The Parking Lot

I assign homework every night but only check it every 3 to 4 days with a homework quiz.  I have found that if I actually take the time to go over the homework everyday it takes half of my class time and only half of my class is paying attention.  After facing the same issue over the past couple of years I decided to change my routine and do a homework quiz to keep students accountable. 

 

Shout out to Ms Ramsey giving me the idea for the template - my homework quiz originally started handwritten on grid paper.

I keep the shapes blank and hand write the problem numbers since they change with every investigation.  I do not check EVERY homework problem but I check the MOST important concept from every problem (daily lesson) in each investigation.   

 Although I correct and grade every problem, students get full credit in the gradebook as long as their answers are reasonable.  After testing my new routine (loved all the extra groupwork time) I noticed poor scores on the homework quizzes - students were not completing all of their homework before each quiz.  My co-teacher suggested doing more frequent checks during the investigation so students started feeling the need to do their homework every night and not save all the problems to do in one night (if at all).    

I decided to start doing "bellringers" or enterance slips ever couple of days.  These are just quick "write down your answer to problem 8a" on a scrap piece of paper (paper given by teacher).  Students would record an answer to a single problem assigned either the night before or possibly two nights before (works better with absences).  Students get 2 points if the answer is correct, 1 point if the answer is wrong, zero points if they did not have it or were WAAAYYYY off.  I love the answers when students want to "look" like they tried to do their homework.  The bell ringers were working out great until I noticed I kept getting the dreaded "no names".  I hated not being able to give someone credit for a problem that they actually completed.  

Then one day while cruising through pinterest I saw this beauty. 

 

This is brought to you by the wonderful blog A Teachers Treasure

I instantly saw the potential of this cute idea! The next day I created my own.  Of course I had to put it a little twist on it to make it my own. 

After creating my parking lot I assigned a spot to every student.  This relieved my no name problem!  Once students have recorded their answer to the bellringer on a post it, they put their post it on their assigned spot.  If a student forgets their name I know who it is by the number! This also works great for exit slips or any other quick informal assessment.  I had extra spots in the middle so I created group parking spots in case I ever wanted to quickly check the understanding of a group as a whole.  

Oh how the little things get me so excited! 

Have a great weekend!

Just have to laugh...

A few days ago one of my students (special ed) came running up to me frantic before class.  

Student: "Ms. Gates I left my math binder in the lost and found before lunch and now it is not there!"
Me: "You left your OWN binder in the lost and found?"
Student: "yeah and someone took it!"

My co-teacher (special ed) comes up behind me with his binder- "(student name) I found this in the lost and found AGAIN!"

Believe it or not, this is not the first time we have had an incident with this student and the lost and found.  A month ago he "lost" his binder for a couple of days.  By lost - he put his binder in the lost and found (because did didn't want to have to go all the way to his locker before lunch) and forgot he left it there..

Thought I would give you a good laugh to start the weekend!

Happy Veteran's Day! 

Group Work Wednesday: The Wumps

This is my first year using the Connected Math Project (CMP2) for my 7th grade math curriculum.  We are finishing the Stretching and Shrinking book which uses characters called the "Wumps" to teach similarity.  The Wumps are plotted on a coordinate plane and students look to see which characters are imposters.  My students had been doing a TON of plotting/graphing over the past month so I decided to get creative with this lesson.  Thanks to Leslie over at Jack of all Trades I found peg boards were the perfect way to display our wumps! 

I went to Home Depot and purchased the 8ft by 4ft  sheet of peg board.  I had it cut in the store to 2 ft by 2 ft squares.

I bought golf tees (still need to buy more) for the points and yarn to create the line segments. 

Students worked in groups of four to create the characters in their math notebooks and then created one character on the pegboard.  My students were TOTALLY into this activity!

I loved how they really had to work together to get the figure together (they earned lots of group norm marbles this day!).  It took some real problem solving to move the yarn around the golf tees and not pull out other tees. 

And now....

THE WUMPS

 I ran out of golf tees but found flat push pins for the eyes.  I put tape around the sharp point to help them stay in the hole.

Can you spot the imposters???   

So fun to use the peg boards!!  The Wumps are still up in my room since we are still in the Stretching and Shrinking book.  I don't want to take them down!  I can't wait to find another lesson for the peg boards!

Happy Wednesday!

Group Work Wednesday: Must buy cups...

Today was my district's monthly school improvement half day.  One thing that I value on our half days is the time to meet with math teachers in the other middle schools.  Among many great ideas shared today, one teacher brought up her use of plastic cups for group work.  She uses the cups (red, yellow, and green) to allow kids to signal if they need teacher assistance.  The cups are not a new idea to me.  In fact, I have had a "group work cups" poster in my room for 3 years! Unfortunately I have never actually BOUGHT the cups to use with my groups.  It is difficult to find all three colors in the same size in grocery stores. Living in the great city of Chicago, you don't have too many convenient Party City stores to help you with needed paper/plastic goods.  Let's face it - I often just flat out forget that I need these plastic cups.

Since I have never gotten my act together with the cups my poster has had a meaningless spot on my wall.

The poor poster is currently blocked by my Agenda/Homework whiteboard.

I like the cup idea because it allows students to assess how they are doing on a problem.  This also allows me to not swoop in and save a group before they even know their solution is WAY off.  I like the idea that students have to acknowledge that something is wrong.  I think this will also help with my support teachers that tend to hover around a group and guide them through an entire problem.  It will be easier for me to advise them to "stay away" or "only listen" when the cup is green.   Lastly, this will hopefully help the 4 hands and shouting of "Ms. Gates!" when I am helping another groups. (will take some training)

I am excited to see if the cups strengthen my group work activities!


The quest for the cups is back on! (First stop - Target)