When I first starting teaching I noticed that the two bulletin boards in the middle school hallway were quite bare. The smaller one had a calendar hanging on it and the larger one had a map of the world. When I asked one of the other teachers if the bulletin boards were used throughout the year, she responded, "no, the map is just there to cover some 'inappropriate' language left by past students." And that is when I took on the job of making our hallway warm and welcoming by decorating the bulletin boards.
The small one was easy. It is a simple "FYI" board where we post our school expectations and any flyers with information for the students. The bigger one is a bit more tricky. At the beginning of the school year I post each grade's schedule, but that can only last so long. It can be quite challenging to come up with a "inspirational" bulletin board for middle schoolers. I wanted to make sure it was something that could be left up for a long time (possibly the rest of the year), so anything seasonal was out. It couldn't be anything too "cheesy," because we're talking about middle schoolers. I was stumped! So I turned to Pinterest, because where else can you go to find tons of great ideas! I was really inspired by the one idea that I was saw several times which incorporated a ton of positive adjectives. So I gathered a bunch of adjectives, typed them in fun fonts, printed them on bright colored paper, and pieced them all together to make a bulletin board I'm very proud of. It encourages students to be positive citizens and reminds them that the most important thing is just to "be you!"
I made a Animoto video of parts of the bulletin board - I hope you enjoy it!
Be...
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Remembering Those "Gold Medal" Moments
With these past few snow days I've been getting school work done, spending time with friends, reading, and watching the Olympics. I'm always amazed by the stories they tell of these Olympic athletes that train for hours every day just for that one moment that comes every four years.
It got me thinking about teaching and what our "gold medal" moments are. Our "gold medal" moments are the moments when a student looks up at you during a lesson and you know right then and there he has finally got it! He just made that connection that you've been trying your hardest to make him see. You've practically been jumping up and down in front of the class hoping to get their attention long enough that something you're saying will sink in and, even if it's just one student, it has finally paid off! Does this happen everyday? No, not necessarily, but thank goodness it happens more often then every four years!
No I'm not saying we, as teachers, are Olympic athletes, but we certainly train just like do. We may not spend hours skiing down a hill going close to 80 mph or sliding head first down a tunnel made of ice, but we do spend hours preparing lessons and grading papers. We may not look back at our latest training run and figure out what needs to be adjusted next time hoping to scrape off just a second or two, but we do look back at quizzes and tests and try to figure out what exactly those students didn't understand. Then go home and create a whole new approach for the next day hoping to reach those students we didn't the first time. We may not learn how to change our triple loop into a quad loop, but we do attend workshops and network with other teachers hoping to learn and share new ideas for helping our students learn and be successful. We may not have the Olympics every four years to stand up and show the world what we've been training for, but we have those "gold medal" moments occurring in our classrooms all the time that make it worth all the time and energy. We don't have to share those moments with anyone else, sharing it with our students is enough.
No, we may not be Olympic athletes, we're teachers.
It got me thinking about teaching and what our "gold medal" moments are. Our "gold medal" moments are the moments when a student looks up at you during a lesson and you know right then and there he has finally got it! He just made that connection that you've been trying your hardest to make him see. You've practically been jumping up and down in front of the class hoping to get their attention long enough that something you're saying will sink in and, even if it's just one student, it has finally paid off! Does this happen everyday? No, not necessarily, but thank goodness it happens more often then every four years!
No I'm not saying we, as teachers, are Olympic athletes, but we certainly train just like do. We may not spend hours skiing down a hill going close to 80 mph or sliding head first down a tunnel made of ice, but we do spend hours preparing lessons and grading papers. We may not look back at our latest training run and figure out what needs to be adjusted next time hoping to scrape off just a second or two, but we do look back at quizzes and tests and try to figure out what exactly those students didn't understand. Then go home and create a whole new approach for the next day hoping to reach those students we didn't the first time. We may not learn how to change our triple loop into a quad loop, but we do attend workshops and network with other teachers hoping to learn and share new ideas for helping our students learn and be successful. We may not have the Olympics every four years to stand up and show the world what we've been training for, but we have those "gold medal" moments occurring in our classrooms all the time that make it worth all the time and energy. We don't have to share those moments with anyone else, sharing it with our students is enough.
No, we may not be Olympic athletes, we're teachers.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Hi, I'm Miss K!
I'm a third year teacher in a little town in Connecticut. I work in our middle school and teach math to grades 6, 7, and 8. I teach a general 6th grade math class, a general 7th grade math class, an advanced 7th grade pre-algebra class, a general 8th grade math class, and an advanced 8th grade Algebra I class. I have found my niche in middle school and couldn't imagine myself anywhere else!
I love math and love to find ways to make it fun for my students. We learn through activities and discovery and often play games to practice our mathematical skills! We apply our learning to authentic tasks that make our math learning come to life.
You might have noticed I said we - we, my students and I, work together in the learning process. They are not the only ones learning in my classroom, I am too.
I love math and love to find ways to make it fun for my students. We learn through activities and discovery and often play games to practice our mathematical skills! We apply our learning to authentic tasks that make our math learning come to life.
You might have noticed I said we - we, my students and I, work together in the learning process. They are not the only ones learning in my classroom, I am too.
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