towels in your classroom for these small ailments. Your nurse or front office staff will thank you.

A wet paper towel across the forehead will satisfy the needs of a student with a headache and the student will feel cared for. Another win!

Keep in mind that in most cases, the nurse won’t be able to offer anything stronger and they will be sent back to class anyway.

Pencils Needing to be Sharpened

Pencils. Pencils. Pencils. These writing utensils are a necessary evil in your classroom.

Start by establishing a pencil routine that you feel confident you have the stamina to maintain by the end of the year. Here are 2 ideas that I have personally used:

• Pencil Library. This is a trading system. A student who needs to sharpen their pencil can get up, drop off their old pencil, and grab a sharpened pencil. No need to run the sharpener. A student in my homeroom would sharpen the allotted amount of pencils for the day (around 10-20). The old traded pencils would get sharpened to use the next day.
• Pencil Parking Lot. This idea comes from To The Square Inch. I love this system! I like it because I can SEE the pencils. 5 pencils are clipped to the whiteboard. Students sign out a pencil by writing their name on the whiteboard with a dry erase marker. At the end of class, I would remind students to bring my pencils back and I would erase their names as I clipped the pencils back up. 

After my pencil sharpener broke, my pencil sharpener stopped being for public use. If your pencil sharpener is for students to use, I recommend sharing your expectations for use:

• How to ask to use it (use hand signs)
• When they can use it (never during instruction)
• Proper use (no colored pencils)

Cell Phones

Cell phones are tricky! Personally, I only ever worked in a school that had a school wide policy that they were off and stowed away. This made my job easier, but I know that is not always the case.

Phones aren’t going away anytime soon, so how do you manage the distraction? As I was doing research about this topic, I found that the teachers most successful with cell phones had 3 things in common:

• A why
• A clear and consistent routine and procedure
• Allowed the occasional use with boundaries around usage, complete with consequences

A Why

Students need buy-in before they detach from their device. You can show them studies (like this one from The University of Chicago) regarding how the mere presence of phones reduces available cognitive capacity.

Ask students to reflect on their own relationship with their phone. Does it distract you? Do you find yourself stopping what you are doing to check your phone? 

A Clear and Consistent Routine and Procedure

When developing a procedure for cell phones, it is important to be super clear about everything! Power struggles usually occur over ambiguity.  

Let’s say that the procedure is for students to put their phones in an over-the-door shoe rack during class. Here are all of the details to go over with your students:

• Phones go into the pocket before you sit down for class. (I would stand at the door for the first few days and send students over to the phone storage upon entry)
• Phones are turned off or on silent. I would explain to students that I don’t want any phones making sounds during instruction.
• I would have assigned pockets. Students need to place their phones in their designated spot.
• Phones will be picked up when class is dismissed. Exceptions will be made only with permission from me. (Example: they need to call their parents)
• Lastly, I would remind, remind, remind students at the beginning of class. It would be posted with their start-of-class instructions, it would be posted permanently on a wall, and I would also verbally tell students that, “If your phone isn’t put in the pocket in the next 10 seconds, I will have zero grace if you are caught with it or if it goes off.”*

(This procedure is just a suggestion to model the level of detail required.)

I recently saw a teacher, Mrs. O, suggest giving students brown paper bags to place their phones in, stapling the bag, and leaving it on their desk if they are struggling with looking at their phone during class. 

Boundaries + Consequences

If you have done everything from above, then I suspect you will have fewer problems (not saying zero!) with cell phones. When a student chooses to use their phone during class, they will know that a consequence is coming. Be sure to check with your administration, grade level team, or student handbook regarding appropriate consequences.

I wouldn’t recommend consequences that include first offense, second offense, or third offense since that is hard to track. 

Classroom interruptions are inevitable. How do you manage these common classroom interruptions?

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WHAT IS A STUDENT SURVEY?

A student survey is a great tool to get students thinking about their experience in your classroom – their achievements, areas of growth, and what they learned over the course of the year.

For you, the teacher, it serves as a tool to improve your craft and make choices about what you will do next year. One year, I received overwhelming feedback that students had a hard time seeing notes on my document camera. The next year I invested in technology to connect my iPad to my projector.

They can be as in-depth as you would like, but I would suggest keeping them around 10 questions with a variety of free-response, check boxes, and ranking scales. We are looking for quality answers over quantity. 

WHEN TO DO A STUDENT SURVEY

The end of the year is notorious for a random assortment of bell schedules. Sometimes you only see classes for 20 minutes a day or you only see your morning classes one day and the afternoon classes the next. That is a perfect time for a student survey! Student surveys can be the perfect bell ringer (they are pretty self-explanatory) or exit ticket. I would recommend doing it in class, so you can guarantee 100% completion.

STUDENT SURVEYS SOUND INTIMIDATING

I loved doing end of the year surveys with my students because it provided some great insight and helped me to reflect on the year!  

You may feel nervous to hear what your students think about your class and your teaching, so let me encourage you by stating – you are a great teacher!  I know this because in your spare time you are reading a teacher blog. 

Remember that you are the one crafting the questions.  Think about how you word them and what exactly you want to learn from the response. 

For example, you could ask “What was your favorite part of this class?” and if you leave it open you may get a few responses that say “Nothing.”  But likely you will get better responses if you provide a few selections for students to choose from and then an “other” blank where students can write in something you may had not thought of.  

You could also reframe the question to, “What is one thing you learned in this class that you can carry into next year?”

SUGGESTIONS FOR QUESTIONS

Before you write your questions, really think about what you want to accomplish with the responses:

• Do you want to improve your classroom management?
• Do you want to get a feel of how your classroom felt?
• Do you want to rework your lessons and need some suggestions for the fall? 

Here are a few general suggestions:

• How has your confidence in _________ (subject) improved this year?
• What lesson/project/activity did you most enjoy?  Why?
• What lesson/project/activity was the most difficult for you ?  Why?
• What is one piece of advice that you would share with a student who is entering this class next year?
• What skills do you still need help with?
• Explain a time in class in which you were able to overcome a struggle.
• What is something that you would change about our class?
• What is one thing in class that made it difficult for you to learn?
• Did you feel as though I had high expectations of you?

You can also grab our free printable 12 question End-of-the-Year Survey, complete with an editable Google Form (since paper is so valuable!)

GRAB THIS FREE STUDENT SURVEY WITH AN EASY TO USE EDITABLE TEMPLATE! 

The post Student Surveys: An End-of-the-Year Reflection appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We encounter math on a daily basis, but it can be a challenge for students to connect what they learn in class to the outside world. Here are 4 (update: 5!) ways teachers can engage students by making math relevant to their lives.

LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY

1. Share Your Enthusiasm

The key to modeling what it looks like to be a math person is to share your excitement! Excitement is contagious. In my classroom, I loved teaching ratios and proportions! As a class, students performed so high on the concepts. While I can’t be certain it was caused by my enthusiasm, it sure did help!

2. Promote Problem Solving

A second way to make math relevant is to promote problem solving in your classroom! (We talk about problem solving more in depth here.)

“When are we ever going to use this?” used to scare me. I used to think students were asking as a ‘gotcha,’ but I think most students genuinely want to know. They are curious how the unfamiliar concept connects to their life.  

So, I love to set the stage at the beginning of the year. I say that math is all about learning to problem solve. Problem solving is a skill that is limitless in where it will take you. Regardless of your future profession, you will be required to problem solve, and persevering through a math problem gives you the confidence and grit to do so in the real world.  

Make this a mantra in your class and continue to reinforce it all year long.

3.  Tailor Curriculum to Students’ Interests

This study shares that when the curriculum (in this case, Algebra 1) is personalized to students’ interests, they are more successful.

“In the study, half of the students chose one of several categories that interested them — things like music, movies, sports, social media — and were given an algebra curriculum based on those topics.  The other half received no interest-based personalization… Walkington found that students who had received interest-based personalization mastered concepts faster.” 

While changing your entire curriculum and/or rewriting problems may not be something you can realistically manage, consider Walkington’s approach. “We picked out the students who seemed to be struggling the most in Algebra I, and we found that for this sub-group of students that were way behind, the personalization was more effective.”

So this may be something that you consider as you write future problems or consider future projects. What are your struggling students genuinely interested in? How can you include that in your math class? Can your classroom economy be related to an interest? What about the names of your groups? 

One quick win comes to mind. When I was teaching small groups, I had 3 students who needed a little extra incentive to stay engaged. They loved soccer, so we made everything soccer related. As they got problems correct, they scored “goals,” counters were soccer balls, and all word problems were changed on the spot to be soccer themed

4.  Teach Students to Ask the Questions

In the book Quality Questioning, the author breaks down the importance of the questions we ask in the classroom and the responses we accept from our students.  One of the key things they mention is teaching students how to ask questions on their own and providing them the opportunity to do so.  

This easy lift is a great way to engage students. 

• It extends students’ thinking
• Makes for great math discourse
• Any student can participate
• Allows for students to flex their creativity muscles
• Students make interesting connections

There are a few options here. 

1. When presenting a word problem, cover up the question. Typically, a world problem gives information and then asks a question. Instead cover up that last question, and ask students to come up with a question. 
2. Put up a graph, a table, a picture of a price at the grocery store, a receipt, whatever you can find that has some numbers of it, and ask students: “What could the question be?”

Try it with your class at the beginning of your rates or proportionality unit. What could the question be? And then ask again at the end of the unit and see what your students have learned. 

Another idea could be to simply take your receipt from your latest gas purchase, project it, and ask students: what could the question be? 

5. Include Projects to Your Scope and Sequence

Project Based Learning is popular for a reason! Students take more ownership in their learning, and experience first hand how math can help solve real-world problems. Maneuvering the Middle’s projects are perfect for this. 

When students ask, “When will I ever use this?” then it may be time to start a project. Here is a snippet of what our projects ask students to solve:

RATIONAL NUMBERS + LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS

• 6th graders research and calculate the costs of flying or driving to various destinations. Grab it here.
• 7th graders will calculate the cost of traveling to various National Parks and calculate the percent change in park and gas prices. Grab it here.
• 8th graders will plan a vacation and apply discount options to their vacation expenses to explore the effect on the linear relationship. Grab it here.
• Algebra 1 students will use and represent linear relationships to help them plan a vacation on a budget. Grab it here.

FINANCIAL LITERACY

• 6th graders plan a career fair and compare the lifetime earnings of various careers. Get it here.
• 7th graders calculate household incomes and analyze the best cities to live in based on earnings. Get it here.
• 8th graders calculate and plan saving for college. Get it here.
• Algebra 1 students find and use an exponential function to predict the rising cost of college. Get it here.

What are some of the ways you make math relevant to your students?

The post 4 Ways to Make Math Relevant appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Pros of 45 Minute Periods

Students’ attention spans are only so long. 45 minutes means that the pace is quick, and there is no time to waste. Students can feel that urgency! Ideally, this means that there is less off-task behavior and students can stay focused.

Cons of 45 Minute Class Periods

As much as I tried to make the pros exceed the cons, I just couldn’t do it. Here are the challenges that a teacher faces with such a short amount of time:

• Makes projects, assessments, performance tasks, or anything else requiring more time challenging to implement
• Teaching a skill and having students practice it with fidelity in a single class period is tricky
• Outside class time is necessary for students requiring extra help 
• The fast pace is exhausting for teachers! (I can attest)

How to Maximize Your Time 

Since 45 minutes goes fast, here is my non-exhaustive list of ways to make your time work for you:

• Get right to work! Have a short warm-up to get students to start focusing right away!
• Tighten up those transitions – Transitions are a time suck. Sticking to a routine can help keep those transitions predictable and quick.
• Be overly prepared – Work the problems ahead of time. Know exactly which problems you are going over to cover the content. Friendly reminder: if you use MTM, you and your students don’t need to go over every single problem on the student handout. 
• Remove time wasters:
  • Passing out papers/materials – students are grabbing those on their way in or they are already located at the table
  • Using an interactive notebook – anything that requires cutting and gluing, be gone!
• Set timers! Have one for yourself and one that is visible for students. 

Ideas for a 45 Minute Lesson

Note: These are guidelines; sometimes albeit often, in a middle school classroom, things do not go according to plan, but it is always a good idea to have a structured routine for both yourself and your students.   

Some lessons require more time, and some lessons don’t. Use your judgment! There are also a variety of other factors that impact the day-to-day running of your classroom such as the occasional pep rally, field trip, or fire drill.

45 Minute Class Period Idea #1

This structure is great if your students need a slower pace. Your students have adequate time to digest the material. However, you would need to look at your entire year to see if you have time to get through all of the standards. You could always limit two-day lessons for more challenging standards. 

Sample Structure

Day 1

• Warm up (5 minutes)
• Lesson (15 minutes)
• Practice (25 minutes)

Day 2

• Warm up (5 minutes)
• Lesson (15 minutes) – Go over material in more depth or address misconceptions from the prior day
• Practice (20 minutes)
• Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

45 Minute Class Period Idea #2

This structure would be for classrooms that can handle a faster pace. You can still pull small groups – you probably have time for only one group per day. 

Sample Structure

• Warm up (5 minutes)
• Check HW (5 minutes) 
• Lesson (15 minutes)
• Practice (15 minutes)
• Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

45 Minute Class Period Idea #3

This structure is great for a medium pace. Every two lessons, students have the opportunity to practice or go deeper. You have built-in a potential reteach day, so your pacing can stay on track. 

Sample Structure for a Flex Day

• Warm up (5 minutes)
• Mini-lesson/directions/reteach (5-10 minutes)
• Stations or Rotations (30 minutes)
  • Station 1: Small Groups (10 minutes)
  • Station 2: Activity (10 minutes)
  • Station 3: Tech (10 minutes)

45 Lesson Idea #4 and #5

One of the benefits of Self-Paced Learning is that students are able to learn at their own pace, but we still have to provide a structure within our classroom. This structure is from Jodi, a teacher who uses All Access, and talked about self-paced learning on our podcast. 

• Warm up (5 minutes)
• Mini-lesson (5 minutes)
• Students work on their grids (35 minutes)
  • Teacher conferences/small groups

Flipped classrooms are going to have a similar need for structure. Here is how I would structure a 45 minute class: 

• HW: Watch Lesson Video
• Warm Up (5 minutes)
  • Teacher checks student notes to prove videos were watched
• Mini-lesson for any questions or misunderstandings (5 minutes)
• Practice (30 minutes)
  • Teacher pulls small groups
  • Stations would work too!
• Exit Ticket (5)

No matter how you structure your time, those 45 minutes will go quick! How do you structure your 45 minute class period?

The post Structuring a 45 Minute Class Period appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

I strongly suggest teaching routines and procedures and building relationships during that time, but presenting a slideshow explaining how to turn in papers is not compelling class time. The best thing about all of these activities is that you can use them to teach routines, build relationships, and develop class pride. 

Make sure to grab the activities mentioned below here!

1. How to work in groups with an Interview Activity

This realization came to be once a couple of years ago when I found out that in November some of my students still didn’t know the names of their table mates!  Say what!?  In order for students to be successful in class, they have to have the full support of their teammates.  Knowing their classmates’ names seems like a necessary first step.

The Routine: Students in my classroom must ask the help of every person at their table before asking me.  I explain to my students that they learn by teaching each other!  

The Activity: The activity that I am going to try out this year is table interviews. You give students a list of questions and they take turns asking the questions to their table mates.  This breaks the ice, is non threatening for students who struggle with math/reading/science, and is an activity where you can float around and answer interview questions from students, but only after they have asked everyone at their table. Practice makes permanent!

2. How to Move Around the Classroom Safely with a Matching Activity

The most stressed I felt as a teacher is when students are out of their seats without permission.  This does not mean that students must always remain seated in class, it just means that I have very specific procedures around moving safely around the room. 

The Routine: Students must learn how to stand, how to push in chairs, how to wait for their tables to be called, the volume, the speed, and the awareness of our bodies when we walk around the room. It may seem like overkill, but when I didn’t cover this skill, I would find students laying on the floor or using their bodies in an unsafe way.

The Activity:  To build culture and practice this routine, students participated in “Salt and Pepper.”  Essentially, students will all have words taped on their backs (one student might have the word ‘salt,’ and they will have to walk around until they find their match (‘pepper’) using only descriptive clues.

A spin on this activity is to make students get in birthday order without talking.  They get to release their wiggles, practice how we move around the room, and use their brains.

3. Other Activities

Although these first week of school activities don’t align to a procedure, they can still help build culture and break the ice with students.  

• Two Truths and a Lie – Quick ice breaker that requires no prep work.
• This or That – Builds camaraderie among classmates.  You could have students defend their answers and practice answering in complete sentences.  (Stand if you prefer waffles to pancakes.  Call on students and ask them to explain why.)
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Posse – This teaches students to cheer their teammates on even when they lose.
• Telephone – If you have 2-3 minutes to kill and you need students to be quiet.
• 4 Corners – I saved this one for last because this is my absolute favorite. The way to survive in this game is to remain as quiet as possible. This game practically ran itself in my classroom and could keep quiet the most spirited students. 

Even if you don’t have extra days allotted for culture building in your scope and sequence, having some of these activities on hand will make sure you stay prepared. Lessons sometimes run short, or if you are in Texas, you could be required to stay inside for recess due to the extreme heat. It is always better to have this stuff on hand, ready to go! 

If you are interested in more activities to build culture in the first week of school (or really anytime), check out this bundle here.  The activity includes the Interview Questions Worksheet, the Salt and Pepper Matching Activity, a paper version of This or That, and 8 more activities.  If you want to be extra prepared for this school year, be sure to grab our Back to School Starter Pack which includes these ice breakers, classroom posters, homeroom activities, and a substitute binder.

What are your go-to first week of school activities?  

The post Easy First Week of School Activities for Middle School appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

On Preparing your Mindset

Prepare yourself to lead your classroom confidently and effectively. Back to school requires preparation in heart and mind.

• 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers
• First Year Teacher Advice
• Tips for a New Math Teacher – This is a series that was just published. This is the first in the series, so be sure to read all 4 that are linked inside the first post.

On Preparing Your Classroom Environment

Get the biggest bang for your buck finding supplies, decorating on the cheap, and setting up your classroom in a methodical and organized way!

• Middle School Classroom Tour
• Classroom Decorations on a Budget
• 6 Tips for Setting Up Your Classroom
• Things Every Teacher Needs at Their Desk (not necessarily school supplies)
• 20 Must Have Teacher Supplies
• Student Organization in Your Classroom

On Preparing Your Students

Your classroom will not operate smoothly without student buy-in, strong classroom routines, and a mistake-friendly environment. Learn some ways to do that here. 

• 20 Must Teach Routines and Procedures for Middle School
• How to Teach Routines and Procedures that Stick
• How to Create a Positive Classroom Culture
• Promoting Perseverance in Math

On Preparing Your Lessons

Start your year strong with an appealing syllabus, a finished substitute binder, and some fun ideas ready to implement in your back pocket. 

• 3 Tips for Your Syllabus (and a free digital or printable syllabus download)
• How to Turn Any Worksheet into a Fun Activity – Engaging activities that you can implement on the fly!
• Organizing a Substitute Binder
• The Self-Paced Classroom 
• Why Maneuvering the Middle All Access is All You Need

On Becoming Tech Savvy 

• How to Use the MTM Student Video Library
• Tech Spotlight: Go Formative
• Digital Activities in the Math Classroom

How are you feeling about back to school this year? What are you doing this summer to prepare? We hope this post (and the many posts linked) are helpful to you. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments!

The post Back-to-School Round Up appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We will be attempting to cover everything that will set you up for success in your first year. This is the last post in our series, so be sure to go back and read the previous three posts to get caught up.

• Part 1 – How to Teach Middle School Math as a New Teacher
• Part 2 – Cultivating a Strong Classroom Culture 
• Part 3 – What To Do When Everything is Urgent and Important 
• Part 4 – Our Favorite Practices (You are reading this one now!)

Today’s post will be all of the little things that will set you up for success. I am calling them best math practices, but since I have no scientific data to back them up, I will refer to them as favorite practices too. Let’s do it!

Work Out Every Problem Before You Teach the Lesson

This is probably my #1 best math practice. I like to do this for three reasons. 

1. As I work through problems that I will use for my direct instruction, partner work and independent practice,  I am prepared with the misconceptions my students may encounter. By mentally scripting what I might say or ask to combat these misconceptions, I am more prepared to teach. If while working through some problems, I am not really sure why [blank] is the next step, I can watch a video to help my explanations be clear and concise. 
2. When I am circulating while my students are working, I have my worked out answer key in hand, so I can check student progress. Instead of just looking at final answers to monitor progress, I like to quickly look at the students’ work too. If their work matches my work, I can give them a thumbs up, and move on to the next student. This idea also reinforces to students that their work is just as, if not more, important than the answer. In addition, if I do see an incorrect answer, I can look at their work, compare it to mine, and find the error faster. 
3. My first principal, Luz, told me this before my first year. It will take students 3 times longer than you to complete a problem. By working out every problem, I was able to assess whether I would need more work to fill up the class period … which leads me to my next point.

Always Have More Prepared

Your students will have varying math skills and speed levels. Some students will accurately complete all of their work before another student finishes the first problem.

Another best math practice is to provide meaningful work for students to work on after they have completed their assigned work. If these students need a challenge, make sure that it is rigorous enough to keep them engaged (don’t give them fluency practice) but not so challenging that they need your help. 

My go-to would be to ask them to write a test question based on what they learned that day, complete with answer choices and an answer key. Our digital activities are a great supplement too!

Assign Seats

Often I see teachers recommend to abandon seating charts at the beginning of the year, so you can learn who is friends with whom. This is not my advice! 

