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Friday, August 1, 2014

My classroom

I have decided I will start off my new blog with some pictures of my classroom.

I found out this week I will be teaching 5 classes of algebra 2. I'm very excited about this. I have a lot of passion and ideas about things I can do in with algebra 2. And honestly how could I possibly complain about only having one prep! 

My overall classroom decor is The Big Bang Theory twisted with a bunch of math stuff. 





 This is my daily assignment wall. This is where both assignments and objectives will be.



Inside the glass cabinets I am starting off the year giving them some pencils. On The Big Bang Theory they have a cereal dispenser. I was lucky enough to get one as a gift for my classroom. Again, I start off the year with two bags of cereal, beyond that the students must provide the cereal. For my students to eat the cereal they must have a bowl or a cup that will fit under the dispenser. 

The board said "Who are you? And what have you done?" 
This is the board where I hang up papers that have no names. 

 

 This is a over the door shoe holder. I have numbered each slot. This is for phones.
On test day students will be offered extra credit on their test for as many points as one question on the test.







This calendar is for all assignments for students who have been absent. 

I teach at a Great Expectations school which is all about making the students responsible for their own actions. I teach only juniors and seniors so in my room I keep all assignments, including worksheets, in a location that they have full view and access to. I do not tell them or remind them of their missing work from absences. They are completely responsible for getting it all when they return. This takes so little time on my part to have it all in one place at the end of each day, and it saves me so much time when student A has been absent for 3 days while student B has only been gone for one day. It is an awesome thing. 


If students have any work that they must turn in for me to grade, once graded I put it all in these trays. Occasionally I will pass back these papers but the majority of the time they are responsible for picking up their own work. More responsibility for them and less time and work for me.




 Kind of odd to have a shower curtain of the periodic table over the window but this is the shower curtain that they have in their bathroom. It is just a fun little decor.


 I found this little tip on Pinterest. This is a command strip to hold up the curtain rod. 
All my walls are a cement type plaster stuff that I can't be nailed, screwed, or anything else. 
Command strips are my best friend!



I got really lucky that when I went through the cabinets in my room I found a whole bunch of power strips. I think these will be very helpful for my students to charge their phones (if they know that my room is a place they can charge, then my room will be a place that their phones are out of their hands, he he my little secret weapon).






This is a zombie pen holder. Its called the impaled zombie.




Must have for me! Mini fridge and microwave. I'm lucky my school allows them.



 I found this cute little table at a garage sale. Perfect table to hold all the little important things. At an OERB workshop I got 3 color graphing TI-84's and a 10 slot charging station! Yay!
Next are my MOBI's and their charging station. These are amazing little devices for the math teacher with no smart board. Actually the more I use them I would love to have them in addition to a smart board because I could move around the room. Everyone hates being tied down, especially to a board. 
Then there are my "turn in boxes" and the most amazing pencil sharpener that ever existed!


 This is another over the door shoe holder! But this one is for calculators. I'm lucky I have a classroom set of calculators but most of them are TI-83's. I wish they were color 84's but maybe one day...



 I love having an entryway table for anything my students need, papers to pick up on their way into class, tape dispenser, stapler, hole punch, and germ-ex.



 The outside of my door.


How cool is my Kleenex holder? 
I start the year with 4 boxes, beyond that the students must provide!!!


Posters my students made at the end of last year I have hung up on the ceiling. 
Since I don't have a ton of wall space this was an easy and fun solution.



I got these light covers on Amazon. I can leave at the 
end of the day without a headache and it does seem to calm 
the students down a little. Plus its so much fun!!!


Well that's my classroom for my first full year of teaching. 
Its going to be a good year! 
I'm soooooooo excited!!!

I'll keep you updated how its going.

1 comment:

  1. Gretchen, what an awesome first blog post! I loved this little tour of your classroom! I need to find a shoe holder to store calculators/cell phones! I absolutely love the shower curtain over the window! It's so cool how you carried The Big Bang Theory theme throughout your classroom! And, that is the coolest kleenex dispenser I have ever seen in my life! Can't wait to follow you throughout your first full year of teaching!

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