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. :-)

Do-Now Revamp

 Still trying to get ahead a little bit.. I started making the first two weeks worth of do-now activities. Some days will be skill/content review from previous days, and some will just get my kids to think. Remember, I teach special ed, so what looks like it will take 30 seconds will actually take several minutes.

By the way, I found that nifty balance scale here: http://solveme.edc.org/Mobiles.html

There are many more; I think I will use one once a week!

Students will respond most days in ONE Google Form. Last year, I tried having a Form for each day and quickly gave up on that idea. Google will automatically time-stamp (including the date) for me, so that is one less thing the kids need to do.