While you may not know your students well enough to create an informed seating chart, creating a seating chart that will help you learn names! I would start with alphabetical order because it helped me learn first and last names and made attendance easier.

Here is my rationale for starting with a seating chart. You can always give students seating choice after they have earned it. It is always easier to loosen up an expectation than try to wrangle students back in after they aren’t meeting your expectation. 

In addition, students without friends in that class or who are new, will feel more comfortable and safe in a classroom with a seating chart. You can read more advice about seating charts here.

Don’t Talk Over Students

There are entire books written about classroom management, so advice in this department cannot really be summarized in one paragraph in a blog post. I am going to pick the tool that packs the biggest punch. Don’t talk over students.

When giving instructions (not direct instruction), get your students’ attention, stand still, and wait. For example, it is time for students to go from working in stations back to their desks to start their exit ticket. 

*Attention Getter*

Teacher is standing still, squared up, and facing a majority of students. 

“I am waiting for all eyes to be on me. Thank you, Gabriel. Thank you, Max.”

“Most voices are turned off. Thank you. I am waiting on two more.”

*Teacher turns body and makes eye contact with the two students who were talking.*  (non-verbal redirection)

Students are still talking. *Teacher walks over to them.* (proximity) 

Students are now silent, and the teacher gives clear and concise directions. Teacher stops and waits if there are any interruptions.

When you give a direction while students are talking, you are communicating to them that what you have to say is not that important and they have a choice whether they need to listen to you or not.

Be Flexible

Being in the classroom for any length of time will result in a variety of mishaps – fire drills in the rain, copies running out, technology rendered useless since the internet is down, vomiting by both students and teachers, and a mouse running around. (These are examples from my classroom. Yes, the mouse visited my classroom during state testing, so that was …fun.) 

You can’t really get too worked up when something chaotic happens. Your students will follow your lead, so take a deep breath, problem solve, and make the best of it.

Build Relationships

Students will work harder for teachers they like and feel like them. Here are some ways to build relationships with your students on a daily basis.

• Use an individual’s name (so learn those names quickly )
• For every correction or redirection a student needs, be sure to praise them two times
• If a student invites you to a game or performance, go! If they went out of their way to invite you, then they love you and want you there.
• Be consistent. You can’t treat every student the exact same, but you have to hold all students to the same bar. 

Become an All Access Member

Finally, my best math practice is to become an All Access member! It bears repeating that the best thing you can do as a first year math teacher is find a reliable, standards-based curriculum. You will be spinning so many plates; don’t add curriculum writing to your very full scope of work.

Veteran teachers, what are some of your best math practices? New teachers, what questions do you have?

The post Best Math Practices for New Teachers appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

We will be attempting to cover everything that will set you up for success in your first year. This is part 3 in our series, so be sure to go back and read the last two posts to get caught up.

• Part 1 – How to Teach Middle School Math as a New Teacher
• Part 2 – Cultivating a Strong Classroom Culture 
• Part 3 – What To Do When Everything is Urgent and Important (You are reading this one now!)
• Part 4 – Our Favorite Practices

Today’s post will be all about how to overcome being an overwhelmed teacher and how to manage your to-do list. Let’s do it!

Feeling Overwhelmed

In my first year teaching high school math, I remember receiving a weekly update email from my principal on a Sunday night with many deadlines and tasks (on top of planning and preparing content for two preps), and I started to panic. How was I supposed to get all of this done? 

My husband, Taylor, asked me, “How do you eat an elephant?” I looked at him with a this-is-not-helpful stare. His response? “One bite at a time.”

In your first year of teaching math (or teaching at all), you will feel overwhelmed with the sheer number of tasks ahead of you. It is inevitable. The only way to overcome this sense of overwhelm is to start. Not sure of where to start? Make a list of everything you have to do for the next day and start with the easiest task. Use that momentum to knock out the next task and then the next. When you are feeling overwhelmed, any progress (even progress on peripheral tasks) will help you overcome your stress. 

Plan Your Work then Work Your Plan

When I have a written plan (in this case, a to-do list), I am efficient and I can knock things out. When I sit down to work with no plan, I am literally and figuratively listless.

No minute of your planning period should be wasted. Especially since planning periods tend to be commandeered by meetings or (possibly, but hopefully not) covering other classes. When you do have a full planning period ahead of you, take advantage of every second.

So how do you take advantage of every second?

• Make sure students are gone. That means that when the bell rings you are dismissing students, not asking them to start cleaning up.
• Know ahead of time what you need to accomplish during that planning period. This process is unique to each person, but personally, I liked to dedicate a day to the same tasks. Monday was for planning for the next week, Tuesday was for making copies and answer keys, Wednesdays was for grading and entering grades into the computer, Thursdays and Fridays were for miscellaneous or unfinished tasks. 
• Close your door. This sounds unfriendly, but if you are often interrupted or slow to recover after an interruption, then this gesture will keep visitors at bay. You can always chat with teachers in the workroom. 

If you want to read more about saving time during your planning period, check out these posts:

• Teacher Planner Printables (comes with free planner pages)
• 6 Time Saving Tips for Your Planning Period

Focus on What is Most Important

Teachers don’t just teach. Teachers do everything. They host clubs, they organize fundraisers, they plan field trips, they coach other teachers, and so much more. Nothing makes an overwhelmed teacher feel more overwhelmed than taking on more.

You may be tempted to take on an extracurricular or host an after-school club. If your heart is set on that, then go for it!

However, I do believe your first years in math should be dedicated to familiarizing yourself with your content and developing strong mathematical practices.  Give yourself permission to decline taking on additional roles, so you can participate in math professional developments or stay updated with new pedagogical practices. Being a lifelong learner of math and instructional practices is the sign of a great teacher!

If you haven’t read part one of this series, How to Teach Middle School Math as a New Teacher, you can read more about getting to know your math content.

Done is Better than Perfect

Since you will have a very full plate, sometimes we have to finish a task at a B- level. We want to strive for our personal A+, but when we have 900 things to do, done is better than perfect. 

If a B- has the same result as an A+, then don’t waste your time making it an A+. For example, bulletin board displays. Some teachers go all out with a theme and change the look each month – good for them, but not for me. I put one bulletin board display up in August, and only switched up the student work when it was required. 

Another example was something I saw an Algebra teacher do at my school. Since typing formulas and various mathematical symbols into the computer slowed her down, she would hand write problems for her students to complete. She would handwrite the problems, scan it to email it to herself, and then make copies. Would the worksheet look better printed? Sure. Did it matter? No. Done is better than perfect. 

Become an All Access Member

The best thing you could probably do as an overwhelmed teacher is to find and use a reliable, standards-based curriculum. If you can save yourself the time that it takes to scour the internet for worksheets or starting from scratch, you will already be so many steps ahead!

Veteran teachers, how do you tackle your to-do list? New teachers, what questions do you have?

The post Are You An Overwhelmed New Teacher? appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Today, I am sharing what student organization system has worked for me and how other teachers have students organize notes and other papers using Maneuvering the Middle materials.

Many of these approaches will depend on a variety of factors:

• Does your school have lockers? (mine did not)
•  Is your class period short?  (no time for gluing)
• What is your budget?

COMPOSITION NOTEBOOKS

Composition Notebooks are cheap and light enough to live in a student’s backpack. Students can take them home everyday so they can refer to their notes for homework.  Also, if students need scratch paper, they have a ready supply.  

For Maneuvering the Middle student handouts, you can print the student handouts and homework page using 1 single, folded-in-half, piece of paper glued into a notebook. To print the student handouts and homework using this method (pictured), here is what you do in Adobe Reader or Acrobat Pro: 

1. Type in the page numbers that correspond to the white blank page, the front of the student handout, the back of the student handout, and the homework page.
2. Select “Multiple” under Page Sizing & Handling
3. Pages per sheet – 2
4. Page order: Horizontal
5. Select “Print on both sides of paper”
6. Select “Flip on short edge”
7. Do a test print (and fold it) before making 150 copies

The downside to using composition notebooks is the time spent gluing or taping materials into the notebook. Also, inevitably, there will be no less than 10 glue sticks that need replacing everyday. For teachers with longer class periods, composition notebooks will help students hang onto those notes for reference for most of the school year!

BINDERS

Binders with dividers are a great way to keep your students organized! They are spacious, and if your copier hole punches, you are golden. It is also large enough to hold graded work and extra papers. 

SPIRALED AND BOUND MATERIALS

This method is recommended by many teachers in our Facebook Group. Print and bind one unit at a time for students. You can add a cover sheet in colored paper so that it stands out. This will save you from visiting the copier on a Monday morning and is truly the best example of batching!

Tips from the Group:

• Tell students that it is like a textbook, in that you cannot rip pages out willy nilly.
• Spiral binding lasts longer than comb binding.
• You can get your own binding machine or hire it out to Office Depot or OfficeMax if your district does not offer this service.
• Print a few extra copies for when a student loses their copy.
• If you are doing this yourself, solicit help from parents and students.

PLASTIC BRAD FOLDERS

This is the organization method that I landed on after years of trying something new each year. Essentially, I purchased the plastic folders with brads for the handouts. The plastic was durable enough to handle the abuse of a middle schooler’s backpack. 

They were slim, which meant that the folders could stay in students’ backpacks. (Remember, we didn’t have any lockers.) The folders held one unit of student materials at a time. Each day, students would pick up a stapled packet:

1. Page 1 – warm up on front and exit ticket on back
2. Page 2 – student handout
3. Page 3 – independent practice

Students would rip off page 1 and turn it in at the end of class (for me to look at their exit ticket) and the student handout and independent practice would go into their folders.

I printed the Study Guide (or anything else I wanted students to never throw away) on colored paper, and after each test, we would recycle all white paper. Study guides remained in their folders so they could reference a summary of the unit if necessary. (You could also do this using Maneuvering the Middle’s cheat sheets, found in the Test Review unit.)

Streamline your planning with an All Access membership!

OTHER TIPS

• If you want your students to stay organized, you will have to give them class time to do this. During the warm up, give them instructions to add their work to their binder/folder and then walk around and check that it was done.  If you are passing back graded work, give students time to put it in the correct spot.
• If you are going to print one unit at a time to distribute, make sure to add page numbers before making copies.
• I like to keep tests and quizzes. Students would get a class period to look at their feedback and make corrections, then the tests would be turned back into me, where I would keep them filed in case I needed one for a parent conference. 

RECYCLING BIN

The recycling bin is my best friend.  I do not keep anything that is not graded.  Everything else goes into the recycling bin.  We do not have the capacity to hold on to everything our students touch.  I throw away exit tickets after I have looked through them and establish who I need to pull for a small group.   My first year of teaching I tried to keep everything.  Why?!  I spent hours filing and moving papers around and making piles and being insane. Recycle that clutter and marvel at how clean your classroom looks!

What student organization systems do you have in your math classroom?  Do you have any students with backpacks that look like there was an explosion at the paper factory?  I only had a couple once I began to collect and recycle the papers that weren’t necessary for students to keep.  Here’s to hoping that this student organization system will work for everyone next year!

The post Student Organization in Middle School appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Promoting perseverance is a highly complex skill to teach! This problem recently was brought up in our Facebook group, and our amazing community of teachers delivered some spectacular solutions. While I have written on cultivating a growth mindset in your classroom in the past, these ideas were unique and deserve a place here. 

Recognize When You See “It”

Students respond to praise. Students (and people) appreciate when they are recognized for their efforts. I was recognized in a meeting recently, and I spent the rest of the day beaming!

If you see any students make any type of effort, celebrate it! Consider the individual student and celebrate when they accomplish something. This might be as big as a student turning in all of their missing work or as small as a student asking a question.

“Thank you for asking that terrific question! I always appreciate it when you show your curiosity!” is more valuable than a frustrated sigh because I already answered that question – why aren’t you listening?

In the case of perseverance, celebrating a student for making an extended effort on a difficult problem might need to be scaffolded. If, as a general rule, your students won’t even attempt a problem that is difficult, you may need to celebrate as you guide them. 

• Celebrate that they read the problem (because you know students often give up before even reading the problem)
• Celebrate that they looked at their notes to acquire some help
• Celebrate that they started the first step

Students need to build up that confidence, and you teacher, are their #1 cheerleader. Keep your expectations high, and celebrate as students rise to meet them!

Remember that you are teaching students to be problem solvers. The problem solving process is not a one step skill. Therefore, trying again and trying again and trying one more time is how growing our brain in math works!

Introduce a Chain of Command

You may have a few students who are paralyzed by making a mistake or will not attempt work without you beside them walking you through every step of the way. I definitely have had these students. 

Introduce a chain of command, and stick to it! Your chain of command can vary – I had this handy flowchart on my tables that helped remind students of the steps. You can grab your own here.

Better yet – brainstorm with your entire class ideas of what to do when you are stuck! Kristin and her class brainstormed these ideas and she has it posted to remind her students.

A student has to make some effort in the problem before asking me for help. Even then, I would be helpful, but I wouldn’t walk them step by step through the entire problem because that is how a student becomes too dependent on their teacher. I would give them some feedback and walk away.

Connect Perseverance to Their Own Lives

No one is born a master of any skill or any task. While you may have a propensity for certain things, you have to practice to truly be good at anything! This is true for math as well! 

Ask your students what they are good at – it can be anything! Video games, being a good friend, making a great sandwich, tennis, soccer, or playing the fiddle. Ask if they were good at it the very first time they tried it. 

Sports is my favorite analogy because it is obvious to students that practice is necessary. If you are on the basketball team, you go to practice weekly or daily. If you play an instrument, you practice daily. Why do you go to practice? Do NBA players skip practice because they are already the best? No! Improvement is constant upkeep!

Change It Up

As I continue to explore ideas from Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl, I find myself fascinated with what he has observed. While I encourage you to read the entire book for more context, I thought this particular idea to be a quick hit that you can implement today.

He has researched and found that students working on vertical whiteboards demonstrate persistence, discussion, and participation more than working on any other surface. A horizontal whiteboard (or desk surface with dry erase markers) is the second best option. Apparently, the non-permanent nature of the whiteboard improves persistence. 

Now there is published data that backs up what I always observed in my classroom! If you don’t have the whiteboard space for every student to use, consider rotations or a system available for students who are stuck to jump start  by working at the whiteboard! Promoting perseverance can be as easy as changing the way in which students write down their work!

Other Helpful Tips:

• Make sure that the work put in front of your students is properly scaffolded. Students shouldn’t be starting with the most complex or challenging questions. Our Maneuvering the Middle student handouts and homework were designed with this in mind.
• This video is really encouraging! 
• Take the focus off of the answer. Focus on the work to get there! 
• You can read more ideas on developing math confidence here.
• Grab our Community Counts activity.

How do you promote perseverance in your math classroom? 

The post Promoting Perseverance in Math appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

The end of the year is upon us! While there is no tired like teacher tired, I would argue that there is no tired like end of year teacher tired. If you are reading this, hopefully, state testing is behind you and you are looking for some easy ways to make the end of the year memorable but doable. Here are 8 end of the year ideas for middle school.

1. Try Something New

If there is something you have wanted to try for the next school year, then run a trial run with your current students. It could be a new technology program, a new classroom management strategy, or a new instructional strategy. Work out the kinks, so that in the fall, you can roll it out with confidence.

2. Student and Teacher Reflections

Reflecting is an important part of the learning process. Give you and your students the opportunity to look back at the school year and record what your class (the content, environment, pacing, etc.) should keep doing, start doing, or stop doing. Surveys are great, but you can also get some hilarious thoughts from your students by asking them to write advice to the upcoming grade level about your class. When you give students a creative way to talk about your class, then you are more likely to learn something you would have not thought to ask.

3. Countdown to Summer

My favorite end of the year ideas always were countdown related. You can countdown to summer in a variety of ways:

• Balloon Pop Countdown: Miss5th shares this idea on her Instagram. Each balloon has a student name inside and each day a balloon is popped. That student gets to be celebrated in whatever way you see fit for that class period. Think: shoutouts, they can sit in a special spot, they can write on the white board, etc
• Paper Chain Countdown: Our freebie includes a practical and fun idea for each day. Print on colored cardstock, cut, and staple, and you have yourself a colorful and fun countdown.

4. Escape Rooms

Escape rooms are a fun way to continue to teach and reinforce skills throughout the year while still keeping things fresh and new! The escape mentality keeps it engaging, and since they work inside Google Forms, students can work both in partners or independently in-person, virtual, or hybrid. Grab a copy by checking out this blog post. (Note: digital escape rooms don’t allow students to move on until they get the correct answer, so make sure you have a plan in place for students who get stuck)

5. Projects | Project-based Learning

Incorporate a project or try a cross-curricular project. While projects typically do require more upfront work than the typical lesson, Maneuvering the Middle has released Math Projects that make the planning a breeze. The payoff is that students can work on a project over the course of many school days, so you have fewer days of lesson plans to prepare. There are so many opportunities and ways to help students apply all that they have learned at the end of the year.

You can read about the benefits of including projects into your classroom by checking out this post. The projects cover a variety of topics, but financial literacy is a great way to end the school year.

6. Staff Awards

Finishing strong extends to staff too! I always looked forward to the end of the year because every staff member earned an unofficial award. Over the course of 3 years, I received The Mama Bear Award, The Mary Poppins Award, and the “I got it” Award. 

If you want to start small, you could organize staff awards for your grade level or your department. Similar to Secret Santa, everyone who is participating needs someone to give an award to, prepare some kind words, and create some sort of award certificate. The morale boost is the best!

7. Next Year’s Content

Get your students ready for next year! If you teach 7th grade, go to the 8th grade teacher and ask them what skill would be helpful to review or teach for their class. It’s a win-win!

8. Get Outside

Fresh air is good for everyone. Grab some clipboards and head outside! Many inside activities will translate outside. 

What end of the year ideas do you have for your classroom?

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Here are my 7 tips/ideas for teaching volume in a way that students will get the most from it.

Start with Area

While most scope and sequences require mastering area (or surface area) before moving onto volume, the connection between area and volume cannot be ignored.

In fact, in all of the formulas for volume, the area of the base is abbreviated as ‘B’. And while this formula chart does give the formula for the various shapes’ areas, it does that separate from the volume formulas. 

Encourage students to shade the base in every problem and then sketch the base separately with its dimensions. This helps students to actually calculate the area of the base instead of  using only one of it’s measurements, which was often the most common misconception I witnessed. 

This Desmos Activity really helps make the connection between the area of the base and the height.

Write down the Formula + Draw the Shape

You don’t have to provide formulas when you first introduce volume! Have students make observations and predictions. For example, using a rectangular prism and a triangular prism with the same height and base measurements, ask – “how many triangular prisms could fit inside the rectangular prism?” You can do this for a cone and a cylinder too! Unifix cubes are the perfect manipulatives to use for students to understand how volume is measured in a rectangular prism. 

After you have introduced the formula for a shape, require students to write down the formula for the shape as part of their work. This will prevent students from leaving off multiplying by ⅓ for the volume of a cone or 4/3 for a sphere. I would even make this mistake on purpose, so students would shoot up their hands and say, “Ms. Brack, you forgot to multiply by ⅓!”

In addition, if a given problem lacked a figure, I required students to draw the figure and label the sides with the given measurements. 

Use the Exact Formula Chart They Will See on Testing Day

Set your students up for success for testing day! Provide students with the EXACT formula chart they will see when they take their state test. I made a class set on bright neon cardstock that I would laminate. It stayed out throughout the entirety of my Geometry Unit. 

During a geometry lesson,  I would always instruct my students to silently point to the formula we would need on their formula chart.  I would do a quick sweep to make sure students were on the right track. Don’t assume your students will understand how to find what they need from a formula chart. 

Start with an Exploratory Activity

This is pretty obvious, but volume is so hands-on! It is physically all around us. 

You can do this in a variety of ways: calculating the volume of various items like – tissue boxes, cereal boxes, oatmeal canisters, saltine boxes etc. A sleeve of crackers is the perfect cylinder and is a perfect way to show how the volume is the area of the base times height.

Our Exploration Activity helps students explore the relationships between cylinders and cones using play dough or dried beans. You can find it in our 8th grade volume activity bundle.

This is a free activity that sounds like a perfect way to include a project for rectangular prisms. Students are given a single piece of paper and instructed to create the largest possible box. 

Maneuvering the Middle Activities

Our activity bundles are engaging and hands on! With all of the shapes that are covered in middle school math, it’s nice to know that every prism, cylinder, cone, and sphere will receive practice.

• 6th Grade Geometry Activity Bundle
• 7th Grade Volume Activity Bundle
• 8th Grade Volume Activity Bundle

Other Tips

Use fabric measuring tapes over rulers. They are less expensive, take up less space, and students will not be tempted to sword fight. 

If you have access to unifix cubes, give students a specific volume and have them work backwards to create as many rectangular prisms with different measurements that satisfies that volume. 

What tips do you have for teaching volume?

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Who is Teacher Appreciation for?

I believe that teacher appreciation is for any staff member at school! Especially after the last few years, non-instructional staff have definitely taught a class or two (or 18). 

If you are an administrator or PTA member that is planning for teacher appreciation, don’t forget to include the nurse, librarian, and front office staff.

Budget vs. Going All Out

You don’t need a massive budget to make teachers feel appreciated! 

