Ms. K
How Do You Foster a Positive Learning Environment Part 1?
I will state the obvious. Be prepared. I will quote an intelligent administrator in my district…”If you don’t come with your plan, the students will come with theirs.” I have watched many a teacher’s backside showing to the class as they dig for the materials needed for the lesson with the next words out of their mouth to be, “why are you talking”. If students could honestly answer, they would say, ” I was talking because you didn’t give me anything to do, and you aren’t prepared.” Having all of your materials in place and in easy reach maximizes instructional time and limits disruptive behavior.
Math Website with Free Engaging Activities and Printables
Math Wire is an amazing website with lots of helpful, quality teaching tips and free printable worksheets for math instruction. All the activities are based on NCTM standards and constructivist learning. Activities include free printable worksheets such as “I Have, Who Has” cards, open ended response questions, and math game boards to name a few. I especially like the suggestion that Math Wire presents about coin antennas for students who have difficulty counting money. Take a while to browse Math Wire to gain insight on improving your instructional practices. http://mathwire.com/
How Can You Use Gallon Guy to Reach Your Kinesthetic Learners?
Instead of using Gallon Guy as a simple cut and paste activity, tape one on your body to engage students. Tape the gallon on your chest. Tape the quarts to your shoulders and hips. Tape two pints each to your arms so that you have one above your elbow and one below your elbow. Tape two pints each to your legs–one each above your knee and one below your knee. Tape four cups on the fingers of each hand and four on each foot. Have students use their bodies as they discover the amount of pints in a gallon etc. If you have enough class time, have students tape a gallon guy to their bodies also. Have students work in teams to answer conversion questions about more than one gallon, or they can count their own body more than once. If you are not familiar with the Gallon Guy Activity, I have attached a link.
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/measurement/gallonbot-assemble.pdf
Are Prang Crayons Worth the Extra Money?
There are several main brands of crayons you will find in stores–Prang, Crayola, and Rose Art. Crayon price does determine quality. Crayon companies save money by adding extra wax and less pigment to their crayons. Rose Art are typically the cheapest and deliver the weakest color. Crayola are a good standby that produces average color. Prang, however, consistently delivers vivid, vibrant color and is worth the extra cash.
Does the NEA Have Your Best Interests in Mind?
Below, I have quoted the NEA’s mission and vision statements. Their statements read that they ” are the voice of education professionals” and that they are to “advocate for education professionals.” I am confused by these statements. The NEA favorably represents liberal democratic candidates in all of their publications and doesn’t provide a balanced view to represent the “voice of education professionals.” Conservative voices and ideas are openly squelched. Educational professionals who belong to this professional organization may not be aware that their money is supporting a political agenda.
- “We, the members of the National Education Association of the United States, are the voice of education professionals. Our work is fundamental to the nation, and we accept the profound trust placed in us.
- Our vision is a great public school for every student.
- Our mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.”
If you are an educator who only belongs to this organization for the liability insurance you are provided and you are not interested in supporting a political agenda, you may purchase liability insurance from an independent provider at a much lower rate than the dues to your local chapter of the NEA. If you are wanting to withdraw your membership from the teacher’s union, I can only speak for how to get out of the union from my state of Arkansas. I am not sure if it is the same in all states. There is only a certain window of time within the summer months of June or July that you may withdraw your membership, and this is certainly not publicized. You must withdraw with a written request letter during these months.
How Can Cooperative Groups Make Your Workload Lighter?
Set up your classroom in cooperative groups to make your workload easier. If each group of four students has one captain, then that captain can manage the team. Set up materials in your room in a central location. I have found this works best if you set the materials in plastic drawers which you can buy in the office supply section of Wal-Mart. In each drawer place enough supplies for that team. For an elementary classroom, I recommend having six drawers full of crayons, six drawers full of markers, six drawers full of colored pencils, and six drawers full of four sets of scissors and glue sticks. Beside the supplies also have paper trays for each subject. Direct your team captains to pick up and return the needed supplies and papers for each activity. Give each student in a team a number 1-4. To give students equal opportunities at being team captain, change the team captain number on the board each day. Reward teams who are quick to follow directions. You can keep a running tally and reward teams with the most points for appropriate behavior. Below is an example of how you might label your team captain numbers so that the numbers rotate in a circle.
| 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 |
Free Printable Math Resource Sheets
Van de Walle is the author of several math lesson books including Teaching Student Centered Mathematics. His lessons extend student thinking, target misconceptions, and provide many hands on lesson activities. Kindly enough, Van de Walle has made the blackline master printables available for free at the link below.
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_vandewalle_math_5/0%2C7959%2C796754-%2C00.html
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_vandewalle_math_6/0%2C12312%2C3547876-%2C00.html
You will find ten frame cards, printable polygons, area and perimeter shapes to measure, grid paper, dot paper, protractors, fraction and pattern lesson activities etc.
Make Pounds and Ounces Comprehensible to Your Students
- To help students make reasonable estimates with any type of measurement including weight, students must have experiences measuring items that are common to them. For example, when teaching students how heavy a pound or ounce is, allow them to hold a small bag of sugar for a pound and a square of baking chocolate for an ounce. Have students predict how many baking chocolate squares (ounces) it will take to make a bag of sugar (pound). Then place one ounce on the scale at a time for students to see. When you are halfway to a pound stop and ask the students if they wish to change their predictions.
- Notes: When students only hold the standard metal measurements that come with balance beam scales, they tend to have a skewed view of how heavy a pound or ounce is since the metal is so dense. When you are looking for a pound of sugar in the baking aisle, the normal granulated sugar isn’t typically sold in a one pound bag. However, you can buy a small pound of sugar in a box to represent one pound. These are the only items in the grocery store that I have found to weigh exactly one pound and one ounce. If you have found others, please comment.
