Classroom update

I know my readers don't come for school-related photos, but I can't help but be excited for the upcoming school year.  Our kids will be back in three short weeks and I only have two weeks left to call my own.  Of course, I'm already back at school setting up and planning things.

A few days ago, I shared some things I'd been working on for my room.  Now I have them up on the walls!

Here's my Homeworkopoly game board.  I made a magnet for each kid, but they're definitely too big for the board.  We'll deal with it!  They're numbered with the hope that this is a successful enough that I do it for several years so I won't have to swap out kids' initials.  Each class period has a different color sticker.  I also added a small dry erase board so that kids can work out their Chance problems there if they want to.  I found some great Brain Teaser flashcards from which I extracted the math questions to be our brain teasers.  Interestingly enough, while the age listed on the box is 14+, almost all of the math standards represented should be well understood as the kids enter 8th grade.  Most of them won't seem like brain teasers at all, but like problems we do on a regular basis! 

 I'm going to use these pocket charts for cooperative grouping.  Each child will have a card and I can mix and match them into groups as needed and not hear, "Who's in my group?" or "What group number am I?" again.  At least, not as much! 

This poster isn't new this year, but was rather one of my favorite things from last year.  I often require all of my students to answer a question by raising their hand to vote.  I like to get them to agree or disagree with classmates or answer my questions this way.  They "ride the roller coaster" if they're not sure.  

My new class store.  We already have a classroom economy in 8th grade.  I am so stinkin' tired of handing out hundreds of pencils, erasers, and the like over the course of a year that I knew I needed to do something different.  Introducing the store!  

My students may not drive yet, but they do have assigned parking spots.  The grid is large enough that students can put a 3x3 Post-it in their square with the answer to a question, a comment, or something else as they walk out the door.  

Some of the best organization I have is for my students to use.  These hanging file pockets hold four things for each class: missed work from absences, tests/quizzes that need to be made up, no name or not finished papers, and papers to be handed back.  I got these at JoAnn in the dorm section and they've been going strong for two years already with no signs of wear.  It doesn't look like they are carrying them this year, however my store is small so a larger store might have them.  

Hello Pinspired stool!  I have a comfy stool from my parents' old basement wet bar.  I was tired of the black vinyl, so I covered it with this cheerful corduroy.  I sort of want to paint the legs, but I'm not sure I really want to paint it badly enough to put forth the effort.  The top makes me happy enough for now.  

Perhaps I'll give you some full classroom shots in a future post.  There's still a little bit of a mess to be dealt with and some chores to be done before I photograph the entire room.  :)  Thanks for humoring me.  I might have to start a school blog, but I don't know if I have enough time! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.