• Catered Lunch v. Potluck Lunch Donated by Parents
  • I have experienced both, and I can tell you that homemade food was widely appreciated. Administrators, send out a Google Sheet sign-up sheet to members of your PTA to have a lovely lunch provided by helpful parents. Don’t forget to ask for donations for tablecloths, flowers, cutlery, and paper plates. 
• Starbucks v. Create a Coffee Bar in the Teacher’s Lounge
  • Average cost of a Starbucks drink per person: $5
  • Average cost of a Costco amount of K-cups, various creamers, syrups, and some whipped cream – $1 per person
• Hire a Mobile Car Washing Company v. DIY Car Washing
  • We have had a professional car cleaning company wash all the cars in the parking lot, and another year, Student Council students worked in shifts to wash all the teachers’ cars throughout the day. Either way, my car was clean for the first time in years.
• Hiring a Photographer v. DIY
  • My favorite teacher appreciation present was so meaningful and creative! My principal hired a photographer to visit each classroom and snap a photo of us teaching in action. The photos were printed and framed. These are probably the only 2 pictures I have of me teaching, and they are so valuable to me. This can easily be done without hiring a professional photographer. It would require someone’s smartphone, and the cost of photo paper and some cheap frames.

More Ideas to Make Teacher Appreciation Fun

Stop by their classroom with a fun treat! One year, my principal used a cart to provide a yogurt bar; I was able to customize a yogurt bowl to enjoy during my first class. Another year (and at a completely different school), I made my own Root Beer Float. A customized treat that is delivered – count me in! 

Consider allergies! After combing through so many comments about Teacher Appreciation in a Facebook group, I realized that so many teachers are left out due to food allergies. Instead of donuts (a popular treat during this week), consider providing additional breakfast items: bananas, granola bars, yogurt, etc. 

Think out of the box! One year, our PTA hired two masseuses to provide 10 minute back massages.  An email was sent out and teachers could opt in to a back massage during their planning period. (This was the surprise I missed while I was on maternity leave – dangit!)

Ways to Appreciate Teachers that Cost Nothing

• Cover their lunch, bus, before or after school duties for that week
• Cancel that after school meeting
• Jeans or athleisure for the entire week (or more)

Ideas for Parents

If you are a parent looking for a way to celebrate your children’s teachers, look no further. These ideas cover a range of budgets and time commitments.

This idea is from Sharon McMahon, and I whole-heartedly agree!  Write an email to that teacher’s principal (with the teacher CC’d) outlining why they are such a fantastic teacher. Include specific details about what your child loves about their class. 

Pick up and deliver lunch for the teacher. Here is the best way to do this: Email the teacher – 

“I am going to [insert restaurant] on [date] to pick up some food for you. Here is a link to the menu, please respond with your order.”

Consider the week after teacher appreciation week since they may already have many lunch options. Here are some other quick ideas:

• Handwritten note from parent or student
• Gift cards
• Most teacher would say they are good on mugs
• Something consumable
• Support their classroom with classroom supplies: fun pens, sticky notes, dry erase markers. Put the supplies inside a basket or a cute caddy!
• Bring the teacher flowers

What would you like your administrators to do for teacher appreciation week? What is the best gift you have ever received for teacher appreciation?

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Here are some reasons you may decide to group students:

• You may group students because you believe that students can learn from one another.
• You may group students because you believe they will complete more work together.
• You may group students because you believe it will create a positive classroom environment.

Note: In all cases of grouping students, I recommend having an upfront conversation about being respectful. I never wanted a student to express distaste regarding working with someone. Similar to assigning new seats, I would tell students that I didn’t want to hear a single word, smacking of the lips, or eye rolls regarding their group. 

Heterogeneous Groups

This type of group represents students with varying abilities. This group will have a mix of your highest students, lowest students, and everyone in between. 

Pros of Heterogeneous Grouping

This represents a typical class. This grouping supports peer tutoring. Sometimes students can explain concepts in a way that makes sense to another student better than me, the teacher. 

Cons of Heterogeneous Grouping

This type of grouping puts pressure on the highest student to be the de facto leader while those around them might disengage.  It is argued by critics to increase the achievement gap. 

Homogeneous Groups

This type of group represents students with similar abilities. You could take the most recent data point like an exit ticket and group students based on how they performed. All students who earned a 100 would be in a group together while students who earned a 70 would be in a group together. 

Pros of Homogeneous Grouping

In this type of grouping, teachers can provide individualized instruction and vary the activity to engage students where they are at. Meanwhile, ‘the lower group’ can receive more support from the teacher. 

Cons of Homogeneous Grouping

From my personal experience with grouping students, I often used heterogeneous grouping to help spread out some of the off task behavior. This made classroom management slightly easier. Being a teacher is always a balance of classroom management and pedagogy. 

Random Groups

Random groups are truly random. This can be as random as having students draw from a deck of cards and being grouped accordingly (example: all 4s work together). 

Pros of Random Grouping

After reading Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl, I learned that random groups have shown to increase students’ engagement and thinking.

According to the book, groups that were created by the teacher meant “80% of students entered their groups feeling like they were going to be the follower rather than a leader – to be a follower rather than a thinker.”

By creating visibly random groups, students were more willing to collaborate, their enthusiasm for learning math increased, and social barriers were eliminated. 

Cons of Random Grouping

According to the book, for random groups to work, you have to regroup them about everyday. That requires moving seats or reassigning groups which can eat up some class time. Personally, the lack of control would make me feel a little bit anxious, but if you are randomizing the groups every single day, then you only have to live with a challenging group for one class period.
If you read the book (which I highly recommend you do), Leljedahl does address many teacher concerns.

Ideas for random grouping

• Students pick out a numbered popsicle stick when they walk into class that corresponds to a seat number
• Students draw a colored tile that assigns them to a grouping of desks
• Students grab a Starburst out of a bag as they walk into class. The color they chose corresponds to a table group.
• My personal favorite – Walk around the room and count off students, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” and then repeat. Requires zero prep!

Best Practices

Whatever method you use for grouping, and there are benefits to all of them, I recommend these best practices:

• Change up groups frequently
• Set expectations for each group member. Post class norms like “everyone contributes” or “we work together” and then positively narrate when you see groups meet those expectations.
• Hold everyone accountable for work completed together. If students are working on an activity, everyone fills out their own paper to turn in.
• Keep group sizes around 3-4. Larger groups can make it easier for students to disengage.
• Roles like recorder or timer provide structure to a group and can ensure everyone participates. Communicating that your role is not the only thing you do is vital to encourage all students to participate in the thinking part of the activity too.

You can grab our “Group Roles” posters from our Classroom Poster Pack. Included are group roles for:

• Timer
• Leader
• Scribe
• Supply Manager
• Presenter

How do you group your students?

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You don’t have to be a teacher long to see that a worksheet full of problems does not incite the excitement and enthusiasm of many of your students. 

However, try any of these easy math activities, and you will experience unprecedented levels of excitement from your class.

Now that I am a parent, I see this in my 3 year old. “Let’s go get our shoes on” leads to a slow, distracted exercise where I have to keep reminding her to stay on task. But… “let’s race to see who can get their shoes on first” results in shoes on in about 10 seconds. 

How to Use these Easy Math Activities

• Use these ideas for test review, or any 20 minute time period too.
• Use them on the fly. There is little to no prep; I could easily implement them if I noticed students were off task.
• Most of these activities can be played for as little as 10 minutes all the way to 40 minutes, so they are flexible!
• Use them when your students request to. Because they will! These activities were often used as an incentive.  

One other thing that I love about these activities is that you can hold students accountable to your standards. You see, students REALLY want to play. You may have those students who refused to show their work. Well, students have to show work in order to move the magnet, or sign their name, or get a tic-tac-toe. You are the gatekeeper!

1.  Tic-Tac-Toe

• Prep Time: 15 seconds
• Materials: whiteboard and Expo marker

• Project or draw 4-5 tic-tac-toe boards onto your whiteboard
• Make half of the class Xs and half Os. You could do boys v. girls or split up geographically – window v. door. 
• Students work in pairs or groups. As soon as a group has completed a certain number of problems, they raise their hands with symbol for done, you go check, and if they did everything correctly and to your standards, they can take an expo marker and play an X or an O. 
• I instruct students to complete a game board before moving on to another, but you could play multiple boards at once. 

2. Connect Four

• Prep Time: 30 seconds
• Materials: whiteboard and sticky notes in different colors
• You can see that the concept is super simple — be the first team to connect 4 sticky notes in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. My students loved it, especially when they could block! This is similar to tic-tac-toe but it allows for more than two teams. Idea is from Miss 5th.

• Place students into groups. Draw or project a grid or table of 8 by 5 boxes. Each box needs to be able to fit a single sticky note.
• Similarly, students work in their groups. As soon as a group has completed a certain number of problems, they raise their hands, you go check, and if they did everything correctly and to your standards, one student is sent to the board with their sticky note and they place it on the grid.
• To manage the excitement and some of the behavior, I would create barriers for teams who were too rowdy. Example: if more than 1 student left their seat to move a sticky note, then I would remove one of their sticky notes. Using these types of tactics only has to happen once or twice before students internalize the expectations. Before you know it, the students who struggle the most are the ones policing other teams! 

3.  Magnet Race

• Prep Time: 1 minute
• Materials: whiteboard, number line, two different magnets

• Similar to Connect 4 and Tic-Tac-Toe, the magnet race was my first introduction to engagement by way of racing. 
• Materials needed: number line on a whiteboard with two or more different colored magnets. You could also do this with clothespins and a string or even a pushpin on a bulletin board.
• All of the magnets begin at 0 on the number line. Students earn the chance to play after working together to solve problems, then one student from the group would stand and make a move. They could either move their magnet two spaces in the positive directions, or move the opposing team two spaces in the negative direction or split it. Whichever team had their magnet at the greatest value at the end was considered the winner. 

Get a free vertical number line here.

All of those activities have the same type of appeal. Group style, positive peer pressure so everyone tries because you can’t move ahead if someone in your group isn’t working, and high engagement. I will be honest, it can get a little loud! 

A couple of things to consider –

• Blatant copying – this is going to happen if you aren’t careful. I think spending time upfront about what is helping someone work a problem versus just letting someone copy is a good practice.
• I wouldn’t use these activities for either brand new concepts or on days where I needed really precise work to be done. For example: I wouldn’t use these when I am asking students to draw and model fraction division. That requires lots of focus and precision. I also know that I will need to be really available to help. 
• I would use these activities on the day we are covering a skill that most students will excel on. Volume for example.
• If you are choosing to run one of these activities in class, you will be highly involved with classroom management and answer checking, so you cannot pull a small group during this time.

4. 100s Grid

• Time: 30 seconds
• Materials: Either print or project a 100s grid. I found this colorful one here as a free download.

This was my secret to review days! Review days tended to be a struggle for my students (and myself). I had 90 minute blocks, so playing a game for that entire time would get a little wild, but I needed something to keep students engaged the entire time — enter the hundreds grid. 

• As students complete problems (whatever number you decide), they raise their hands, you check, and then let them know if they need to fix any. If they are all correct, a student can sign the grid. 
• Students put their initials in one of the numbered boxes. The more problems students complete, the more opportunities they have for their initials to be in more boxes.
• At the end of class, I would google a random number generator to select 3 or so winners. Those students would get to grab something from my prize box. 
• For the first half of class, I would allow students to work together. The second half of class would be completely silent as students needed to practice independently (they were having a test the next day after all).  This game worked throughout both collaborative and independent work time. 

5.  Grafitti!

• Prep Time: 2 minutes
• Materials: butcher paper and markers

Graffiti is a fun and easy math activity. It requires more preparation than the others mentioned above, but it is great for math problems that need more space to be solved. You could even just give students an expo marker and they could work directly on their desks.

• This is a great activity if you need extra space. Anything with models – integer operations, fractions, bar models, maybe drawing algebra tiles. 
• Give a variety of marker colors and see students incorporate colors into their strategies.
• Checking work is really easy because their work is large and easier to read.

6. Math Musical Chairs 

• Prep time: 0 seconds
• Materials: Chairs
• Play music and students walk around the room. When the music stops, students must rush to find a seat. While seated, they have to complete 2 problems. When finished, they have to jump up and find another empty seat to do another 2 math problems. 
• The teacher said that her students love it, and all they are doing is completing math problems.
• Students work better when they have the opportunity to stretch their legs and this keeps the momentum going.

7. Digital Activities

• Prep Time: Varies
• Materials: Devices

• Our digital activities require little prep too. Assign via your school LMS, make sure your computers are charged, and watch your students work. 
• Many of the activities are matching, drag and drop, or error analysis.

8. Try our Autumn Freebie

• If you haven’t had a chance to grab our Autumn freebie, now is the time. These are self-checking, and they have a fun fall riddle that you get the answer to when you unscramble all of the letters. All you have to do is print for these easy math activities.
• Grab them here.

• Great for review if you have covered rational number operations or solving equations this semester. 
• You could actually pair this maze with tic-tac-toe, connect 4 or a magnet race!

Do you have any go to easy math activities?  What are your students’ favorites?  I would love to hear your other ideas for how to turn any worksheet into an activity.

Maneuvering the Middle has been publishing blog posts for 7 years! This post was originally published in May of 2017. It has been revamped for relevancy and accuracy. 

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Should teachers assign homework? Should you assign homework to your students? The answer to that question is dependent on a variety of factors, so let’s dive in. 

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What is the purpose of homework?

What is your purpose behind assigning homework? Here is a quick brainstorm of how you might answer this question:

• Homework is required.
• I need a specific number of grades.
• Students need to practice.
• You believe homework builds a habit of responsibility.

The next question to ask yourself is: “Is my current situation working well?” For example, if you assign homework daily and only 50% of students complete it, then you may need to reevaluate. 

Academic Pros of Homework

Homework has many benefits. Even as a student, I remember working on my math homework, and having some aha! moments. Many teachers depend on homework because their class periods are so short. Homework allows for students to practice what they learned in class when class time doesn’t allow for it.

Flipped classrooms depend on students watching videos at home. While they aren’t working problems independently, they are still learning at home. This allows them to do the majority of their work in class, removing the barrier of trying to practice something you don’t understand with no assistance.

Lastly, our brain is a muscle that does grow as we continue to use it. If learning an instrument or playing a sport requires practice, then so does math. 

Social-Emotional Pros of Homework

Homework isn’t just about knowledge. Homework can build a variety of other valuable habits – responsibility, ownership of their learning, and time management. 

If my students weren’t taking class work seriously, all I had to say was, “Whatever isn’t completed in class will be homework,” and students QUICKLY got back on track. Incentivizing students to use their time wisely in class can help students stay on task. 

Lastly, in some cases, homework allows parents to see what their kids are learning and their child’s academic strengths/weaknesses. In years that I didn’t assign homework (when I had 90 minute classes), parents reached out often to ask what students were working on since they never saw homework. 

Academic Cons of Homework

You probably don’t need me to list them because you already know! All those amazing homework pros that were listed above become moot if students don’t actually do it. Homework isn’t actually practice or an indicator of what students know because it can be copied from a friend or apps like Photomath make it super easy to cheat. 

Not to mention, some students would rather just take a zero than complete the work, so now you have missing grades to deal with. And for the students who do complete their homework with fidelity, well, they can be practicing it incorrectly without immediate feedback. Which is why I highly recommend something that is self-checking like a riddle or mixed answer key.

Social Emotional Cons of Homework

While research shows that there is a correlation between completing homework and academic success, it does not show that students do better because they do their homework. Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, stated “Correlation is not causation. Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Some parents and teachers argue that students have already spent 8+ hours at school. Students benefit from resting, playing, and spending time with their families. The whole child should be considered. 

Assign Homework, but Do It Purposefully

According to this recommendation, homework should follow the 10 minute rule.  Multiply the grade level you teach by 10 and that is how many total minutes a student should have of homework of all subjects for one night. If you teach 6th grade, students should have 60 total minutes of homework a night. 

With this recommendation in mind, you have to consider the varying abilities of your students. A 10 question assignment may take one student 10 minutes to complete while it may take another student 1 hour to complete.

Which leads to my next point, it has to meet students’ needs.  Online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores according to this study. 

These 5 questions from Edutopia give a great framework to help guide what type of homework you assign to your students. 

1. How long will it take to complete?
2. Have all learners been considered?
3. Will an assignment encourage future success?
4. Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
5. Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

If you decide that homework is beneficial to your students, here are 5 best practices for implementation:

1. Give less homework more frequently
2. Ensure that students are practicing what they just learned
3. Provide feedback as quickly as possible
4. Explain to students the purpose of homework and how it will be evaluated

If you need Independent Practice (whether that is homework or in class practice), All Access has you covered! Each lesson comes with an aligned Independent Practice.

Many middle schools specifically are moving towards a model (or already have) that allows for a tutorial or advisory period. Utilize that time period and teach students to do the same. 

Hopefully, some of these thoughts will help you to weigh your options and come to a conclusion that meets both your students’ needs and your philosophy and approach to teaching. Let us know in the comments – do you assign homework?

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October is just around the corner! While there are so many fun things that autumn brings, it can be a challenging month to be a teacher. Let’s dive into some ways that we can thrive during this month.

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Why is October so challenging?

October is just days away. Labor day was 16 work days ago, and Thanksgiving is approximately 30 work days away. 

The excitement of Back to School is beginning to wear off. You are now in the trenches. You may have bolted from the starting line in August with grace and enthusiasm, but now it is dawning on you that this isn’t a 100 meter dash, but a full on marathon. 

October is also a long month, Halloween punctuates it, the grading period typically falls within it, and daylight savings time is ending, so it can feel dark and literally be dark.

1. Take a Personal Day of Rest

When we originally published this post, we suggested that teachers should plan to take a day off from work in the month of October. Now with the shortage of subs in our country, that recommendation has a caveat. If you can request a day off, then great! If that brings additional stress to you, then plan for a day of rest on a weekend.

Pick a date, put it on the calendar, and anticipate with excitement a day in which you have made zero commitments and have zero responsibilities. If you have kids, can you send them to hang with the grandparents for the weekend? 

Then I will recommend spending your day off doing things in slow motion. Go on a walk, turn off your phone notifications, sit and drink coffee in one sitting. Prioritize rest.

2. Throw a Few Stacks of Paper Away

Is there a better feeling than a clear desk? A clear desk is a clear mind. Give yourself permission to recycle a few stacks of paper. Send them to paper heaven!

If you aren’t going to look at the assignment within 24 hours to grade it, or at least look at it to get an idea of your students’ mastery, then you are probably never going to. And that is ok! 

Note: District assessments or unit tests should not be tossed.

3. Plan your grading strategically

Here are a few tips to how to strategically plan grading:

• Avoid having a test the week grades are due. This leads to missing grades from students who are absent and not enough time to follow up with students who did not meet the standards. 
• Avoid testing on Fridays. Student absences seem to be the highest on Fridays.
• Provide accountability for assignments that are missing as the grading period goes on, rather than the week they are due. This means you are dealing with fewer assignments and fewer students. Can you take advantage of a study hall or homeroom to follow up with missing assignments?
• Utilize technology that grades for you.
• Can you reduce the number of assignments you are grading? Remember, you don’t have to grade more than required by your school. 

4.  Change Your Mindset Regarding Halloween

There is a 5 out of 7 chance that Halloween will fall on a school day. While Halloween can be distracting to students, embrace it!

How can you incorporate the fun and excitement of Halloween into your content? Remember to avoid teaching new content on Halloween or the day after. Use it as a review day or an activity day.

I know that lots of students love coloring, so I created a Halloween themed solve and color to keep kids on task but also still providing structure and a more relaxed environment.

5. Spend Some Time with Your Coworkers

Teaching can be lonely. You may go several days without any adult interaction. 

Your team and you are all in this together. Here are some easy ideas to implement to make October brighter for everyone on your team.

• Friday Happy Hours 
• Weekly lunches with your team. You don’t have to go anywhere; just pick a classroom and meet up.
• Write a few thank you notes to your coworkers. It doesn’t take long, but it can be meaningful to both the recipient and to you!
• Make some positive phone calls as a group to students who are often quiet and overlooked.

6. Maintain and Adjust Routines and Procedures

At this point, students are much more comfortable with you. They may be testing you, too.  This is the time to make any adjustments to the routines and procedures you taught in August. Address your expectations to your students. Get feedback from your students about what is working well, and what could use improvement. 

Remember that you do not need the energy for the rest of the school year right now. You just need enough energy for this one day.

Here is to a great October!

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The first day of school is upon us which comes with the question – should I teach rules/expectations on that first day or do something fun? I believe that you can do both.

Routines and procedures are built into everything that happens in your classroom. Whatever you decide to do on the first few days of school, teach the routines and procedures that are required for them to be successful in that activity. 

You are doing this now so that your classroom can run smoothly in November and March. Your future self will thank you!

For more routines and procedures, you can find part one and part two here.

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1. Group Work Expectations

Hands-on activities are super important, but without clear expectations, they can lead to off-task behavior.

So right off the bat, we need to communicate to our students exactly what we want to see happening while working in groups. Here are some ideas to consider:

• How to ask their partner for help and not just copy or just let their partner copy
• How to treat the materials – task cards, technology, manipulatives
• How to use your voice appropriately during group work
• How to get help if they are both stuck
• How to get up from their seat if they need a supply

The first day of school was great for this. You teach the routine, they start their group or partner work, and then you can circulate to meet your students! 

2. Entering the Classroom

This is important to teach because this will happen everyday.

• What do you want students to do when they come into class? 
• Where should they look to get directions?
• Can they chat with their friends until the bell rings? 

I wanted my students to enter and be able to get started right away.You could do this with a Welcome Slide which had both the agenda, the materials needed, and a warm-up so no time in class was wasted. I left my expectations on the board all year long because they more or less stayed the exact same.

3. Cell Phones

*Before determining your classroom cell phone policy, make sure it is aligned with the policy set in place by your school. 

Cell phones are amazing tools that you can utilize as a teacher to create maximum learning impact.  With that said, they are also HUGE distractions. 

