Some Small Group Organization...

I have never been able to find a way to quickly organize small groups and assign roles.  I have done the normal tricks of counting off and the closets birthday to _____ is the recorder.  Although it has worked fine, I just always felt like I could do a better job with it and still have a it be quick and easy.  So as I was looking through blogs and Pinterest, I found some things that I think will work well and tweaked it a bit to fit what I want.

Role Cards for Small Groups

The first thing that I found was was my group roles.  I really liked the roles that Ariane used at The Science Penguin (http://www.thesciencepenguin.com/2013/06/science-lab-teams-freebie.html) and she had a freebie to be printed and used.  I was all ready to take the made for me item when I realized that the clip art was a beaker.  I thought it didn't look like it fit in a math (and social studies) classroom.  Since I wanted roles that could be used for either of the classes that I taught, I had to do a little remixing.  Basically, I kept the roles that she had and some of her descriptions of the roles.  I changed up or added to all but the director.  I added in a spokesperson because that was a role that I really wanted.  I also added clip art that matched the role for my ELL kiddos to use as a clue about what they are to do.  I made a set of group role cards with the job descriptions for each table group in my classroom.  They will be laminated and hole punched to put on a ring for future reference. 

The next idea came from Science Gal (http://sciencegal-sciencegal.blogspot.jp/2012/09/setting-expectations-for-group-work.html).  She had a simple way to switch the roles in groups.  She assigned the students a color.  The roles were then kept in a pocket chart and a color square was put next to each role.  Whichever student was assigned that color, did that job.  So simple and easy to do!  I could easily assign roles even if it was at the last minute.  Loved it!

The last thing that I did was make badges for each group with the roles in them.  It will take me a while to learn which kids are assigned which color.  Wearing the badges will let me observe and see how kids handle the role much easier than constantly having to check who has which role.  I am going to present it to my middle school kiddos as something that happens in real life.  You get a job and you wear a badge that identifies you as having that job.  Also, I found the badge holders and clips at Walmart.  It was $1.88 for 12 of the badges or 12 of the clips.  So it wasn't too expensive to put together.  Hoping the kiddos take to them.  I think they will.

Role Badges that I made for each group.

I have gotten a few requests for the files to make these role cards.  They are on several files, so there are a lot of "Box" boxes.

Homework Question Board

Homework Question Board

Last year, I didn't like how I handled homework questions.  So, after thinking about what I have done in the past and how I could make it work with the Saxon program, I came up with this homework question board.

One of the nice things about Saxon is that they always have 30 questions of homework.  I found calendar numbers cheap at my local teacher store and laminated them.  I made a header that says simply "How do you solve number..." and then I found these cute mini clothespins at Michaels that had chalkboard fronts (in the $1.50 bins at the front of the store).  I used my white gel pen to write "Us Too!" on the chalkboard part.  There is an up close picture below.

"Us Too!" Clothespins up close.

Next year, I plan to have the students sit in groups.  After we correct the homework, I want them to work together to answer each others' homework questions.  If the entire group can't answer the question, then the group can come and flip the number over to the backside.  If another group has the same question they can add an "Us Too!" clothespin to the front of the number.  That will tell me that at least 8 people in the room needed help.  That is a question to make a note of and spend some time over the next few days or weeks.  Below is an example of what I think the board will look like in use.

Example of how it might look in action.

Absent Student Folders

Click "absent student folder" to go to the original post

I have been so inspired by the creativity that is out and how so many people make things so simple.  Over the summer months, I will be busy creating things for next fall.  I will post as much as I can over the next few months.

I loved this today when I saw it on Pinterest.  It is an absent student folder that is kept on the desk of the absent student and filled with the work completed that day.  At first, I thought it was a little primary for my middle school kiddos, but then I started thinking about the responsibility that the kiddos could have. 

So, this is what I decided to do.  I made 7 absent student folders.  I needed to make it more middle school looking, so I did a Google search for clip art of sick animals and found some great pictures.  I put the title of "Absent Folder" with the caption "Here is what we did while you were out..." underneath it.  I then took some scrapbook paper and glued my label to it.  I then laminated the whole folder.  What I love about this is that I (or a group member, preferably) can use a dry erase marker and write the student's name on it.  Everything can be collected and the folder can be put back in a designated spot for the absent student to pick up when they return.  I like this better than absent folders in a bin.  That means I have to remember, usually, to file the assignment.  I like the idea that it is out on the desk and that the group members take care of their classmates.

Here is my version:

 I think they will be great next school year!!

My First Teacher Binder...

I have been seeing a lot of people's examples of teacher binders.  I wasn't sure that it would be something that I wanted.  I just always thought I needed the perfect lesson plan book.  Well, the other day, I found it.  The lesson plan book that was so perfect, it made me giddy, and then I saw the price.  It had a $59 base price.  Here is a link to it ( Lesson plan book).  What I liked about it was that it used different colors for the days of the week and the record book.  It also had everything that I could think of in one spiral bound book.  I know the school year just ended, but I thought I would try to see if I could create my own teacher binder similar to the beautiful lesson plan book that I can't afford.

So first thing I did was to get binder from Target.  I think red will be a nice pop of color on my desk.  Then, I came home and made a lovely cover using my Microsoft Word.  I trimmed it up and put it onto a piece of tag board and slid it into the front cover.  It is looking good already.

I had also purchased some tabbed dividers at Target as well for less than $2.  I found a calendar on TPT that was free for the 2013-2014 school year and it went under the first tab.  I then made a template for meeting notes.  It is pretty simple.  After the meeting notes section, I put a section for my seating charts.  Then added some graph paper that I simply three hole punched.

Meeting Notes Template

What took the longest was designing a template for my lesson plans.  I prefer to look at my lessons one day at a time verses seeing the entire week.  So I designed a daily plan sheet and color coded it.  I really like how it turned out and I am excited to see how they work.  This could be the expensive part, though.  I am not sure how much ink will cost me to print out pages.  In the long run, paying for the lesson plan book might be cheaper, but we'll see.  Here is the template I created:

Lesson Plan Template

Finally, I had to figure out a way to recreate the multicolored record book.  After a little looking, I found a record book that was only $1.  I took the book apart and I three holed punched each sheet.  By my calculation there was enough to get me through the year using only one side.  I them took out my highlighters and made my own multicolored record book.

Multicolored Record Book

I still want to add some of the things I'll be working on over the summer.  Things like my long range planning and the alignment of the lessons in my math textbook to our state standards.  In the end, I think I will have what I wanted without spending the money.