Category Archives: MS Sunday Funday

Advisory – MS Sunday Funday

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This week’s theme is Advisory.  Next week, the theme will be homework policies.  There weren’t many posts this week.  I’m not sure if many schools do not have advisory (I was asked by several teachers what Advisory was on Twitter), or that we are just in CRUNCH TIME with school starting tomorrow!

Read the High School Sunday Funday Posts!

Also, grab the MS Sunday Funday logo at the top to link back to this page.

A New Classroom and Great Goals for 2012-2013 – MS Sunday Funday

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New Classroom:
This year I get to move into a new classroom, in an entirely different building across campus!  I am so grateful that I have a room.  But, when I first heard the news last year, I was pretty devastated.  I had been in my building for two years and believe it or not, I have acquired TONS of STUFF.  And, who likes to move?
However, from the moment that I first walked into my new room, I was in love!  My room is so quiet, has tons of cabinets, and just feels peaceful.  I’m hoping it will help me be more “zen” this year!  I don’t go back for teacher prep week until Monday, so my room is still in the planning stages.  I did get everything unpacked and fabric up on the bulletin boards.  But, there isn’t a picture or poster on the walls.  My room is far from finished, but I still wanted to post my progress here today.
Goals:
I am not much of a “goals” girl.  But, in the spirit of blogging I am going to give it a go.
Stop:
  • Being head MS cheer coach.  I love, love, love this but it was almost the end of me last year.  As sad as it makes me, I just don’t have the extra time.  I do plan on helping out as much as I can though.  I love it and cannot get it out of my system!
  • Putting things in random places.  I need to make sure that papers go in a file, and quickly.  I tend to build up piles.
  • Worrying about everything.  There are some things I cannot control.
  • FLAG (Fix Learning and Grow) – I loved the idea, but it was too hard to keep up with for students.
  • Eating random food in the school kitchen just because it is there (we have amazingly generous parents and teachers that bring food).
  • Staying up too late.  If I’m tired, I just can’t do anything as well as is possible.

Continue:

  • Tweeting and Blogging.  Every year I fall off of the Earth once school starts and them totally disappear in Feb.  This is my greatest source of professional development and recharges me like nothing else can.  I need these people in my life and need to make time for them.
  • Improving the Concept Help Pages
  • Re-organizing my files.  I changed my system last year and now I have double of everything.  I started working on this last year but then stopped.
  • Working on advisory topics.  I love this part of middle school and can’t wait to develop it more fully.
  • Coming up with new hands on activities for my classes.  There is no better way to learn than the concrete and it is amazing to pull out an activity that you can just DO.
  • EXERCISE – This is so important but I often skip it to grade papers or lesson plan when school starts.  This only takes 30-40 minutes of my time and is a great stress reliever.  I need to keep it up!

Start:

  • Working to improve technology skills with the incoming 6th grade class.
  • An after school math club.  I want to do this so badly but it’s hard to find the time to develop the activities.  I don’t want it to be boring or stupid.
  • More problem solving across the board.
  • Writing equations to all word problems from day one.  I want everything to be a word problem because in real life, IT IS.
  • Incorporate Exeter problems, somehow, someway
  • Learn to do the “three acts” problems and actually do them.
  • Incorporate activities for the GIANT whiteboards!
  • Observing the other fabulous teachers at my school more.  I am still new to middle school and I have so much to learn!

Classroom Setup and Goals – MS Sunday Funday

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This week’s theme is Classroom Setup and Goals.  Next week, the theme will be everything advisory. Please share how your school runs advisory, how often you do advisory and why, and most important, advisory activities!

Also, grab the MS Sunday Funday logo at the top to link back to this page.

Math Class Notebooks – MS Sunday Funday

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Welcome to a collaboration of posts by amazing middle school math teachers!

#msSunFun

This week’s theme is Math Class Notebooks.  Next week, the theme will be everything advisory. Please share how your school runs advisory, how often you do advisory and why, and most important, advisory activities!

Also, grab the MS Sunday Funday logo at the top to link back to this page.