Whatever you decide, be consistent in this routine and procedure. Are students going to use their cell phone in class today as a part of the lesson? Add it to your agenda slide. Problems usually arise when communication is unclear. 

Have you heard of Pocket Points?  It is an app that rewards students for staying off their phones.  

4. Technology

After last year, it is much more likely that your students will have access to a device. Here are a few questions to ask yourself and plan to teach your students:

• How should students treat technology? 
• When do the devices need to be charged?
• What are the consequences of damage? (Most students require students to sign an Agreement so start there)
• What websites are ok for early finishers?
• Can students listen to music? 
• What happens if their device isn’t working?
• How do they get help logging in?
• How will you know that they are listening to you while their devices are out? I liked to show a pacman and ask students to fold their screen to 45 degrees, like pacman, when I was giving an instruction or needing their attention.

On the first day with technology, the objective should be just to get them logged in. Plan to have something paper based for them to work on while you help students navigate the various technology challenges.

Teach students how to make a bookmark to your LMS or class website, so that they always have a central location to go to. 

If you are flipping your classroom, then you may have some additional routines and procedures about how to use the technology at home.

5. That One Thing

Every teacher has a specific thing that drives them nuts.  

Whatever that one thing is (and if this is your first year, you may not know it yet, but you will!), decide on how you will prevent students from doing it and how you will enforce what you want.  

What routines and procedures do you teach the first day of school?  What about the first week?

Need more routines & procedures?

• 20 Must Teach Routines & Procedures
• 15 more routines and procedures to teach your students
• 5 Routines to Teach in the Digital Classroom

Maneuvering the Middle has been sharing blog posts for 6 years. This post was originally published in the summer of 2019. It has been updated for accuracy and relevancy.

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Classroom set-up is my favorite back to school task!  It is time to deck out our classrooms!  Easily one of the best and most stressful parts of being a teacher. I have some tips on how to make classroom set-up efficient and stress free.

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1. Prioritize 

If you want to do something magical in your classroom to make it homey and special, great! Do it. But get your room ready for students first. Unpack the boxes, set up the library, organize the supplies, get the desks in the right configuration first. Do what has to be done before you do what you would like.

Here is a priority list for classroom set-up:

• Set up furniture first. The placement of student desks, your teacher desk, small group table, doc cam, etc will help you determine where you should place your word wall or turn in bins. Even if many of these things (like the doc cam or the bins and supplies) are in boxes, having a layout in mind will give you a frame of reference. From there, I think you can be flexible. As you open boxes, determine what areas of your classroom make the most sense to set up. 
• Set up your technology. It may require asking your campus technologist, but I always loved to do that first and usually they were happy to get started on my classroom. 
• Organize your spaces. Do you want a student supply area? Where will you keep missing or absent work? How will papers and material be distributed? These are all things that aren’t necessarily furniture, but spaces in your classroom that when well organized and thought through, will help your classroom to run smoothly. 
• Bulletin boards. If you are allowed, I highly recommend ditching butcher paper for either fabric or paint. And then when you do get to decorating your classroom, leave space for anchor charts or student work. I always loved to have an agenda board on one of my whiteboards that I would mark off with masking tape.

2. Come Prepared

Here is what you need to be successful on classroom set up day:

• Stapler, glue dots, etc
• Scissors – opening boxes, cutting bulletin borders, etc
• Toolbox (screwdriver/hammer) – tighten loose legs on desks or to hang trays
• Wipes/dusting cloths – everything will be filthy
• Step stool – a student chair doesn’t always provide the support or height you need
• Wear overalls or something with pockets to keep track of your stapler and scissors

We actually have a classroom poster pack that will make classroom set-up up a breeze. All you need is colorful cardstock, a printer, and a laminator (optional) to get your classroom ready for students. I was able to get most of my classroom prepped while watching Netflix since I was able to prep the posters at home. You can see them in action here:

3. Ask a friend for help

You can get help from a non-teaching friend, a teaching friend, or a kind husband/wife or mom/sister/child.  Yes, two people make it go faster, but with two people, you can hang posters and your helper can tell you if it is straight or not.  Too often, I hang posters that are not level AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY ALL YEAR. An extra friend can also complete tedious tasks that don’t require a lot of direction, so you are free to use your brainpower elsewhere.  My teacher friend had her mom set up and organize her classroom library, so she was free to set up her teacher desk space and files. My sister helped laminate and cut while I worked on setting up the word wall area.  One year, a teacher friend and I took turns.  We spent the entire day at my school and then traded and spent the entire day at her school.  The amount you can accomplish with two people is exponential.  Plus, it’s a good excuse to catch up and you can always treat them to a yummy meal as a thank you!

4. Make lists as you go

While you are working in your classroom, you will encounter tasks that you will need to complete.  For example, I realized that I was missing the glue and sticker labels for my supply bins.  Instead of stopping the task of classroom set up to make these two pesky little labels (these labels required printing/laminating/cutting), I added it to my to do list.  This way I catch everything that I still need to do, but I can complete the tasks at a more appropriate time with other tasks that might also need to be printed/laminated/cut.  In addition to a to do list, make a shopping list of items that you need to purchase.  My sister and I were meticulous this year in planning and preparing for decorating, but I still ran across items that I wanted to replace or items that I forgot to purchase.

5. Purchase with Purpose

I like to also call this avoid the Target Dollar Spot! First, the dollar spot now has $7 items which quickly add up, but also you will end up with a bag of goodies that cost $30 and really has no impact on your classroom or your organization. Please learn from my mistakes:

• Unless you are confident you will use it, you may want to avoid an expensive paper planner. 
• You will be cleaning out your cupboards and find a target sack with various junk from the dollar spot…just keep walking unless you know you need it!
• Just because something is very cheap at the beginning of the year — doesn’t mean you will actually use it 
• Don’t be afraid to ask for a few things at your open house or via an Amazon list. As a parent, I love to grab a set of white board markers or a few boxes of tissues at the store for my sons’ teachers. 

Keep a running shopping list on your phone while you work in your room and make one trip to the store. The more often you have to walk through the store, the more likely you are to spend money.

I have learned that if my classroom is not ready before students arrive, it becomes a cumbersome task to complete throughout the year.  It doesn’t have to be perfect and there should be blank spaces on the wall, but you also want to enjoy being there, you spend at least 8 hours a day there.  So take heart!  What systems do you have in place for your classroom set-up?

Maneuvering the Middle has been publishing blog posts for 6+ years. This blog post was originally published in the summer of 2016. It has been updated for context and clarity.

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When I was a student, I was highly motivated by grades, so when I first stepped into the role as teacher, I was shocked when one of my students threw away a graded assignment that I had just handed back. He didn’t look it over or ask me any questions; he just put it in the trash can. I had expected him to care that he had just failed. Lesson # 643 that I learned that first year: grades do not motivate all students.

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Let’s talk about the difference between feedback and grading, and why you should be giving more feedback. Grading is the act of taking something and holding it to a scale or rubric. Feedback is evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source. 

Grading an assignment tells a student which problems were done incorrectly. Feedback explains why problems were done incorrectly.

When I say that at first, it sounds like feedback is a lot more work! And I think it can be if you are trying to correct every little thing…so let’s see if we can dispel this idea and construct a plan to give more feedback and grade less. 

What to Grade

If you love managing papers and tracking down missing assignments, then grading everything is for you. With all of the internet tools available to students, you may be looking at assignments that lack academic honesty.

Generally speaking, grade the most valuable work. Here are some guidelines:

1. You do want to make sure you are following your school’s guidelines. Some schools have consistent values, weights or requirements like two test grades per grading period. That is something out of your control and boundaries that you should work within.
2. What formative assessment… like a quick check, mini quiz, or exit ticket…can you grade for mastery on a specific concept? I like these types of assignments because they are typically short and can be both graded and returned to students quickly, plus they reflect a demonstration of mastery.
3. Can you consolidate grades? I know some schools have a grading system that accounts for classwork or homework. Can you consolidate those grades from several per week to one per week? I used a homework agenda that allowed me to not only consolidate my grading but also the time I spent inputting grades into a grade book.

How to Give More Feedback

Feedback can be a variety of different things from a quick conversation, to writing notes on a paper, to pulling a small group. What is important about feedback is that it is specific. I implemented a Criteria for Success. I outlined 3 expectations I had when students worked on a specific skill. It was a way of catching a mistake before students arrived at their final answer. For example, if students were working on finding the area of various quadrilaterals, my CFS might be:

1. Identify and write down the formula needed 
2. Label parts of the shape with given values
3. Solve using substitution

I could take laps around the classroom quickly, telling students that I was just checking for CFS #1. Another lap could be dedicated to CFS #2. My goal was to catch the misunderstanding before students arrived at their final answer.

A few other ways to give feedback:

• Whole group error analysis – project a commonly made mistake and have students discuss
• Use a video to repurpose your feedback! One of our MTM teachers, Marissa, teaches a hybrid model shared with me this summer that she used Flipgrid to make short videos of herself solving the problem. Then she just cuts and copies the link as feedback to the students — talk about working smarter not harder and sooooo much easier than trying to type a comment.

Missing Work Woes

Do you have more missing assignments than graded assignments in your grade book? Here are some questions to consider:

• Evaluate how many assignments you are trying to grade and keep track of. Can you reduce that number? 
• What is a reasonable amount of work for students to do and for you to grade? 

Here are a few ideas

• Everything due on the same day of the week. Those who have completed their work get to do something fun. Those with missing assignments must finish them before they get to participate.
• Utilize things that auto grade with Google Forms or a software like GoFormative.
• Consider a replacement grade? One thing that I hated was finding missing papers or assignments for students towards the end of the grading period. If you have a replacement activity then it will save you trying to locate the specific page they are missing. I would do this with the test review. Test reviews would replace any missing assignments which highly motivated students to get it done and done well!
• Consider dropping the lowest grade of the grading period that gives students some grace and is beneficial to all students who did the work on time. 

These are all simple solutions to the missing work woes that you might be facing.

If you are an All Access member, then Unit Test and Unit Quizzes have a Google Forms version to make grading quick!

Learn more all about All Access here.

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TEACHING & PLANNING During a Pandemic

Challenge #1: My Students are Behind

Good news! So are everyone’s! “Behind” is arbitrary when most students missed out on key classroom instruction in the spring. My advice is to avoid mentioning that they are behind. Keep things positive! Students will follow your lead. If you act stressed about what they do not know or how far behind they are, they will follow suit. Instead, communicate to students that hard-work and a good attitude will be necessary for a successful year. 

As math teachers, we already scaffold important concepts. Catching students up is something already ingrained in your teaching ability.  Prepare for lessons and concepts to take a little more time. Plan to reteach or review a few concepts from the previous year (like you would any year). Do not think you will have to find 2 extra months of time to fit everything your students missed the previous year into your scope and sequence.

We have to balance the idea of mastering the material but also moving forward.

Challenge #2: What Should I Teach?

That is a great question! Now that you aren’t as stressed about how behind your students are, the question is, what you should focus your limited instructional time on? Not all standards and skills are created equally. The document below shows that there are major clusters (green squares) of standards that will be crucial for students’ mathematical trajectories. There are also supporting (blue squares) and minor clusters (yellow circles) too. While they are all still important, they won’t have as big of an impact on future grade level’s mathematics.  Teaching during COVID will require you to focus on the major clusters and take some time away from the minor clusters. 

You can find more information from Achieve the Core here.

6th

7th

8th

If you can, check with your students’ teachers from the previous year and ask if any major work wasn’t covered, so you can make time to cover it.

Challenge #3: Technology

There are just so many different permutations of what technology you and your students have or don’t have access to if you are working within the lens of remote learning or a hybrid model. I will link to every post we have written on technology and include videos that I think will be helpful.

• Using One Note, Go Formative, or Edpuzzle with Maneuvering the Middle Resources
• Go Formative
• Edpuzzle
• FAQ Video Tutorials
• Ideas for the Hybrid Model of Teaching
• 5 Tips for Remote Teaching
• Google Classroom Tips and Tricks
• 5 Routines and Procedures to Teach for Distance Learning

If you join our Facebook group or visit our Facebook page, there are even more helpful videos (and helpful teachers).

Challenge #4: Social Distancing 

If your school plans on starting the year in person, then I can understand how stressful that will feel. I wish I had solutions, but I obviously do not. Teaching during COVID will require flexibility, a positive attitude, and also that you advocate for yourself if you feel like your health is not priority to your school leaders. I do think painter’s tape on the floor to help visualize distance for students will be helpful. Virtual manipulatives will be necessary. This website looks like a great resource! We also added social distancing posters to our classroom pack. If you own it, you can get the update by redownloading. If not, you can find it here. 

If you joined us for the Draft Your Math Blueprint Webinar last week, then some of these tips might sound familiar. What did I miss? What challenges can you add? What tips would you share?

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I was thinking about how I normally would end the school year. Our grade level participated in an end of year field trip after STAAR, my students would pie my face based on a test prep incentive they were only TOO happy to participate in, and then we would spend some time signing yearbooks and taking pictures.

It kills me that teachers and students will not get to experience that kind of closure this year, and while the end of the year will be different, it doesn’t mean we can’t try something fun! So here are 5 ideas I had for how to end the school year remotely.

5 WAYS TO END THE SCHOOL YEAR REMOTELY

1. Create a Digital Yearbook

Students could drop in their pictures from the year into a Google Slides digital yearbook. Then everyone saves a copy and shares their yearbook digitally for signatures and notes from classmates and teachers

And I have found an amazing resource for a yearbook using Google Slides. Check out Slides Year Book for several yearbook templates! 

I was also recommended Padlet to create a collaborative yearbook. It integrates with Google, so students wouldn’t need to create another login and you can monitor what students are adding to the “yearbook.”

2. Digital Time Capsule

I saw this idea from Be Spoke Classroom. You can have your students design a Google Slide as a Google Classroom Assignment. Have them answer questions about who they are now, add pictures from the year, and the list goes on. Collect the assignment and set a reminder on your calendar for 2-3 years from now. Email your students (most school email addresses stay the same as long as they stay in the same district) in a few years with all the Google Slides from the class.

3. Host a Shout Out on Zoom

(Kind of like a toast but school appropriate)

Invite students to a special shout out and tell them to bring their favorite treat. Take turns shouting out each student! Bonus points if students also bring kazoos, bells, or air horns (just kidding).

4. Kahoot

Create a Kahoot that captures pop culture or personal fun facts from your 2019 – 2020 school year OR better yet, have students submit questions for the game.. Winner gets a prize! (You could also sprinkle in some math problems)

Fun idea: Have students submit their baby pictures to guess who is who in a Kahoot game! 

5. What Teachers Are Already Doing

From our Facebook Group, “We had a final GoogleMeet with our whole pod of students and did a Kahoot of “guess which teacher…” and each question was something funny about a teacher … and they loved it…”

“We are having an end of year google meets celebration! We made a video of pictures from the year to play, are giving digital superlatives (voted on by students), some teacher elearning awards, and goodbye end of videos from the teachers. The students decorated digital scrapbook slides that we’re compiling to share with all students.”

“I’m mailing home certificates for various awards. They will keep the envelope sealed until our last Google meet, then open them when announced and we will applaud each other.”

“I’m having students complete a Word Cloud to describe what they learned in class this year.”

What ideas do you have for ending this school year?

Still working on teaching math? Check out our digital activities here.

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In fact, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when I saw a student drop her tray in the lunchroom and as I (the teacher) was helping her pick up her mess, two students walked by and pointed and laughed.  They pointed and laughed while the teacher was there. I was shocked. When I tried to have a conversation with them about the incident, they struggled to understand how that was unkind. Clearly, we needed a lesson on kindness.

Teaching Kindness to Middle Schoolers

Model Kindness

Middle schoolers are easy to tease and joke with.  Regretfully, some of my best jokes have come at students’ expense, and I have had to apologize.  I learned early in my career that while teasing might build rapport with some students, it can also damage your relationship with others.  If you are going to expect kindness from your students, then students must expect kindness from you.  

After all, teachers should be demonstrating the character that they want their students to model.  It all makes sense and sounds easy until it’s time for your most challenging class (after lunch, of course), and no one seems to want to behave.  A few quick ways to model kindness:

1. Greet each student when they come into your room.
2. Find one positive thing to say to each student while they are in your class.
3. Ask them how that one extracurricular is going.
4. Acknowledge their hard work and effort verbally.

Acknowledge It

After my experience in the lunchroom with those two students, I received some advice from Noelle about how to encourage kindness in my grade level. She suggested using a Bingo Board from Ashley at Teach Create Motivate. Any time I witnessed sincere kindness in my classroom, I would have students draw a Bingo piece.  The class that scored a Bingo first would earn a class party. This worked because students liked the positive reinforcement, but also because when I heard/saw the kindness, I would publicly acknowledge it to the whole classroom, so students heard another example on how to be kind. 

Kindness  Agreements

In my experience, I think that teaching students to “not bully” is not nearly as effective as teaching students to “be kind.”  It promotes a positive action.  It’s the same idea as when teachers say “walk” instead of “stop running.”  We want to tell students what they SHOULD BE doing, not what they SHOULD NOT BE doing.  

You may have heard of respect agreements.  Respect agreements are a contract that everyone signs in your classroom, including the teacher.  They can also be kindness agreements. Generally, the kindness agreement answers the questions:

1. How do we show kindness to each other – peer to peer?
2. How do we show kindness to the staff – student to teacher/principal/lunch lady/front office workers?
3. How do we show kindness to the students – teachers to students?
4. How do we show kindness to the school – the supplies/technology/bathrooms?

One idea is to write each question on chart paper and participate in a Gallery Walk, where students write an example of how to show kindness in these specific circumstances. (Or you could have students complete a Gallery Walk using dry erase markers on your tables).  Type up the ideas that students come up with, copy it, and have every student sign it. Post it somewhere in your classroom as a reminder of the ways you have all agreed to be kind.

Hold Students Accountable

In middle school, holding students accountable for every interaction that students have with each other is impossible, but you can hold them accountable by just being around.  Make an effort to stand in the hallway between passing periods; students may choose kindness when they know that a teacher is watching. 

I held those laughing students accountable by having a quick private conversation with them.  I asked how they would feel if they had dropped their food and then were laughed at. Their response — bad.  I asked them to tell me what they should have done.  Helped her.  I asked them what they should do.  Say sorry.  I told them to go do it.  The whole conversation took one minute, and I watched them apologize. 

Teaching kindness may not be a required standard for teachers to teach, but it is just as important as any math or reading skill.  Do any of your students struggle with kindness? In what ways have you taught kindness in your classroom?

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All in all, it was an amazing few days!  There were two things that continued to surprise me as I talked to teachers from all over the state: 

1) Many schools are 1:1! One-to-one means that for every one student, there is one iPad or Chromebook. 

2) There are still many teachers out there who have to purchase their own paper! Luckily, technology is making the need for paper less and less important. 

4 IDEAS FOR GOING PAPERLESS IN THE MATH CLASSROOM

So, how do you go paperless in the math classroom? Sure, there are small whiteboards, or you can use Expo markers on the desks.  But what do you do for work that needs to be turned in on a daily or weekly basis? How do you assess mastery on a quiz or test? 

Nearpod and Pear Deck

Nearpod and Pear Deck are both tools that allow you to go paperless.  Both allow you to upload pre-existing slides or create lessons inside the tool. They are interactive:  You can embed questions into the slides for students to respond to on their own devices. Students are able to work at their own pace, making the lessons more engaging, and teachers are able to monitor and offer feedback using the teacher dashboard in real time.  Each offers some different features.

To read more about the specifics, check out this post on Nearpod and this post on Pear Deck.

Nearpod is a great resource to try out this summer and into the fall!  There are three different types of accounts with different features: free Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Have you tried Nearpod in your classroom?

Showbie

While this is a tool that I have not used, I came across Showbie while researching paperless methods.  It is similar to Nearpod and Pear Deck, but it has one feature that I think is pretty amazing! Students submit an assignment digitally (either by using a stylus on an iPad or taking a picture of the assignment and uploading), and the teacher can leave feedback by either marking it up on the app OR by leaving voice feedback.  That’s right! You can leave a voice clip! So cool! 

CANVAS OR GOOGLE CLASSROOM 

Personally, I have not tried using Canvas, but I have seen Google Classroom in action, and I’ve read that they are similar.  Has anyone tried it? Canvas’s website says it is a learning management system or a digital classroom. It’s where students go for lessons, assignments, and content — all paperless! 

Canvas also has a tool called SpeedGrader, which allows teachers to provide feedback (using rubrics, annotations, or video clips); it populates your grade book, and it creates reports based on that data, so teachers can further differentiate skills and standards for students.  I just can’t get over the idea of not bringing paper home and grading just using my laptop. Hallelujah!  

GOOGLE FORMS FOR ASSESSMENTS

Speaking of all of this paperless glory, all Maneuvering the Middle unit assessments for CCSS and TEKS are now available!  They are powered through Google Forms, which means they are self-grading, and you can send feedback to students after they have submitted! 

After I gave a unit assessment, I would spend far too long grading the open-ended response questions, and now, I will not have to do that! Besides scratch paper (you could have students use individual whiteboards, too), you won’t have to collect pounds and pounds of paper or make copies.  I am all about saving trees, but not fighting for the copier in the hot work room sounds way more enticing. 

What team are you on?  Team Paper or Team Digital?  In what ways are you going paperless this school year?

If you are looking for more ways to go paperless, check out our digital activities.

