Teacher Week '13

In effort to join the teacher blogging community I'm going to participate in the Blog Hoppin' teacher week link up.  I didn't realize this was going on, so I'll join a day late and do two days in one.

Monday was Meet the Teacher:
This is the start of my 10th year teaching.  I can't believe it will be a decade already.  I am a 7-12 certified math teacher but I've been teaching 8th grade for the past 8 years.  I am not a traditional math teacher in the sense that I don't do chapter one, section by section, then give the chapter test.  I like to give my students big problems that they need lots of skills to solve.  I prefer more of my class time to be spent with students solving math problems, rather than me talking.  I like to try new things each year because it keeps things interesting for me and the students.  I LOVE teaching 8th graders.  It sound weird I know, but it really is the best.

Tuesday is Classroom Tour:
This summer I actually got to paint my room. The walls are a little sparse here because I'm waiting on an order of all new wall posters.  These pics aren't the greatest, but my classroom is always shifting as I adapt it to what I'm doing.  I flex back and forth between groups and rows, depending on the time of year and unit.  Students never sit by themselves, there are always at least two desks together.

The back of the room is where I hang the learning targets for each unit.  Students can go at anytime to get extra practice work for any learning target that they are struggling with.  I also adding a little reading nook for our homeroom and study hall times when kids like to sit and read.  On the ceiling you can see some student created ceiling tiles which is a great project students do each year.

I just got this kidney bean table, so I placed it with a dry erase board (not hung yet) and graph chart so I can do small group lessons.

I relocated my computers this year so they are all in a bank.  The new blue wall color will hopefully be calming. I have a shoe organizer to hang my calculators in because the pocket charts you can get at the teacher stores are just too flimsy and don't hold up for longer than a year.

I am super excited to get the rest of the stuff on my walls.  Maybe I'll post a finished look next week once the year starts.