Graph Paper Interactive Notebook in Math Class – MS Sunday Funday

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Last year I transitioned from regular notebooks to spiral bound graph paper notebooks.  I LOVE graph paper notebooks for two main reasons.  First and foremost, I never have to pass out graph paper.   We make many tables, charts, and graphs in my class so having their notebook BE graph paper is just divine.  Additionally, I teach 6th grade and many of them still have giant handwriting and/or their work is all over the place.  With the graph paper notebooks, I can strongly encourage them to put one number in each square.  This helps in almost every mathematical procedure that they do.  Numbers are small, neat, and all lined up.  Beautiful.

 I also do a modified version of the INB (Interactive Notebook).  I didn’t do very well with the Left Hand Page OR the Table of Contents last year, but thanks to Megan I am motivated and planning to be much better this year!

Most teachers like to use the composition books for the Interactive Notebook.  They DO have these graph paper composition notebooks!  But, I would have to buy them all myself and have the students reimburse me.  My parents have a hard enough time finding the graph spiral bound notebooks and I don’t want to stress them out further.  Whatever you do, don’t let them use the notebooks with the glued in pages (not the composition books).  The pages of the notebooks with the glued in pages start falling out, in mass, after about 2 weeks of use.  This is a nightmare.

Notebook Tips:

  • You will probably need one notebook per semester.
  • It usually takes us about 30 minutes to set up the notebook initially.
  • Have extra blank notebooks on hand it you want to set them up any day in week 1.  Someone is not going to have theirs yet.  You just give them one of your new, blank ones, email the parent a reminder, and then collect theirs as an extra when they bring it in.  You can use this one next semester.
  • Use Foldables or half sheets for their notes whenever possible so you don’t have to trim every worksheet you give them.  That gets very old, very fast.
  • Modeling is the key when doing a math class notebook with younger students.  I have 6th and 7th grade, so I made a Powerpoint that shows how to set up the notebook step by step.

Read more Middle School Math Sunday Funday Posts!

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We Have a Logo for MS Math Sunday Funday!

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Thanks so very much to Kimberly Howard, @MrsHowardMath, for creating this very cool logo AND the code to make it into a button.  Just copy this and paste the logo onto your blog post.  You will have the cool logo AND it will link readers back to the main MS Sunday Funday page.  AWESOME!

This week’s blog topic is “Student Math Class Notebooks“.  You can submit at any time.  Please use the Google Form below to submit instead of emailing or tweeting me the information.  It will make compiling the links much, much easier for me (thanks again to the wonderful Jeremy Loukas, @jloukas, for help with this!) AND prevent me from leaving anyone out.

To submit a blog, fill out the form below or click on this link (if you don’t see the form).  

MS Sunday Funday – First Day / First Week Activities

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Hi!  Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more updates!  I am @jreulbach.  🙂

Welcome to a collaboration of posts by amazing middle school math teachers!

This week’s theme is First Day / First Week Activities.  Next week, the theme will be sharing how you have your students set up their math class notebooks.  This can be interactive notebooks or traditional notebooks.

To submit a blog, click on this link.

** Brand new blogger!

First Day Wiki Quest – MS Sunday Funday

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I’m going to blog about my first day last year, although I’m not sure that this is what I’m going to do for my first day this year.  The kids loved it, but I love changing things up each year.  So, I look forward to reading all of these great posts to see what you all are doing!

As I am sure that most of you would agree, I hate going over the rules and procedures in class, but I really want my kids (and parents) to know them.  There are only 32 students in each grade and we do most of our, “Hi, My name is…” in advisory the first day, so I really don’t need to play get to know each other (or me) games.

Last year our school went one to one for the first time with middle school.  For most students, this is the first time they have ever had their own computer, and they are very eager to use it.  I use a wiki daily in all of my classes.  The students need to access it every day so it is important that they can find it as well as find their way around it.  So, I decided to have them complete a Wiki Quest in order to familiarize them with my wiki, gather information about them, and get them to read my polices and procedures.

The Wiki Quest has them:

  • Bookmark our class webpage for daily reference
  • Send me an email so they can add me to their contacts
  • Fill out a GDoc Survey
  • Check out my LiveBinder and email the link to their parents.
  • Read my polices and procedures (and copy down important info like what they need to bring to class each day and when I assign homework).

All students finished within the class period last year.  Those who finished early got to start on their first homework assignment.  The first assignment is a short cumulative review and instructions to ask their parents to read my LiveBinder.