SHOP DIGITAL ACTIVITY BUNDLES

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This summer, I had some great takeaways after attending the Region 10 Digital Conference.  I heard from some wonderful speakers, including Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) and Knikole Taylor (@knikole).  I was inspired by these two women and how they advocated for students to be social media leaders, to stand up for others online, and to follow their passions. 

4 COMPONENTS OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP 

1. Educate On:

• • Digital Communication
  • Digital Literacy
  • Digital Commerce 

Students need to know how and when to use social media and online resources appropriately.  Just like learning how to write a letter or read a book, students need to be taught how to interact online.  Have crucial conversations with your students about what is appropriate online. Teach them the power of their words online: when it is important to send a text or to have a face-to-face conversation. Discuss sharing personal and financial information online. 

2. Protect:

• • Digital Rights and Responsibilities
  • Digital Health and Wellness
  • Digital Safety and Security 

Everyone leaves behind a digital footprint.  Jennifer Casa-Todd asked the question in her keynote: What social media are you on, and what will I learn about you when I go there?  It is so important that students learn that what they do and say online is permanent and can have long-lasting effects.  While I believe it is important for students to have a digital presence, if left up to their own devices, they may not make the best choices.  This is why it is our job as educators to encourage our students to learn about how to create a positive presence online. 

Teach students how to safely navigate social media by only connecting with people that they know.  Teach them who they can reach out to in case of suspicious or inappropriate behavior. They should know how to block and report users online.  And, maybe the most important (and possibly the hardest to teach), show students how to balance their online life with their real life.  

3. Respect: 

• • Digital Etiquette
  • Digital Access
  • Digital Law 

Just like learning how to have proper table manners, it is vital that we teach our students appropriate etiquette online, as well.  As my mother always said growing up, “iIf you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.”. This same idea applies to the online community. 

Students need to learn that they are interacting with real people online. 

Some students may have greater technological advantages because they have their own devices and wi-fi at home, while others may not have access at home.  Teach students to advocate for one another and learn from each other. 

It is also so important to teach students how to appropriately give credit where credit is due; teach students how to cite their sources and teach the dangers of plagiarizing someone else’s work. 

4. Civic Engagement: 

• • Uses technology in a positive way 
  • Understands internet bias 
  • Finds alternatives to hate 

Knikole Taylor suggested adding Civic Engagement as a key component of Digital Citizenship, and I found it to be very true and timely advice.  When I look at my neighborhood Facebook group, I often see adults being rude to one another and unkind about everything from walking a dog off-leash, to the neighborhood pool.  When we are quick to react and publish something online, what message is that teaching our students? 

Teach students about bias and how everyone has one.  Teach students to think critically about the source of an article or someone’s point of view.  Teach students to spread joy and positivity to others online. Allow your students the freedom to advocate for others online, to raise money and awareness for topics that they are passionate about.  

If you want to learn more about Digital Citizenship, check out these resources: 

• Social LEADia: Moving Students from Digital Citizenship to Digital Leadership by Jennifer Casa Todd
• George Couros’ Blog
• ISTE’s Blog Posts
• Common Sense Media– They have lessons on Digital Citizenship for all grade levels! 
• Here is a great presentation of one-liners you can use with your students when having a conversation about Digital Citizenship 

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Source: https://www.iste.org/explore/Lead-the-way/Digital-citizenship-is-more-important-than-ever 

Samantha Cast has her Masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast. 

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1. Interactive Lessons

One of Nearpod’s best features is the interactive lessons. You can use pre-existing lessons that you can upload to Nearpod, or you can create lessons within the web browser. If you want to ask a question for the students to respond to, then embed one into the slides! Students are drawn into the lesson by participating on their own device with the lesson on their screen. Some of the interactive features include:

1. Open-Ended Questions 

2. Matching Pairs

3. Quiz

4. Draw It

5. Collaborate

6. Poll

7. Fill in the Blank

8. Memory Test

These interactive slides allow you to check for understanding immediately during the lesson. One of my favorite features is the collaborate option. Students can share text and pictures with the class in real time. It would be a great tool when brainstorming or introducing a topic. You can also embed websites directly into your presentation! If you are teaching students how to research, or if you want them to complete a reflection on another website, then you can have them go directly to it from the Nearpod slide. You can also embed YouTube videos, PDFs, images, Twitter feeds, virtual field trips, and more!

2. STUDENT PACED MODE

In your classroom, you may have a few gifted students who are ready to move on, some students who are on level, and some students who need reinforcement on a topic. How do you reach all of their needs and different educational levels? Nearpod has the option to present the lesson live or to turn each presentation on “student-paced” so students can work at their own pace, at home or in the classroom. This is a great tool to differentiate your instruction. Here are some ideas where student-paced mode can come in handy!

1. Set up stations and have students work on different lessons, depending on their needs.
2. Have students pair up and work together on student-paced mode, encouraging discussion and teamwork.
3. Let students and parents work together at home. This keeps parents involved in the student’s learning and creates valuable discussion and reinforcement at home.
4. Create a flipped classroom. Students need to preview the information before coming to class to allow greater time for discussion and hands-on practice in class.

3. Lessons and Virtual Field Trips

Nearpod has a vast collection of lessons and virtual field trips that are easily shared with your students. Looking for a lesson on linear functions? Desmos has created lessons within Nearpod that can be used in your classroom with a touch of a button! Need to show seniors a college tour? The virtual field trips are ready to go with interactive questions already embedded into the slides. Nearpod has collaborated with Flocabulary, Desmos, iCivics, Newsela, and others to create amazing resources and lessons!*

*Some of these lessons cost money, but there are plenty of free ones available.

4. Student Insight and Data

As you are presenting your Nearpod lesson, you can immediately see student responses and get feedback. If you are presenting in Live Mode, one of the features allows you to highlight and share a student’s answer with everybody in the class. This would make for great classroom discussion. After you have presented a lesson, you can see your session in the Reports tab. This makes the data easy to break down and see exactly where your students are so you can meet all of their educational needs.

Nearpod is a great resource to try out this summer and into the fall!  There are three different types of accounts with different features: free Silver, Gold, or Platinum. Have you used Nearpod?  I would love to hear how you use it in the classroom

If you are interested in more ways to use technology in your classroom, check out our posts on Pear Deck, Khan Academy, or check out all of our technology posts.

Samantha Cast has her Masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate EdTech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.

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Gimkit was created by a high school student for students. Using multiple choice questions, students have to answer correctly to make money. With the money they make, they can spend it on power-ups and upgrades to make them the dominant player in the class.

GimKIt has generously offered readers a discount on the premium account. Please read to the end for more details. 

GIMKIT: UP YOUR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

SETTING UP GIMKIT FOR YOUR CLASS

To get started with Gimkit, you will need to set up an account. There is a free version and a paid version.

Free account:

You have access to five free kits and all core features. Unlike other paid subscriptions, this is not a 14-day or 30-day free trial. You can access your five free kits at any time!

Premium account:

You have access to unlimited kits and all core features. You can choose to pay monthly or be billed annually, and they also have a bulk discount option for an entire campus.

To create a kit, you can choose to make one from scratch, or you can import from Quizlet or a CSV file. When you create a kit from scratch, you can upload an image to go along with your question.

If you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, Gimkit makes it very easy to import the questions and answers that are already in Quizlet. You can also search for Quizlets from other teachers and import a premade Quizlet! Once you have made your questions or imported from Quizlet or a CVS file, add a fun .gif for your title page, and your kit is created!

PLAYING GIMKIT

Students have to answer the questions correctly to earn “money.”  Each right answer equals $1 in their bank. As the students answer more and more questions, their money starts to accumulate.

They can spend their money in the shop on power ups and upgrades.  The upgrades help multiply their money at a faster rate, while the power ups can be used to slow down other players.

To be successful at this game, not only does the student need to answer the questions correctly, but they also need to multiply their money as quickly as possible.

VARIATIONS OF THE GAME

What I love about Gimkit is that you can set parameters to meet your needs.

• If you only have 10 minutes to play?  No problem! Create a time limit on the game.
• Have the class to work together!  Create a class goal to reach a certain amount of “money.”
• Have the students compete against one another and race to make the most money!

FUN TIPS with Gimkit

• You can give students money to start with so they can spend it at the shop right away. Or, you can have them earn every dollar they need!  I typically give the students $50 starting cash and watch those numbers grow as they gain upgrades and answer questions correctly.
• Try starting the game with $1,000 cash.  It’s fun to see how high the students can get that number!  One of my students reached one million dollars after 15 minutes!
• Play the game in Team Mode.  Students have to work together as a team to accumulate money.
• Play with your students! They will love to see your name on the board as you earn and spend money.  It’s not as easy as you think to get first place!
• Set up a class in Gimkit and assign it for homework.  Students will be able to study at home on their own time as many times as they need!

Instead of dreaming of summer, your students will love to play Gimkit!  Give it a try and turn your classroom into a fun game show review game!  

We reached out to Gimkit and they graciously offered a 10% discount on a premium account. In order to take advantage of the discount:

1. Sign up for a free account
2. Email hello@gimkit.com with the code MIDDLE in subject line
3. Upgrade after discount has been applied

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher.  As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom.  You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.

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Pear Deck has generously offered readers an extended trial on the premium account. Please read to the end for more details. 

5 WAYS TO USE PEAR DECK IN YOUR CLASSROOM

1. USE GOOGLE SLIDES TO CREATE YOUR PEAR DECK

Pear Deck works seamlessly with Google Suites for Education. Slideshows are designed on Google Slides. It is easy to add the Pear Deck Google Add-On, and that gives you access to all of the templates and types of slides. If you already have Google Slides created, you can convert the slides to a Pear Deck with a touch of a button.

2. EMBED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS AND RECEIVE IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK

Pear Deck has so many options to make your presentation interactive! From the Google Add-On, you can import Pear Deck templates or use your own slides. There are some great templates, including bell ringers, formative assessments, charts, graphs, mental check-ins, exit tickets, and more.

You can also use your own slide and change it to a drawing slide (my personal favorite so students can take notes), multiple choice questions, short answers, and even a draggable slide. They also have critical thinking slides that will challenge your students to really think about what they are learning.

Check out this post from the Pear Deck blog for ways to use the different templates in the Math classroom!

3. CHECK YOUR STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN REAL TIME

In a class of 30 or more, it can be tricky to make sure all students are on-task. What I love about Pear Deck is the teacher dashboard, where I can see my students’ screens. I can see the annotations they are writing on the screen, their responses to the questions I’ve embedded, and when they go “inactive” or get off of the website.

How I do this is my classroom

I use two devices when using Pear Deck. On my iPad, I have the teacher dashboard on my screen.

• With my iPad, I can walk around the classroom and see my students’ annotations and responses in real time! I can also advance the slides forward or backward right from the teacher dashboard.
• From my desktop, I have the presentation screen displayed on the board with a projector.

4. SHARE THE LESSON EASILY WITH STUDENTS

When you are finished with the lesson, you can choose to “Publish Takeaways.” This action will create a copy of the Pear Deck in each student’s Google Drive with the original presentation and a copy of their notes and responses.

This is great for students who want to review what they learned in class and see any notes that they made. It can also be a great tool to share with parents so they, too, can be actively involved in the student’s learning.

5. INCREASE RIGOR AND DEEPEN LEARNING

When I first began teaching History, I was given a jump drive with PowerPoints and fill-in-the blank notes from the previous teacher.

Then, we moved to a 1:1 campus and my students had these amazing iPads, but I was at a loss of what to do with them. I would have the students use the iPad to take notes instead of paper, but at the end of the day, I was just using the technology provided but kept the class completely the same. Students were bored, and I was boring! Something had to change.

When I found Pear Deck, I was able to transform the way I taught my class. Instead of passing out notes, my students joined Pear Deck. They were brought into the lesson in a whole new way. I would embed questions and videos to keep them engaged along the way. I wouldn’t forget to ask higher-level thinking questions during the lesson, and it was easier to reign in off-task behavior because I had the freedom to move around the room.

Every student now had a voice and was able to make connections to the lesson that they were missing before. Plus, students loved it when I displayed their answers on the board, and they would compete to have the very best (or the most comical) answers. It truly changed the way I introduced new concepts to my students.

Have you tried Pear Deck?  I would love to know what you think and how you use it!

Note: Pear Deck has both a free and a paid Premium plan, but all of the features are available during the 30-day free trial. The teacher dashboard, drawable slides, publishing takeaways, and the drag-and-drop option are on the Premium plan, while the other features mentioned are a part of the free plan. I started with the free version and taught a few lessons during the 30-day trial. My students and I loved it so much that my Admin decided to buy the Premium plan for the next school year for our campus. It would also make a great gift from PTO!

We reached out to Pear Deck and they graciously offered to extend the trail to a 60-day free trial for the premium subscription.  No credit card required.  Just try it out and see if you like it!  

Samantha Cast has her masters in Digital Learning and is a Texas History teacher. As a digital enthusiast, she is always finding new ways to incorporate Ed Tech into her classroom. You can find her on Twitter at @mrscast.  

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Teacher Takeaways from a Year with Scholastic

By far, the biggest takeaway was my ability to reach reluctant readers.

We have all had reluctant readers.  No matter the subject matter, these students are nervous to read aloud and if they’re not being monitored, will stare at the same page just hoping to “look” like they are reading.  But as adults we know the advantage, joy, and creativity that comes from loving to read.  So, when Scholastic offered to send our grade level team a classroom subscription (30 copies), the answer was a clear, “YES!”

Using Scholastic Magazines to Reach Reluctant Readers

My middle schoolers loved the relevant articles and engaging topics.  From Junior Scholastic article titled You Are Being Watched (students read about how marketers track what consumers do online so they can create specific ads tailored to them) to Choices article Not Fit for Human Consumption (students learned about the dangers of synthetic drugs), students enjoyed reading full-color articles with interesting graphs, images, and puzzles.  The topics were relevant to preteens, and the reading level was a great fit for my classes!

Here are a few ways that my colleagues used the magazines in their classrooms to reach reluctant readers and as part of their lessons.

“I used an article from Junior Scholastic when teaching my End-of-Unit Writing Tasks about the right to bear arms. The students were able to successfully cite two major pieces of evidence in their papers taken from the article. You could tell the magazine gave them the confidence boost they needed to make their essays sound and appear stronger. I was very grateful to have such an interesting tool to share with my students.”

-7th Grade Writing Teacher

“Scholastic Magazines were a perfect solution during my school’s campus wide Drop Everything and Read time. Once a week for thirty minutes, students were expected to read. For reluctant readers, this was a very challenging time. Then, I started using Scholastic Choices magazines for the students who were pretending to read or who didn’t have a book. Those students became some of my most invested readers. They devoured the magazines and then had questions for me about the content. I loved how the teacher guide provided questions and discussion topics for the different articles.

I think the best part was that the Choices magazines addressed issues that were specific to their lives, which kept them invested in reading. I was thrilled to see students read for pleasure with so much enthusiasm.”

-6th Grade Math Teacher

“Science World magazines were engaging for my students – they were so excited to receive new issues!  The articles sparked many interesting conversations, and I loved seeing students making connections between the current events featured in the articles and our classroom content.”

-6th Grade Science Teacher

As the year went on, students became familiar with the structure of the magazines, learned from the colorful infographics, and became much more comfortable with non-fiction text.  In a day and age when many non-fiction sources are biased or are on topics that don’t appeal to a preteen, it was awesome to see students engaged (and learning) from a reliable source.

If you want more information on all that is included in a classroom subscription, then check out this post! 

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9+ Extension Ideas for Early Finishers

1. Scholastic Magazines

Having a subscription to Scholastic Magazines can be super helpful when it comes to engaging your students with new information that they are interested in.  The articles are high-interest and written with a middle school student in mind.  I like how they can open a student’s worldview and perspective by piquing their interest with different concepts that aren’t frequently discussed in school.  Honey bees, current movies like A Wrinkle in Time, the Girl Scouts, and icebergs are just a few intriguing topics to learn about!  Students loved the following:

• “The Long Fight Over Immigration” from Junior Scholastic addresses immigration from a historic standpoint and discusses the recent debate over DREAMers and ideas for reform.  Students loved the political cartoon, the timeline graphic, and the map of origin, which are great non-fiction text structures to discuss!
• “Does Technology Make Us Lonely?” from Scholastic Choices brings up the way communication has changed over time and how it has impacted our ability to connect with each other.  A great topic to debate within your classes!

Want to learn more about Scholastic Magazines and their specific features? Read this post.

2. Brain Teasers

Students love brain teasers — from puzzles, to sudoku, to Brain Quest!  Keep a deck of the Brain Quest cards in your classroom, or a sudoku book from the dollar store, in an early finisher section of your classroom.  Students will use their problem-solving skills without even realizing!

3. Interactive Bulletin Boards

Interactive bulletin boards can be as complicated and intricate as you wish!  The simple version could be a set of challenge type problems that are placed in a tic-tac-toe board.  Students use a recording sheet to solve the problems and get three in a row. A more complicated version can include students using Boggle Math, where students use the numbers to create expressions and equations.  Lastly, you could extend beyond math and include character qualities with reading and reflection.

4. Math PROJECTS

If you have the same students who repeatedly finish their work early, then assigning them a project for them to work on over the course of the semester might be worthwhile. Check out our Math Projects to learn more!

5. FDP Flash Cards

Fractions, decimals, and percent conversions are such helpful concepts to have memorized.  Much like multiplication tables, they are highly useful in middle school and can make so many problems and concepts easier.  If you know that ⅛ is 12.5% and 0.125, then you have just saved yourself several minutes dividing and you have more energy to answer the question.  Use these handy cards to practice matching the equivalent forms of the numbers!

6. STEM Online

STEM and coding are very popular in education right now.  They are an excellent way to incorporate math, and they tie directly into a future profession.  Students also can see the fruit of the coding through various apps and websites.  Code.org is a great resource for those of you getting started and is designed for classrooms.  Jump on the coding bandwagon and host an Hour of Code with these great online activities that are free of charge!

7. Webquest – Aligned Extension Activity

If you have access to an iPad or a computer, then utilize the internet for students to take the skills they are learning in class and apply them to the real world.  Learning about percents? Consider asking students to research the different sales tax rates and then determine the different amounts people pay across the country based on a few specific purchases.  Learning about geometry? Consider asking students to use a floor plan tool to create a space that meets specific criteria.

8. Reflections

We know that when students reflect on their learning they are more likely to move their new learning from short-term memory to long-term memory.  By using reflections as an extension activity, we can promote that deep understanding of the concepts learned in class. Students can use simple prompts to reflect on what they have learned.  To get kids more interested, consider having them draw a picture or make a poster to display their thinking.

9. Graphic Novels

Recently, graphic novels have become increasingly popular!  I know that Brave, Spill Zone, and The Time Museum were super popular last year.  If you are new to the idea of graphic novels, then check out this post because it gives a great correlation about how graphic novels can be used to hook kids and to increase their love for reading.  

10. Listen to a Podcast

I absolutely love podcasts!  There are such a wide variety of topics available with different people’s perspectives shared.  From the environment, to storytelling, to learning a new skill, a podcast is a great way for students to continue learning about something they are interested in without interrupting others.  Check out these to get you started:

• Wow in the World from NPR
• Science Rocks
• But Why

I would love to hear other ideas that you utilize in your classroom as extensions for early finishers!  

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As I watch the news, I hear the details surrounding the school shooting that took place yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I really can’t bear to hear the sounds of terrified students and teachers, the piercing pop of the bullets, or the sirens of first responders. It’s too much.

As I scroll through social media, I see teachers and parents calling for change by asking for new legislation to keep schools safe and protect our country’s children. I see the comments devolve from the situation at hand to some sort of political debate about who is to blame. It’s not enough.

There are children who did not come home last night.

There are parents who did not come home last night.

Friends, peers, role models, teachers, parents, sisters, brothers did not come home last night.

We have to do something. And yet, no one can agree on what the “something” is. This image below (source unknown) perfectly summarizes the situation at hand. As American citizens we have several rights given to us by the Constitution of the United States, and two of them are the right to vote and the right to contact our leaders and affect change. But we can’t stop there.

Source Unknown from Instagram – please let me know if you know the original artist

We are personally responsible for our decisions as educators and parents.

To me, this epidemic seems to be the symptom of a terrible disease. Last month, my husband and I attended a weekend-long training about raising children who come from trauma. You see, we are adopting our second son from China, where he has spent his life in an orphanage.

As I sat in the training absorbing the impact that trauma has on one’s brain, development, communication, and general well-being, I couldn’t help but think about the implications of trauma in the classroom. In 2018, being a teenager is hard and while I am certified to teach math and know how to listen and cultivate relationships with students, I had never been to a training on the impact of trauma.

“TBRI® is designed for children from ‘hard places’ such as abuse, neglect, and/or trauma. Because of their histories, it is often difficult for these children to trust the loving adults in their lives, which often results in perplexing behaviors. TBRI® offers practical tools for parents, caregivers, teachers, or anyone who works with children, to see the ‘whole child’ in their care and help that child reach his highest potential.” – Dr. Karen Purvis, Trust-Based Relational Intervention

Our students are coming to us with backgrounds of trauma.

Bullying.
Divorce.
Loss of a loved one.
The foster system.
Social media pressures.
Feeling left out.
Lack of connection.

We need to be equipped.

I would like to start a dialogue about what we can personally do to affect change in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and in our country.

 1.  We can vote and contact our representatives.

As I mentioned above, that is right given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America. Do not be guilty of forsaking that right. If you aren’t sure who your local congressman is, then use this link to find their contact information.  There are several different activists groups you can join at a local and national level, as well.  Become educated on who is running for office, what they stand for, and what organizations are funding their campaigns.

