Do-Now Revamp!

Last year, I had a system for warm-ups/do-nows that I only utilized until around December.

I would project a problem (logic, review, etc.) and have students think about it. I became frustrated after a few months when pretty much nobody tried anymore. I needed a way to hold them accountable, even if it only took 5 minutes.

Introducing.... my do-now templates for this year.

My plan is to post this in Google Classroom Monday and have students turn it in on Friday (or whatever days there are in a shortened week). I will ask students NOT to move ahead, but I know some will. I think I am okay with that. I thought it would be too much of a hassle to post a new doc every single day just for a do-now.

I am going to use ideas from:
* my brain (such as my birthday do-now)
* SolveMe Mobiles!!! (I really love these)
* Would you rather?
* Estimation 180
* Which one doesn't belong?
* Visual Patterns
* review problems

My plan is to have at least two months' worth of these ready to go by the time school starts. Then if I need to tweak a day here or there, it is much faster than having to create a whole week in a pinch.

Students will work on this while I float around and check homework and deal with housekeeping business. Since I will only have a maximum of 12 kids in a resource level class, I do not need all that much time for housekeeping. :-)

Beginning INB Pages

I already posted about my new syllabus here. I created a tri-fold brochure version to paste in my students' interactive notebooks.

Also to be included in the early pages:
an "about me" page (TBD), a problem-solving booklet (TBD), a page on expectations with a spot to track marking period grades (see below), and a page on the Standards of Mathematical Practice (see below).

(I found this graphic from a quick google images search). On the page with the math practice standards, I am going to have students write a bullet point about which they think they are currently more proficient in and which math practice standard they think is going to be the most difficult and involve the most work. I am curious to see their reflections.

INB Dividers

Thanks to @Shaun for the template (INB Divider Templates)!

I have adapted Shaun's original template.

Since I have not adopted SBG in my classes, I wanted the larger right-hand side to include place for unit vocabulary. I added a space for pre-test and post-test scores where the place for the image was.

I am not going to link mine so you have to go check out Shaun's blog instead! ;-)

Revamped Syllabus!

News flash! Teenagers do not like wordy syllabi! For my first four years teaching, I passed out a 2-3 page course outline on either the first or second day of school. It was jam-packed full of information, but it was boring and definitely too much text.

Year 5... I decided to be more creative. While it is still two pages, I HOPE it is a lot more visually appealing and certainly has far less text!

Want to see it for yourself? Click here.

Ideally, my students this year will at least take a look at it. I also strategically placed the information I definitely want them to see on the first page, so if they never flip it over... the world will not end. 

I also eliminated the part where a family member had to sign the course outline. Truth be told... I think most of the signatures I received back were forged. 

One big thing you might notice - I AM BRINGING BACK INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS THIS YEAR! YAY!

#IThoughtThisWasMyDreamJob

That tweet summarizes today. It was a rough day. In one of my co-taught classes, there is one student who has a blatant disregard for rules, directions, and human decency. Sure, I teach a bunch of teenagers with large egos and attitude problems. I only teach one who has no sense of respect for any other human being. 

There is minimal support from his vice principal, and I am at the point where I no longer feel comfortable having him in our class. Sure, I have only taught about 400 students so far in my life, but this is still the only one who has made me truly question my profession. There have been rough days where I think for a few seconds "is it worth it?", but today is the only day where I am genuinely not sure. 

The one kid may ruin this career for me. I know I should not get worked up over one student and instead focus on all of the positives - but I feel harassed and uncomfortable. That sort of behavior should have a zero tolerance from administration. ::sigh::

I guess I will just have to see how this pans out... 

Standards Based Grading

For about two years now, I have been mulling over the idea of SBG for my special education resource level Algebra 2 classes. I have just really been struggling with implementation. We have classes of varying length (some periods are 48, others are 54) and I often feel like this is not long enough. At the same time, if I did have single skill based quizzes, the assessments would not take as long.

My main issue is when to offer re-takes. I do not have my own classroom. This really puts a damper on having students come in early or stay after school for extra help or to retake assessments.

I am currently deciding if it would be feasible to have a "quiz re-take day" once every two weeks or so, where for 15 minutes during the period, students could re-take a quiz. My issue with that becomes what if they need to retake more than one?

Also, what remediation must they complete in order to be eligible for a re-take? My students do not complete homework, so most of them would never be eligible for a re-take if I required an assignment to be completed.

Hmmm... lots of thinking to do before next school year. I would not want to begin a new grading system partway through the school year anyway.

Any suggestions for a newbie like me?