T minus 3 days!

The 2012/2013 school year is almost here (T minus 3 days) and I feel like I need another month to actually be ready for my students.  I worked in my classroom until 7 pm then made a point to stop at Home Depot tonight to pick up some paint swatches for a quick project to do at home.  

I have 7 tables so I picked up 7 swatches. 

I cut down the white stripes on each swatch so that I had 4 separate strips of each color. 

I am now ready to form my groups on the first day of school! Each student will pick a color as they walk in the door and sit with students in the same color family. Such a simple way to switch up the groups when you need a quick change! 

This idea came from a Pin on Pinterest but I can't seem to find it to give credit to the savvy teacher who came up with this idea.  I can at least thank Pinterest for providing me a hundred different projects that I have on my "will create someday" list!

I hope everyone has had or will have a wonderful start to the new school year!

Growing Vocabulary Tree

We are half way through August which means I need to start getting back into teaching mode.   I am not able to get into my classroom yet so I start with thinking about a new bulletin board theme for the hallway.

I am liking the iPhone/iPod theme I found on Pinterest with the title:

"Elite Eagles have all the right apps for success"

Each "app" will be a positive student trait such as organized, on time, etc.  Pictures will come when my vision comes to life!

While I was thinking about my new bulletin board I realized I never posted about my board from the past school year! Last year I wanted to do a vocabulary wall but I had no space in my room.  Since I inherited (or might have taken over) a bulletin board in the hallway I decided to make it my vocabulary wall! I wanted a theme that could last throughout the year.  I decided on a "vocabulary tree" that would grow throughout the year with the new 7th grade math vocabulary words.  I tried to add the new words at the beginning of every new CMP book. 

"7th Grade Growing Math Vocabulary"
After unit 1

Later in the year...

And Later..

Final product (end of year)

The background got a little abused by the end of the year but that is what you get with middle school students.

This kind of bulletin board was perfect for me because the board looked different throughout the year without ever actually changing it! Although bulletin boards can be a lot of work I secretly love the chance to get crafty with paper.   Hopefully my board this year will be just as fun to make as my tree!

Stay tuned for my new iPhone/iPod board..
Good luck to those that are starting school in the next few days!