2. We can cultivate a classroom culture of respect, safety, and listening first.

Our students need someone to listen, to really sit down and listen. I know that there is curriculum to teach, and standardized tests to prepare for, so it isn’t easy to set aside time to listen. We can set the tone with respectful speech, we can teach our students what that looks and sounds like, and we can make our classrooms a joyful place to belong.

3. We can cultivate an anti-bullying school culture.

Is there a clear and succinct system in place in the event a child is being bullied? Are teachers and administrators quick to take action? Is there a healing process and a rehabilitation process for students to go through? These are things to advocate for on your campus.

4. We can solicit the help of mentors, role models, and tutors.

Obviously, there are not enough hours in the day to facilitate all the recommendations, trainings, and interventions. Ask for help. In years past, I have volunteered with Kids Hope USA and been paired with an at-risk student. Mentors and students get to meet weekly for the purpose of building a relationship and being a safe person. Is there someone willing to head this up for your school? Communities in Schools, Kids Hope USA, and your local Boys and Girls Club all have great programs already in place to assist.

5. We can equip our campuses with mental health training and resources.

I can personally attest to TBRI and the resources they provide. Additionally, they offer a training called TBRI and Trauma Informed Classrooms which is specific to educators.

“Children from ‘hard places’ have changes in their brains, bodies, and behavior. They must feel safe in order to access their whole brain so that it is responsive for learning.” -TBRI and Trauma Informed Classrooms

6. We can parent our children with boundaries.

As a mom, I can provide boundaries and have discussions about why they exist. I can put down my phone and have a conversation face-to-face. I can listen without judgement and instruct from a place of experience.  I can provide a safe place at the dinner table where my son knows that he is loved and that he belongs.  I can teach him how to care for others, to look out for those who need a friend, and to be inclusive on the playground.

I would like to make this a place where ideas are shared that will affect change in our classrooms, communities, and country. I would love to hear actionable ideas and resources in the comments below.

If you would like to start a political debate, then please click to your personal Facebook page and begin there.  This is a place where we can discuss how we can individually affect change. I will affect change. Will you?

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Read more to find out how to enter to win a Scholastic Magazine classroom subscription to the magazine of your choice for the 2017/18 school year!   Update:  The winner is Nancy S.  Thanks so much for participating!

Scholastic Magazines for Middle School

This post is sponsored by Scholastic Magazines. When they reached out to partner for the school year, I was thrilled! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

At the end of the summer, Scholastic generously offered a full year magazine subscription to one of my readers.  It was incredible to see the interest in the classroom subscriptions, as well as to see how many readers have used the magazines in the past.  Many commented that students were engaged and enjoyed the real-world connection.  From firsthand experience, I have seen students read about current events and ask questions about what is going on in the news, which, for a 12-year-old, is pretty awesome!

To Which Content Areas Does This Apply?

I think most teachers are surprised to hear that Scholastic Magazines not only cover all content areas but that they also have resources for middle school.

• ELA – Scholastic Scope
• Math – Scholastic MATH
• Science – Science World
• Social Studies – Junior Scholastic (current events) or New York Times Upfront (grades 9-12)

Mrs. Brack allowed students to read the classroom magazines as an incentive to early finishers.

Scholastic Choices

There are two unique magazines that I can see having great benefit in middle school.  The first of these is Scholastic Choices, which is a health, social-emotional learning, and life skills magazine for teens.  Middle school students are facing more and more pressure, stress, and social situations that they are not necessarily well equipped to handle.

As teachers, we teach the whole student, not just the curriculum.  Oftentimes, this means addressing character – from treating others with kindness, to stepping away from situations, to managing time and responsibilities.

The Scholastic Choices magazine is a great way to introduce these hard topics in an empowering way.  I see this being beneficial in an advisory/homeroom period to provide a balance to academics.

Scholastic Action

My ELA counterparts would often struggle to find reading material for lower-level readers.  The text was either too young-looking or written at too high of a level, or it was just plain boring.  Scholastic Action is the second magazine that I think has a great benefit for middle school, and it is a great solution for engaging struggling readers.  This would be a great way to differentiate for English Language Learners, as well.

Print Features

When your Scholastic Magazines arrive on campus, they will be delivered straight to your classroom as a class set of magazines and a teacher’s guide.

The teacher’s guide provides alignment to standards, guiding questions, and even shows you the online resources that correspond with each article.  I love how Scholastic Scope provides a Lexile reading level, essential questions, and learning objectives.  Who doesn’t love a well-thought-out lesson that is ready to go?

Online Features

When I learned that Scholastic offers online features, I was super impressed!  It seems like a hidden gem that is a great toolbox from which to pull ideas and resources.

• Back Issues – I love how the online resource provides backdated articles! It acts as a library of resources that are then organized by topic/standard.
• Videos – There are highly engaging videos that could act as a hook or even as a discussion starter.
• Online Articles – If your classroom is 1:1, or if you are looking for ways to incorporate technology, then the articles are available in a digital format, where students can open the magazine view and see everything on their screen. The features even include annotations, like highlighting and adding notes.  I totally see this working as a whole-class discussion, as well!
• Skill Sheets – In the math library, there are quick one-page skill sheets that correspond with topics. I see this being a great resource for parents and students at home.

Ideas for Using Scholastic Magazines

1. Homeroom

I already talked about this a bit, but homeroom can be a struggle. Sometimes it is intended to be a study hall; sometimes it becomes just a time for students to socialize. More often than not, if you don’t have a plan for homeroom, then you are going to be up a creek by October.  Scholastic Magazines can provide an engaging alternative to homeroom.

2. Lesson Hooks

In math it can be difficult to find super relevant hooks/videos that show how the math that students are learning is applied later. I really love how Scholastic MATH has brought that to life.  In a recent issue, they discussed rate and speed of a zip line – talk about creative!

3. Informational Text

This week I was chatting with my friend Kristen about all the incredible things she is doing in her classroom. Because, when teachers get together, it’s inevitable.  One of the things she mentioned was her team’s desire to incorporate more and more non-fiction texts.  It can be challenging to find non-fiction texts that are on the right level and that are interesting.  I love that each issue provides students that opportunity to engage with non-fiction text.

Hopefully, this gave you a good idea of what to expect from a Scholastic Magazines subscription.  I would love to hear from those of you who have benefited from using them in your classroom.

Scholastic has generously offered another classroom subscription to one of our readers.  Simply comment below sharing an idea for how you might utilize the magazine in your classroom.  Update:  The winner is Nancy S.  Thanks so much for participating!   You can still sign up here to receive a free 30 day trial for the Choices magazine!

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DONOR’S CHOOSE IDEAS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL

1. Scholastic Magazines

Scholastic magazines are the gift that keeps on giving!  You might be familiar with their book fairs or the incredible “trinkets” they come up with each year, but you might not know that Scholastic offers resources for middle school students, too!  Their Classroom Magazines are engaging, high-interest, and relevant for middle school students. Each magazine will be delivered to your classroom alongside teacher guides to help you integrate the content into your classroom.  They also provide online tools like videos that could be used as lesson hooks, texts with multiple reading levels (or the audio read-alouds version) and engaging review games.  I never taught ELA, but I totally see this as a huge win for differentiating.

I personally love how each content area has its own magazine!  I mean no more searching for math graphs or real-life application.  No more, “will I ever use this” questions.  #winning

These magazines are perfect for Donor’s Choose because they are a great price point and often can be matched with various codes.  I am also so excited because Scholastic is giving away one free classroom subscription to the magazine of your choice for the 2017/18 school year!  Go to my Facebook page to take part in the giveaway!

This post is sponsored by Scholastic Magazines.  When they reached out to partner for the school year, I was thrilled!  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2. Classroom Library

When you first think about a classroom library, you might think about an English class.  But, what if every classroom had a library?  What if students could go from room to room and see a variety of books?  That would be awesome!

I will admit that I had a very modest library which consisted of some donated books.  In retrospect, I would love to have had a cozy corner with some popular books or magazines for students to read during tutorials, homeroom, or as an early finisher activity.  Donor’s Choose is a great way to make that cozy area happen.  From bookshelves on Amazon to physical books to book bins for organization, I think we can all agree that making reading accessible and interesting is a win-win.

3. Games

Board games might be a lost art!  Middle schoolers love technology so much that it is possible that they have lost the art of basic problem solving and competition while playing board games.  Let’s bring back the board games!

Teamwork, collaboration, problem solving, and fun are all benefits of board games.  I used “problem solving days” as class rewards, thanks to Mrs. Bennet’s awesome idea!  A few favorites and easy to finish within a class period include:

• Hedbanz – hilarious
• Bananagrams – good for older kids
• Connect Four – always a favorite
• Monopoly Deal – not to be confused with the never-ending Monopoly
• Jenga – this one is always the first to be picked, warning: its loud
• Uno – great for larger groups
• Sorry – oldie but goodie

4. Technology

A popular choice for Donor’s Choose projects are technology related.  I will warn you that sometimes this can get tricky with schools and districts.  For example, the technology might not be upgraded later or they may not be able to provide tech support.  So, proceed with caution.

Just from browsing the site, I can see that iPads and Chromebooks seem to be a favorite request.  But don’t forget to think outside of the box!  Don’t have an interactive whiteboard?  A Mimeo is an affordable alternative.  Looking to promote a healthy lifestyle?  Consider a class set of Fitbits.  Wanting to incorporate technology as a station?  You might benefit from headphones.

Also, don’t forget there are helpful technology storage options that will make your life easier and provide a way to keep the technology safe and long-lasting.

5. Field Trips

In middle school, it is a rare occurrence that students can attend field trips.  They can be costly and conflict with standardized testing.  However, an experience is something we remember and can impact our life for years to come.  Also, while the tickets to said experience might be decently affordable, often it is the transportation costs that can really add up.

A few ideas to consider:

• A local museum
• A movie to see a novel that the class read
• A trip to volunteer at a local food bank
• A tour of a local community college

6. Small Group Materials

If you have been reading the blog for any number of months, you know how much I am a fan of small groups.  So, think about how you can use Donor’s Choose to fund some of those small group materials.  It might be that kidney bean or dry erase table you have been eyeing, or sets of manipulatives to use during small group time.

Donor’s Choose is an awesome way to get other people invested in your classroom, both monetarily (because they donate), but also because they get to see what you are doing and how you are impacting students.

Don’t forget, if you want to win a Scholastic Magazines Subscription be sure to check out my Facebook page and enter before 8/18.

If you are looking to get a project funded, don’t forget to share on Facebook, share on Instagram, send an email to the parents in your classroom, and watch for matching codes.

Finally, if you have any other Donor’s Choose Ideas for Middle School, I would love to hear about it in the comments!

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Today, is week five of the collaborative blog series with Erin from Mrs. Beers Language Arts Class.  She wrote five awesome homeroom ideas.

Here are quick links to the last four weeks:

• Week 1: 10-Things Middle Schoolers Want You to Know
• Week 2: 15-More Must Teach Routines for the Middle School Classroom
• Week 3: Quick Strategies for Engagement and Assessment
• Week 4: Handling Middle School Conflict

HOMEROOM IDEA #1: Community Service Projects

No matter what community you live in, students benefit greatly when they are working toward a common goal and helping others. At the start of the school year, use the first week to let students brainstorm ways to work together to help others in the community. You will be amazed at what students come up with…

• Clothing drive (anytime)
• Canned/Boxed food drive (anytime)
• Penny drive (anytime)
• Blanket drive (fall/winter)
• Hats and gloves drive (fall/winter months)
• Sincere Thought Cards for Seniors (anytime)
• Valentine’s for Veterans (February)

Often times we leave community service work to student council and leadership groups when ALL students feel good helping others and making a positive impact. Decide which projects would be the most beneficial around your community and let students get to work. Some of the logistics will fall on teacher shoulders, so be aware of delivery/pick-up procedures and postage costs. A community service project once a quarter will truly bring your students together working toward a common positive goal.

Click over to read the other great homeroom ideas that Erin shares!

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CONFESSIONS OF AN END OF YEAR TEACHER

This year has been hard.  This group of students hit puberty collectively earlier than my last couple of groups, so I was NOT PREPARED.  How do 7th grade teachers do it?  They are not paid enough to deal with all the giggling.  Bless them.

I am going to be real here for a second and admit what most teachers would be ashamed to say.  My expectations are exceedingly lower than they were in August.  Shall we compare?

August teacher asked all students sit up straight, pencils in hand, and follow along with the class. End of year teacher considers no one visibly asleep in class a success.  Sleeping with your eyes open is impressive and allowed.  August teacher required students to write their full heading on every single piece of paper. End of year teacher is fine with Jose C. writing a J followed by a scribble that looks like it could be a C.  Whatever works, JC.  

Today as I was checking homework, I could not stand to hear one more student tell me that they didn’t have it.  By my last class, I didn’t even ask students to get it out to check because I just could not watch the bad acting.

“Where is your homework?”

(Pause to watch student ruffle through her backpack and look around her desk – CLEARLY, FAKING IT)

“I did it.  I must have left it at home. I will bring it tomorrow.”

Why don’t you just tell me that you did not do it and don’t plan on ever doing it until I call home and arrange for you to stay after school to do it with me because that it how it has gone all year? WHY DO WE CONTINUE WITH THE CHARADES?!

The state of my classroom has changed too. My pencil cup has seen better days.  I ran out of pencils in October.  It has now been reduced to storage for trash since the trash can is all the way on the other side of the room.  Students without pencils? You. are. out. of. luck.  You only have a highlighter? Great. 

This was what my desk looked like at the beginning of the school year.

Now it looks like this.  It’s not terrible, but notice all of the water bottles.  Who would have thought that the most confiscated item this year would be water bottles?

Speaking of things that have seen better days, here is my restroom pass.  I thought I would document just how far it has gone.  In case it is unclear, the top restroom pass needed to be replaced.  The bottom is the replacement.

A couple of months ago, my school launched a gratitude campaign.  This response was the one that I photographed, but there were HUNDREDS of responses in which students wrote that they were grateful for their teachers.

It reminded me how much I have to be grateful for in my classroom and with my students.  And even though I am counting down the hours until I wave goodbye to students for the summer, I am pretty darn grateful for my students and the privilege it is to teach, gray hairs and all. 

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TIPS FOR CREATING SEATING CHARTS for middle school

In a perfect world, all students would be successful no matter where they were sitting in your classroom.  We don’t live in a perfect world or teach in perfect classrooms, so we have to be proactive in creating seating charts to set students up for success.

Why Should You Have a Seating Chart

You must have seating charts for middle school on day one.  Students need to see that you are prepared, and that you aren’t willing to waste a minute of time in your classroom.  It is much easier to give freedom gradually (like giving them a reward of seat choice) than to try to tighten things up after your class has gotten a little wild (because they can sit wherever they want).

It also helps students who are new or uncomfortable to feel more confident about walking into class and not worrying about where to sit.  I mean they already have to do this at lunch.   

My recommendation is to have students sit in alphabetical order; this way you can learn names a little faster as you take roll for the first week or so, and it requires little effort on your part.  Noelle always used a deck of cards.  She would tape a card to the various desks and then pass out matching cards at the door.  Some teachers allow students to sit wherever they want for a couple of days to see who they can or can’t be with.  These teachers clearly have a higher level of calm and patience than I do, seeing as it would likely give me a heart attack.

Creating the Seating Chart with Students in Mind

Here are the thoughts that I think about when I create a new seating chart.

1. Students with IEPs and 504s that receive preferential seating are the students that I place on my seating chart first.  I have less flexibility with where their seats can go, so it is easiest to write them down first.
2. I used to place students who struggled with behavior in the front of the classroom without much thought.  What I realized is that I am not usually standing in the front of my classroom. I am usually moving through the aisles.  Proximity wasn’t working because they were not that close to me.  For behavior needs that are attention seeking, consider what/where students are facing and how much of an audience they might have.  This also works with talkative students.  Obviously, best friends shouldn’t be at the same table or next to each other but make sure that they are also not facing each other from across the room. 
3. For academic needs that are not relating to an IEP or a 504, I like to place those students where I can see the entire classroom when I go to check on them.  This is usually in the outside aisle spaces or near the front.  
4. My students sit in tables of four.  I put higher need students on the aisles (where it is easier for me to get to them) and higher students on the inside (because I check in with them less).  I try to make sure that each high student is partnered with a student who can use additional peer support.
5. Then, I color code students based on their support need, so at a quick glance, I remember to check in with Student C, D, E, and F.

Easiest Way to Create a Seating Chart

Too many times I have been assigning new seats when I realize at the end that I forgot a student or two and have the same student in two different places.  Not anymore!  The best time to create a new seating chart is when students are taking a test.  You have to monitor anyway, and this allows you to see your students and classroom in context.  

After I finish creating the seating chart, I read the seating chart aloud and ask for students to raise their hand if I said their name twice or not at all.  Then, I can go back and make changes before I actually have students move seats, and I am not doing it on the fly. (Always use a pencil!)

I have tried other methods like crossing names off a list, but this saves me my planning period time.  One other thing that I have found helpful is to have a very mature student check the seating chart for any oversights. I confess that I don’t know that Student A and Student B just broke up, so I probably should move them away from each other to prevent any drama from entering the classroom.  

*Breaking news: According to Noelle, creating a seating chart in PowerPoint as a shape means that you can just move the students’ names around.  I still prefer paper and pencil.

I have had some serious seating chart fails over the course of time that I have been teaching, so remember that seating charts are not permanent.  At any time you can move one student or multiple students.  Do you have any tips or tricks for creating seating charts for middle school?

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The best analogy I have heard lately about work-life balance is to think of it as a pendulum.  At various points throughout your career you will be more consumed by work than life and vice versa.  The true challenge is to recognize that there is no perfect solution, but if you aren’t striving to maintain a balance it is easy to be consumed 24/7 by teaching.  

These four strategies have been helpful as I have struggled to attain a happy medium between the two.

Work life balance for teachers

1. Make the Most of Your Work Time

The bell has rung, students are dismissed, and you are exhausted whether it be the end of the day or the start of your planning period.   You putter around your classroom aimlessly or chat with your coworkers!  We have all been there.  

To combat this waste of time, have a plan for your planning period.  Sit down and make a to do list of what you need to complete before your next class.  

I assign a task for every day, so that I can maximize my time.

• Mondays – Grading (because grades are due on Tuesday)
• Tuesday – Planning for the next week
• Wednesday – Answer keys for what I planned
• Thursday – Copies for the next week
• Friday – Everything else/other deadlines

Additionally, know your most productive times and maximize what you can get accomplished.   I leave my most mindless tasks for the end of the day because my brain is fried.  I am the most fresh in the morning, so that is when I knock out my planning.

2. Make Life a Priority

If you keep bringing your work home, you will keep doing work at home.  I know that I work much slower at home.  

Grading in front of the TV?  That’s a great way to make a 30 minute grading task turn into a 3 hour grading task.  At home, you are distracted and things take 10 times longer.  

Yes, it is nicer to be in the comfort of your home, but home should be for relaxing.  Don’t leave school until you have accomplished everything you need for the next day.  If you are tempted to work at home, then leave your laptop at school.

My first year of teaching I chose to work when I was home because it gave me a sense of control in a chaotic year.  I “worked” but did not accomplish much of anything.

I was not making life outside of school a priority.  I was too busy (with school) and too tired to make any commitments to my social life or health.  It wasn’t until I joined a small group and made some friends that I began to put restraints on my time spent working.

3. Say No Thank You

This month’s Real Simple magazine’s front cover broaches this topic.    Saying no or simply not volunteering to do more work when it is presented is challenging.  We feel bad and just want to help.  Plus, there is always a need for a committee leader, team leader, field trip organizer, etc.  

Saying no is perfectly healthy because it means you have boundaries.  If you want to maintain balance in your work and your life, then you must be comfortable saying no.  You shouldn’t  say no to everything, but before you say yes, evaluate your schedule and circumstances.  

“I can’t help with _________ right now, but please ask me next time you need __________.”

I recently heard a statement that really resonated.  “No is a complete sentence”.  So, often we feel this need to justify our response.

Sometimes, “No, thank you.  I appreciate you thinking of me” is a perfectly acceptable response.

4. Understand that the balance will take time

This is my fifth year as a teacher, and the first year that I have not brought any work home.  Over time you become more comfortable with your curriculum, the processes at your school, and more confident in your classroom management, which all save you time and energy.  

According to this Washington Post article, teachers spend on average 53 hours a week working. There was a time when I would have said that 53 hours seems like a vacation!  

You will not achieve balance if you don’t even know how much time you are spent working to begin with.  Like someone who is trying to lose weight, start tracking how much time you are working daily.  Make it a goal to work a little bit less each week. 

I use timers for my students to move faster, and it has the same effect for me too.  I set my timer for any task if I want to stay focused, and it keeps me motivated to finish.  

Whether you are in your first or twentieth year, in order to have balance, you must be taking steps to in the direction of balance. To start off the new year, commit to spending a couple hours less working in each week.  You can do it!

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I know that classroom management can be a point of tension, especially at this point in the year. So, I wanted to seek out some books that might be a helpful resource for those of you looking to shake up your classroom management.  Or at least provide a few new ideas to browse and try in your classroom.

I love recommending and reading books. Charlie Jones says, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”  True confession, I actually struggle to actually sit down and read books but I love listening! I subscribe to Audible and am able to listen to several books while I drive, do laundry, cook dinner, etc.

5 classroom management books for middle school

Better Than Carrots and Sticks

Longtime educators and best-selling authors Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey provide a practical blueprint for creating a cooperative and respectful classroom climate in which students and teachers work through behavioral issues together. After a comprehensive overview of the roots of the restorative practices movement in schools, the authors explain how to:

• Establish procedures and expectations for student behavior that encourage the development of positive interpersonal skills;
• Develop a nonconfrontational rapport with even the most challenging students; and
• Implement conflict resolution strategies that prioritize relationship building and mutual understanding.

Classroom Management in the Digital Age

Don’t fear the devices! In the willing teacher’s hands, this is a new and welcome age to harness for exponential learning.

Update your own operating system for the digital age by:

• Getting attention from those device focused faces
• Establishing procedures for daily class routines that harness the power of technology tools
• Cultivating a culture of student ownership and responsibility
• Developing routines that increase on-task behavior and lessen teacher anxiety

• Communicating with parents on best practices and consistent school to home behaviors
• Decreasing distraction with simple, helpful tips
• Letting go of being the expert and taking charge by partnering in learning

The First Year Teacher’s Survival Guide

I would love to hear what other classroom management books you have read and enjoyed.  It seems as though finding ideas specific to middle school can be tricky.

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Though not ideal, as teachers, we play the hand we’re dealt which means it is now my job to make sure that these students are successful.  You cannot control where they came from, but you can control where they are going.  

The question now is: how do we teach a class of students who are on such different levels in their math journey?  I have outlined a couple of ways to teach in a multi-level class.  I mention Khan Academy several times, so if you are looking to start using it in the classroom check out these tips.

*Note – This is not an exhaustive list of ways to scaffold or differentiate instruction.  These ideas also apply to working with above level students with some minor modifications.  

How to Teach a Multi-Level Class

Idea 1 – Reteaching to Below Level Students

Break students into two groups.  Create homogeneous groups – one group of students who are on level or close to being on level and one group of students who are below grade level.  

*Note 2 : Anytime you are splitting middle school age students up, make sure you have the groups already decided.  In addition, make sure the names of students and which group they are in is visible to the students – I would create a slide to project.  There is no need to read them off.  This will save you time and from answering “which group am I in?” approximately 987 times.

*Note 3: If you are not a math teacher, I have seen teachers use these same rotations with iStation or quizlet instead of Khan academy.

Rotation 1: On level students are on Khan academy or work that they can complete without any help from you. You might even assign them a skill (on Khan Academy) that they have not learned, but is coming up in the coursework, so that by previewing the material, they will be more prepared and even helpful to other students.

Below level students are receiving instruction either in an entirely new way, or by using models to make the math more concrete.  I usually pick a topic that I think would benefit the most students since I am not able to do rotations every day.  

I ask myself questions like:

• What is imperative that they understand in real life?  
• What will help them the most when they go on to the next grade level?  
• What skills are readiness standards verses supporting standards for my state test?  

For example, if we have been working on integer operations (they will use this skill for the rest of math/ it definitely is something that you will use in the real world/and it is major work in sixth grade), we might use counters or number line strips. I would also make the lesson super bite sized, so I would break down integer operations to just adding integers.

Rotation 2: On level students will move to an extension activity– like hands-on activities, performance tasks, or creating assessment questions. I usually pick an activity that they are familiar with, thus minimizing the need for more directions.

Below level students will move to Khan academy where they will practice the skill that I just retaught.  If I don’t have access to computers that day, then students will continue working on that skill using the manipulatives from rotation 1, but with less help from me. They will complete a 4 question exit ticket before leaving class that day, so I can see the progress that is being made.  Before the exit ticket though and if the class is still functioning with little chaos, I might pull a small group for students who are still struggling.

Why It Works:  Sometimes when I am reteaching material, I will still only call on the students with their hands in the air.  These students got it the first time!  These students will also look bored, and I feel like I need to move on.  Not only am I not serving the students who needed to be retaught, I am wasting class time.  This idea forces me to slow down and just teach the students who need it.

Idea 2 – Use Push In Assistance

Coordinate with your SPED teacher.  If you have a class of students, most likely you have a couple of students who are in special education.  Typically, these students IEP’s require some push in time by their SPED teacher, so use rotations on a day you know she/he will be available to you.  

This is great because it is awesome to have additional teacher presence, but also because you can group your SPED students together, and the SPED teacher can travel with them to every activity.  This will make you more available to students who struggle but are not in Special Education.  When there are two teachers in the room, 3 rotations are doable.  I would do 3 rotations: skill practice (on or off technology), reteach or mini lesson, and game/activity in partners.

Idea 3 – Utilize a Block Class Period

This idea is pretty perfect for a block class period.  You need at least 90 minutes to execute this rotation.  My coteacher taught me this method when I taught high school students in California.  Shout out, Ms. Mease!  This rotation is a normal lesson cycle – new learning, activity, and exit ticket.  We would split the class in two groups.  We were flexible on how we did the groups.  Sometimes, if we thought the material was going to be really challenging then we created homogeneous groups so that we could go slower with one group, but you could also create heterogeneous groups too since the material is new.

Rotation 1: Half of the students are working on Khan academy. This group needs to know exactly what they are working on, so make sure that you assign them recommendations.  Because desks were in rows, students would turn their desks around, so you can see their computer screen from the front of the classroom.  Half of the students are learning new material from you.  The half that is with you will transition to classwork and eventually to an exit ticket.  We would spend about 45 minutes in a group.

Rotation 2: Students will switch.  Make sure to allow time for the group of computers to move desks back to the proper position and put away computers before dismissal.

Why It Works:  It allows for a smaller students to teacher ratio.  With only half of the class receiving instruction, students are able to ask more questions and you are able to tailor your instruction to fewer students.  Students like technology, so they are invested, and allowing students to listen to music is a great incentive that they can earn.  Lastly, it breaks up a block class period and it will go by faster for both you and the students.

Differentiating instruction for multi level students is a practice that many experienced teachers are still working on.  And remember, rotations are only effective if you have establish strong routines and procedures for them.  Have students practice getting up and moving to the next rotation silently and quickly.  Also, make sure to utilize a timer!  Time WILL get away from you.

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In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, he conducts research from classroom teachers around the country as well as a study of a school district over several years.  The bottom line of his findings is that classes can be too small or too large. For more details, see this article.  Since I rarely hear teachers asking for more students to be added to a class,  I am going to focus on tips for managing large classes.

Tips for Managing Large Classes

1. Maintain high expectations but be reasonable

In order for a large class to function, it is important for you to maintain the same high expectations you would for a ‘normal’ sized class.  If you ask them to do something a certain way, make sure that they do. Ask them to do it again if it has not been done to your satisfaction.   It is even more critical in large classes that your expectations be met.  However, certain procedures will take longer.  It is going to take longer to check homework.  It is going to take longer for station activities.  It is going to take longer to instruct because you are answering more questions.  

Think of ways to maximize your time, so that class time isn’t wasted.  Think: passing out papers.  Maybe students collect the papers they need for the day on the way into class, or they have already been distributed to tables for the entire day.  This will free up class time.  In my experience, I have found that it is during transitions like passing out papers that students will start talking, and I have to get their attention back wasting valuable time.

During any cooperative learning activity, it will get louder.  It can feel like students aren’t learning when they are talking (because it is so easy for them to talk about the weekend or their shoes or how to make their pen explode) but as long as the conversation is on task, 32 students talking is going to sound louder than 25 students talking. Set the expectation that you should not hear anyone’s voice above anyone else’s voice.

2. Seating charts and strategic grouping

When you have a large class, the ratio of students to teacher is higher.  Managing large classes on your own is going to be a challenge.  Teach students to utilize each other.  You cannot run around to every ‘I NEED HELP’ when there are 39 students.  I suggest creating a seating chart that spreads out the highest achieving students and/or students who lean towards being helpful.  (Sidenote: you will likely have to teach students how to be helpful.  Helpful does not mean to just give someone the answer.)  In addition, when you have seated them according to a seating chart on day 1, you will learn their names faster.

It is also important to implement a system that students have to ask three students and/or refer to their notes before asking the teacher how to do it.  I have heard this referred to as ‘three before me.’  While this may make you a bit nervous, remember that students comprehend the material, and are able to apply it at a deeper level when they can teach another.  Plus, sometimes a student needs to hear it in a different way before it sticks.  

3. Give Clear Directions and Check for Understanding

More students means more students who may not be listening to your VERY IMPORTANT directions.  Make sure directions are visible and after giving directions ask students to repeat the directions back to the class.  I would pick the student who you know will ask ‘what are we doing?’ approximately 6 seconds after you release them to work on their own.  

Converting teacher directions to student directions is just what they need.

4. Up your organization game

Because everything takes more time, you will need to be more organized or say goodbye to your Saturday mornings.  Utilize student graders.  Have a plan when it comes to what you are grading and what can get recycled.  Absent students should know what to do.  In fact, give that job to a student.  If anyone is absent, that student is responsible for collecting all the material for them.  If you have a large class, most likely you have more students willing to help.  

Has anyone gotten their rosters for this year yet?  My largest class is 29.  I’m also curious– what has been your largest class?  Any additional tips to add?

The post Tips for Managing Large Classes appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

This year I started completely fresh.  My school repaints the walls and waxes the floor during the summer, so I have to pack everything up before I leave for the summer.  This always feels like a pain, but it gives me the freedom to start completely over each year.  And for me, I love that.  Decorating my classroom is my favorite thing to do at the start of the year.  Ask any teacher in my school– I am all over middle school classroom decorations. I love them so much I made my own. You can get them here and check out all of the details of our new Middle School Math Word Wall.

Update 7/28/2023: Maneuvering the Middle now has a Middle School Math + Algebra 1 Word Wall.

As you can see in the video below, our Word Wall includes 190 essential math terms, their clear-cut definitions, and their visual representations.

We’ve included Spanish translations for all terms and definitions, ensuring a supportive and accessible learning experience for English Language Learners.

They were designed to be minimal prep and flexible to customize the formatting to suit your students’ unique needs.

Here is what my classroom looked like when we started.  Heaping piles of boxes and furniture? Check.  Sad and in need of color? Check.  Wonderful sister who drove 3 hours with a car full of items she bought for my classroom?  Check.

Here is the floor plan of my classroom.  Room observations: my room is tiny.  It is smaller than the other classrooms by 5 feet width wise.  However, I have large windows that look out to trees and a large field.  I have had classrooms with no windows before, so I will take all the vitamin D that I can get.  I have lots of white space that can be stapled right into.  I have also had classrooms with concrete walls, and there was nothing I could do to keep things on the wall, so I love that all I have to do in this classroom is use a stapler.

Before I start decorating, I make a plan for the space.  Where is my small group area going to be?  How are students going to enter and exit?  Where are they going to pick up handouts?  Where are students facing a majority of class?  I use those questions to guide where I might place my anchor charts, word wall, and other pertinent information.  You can see more tips on decorating your classroom here.  Then, I add it to my floor plan.

Let’s see the afters, shall we??!

It is my best classroom yet!  Alright, let me walk you around. Form follows function in my room, so although it is pretty, I spent all last year making mental lists about what would fit best and where things should go.  I am eager to see how well routines function in my new class set up.

The wall trays are a change in my room from last year.  I have used trays in the past, and they require a horizontal surface to live on. That was too much space wasted in my tiny room, so now work gets turned into the wall folders.  I have one for each class period (my classes are named after the colleges that the teaching staff attended).  This area also houses no name papers and extra homework copies.  If a student loses their homework, they do not need to ask me for an additional copy because they can help themselves.  Winning.

The RESPECT posters are an idea that my grade level chair suggested that we post.  It positively states all the behavioral expectations I have for students, so up on the wall it goes.

Growth mindset is all the rage right now, which it very well should be.  There is no subject students struggle with a fixed mindset more than in math.  Mathematical Mindsets was a summer read that had lots of research on the power of a growth mindset.  I wrote about it more in detail here.  This poster set will stay up all year!  Below, Ikea shelving holds math manipulates, teacher supplies that I don’t regularly need, and students supplies. Update: I wrote an entire post on classroom supplies from Ikea.

This is the most colorful area of the room.  I love my objective board area set up.  The homework section is high enough for every student can see it.  I have plenty of space to write one or two objectives. And my opening routine section is on point. Everything should be printed on neon card stock.  Amiright?!  Also, let us not forget about my sentence stem speech bubbles.

Here is my small group space.  It is situated right in the center of class.  At this point, you should know that I love Ikea. These stools are from Ikea and are around $5 a chair. (Update: my coworkers uses these from Amazon.) I use an Ikea cart that is on casters to wheel around me.  I have reference charts and multiplication charts in page protectors and hooked onto the cart using binder clips and rings.  The cart also holds whiteboards, markers, and erasers.  Whiteboards keep small group students engaged.  Fraction strips and tiles are on the bottom shelf.

This area of the room is where I teach my introduction to new material.  I use this whiteboard space that is taped off with washi tape to record points for each class or any missing work.  My vertical number line is from Math=Love.  Also, this eraser is a game changer.  The hand signals can be found here and is one of the routines and procedures that is a must teach for middle school.

My teacher desk area is a work in progress.  I like being able to look out the window while I work during my planning period, but it feels too available for students.  We will have to see how it goes.  You can see that my desk doesn’t have any storage, so I rely on the Ikea shelf and plastic drawers to house many things.  I think open storage keeps you more organized and clutter free, so I am a fan.  Also, loving my light box from Michaels.  You can find a similar one here.

The pockets are holding pictures that I printed out.  I grabbed the pockets at the Target dollar section too.  It is also what I used to label my supply bins.  They are amazing.  I can switch out the pictures really easily too.  I have also chosen some of my most memorable student art to hang here.  Also, the black and white picture of me teaching was a Teacher Appreciation present that my principle gave to all the teachers last year.  She hired a professional photographer to take pictures of us in action.  And the clipboard holds my rosters, but I prefer to hang it cute side face up.

Hello, word wall!  I put up new words as we learn them, and I place them under the appropriate category.  By the end of the year, this wall is completely covered.

My bulletin boards are painted navy.  They appear black in the photos.  The borders are from the Target dollar section.  I stocked up, so that I can replace them if they wear out over the course of the following years.  That is how much I love them!  I plan on posting relevant anchor charts based on our current unit on the blank center board.  My mastery trackers will go on the third board.  Our campus tracks student mastery of each state standard.  It is hard to not fill up all the bulletin board space right now, but I need space to allow my classroom to grow.  Remember, your classroom does not have to be ‘done.’ Mathematical Practice Posters are from Everybody Loves a Genius and can be downloaded here.

This board satisfies many requirements made by my school.  I must have posted grades, enduring understandings, and essential questions.  For my essential questions/enduring understandings, I write them all out for the year, separate them by unit, and stuff them all into the page protector.  Another example of batch processing saving time and energy. You can read about my Pay Day tracker here.

This area is for my advisory.  I track weekly behavior on the pay day poster and the yellow chart is where I list classroom jobs.  The Team > Individual Posters help my students verbalize which sign means ‘less than’ or ‘greater than;’ I love when classroom culture collides with math!

For those of you wondering about student work, I like to display it on the bulletin boards outside my classroom for all to see.  Alas, we have made it all around the room.  Here is my door.  The file on the door is where students pick up handouts for the day on the way into class.  If this was MTV’s Cribs, I would escort you out and wave to you as I shut the door.

See, a middle school classroom can be bright and fun!  Who is excited to get started?  Who has already started?  Who has stock piles of goodies from Target in their car?

The post Middle School Classroom Tour appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Cultivating Growth Mindset in Math

Communicate That Everyone Can Do It

A fellow math teacher has a poster in her room that says “we are all math people.”  Boom!  That is true.  Everyone is capable of learning, understanding, and believing they are strong in math.  In order for students to believe they can be successful in math, teachers must believe and communicate this fact to their students. How do we communicate this to students?  Posters on the wall are great, but what about sharing valuable research with students?  In Mathematical Mindsets, the author, Jo Boaler, cites a study that occurred over two years-

In one study, seventh grade students were given a survey to measure their mindset, then researchers followed the students over two years to monitor their mathematics achievement.  The results were dramatic, as the achievement of the students with a fixed mindset stayed constant, but the achievement of those with a growth mindset went onward and upward.

This is a great paragraph to share with your students.  My students will read this and studies similar to it, answer reflections questions, and dialogue as a class about the concept of growth mindset.

Build the Relationship

Students will work hard for teachers they like.  You will not get very far by strong arming them into doing math problems.  Sometimes it is necessary to keep them after school or tutoring or to pull from electives because they didn’t complete work or need extra support.  However, this is not something you should rely on consistently.  Here are some ways to build a relationship with these students:

• Be consistent
• Greet them, smile at them, use their name
• Cheer them on
• Emphasize growth over achievement
• Focus on the positive: A great rule of thumb – for every correction, you want to have 3 positive interactions

One year, many of my students rode the bus and arrived at school at least 30 minutes before the bell rang for breakfast.  I am a morning person and made myself available for homework help and tutorials each morning.  It just so happened that a group of eight sixth graders, with tons of potential, were there each morning for breakfast having a grand old time in the cafeteria, but would appear in class without their assignments.  My greatest pet peeve is wasting potential.  So I began setting my alarm and marching down to the cafeteria each morning.  I would ask to see completed assignments and then bring any students who had yet to complete it to my room to eat breakfast and work with my other students.  At first, this was a pain.  I was annoyed; they were annoyed.  But, soon over time, it began to be a bit of an inside joke.  They would see me coming and hold up their assignments.   On days that I had a meeting, they would ask me where I was.  They started seeing that their work had a direct impact in their learning.  They wanted to make me proud.  They began to take pride in themselves.  Was this the best strategy?  I’m not sure.  Should they have been more responsible for their learning?  Maybe.  Was it worth the two minute walk to the cafeteria each morning?  Hands down, yes.

Emphasize Growth + Celebrate Successes

Reluctant math students are usually struggling students (if not always).  That is why you must emphasize growth.  My students take benchmarks 3 times a year before they take our state standardized assessment.  When they get their results back, some of my students, will never learn their actual score.  They will only learn how many points they grew from the last benchmark.  And you better believe, I make a huge deal when there is substantial growth.  This usually involves dancing, an announcement to the whole class, and placing their name along with their growth on a bulletin board.  

It’s difficult to talk about growth and communicate the importance of learning and then be judged on an assessment that only measures the number of questions you got right and wrong.  However, by emphasizing the growth that each student made over a period of time, they are more likely to believe that they can grow their mathematical ability.

Do not give up on these students because students can sense when you have.  Push them, encourage them, celebrate with them, and do not settle for anything less than their potential.  If you have more ideas, please share in the comments below.  This is an area that I know is tough to master and we need all the help we can get.  How have you had success in cultivating a growth mindset?

The post How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset in Math appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

As you prepare for your new year, I hope you can learn from my many, many mistakes as a first year teacher.  My teacher friend, Eric, said it best, “Teaching is a multi-facted skill: planning, organization, execution, etc. Nobody is good at all or even most of it right away. Know that each year is going to refine your game a little bit more, and focus on small things to improve.”  That is a relief because going into year five, I am hoping that I won’t rely on the recycling bin as my filing system.  Surely I’m not the only one.   Here are some tips that I wish I could go back to 2012 and tell myself as a first year teacher.  

ADVICE TO A FIRST YEAR TEACHER

Ask Questions and Get Help From Others

For some reason, before my first year of teaching I was really concerned how my handouts would get hole punched.  The school copier didn’t have a hole punch setting, so teachers had to hole punch copies themselves.  Oh my gosh– what a huge waste of time.  Without asking anyone anything, I went and bought 6 hole punches before the year started. (Hole punchers are not cheap.)  The hole punches would go on each student table, and I would teach students to hole punch papers themselves.  

This all seemed very brilliant until the day prior to the first day of school.  I was working in the copy room when a fellow teacher pulled out a huge device that hole punched all of her handouts in about 2 seconds. I was enraged!  Why did no one tell me about this magical device that hole punched more than 5 pieces of paper at once?  The real question was — why didn’t I ask anyone about this?  I was so concerned that I didn’t stop and ask experienced teachers around me how they accomplished something that stressed me out.  Lesson: ask for help.  Rely on the experiences of others.  If you have an idea, run it by someone else before jumping all in.  It will save you time, money, and most importantly your sanity.

If you are a math teacher, then my advice is to find a great curriculum. If you aren’t planning and piecing resources together, you can focus on so many other things.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, but Sweat the Small Stuff

• Your projector shut off and is taking one million years to reboot?  It’s going to be ok.
• You just spilled coffee down your shirt?  It’s going to be ok.  (Also, have an extra pair of clothes in your car/desk/cabinet.)
• Someone just threw up in your classroom?  It’s going to be ok.
• Your principal walks in and your fly is down and a student announces this small fact to the class.  It’s going to be ok.

Because you are in a room with others humans, much less small humans, life is going to get a little messy. Students are going watch your reactions to these situations.  If you freak out, they will freak out.  If you are calm and brush it off, they will too.  Do not sweat this small stuff.  

However, as a classroom teacher, you must sweat the small stuff.  There are some instances that you could probably ignore, and no one would really notice, but you must address.  For example, if a student is unkind to another student, you can stop everything to address it.  Do not blow this off.  In my classroom, building character trumps teaching content, so if a situation arises where we can talk as a class about showing integrity or building each other up, I will spend the time doing it.  If I need to apologize for snapping at a student, I will do it.  Students should know that you will not turn a blind eye to bullying, leaving students out, or rudeness in any form.

Choose 3 Things to Enforce

Now, I love routines and procedures.  And every routine and procedure should be thought out by you and taught and enforced.   You can check this post where I brainstormed the most important, but as a first year teacher, you should pick three routines that you would be willing to die for.  I am not even kidding a little bit.  What really annoys you?  You actually might not know this yet, but come October, You. Will. Know.  For me, it is students being out of their seat without permission.  

The teacher down the hall from me hates the sound of binder rings when they open and close with a passion, so she came up with a routine in her classroom that everyone opens them on the count of 3 and everyone closes them on the count of 3.  Seems nutty, but it is better to own up to being a nut, rather than become a nut involuntarily because all your can hear when you are trying to fall asleep is binder click nonsense.

Whatever you do, do not tell students that pen clicks annoy you.  

I made this mistake and literally as I was telling them this, the amount of pens that were being clicked grew exponentially!  WHAT THE HECK.  This is an area to just ignore. There are other techniques to handle pen clicks/pencil drumming/mechanical pencil disassembly, but that is an entirely different post.

(Also, I could care less if students use pens in math. If you want to work out problems in highlighter, whatever.  I just don’t want to hear about you needing a pencil. Ever.  #mathteacherfail)

Recharge + Reboot

You have all heard this before.  You must make time for yourself.  You must rest.  You must (fill in the blank).  This is harder said than done!  Teachers typically are people who are crazy and will actually spend 36 hours cutting out letters because they are cute.  I can say that because this year, I made my own letters for all of my bulletins boards.  Craziness aside, no one is better at recharging than my principal.  When I interviewed, she told me that she would rather her teacher get 8 hours of sleep over perfectly created materials.  I was like HIRE ME NOW.  You can only be effective if you are rested.  You can only be effective if you take time for yourself.

When I asked on Facebook about advice, almost everyone said things that I can lump into two categories— routines/procedures and relationships.  Notice, nothing is about the lessons, content, activities, grading, parents, planning, copies, copy machines, administration, bulletin boards, classroom decoration, or emergency procedures made the list. That will all get done, but it should not be the focus of your first year.  (And if you want to make decorating your classroom quick and pain free, use these posters.  You can see them in action in my classroom.)

It will be amazing.  You will learn SO much.  And it will get so much better!

Good news, you are only a first year teacher once.

Save

The post Advice for a First Year Teacher appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

Middle schoolers have the best sense of humor, are unintentionally funny, and they still think your jokes (well, sometimes) are funny.  These students bring me so much JOY.  Coming from someone who spent 2 years in a high school, middle school is where it is at!  Now you can only have this experience with this age of students if you are creating positive classroom culture that is safe, respectful, and engaging.

This culture is not easy to accomplish, but when you have mastered setting a positive culture in your classroom, student learning will flow out of that.  Today, I am going to share a couple of things that have made all of the difference in creating positive classroom culture.

Creating Positive Culture in the Classroom

Sidenote: To begin, you must have strong routines and procedures and clear and consistent expectations and consequences.  In order for some of these ‘joy factors’ to work, students must know what to do and when to do them and what happens if they don’t do what you ask.  This is not that post, but click here to read 20 must teach routines and procedures and click here for to read 15 more must teach routines and procedures.

Manners Matter

Shawn Anchor, author of The Happiness Advantage writes “based on a wealth of data they compiled, they found that happiness causes success and achievement, not the opposite.”  In order for students to be successful, they have to be happy.  You only have so much control of the happiness of your individual students, but you do play a role of how your students feel in your classroom.

• Are you polite to them?
• Do you speak to them kindly?  Do you speak to them kindly even when they are making poor choices?
• How do you speak to students when you are frustrated?  I often would fall into the trap of having a frustrating class period, and then taking it out on my next class.  Anyone else guilty of this?  

A former administrator once snapped at me after I asked a clarifying question in a staff meeting.  I knew she wasn’t frustrated with me, but it absolutely affected how I felt about our relationship, and how I felt going to work for the remainder of the year.  If a reasonable adult can be affected by something like that, how much more will a 12 year old?  One way to foster a positive classroom culture is through manners.  Just like you would expect your students to say please and thank you, you must demonstrate this in all of your interactions.  This is very hard to do.  Especially at 3 pm on a Friday.  

Be Funny and Relevant

Me telling you to “be funny” is just about as helpful as you telling your students to “learn math,” so let me give you an idea on how I do this. I use fill-in-the-blank notes.  

Andrea  went to the store to buy pineapples.  She bought 4 pounds for $12.20.  What is the unit rate for pineapples?

This question wouldn’t necessarily be engaging or solicit laughs, but middle schoolers are SO much better at being funny. Instead, the student notes would look like this.

_________________ went to the _____________ to buy ______________.  S/he bought 4 pounds for $12.20.  What is the unit rate for _________________?

Students LOVE coming up with scenarios.  What ends up happening is that you develop inside jokes with your specific class periods.  For example, I had a student named Monica this year.  Every time she volunteered a fill in the blank problem, she would reference cats.  Every. Single. Time.  Well, because of her love for felines, our class coined the nickname, Monicat for her. 

Another reason that fill in the blank notes are helpful is that it allows you to stay relevant.  You do not have to go back and change your dated One Direction reference in word problems.  Less work = happy teacher.

Saying Every Students’ Name

I realize that most middle school teachers have 100+ (okay 150+) students.  This is the exact reason why I believe saying every students’ name each and everyday can be an influential habit to form.  In a busy day with only hour long classes, it is very possible that a quiet student could go all day without being acknowledged by name.  Whether that be greeting them at the door by name or using their name when you call on them to answer a question, it builds rapport.  

I liked incorporating this quick acknowledgement during the warm up as I walked around to check homework and then throughout again the class period.  By utilizing a student’s name you are communicating that you value them and their contribution to the classroom.

It also gives a bit of ground to stand on when students refer to you as “Miss”.  I would remind them that I was able to learn 100+ names, they surely were capable of learning seven.

Brand Your Classroom

Give your classroom some kind of identity besides what the subject is or who the teacher is.  This does not have to be a theme, but can be.  What can students say about the time they spend in your room?  Could they talk about how hard they work?  Do students get an opportunity to see how much growth they have made?  Could they share an activity that they love or something funny that the teacher always says?  

My class brand happened organically.  I was explaining how 2x+4=16 using inverse operations. I asked students to remind me of how order of operations work.  Students replied that multiplication and division comes before adding and subtracting.  Then, I asked what order we used to solve the two-step equation. We subtracted 4 and then divided by 2.  As a class, we made the connection that when solving equations, we are using order of operations in backwards order because we are undoing the operations that altered the variable to begin with.

A slow clap began (or maybe I imagined that part) and I said “Math is magic!” while doing some embarrassing dance with my arms.  The next day, one of my artistic students brought in a poster that read “Math is magic!” to hang in our classroom.  I decided that I needed to bring my Harry Potter wand into class to use when I needed a good pointer or when I needed to cast a spell or two.  I then began to tie the magic brand to the close of class by asking “who wants to explain how math was magical today?”

If you haven’t watched this yet, this will be the best thing that you watch today.  Educator, Rita Pearson, gives a Ted Talk about how important relationships are in creating a positive classroom culture.  Totally worth the seven minutes of your time.  

What do you do in your classroom to promote joy and create positive classroom culture?  

The post Creating Positive Classroom Culture appeared first on Maneuvering the Middle.

5 Teacher Organization Tips for Middle School

Daily Agenda Board

I personally utilized a weekly agenda board in which I made a grid because of my three different preps.  I had days of the week on top and the different classes down the side.  I would jot down the topic and homework in each box.

Mrs. Brack only teaches one prep, so she has created this fabulous daily agenda board to keep organized. It is super easy to set up with Scotch Expressions tape or any type of colorful painters tape. The homework, agenda, and big idea portion will change each day depending on the objective and lesson, while the weekly goals and opening routine remain the same. You can get these board labels and opening routine posters here. Update: To see my updated classroom, check out my classroom tour.

I love the weekly goals area because it can be content specific or not.  These goals can be everything from “85% mastery on the unit test” to “all students working on the warm up when the bell rings”.

Opening Routine

The opening routine is another organization tip that I think is so genius!  Don’t we all have a desired expectation for how students enter the class and begin working immediately.  That is a teacher’s dream come true.  There would be no more students at the pencil sharpener or wandering the classroom.  She posted these expectations and is able to quickly refer to them without even saying a word…beautiful.

“Take the most direct route to your seat” is a game changer for me.  How many times do you have students wandering the room “on their way to their seat”?

File Folder on Classroom Door

I loved standing at the door and greeting my students.  It was multi-purpose:  I got to build rapport with them, ask about football games and club events, see who came in together, and what each person’s attitude was for the day, plus I was able to monitor the hallways as instructed.  I was fortunate to have a table near the entry and taught students to pick up any materials as they entered.  In my sister’s case, her classroom is tiny.  She installed a metal hanging folder to her door. She used two nails, but command hooks would be less invasive. She places any handouts for the day in the hanging pocket. A win-win, being able to greet the students and have them pick up materials in a small space.

Binder Clips for Hanging Forms

One of my favorite school supplies is the LARGE binder clip.  It is big enough to hold an enormous amount of papers, easy enough to spot on a messy desk, and in general, gives off the impression, “don’t touch this”. ????

Mrs. Brack took her most frequently used forms, copied them on colored paper, and used a binder clip and push pin to hang them in an easy-to-reach location.  Common forms might include:  hall passes, tutorial passes, classroom incentive slips, detention slips, etc.

Desk Caddy at Document Camera

The document camera area can be such a mess with the various supplies and papers to keep organized.  We used this simple desk caddy from Mardel’s and plastic cups to keep everything together.

In case you can’t see it all, here is what we deemed essential for having within reach:

• projector remote – incredibly valuable, easy to misplace
• stamps and/or stickers – walk around the class and provide positive feedback, even middle school students love stamps
• Post-it notes – the possibilities are endless
• calculator – quick math, some might prefer the trusty TI-83 plus
• small ruler – to use when graphing or drawing number lines
• polyhedron die – these come with numbers up to 30, perfect for calling on students by rolling the die
• markers and/or flair pens – use for color coding any math process
• timer – keep class moving by timing everything
• fraction equivalency chart – this likely depends on your grade level, but is a useful visual
• student popsicle sticks – great for calling on students at random

I love how these are super easy to set up and make use of items you likely have lying around the classroom. If not, Amazon Prime will come to the rescue.  I’m not sure what I would do without free two-day shipping.

What other great teacher organization tips do you have?  I love seeing others teachers’ classrooms and discovering new ideas that work!  Leave a comment with your ideas.

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When I hear the phrase classroom management, I often think about how a teacher might handle an off-task student or a school wide behavior pyramid.  However, more often than not, classroom management boils down to the systems in place that encourage students to be on-task and engaged in their learning.  Today, I am sharing 4 Helpful Classroom Procedures for Middle School.  Easy tips and tricks you can begin implementing tomorrow, including a free printable.

I think we can all recall a procedure or system that lends itself to trouble.  My first year, it was the overabundance of papers.  Students would ask where the late work went, if they had a missing grade, there would be a congregation of students at the turn in tray, and I couldn’t get class started on time.  I didn’t have a procedure and over time it became a management issue. (I figured it out thanks to my Homework Agenda.)

2. Labeled Student Supply Station

3. keep the Pencil sharpener in the back

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You can see it on their face during a new lesson.  It is obvious in the way they show their work on a page.  Some students exhibit math confidence and other have yet to have it fostered.  Some people have brains that think in numbers.  If you are math teacher, you are likely one of them. Is developing math confidence within a student possible?

I believe the answer is yes.

DEVELOPING MATH CONFIDENCE

A lack of math confidence is displayed in a few common ways…the student who has always struggled with math, the one who has stage fright on tests, and the one who needs you to check each and every step before they go on.  Sound familiar?

In my experience these students all need the same thing, someone to help develop math confidence.  And how do you do such a thing?  The same way a toddler learns to walk, the same way a kiddo learns to ride a bike, the same way you learn a new skill.  You practice.

The tricky thing is that these students already have a bad taste in their mouth about it.  They are coming with a negative experience or a defeatist mentality.  Shoot, some will just tell you, “I’m not good at math”.

SMALL WINS

My number one suggestion for developing math confidence is to set your student up for success.  Small wins.  A student pastor often uses the phrase “stacking the deck in their favor”.  Provide ample opportunities for them to be successful with the small things.

For me this played out most frequently in my math intervention class.  This class was once a day for 45 minutes.  Fifteen students who where in my on-level math classes would return back to me for 8th period.  Here are some of the things I incorporated to help create those small wins.

Skill Practice

1. Each day we took the same fraction, decimal, percent conversion quiz.  I gave the same one for several days in a row and gave students more than ample time to finish.  Slowly, we decreased the time and changed up the conversions.  I kept a chart (not visible) and recorded their progress.  They always wanted to see.
2. We practiced our multiplication table.  Over.  And over.
3. I used a set of rational number cards as a sponge activity and we regularly ordered them.
4. We played memory with squares and square root cards.
5. Throughout the week, we would use Marcy Cook centers to provide skill practice.  Students liked that they could choose which one to work on and that once they got the hang of it there were 20 to practice.

These were all small wins, not because of the activity, but more so because it was repeated frequently.  In five years of intervention classes, I never had a student that could convert between fractions, decimals, and percents fluidly on the first try.  I did have many who were excellent at it by the end of the year.

Students who lack math confidence need regular and repeated practice, so that they begin to see those small wins.  An intervention class is the perfect way to incorporate it.

AN ENCOURAGER

A win is always more exciting when there is someone to celebrate with.  Often times that might be a fellow teammate, or a coach, or a parent.  In the math classroom, it’s you, the teacher.

Students need and want to be have their accomplishments celebrated.  Now in the middle school classroom, this is often “not cool” or “embarrassing” because it singles them out from the crowd. So, I warn that you must tread lightly.

A few simple ways to encourage:

1.  Provide genuine and specific feedback on paper.  Sometimes it was a sticky note that I placed on their desk, sometimes a note on a returned assignment.  Either way, it always brought about a smile.
2. Point out the progress they have made.  Students who lack math confidence tend to compare themselves to where they “should” be or where others are.  Remind them often of the progress they have made.  I used to compare math to learning a new sport, it takes a lot of time and practice.
3. Find out where they excel.  Are they a talented artist?  Do they love reading?  Maybe they are super interested in mechanics or sports or comic books.  It doesn’t matter what “it” is, what matters is that they know that you know.  Ask them about it, encourage them in that way.
4. Acknowledge that they struggle.  This might be controversial, since we tend to call intervention classes “Math Success” or “Power Math”, but I think students appreciate when you acknowledge that they struggle. Possibly, even share about something you are working towards.
5. Praise them verbally.  We often did this during our data talks when reflecting on their most recent benchmark assessment.

I recently started a cross training program, Camp Gladiator.  I can count the number of times I have exercised in the past year on one hand.  It was a struggle on day one.  Actually, I pretty much couldn’t move.  The instructor said something that really struck me, “the best way to get rid of the pain is to keep coming back.”  I think this applies to students who are developing math confidence.  It’s not easy.  It might make your brain hurt.  It doesn’t come quick.  But if you keep coming back, you will improve.

Not only a math lesson, but a life lesson.

What ways do you develop math confidence within your students?

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WHY TEACH MATH VOCABULARY?

Math academic vocabulary is conceptual.  Students not only have to know what “rate of change” means, but they have to do something based on the term or phrase.  Most mathematical terms have lengthy and complex definitions that are difficult to interpret and apply for a middle school student.  Students who are able to read a problem and quickly identify the terms and corresponding process are much more successful with solving the actual math content. Math interactive notebooks provide a place to interact with the vocabulary and a space to reference at a later time.

Update 7/28/2023: Maneuvering the Middle now has a Middle School Math + Algebra 1 Word Wall.

As you can see in the video below, our Word Wall includes 190 essential math terms, their clear-cut definitions, and their visual representations.

We’ve included Spanish translations for all terms and definitions, ensuring a supportive and accessible learning experience for English Language Learners.

They were designed to be minimal prep and flexible to customize the formatting to suit your students’ unique needs.

How to incorporate math interactive notebooks and vocabulary

My first year teaching, I had students create a glossary in the back of their interactive notebook.  Students would write the definition and draw a picture of some sort.  While this was a step in the right direction, it really didn’t allow students to interact.  It was more a rote experience that took up precious time.

Later, I decided to incorporate vocabulary into the class with specific activities.  Below are three different ways for students to interact with the vocabulary using their interactive notebooks.

CARD SORT

The Angle Relationships Card Sort is perfect for differentiating between common terms.

CUT AND PASTE

This is one of my favorite, go-to activities for math interactive notebooks.  Students are working with absolute value, which is often confused with the opposite.  Here students are given a problem, then asked to find the absolute value and the opposite of the problem.  This specifically addresses the misconception that they are one in the same.

I think this activity lends itself to slope quite nicely, as well.

CLASSIFICATION

It is embarrassing to admit, but it wasn’t until college that I really understood the number system.  I think it was all the terms “rational, irrational, real, integer” that through me for a loop.  It all seemed so abstract, and while I am sure that someone taught we these terms, it got to the point in high school math where it is assumed that you know them.  I wouldn’t be shocked if the average person or student couldn’t explain a rational number.

Various classification structures (venn diagrams, tables, concentric circles) are excellent for teaching the differences between the terms and how they apply.

Based on the activity, students are able to converse with peers about the vocabulary, practice using it in context, and summarize their learning.

WHO DOES THIS BENEFIT?

First and foremost this is going to benefit the English Language Learners in your classroom.  They will get hands-on experience with the vocabulary and feedback from both peers and the teacher.  Additionally, this is will support students who struggle with math content in general.  Because of the interaction with the text, they will be moving their learning from short term memory to long term memory using summarization.  I am a huge fan of summarization after being training through AVID.

WHAT IS THE KEY?

Ultimately, its not about the flipping of paper or the cutting and pasting, it is about the conversation and dialogue taking place in the classroom.  If you have a high population of ELL or teach an intervention class or see the benefit for your students you might want to include some conversational prompts.  Here are a few to get you started:

• “________ (term) is similar to _______ because…”
•  “I know that ________ (term) is not…”
• “Can you explain why you…”
• “What would happen if…”

What other ways do you incorporate vocabulary in your math class?

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Note: I am aware there is a large discrepancy in the amount of parental support a school receives.

parent volunteers in middle school

I think that middle school gets a bad rap.  Teachers feel like it is difficult to connect with parents, and parents go from having one point person to communicate with to upwards of eight.  I admittedly forgot it was Western Day at school last week for my 20 month old son, and I only have one child.  Thankfully he will not remember; it will be our little secret.  Alas, there is a lot of keep up with and as a teacher, you feel that pain.  If you would like to increase your the parent involvement in your classroom, I think you will be surprised with the response.  Some parents are grasping for ways to connect to the school.  And research shows that schools with increased parent volunteers have students who are more successful.  So much so, that it is one of the Critical Success Factors of a School in Need of Improvement.

make volunteering easy

I would suggest creating a quick and easy way to sign up to volunteer.  Keep things simple and manageable for parents (and yourself, let’s be honest).

Think about different tasks that would be helpful for you that a parent could do while at school.  Here are some suggestions:

• making copies
• organize and sort supplies
• decorate bulletin boards in the hallways
• assemble bulletin boards in the classroom
• decorate door
• hang student work
• text book inventory (if you are responsible for your own books)
• special projects – these will come up as the year goes on, I left it open ended
• use a special skill to assist with a club
• updating mastery trackers

Think about different tasks that would be helpful that a parent could complete at home.  Here are some suggestions:

• help with the class website
• solicit donations within the community
• assemble snack bags for testing
• do research for class field trips (pricing, availability, etc)
• assemble data folders (blank, of course)
• assemble games/cards
• cut lamination

Asking for help

I simply organized a little check list form with the different options.  This was part of my First Day Packet that students returned.  You might consider asking at Open House, on your class website, sending an email with a Google form to complete if they are interested, or personally asking parents that you have interacted with before.

I then created two separate email lists (on campus vs. at home volunteers).  When I had lamination that needed to be cut, I would send an email out to my at home volunteers and tell them that I had an opportunity to help by cutting lamination and the date in which I needed it returned.  A sweet parent (or two) almost always volunteered.  I would get the everything laminated and then send it home with the student with baggies and instructions.  It meant so much!  It was one less thing for me to do and it meant that I didn’t plan a lesson around the fact that it would require too much prep.

The Copy Mom/dad

To me the most valuable and time saving volunteer I had was a copy mom.  This was essential and literally saved me hours each week.  It also forced me to be prepared for the next week before she came.

Once I was able to see who was interested in making copies, I contact them individually and organized a rotation.  Ideally you could get four volunteers, one per week of the month, but if you have two or even one that would still be a big help.

Here is how it worked:

• I would send a reminder earlier in the week and ask them to confirm they would be available.  This helped me to better prepare.
• I created a copy slip with all the details (number of copies, single vs. double sided, stapled, etc).  If you have a copy code include that as well.
• I used a pocket folder that I kept next to the door in my classroom.
• As I planned throughout the week, I would attach the copy slip and place it in the folder.
• On Thursdays, my copy moms would grab the folder, make the copies, and return them to the room.

Disclaimer:  These volunteers will likely need to fill out a background check, FYI.  Also, to keep everyone happy be sure to let the school secretary know what you are doing and ask her to show you the ins and outs of the machine, so you can train you volunteers.  You might even introduce the volunteers to the secretary.

Showing appreciation

I would recommend a thank you note and a small gift at the end of the year for these kind parent volunteers who are busy too!  A thoughtful note and something small goes a long way.

Middle school is a time when kiddos are stepping out on their own; parents appreciate a way to stay informed and involved in their kids’ lives.  Connecting with parent volunteers builds rapport, opens communication lines,  and positions parents as important stakeholders in the school community.

Just remember – It doesn’t hurt to ask.

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