The "When I'm Done" Board

When you're done... You should always have something to do. 
Some of my students innately understand this, and they always have a word search around or a drawing pad. However, many of my students prefer to dull their minds with incessant texting, talking, or other distracting behaviors. Therefore, I created this board, which also encourages holiday decorating, reconnecting with one's childhood pastime of coloring, scaffolded instruction with both anchor projects, remediation (extra practice), and brain teasers for those who just want to try something frustrating;)

The brain teasers, extra practice, and anchor projects are all extra credit dependent on the length and difficulty of the task. The coloring sheets are just for fun, and they are the most popular. One of my students will take one of each of the coloring sheets home each weekend, and bring them back colored. It makes my room bright and cheery! I theme the coloring sheets for each season/holiday.

No Victim Statements!

One of my colleagues had this sign in her room, and I stole it as all good colleagues should. The sign read: No victim statements! This coincides with my theme of positive self-talk. If students are able to victimize themselves, then they will never motivate themselves. Instead they will enable themselves. I don't feel like I addressed this poster well this year, but it goes along with many of the lessons that I incorporated into instruction throughout the year.

Sierpinski's Triangles

You have to love the Sierpinski triangle. We used it when talking about equilateral triangles, and then we tied in learning about similar triangles, dilations, ratios, repeating patterns, length (rulers), and more. Each student created their own triangle. Then we put them together to create a huge design on the bulletin board. 

Modifications: I had one student who could not create the design using a ruler, and he was really embarrassed. So I made a template triangle, and all he had to do was color it to show the different sized triangles. This is an extreme modification. Lesser modifications might include leaving out triangles that are drawn to the 1/4 of an inch for example. 

Challenge: Continue the pattern to the smallest triangles possible.

Transformations

This year I enjoyed teaching transformations so much! Not only did I find some awesome foldable notes from Mrs. Hester's Classroom and To the Square Inch Blog, but I also continued to assign my two favorite projects of the year. Both of the projects are similar, and I require students to complete both. I do modify the assignment though based on interest/artistic talent and ability. Effort is most definitely graded, but I do give leeway to those who are not as in love with art projects as I am:) 

Two reasons I complete the projects:
     #1 It is a two year class, and we all can use the break to do something less structured.
     #2 My students really struggle with spatial relations and the more we touch objects, move objects, and practice, the better they do.

Project One: Tessellation (Based on M.C. Escher's Art)

I share a Power Point presentation I made about M.C. Escher's Art and its influence on the math world. In addition, we talk about real life tessellations from wall paper to tiles on the floor. I always provide some of M.C. Escher's artwork for the students to color on the "When you're done board..."

Level 1: Students with the most ability are encouraged to rotate, reflect, and translate a figure to make a tessellation.

Level 2: Students are encouraged to make a unique design out of their index card...perhaps make it look like a fish, bird, wave, etc.

Level 3: Basic design, clean lines, fit the translated shape crisply together. Then outline and color in neatly.

Level 1: 1st Place Winner

Level 1: Simple but Nice:)

Level 1: Honorable Mention

Level 1: Honorable Mention

Level 2: 1st Place Design

Level 2: 1st Place Design (This is a student who dislikes Art)

Project Two: Kaleidoscope Name Reflection Design

I wished I had taken pictures of all of my best Name Reflection Projects, but I didn't. Here are the two that I have left. Again, there are levels of difficulty build into them. Students who needed challenged were asked to create three dimensional letters and appropriately rotate and reflect using any method they wanted (as long as it was accurate). Tracing was fine. Students less blessed with the gift of spacial relations could use a simple design and simply reflect the information. There are more modifications for this project too if needed. 

You can find the instructions to the project here:

Level 2: Initials Used; Great Result

Level 1: Basic Design for Student who lacks talent and motivation. Still a great product

Behind Tab #3: Positive Self-Talk

Instead of... Teaching Purely Instructional Material, Try... Teaching Some Emotional and Social Skills.

The more I teach, the more I realize what a deficit students have in positive self-talk. I take for granted the skills my parents embedded in my upbringing. How many times have my parents talked me through "tough" situations, giving me step-by-step instructions for any obstacle that I faced at the time. Even when I would come home with a school project that I wasn't quite sure how to complete, my parents would assure me that I was capable and always had succeeded before, so why wouldn't I be successful again? How wonderful is that? To grow up in a support system that is embedded with encouragement and belief in my inherent ability.

Unfortunately, many people do not have that system in place. Students come to school with a lot of baggage, and even those with good homes aren't always receiving the amounts of positive reinforcement that they could use. So, I have tried to integrate positive self-talk mini-lessons into the curriculum. The lessons are age-appropriate and based on the idea that students can empower themselves to overcome any obstacle whether that is surviving math class, the bullies in the hallway, or the loneliness that plagues them at home.

One lesson that I use is listed below:

I get the conversation started, and then I let them come up with their own. If they don't come up with all of these, I end up adding some of them. One that I always add is: Instead of "I don't know," Try thinking, "I will find out / I will write down what I do know."

As an added thought, my students are high schoolers, and they generally accept these lessons. Once in awhile I get mumbles or "this is stupid/babyish," but I just ignore it until a future lesson where I address insecurities and why things seem stupid but are necessary.

House Blue Prints

House Blue Prints, for my blue collar hands-on crew that live for the practical applications of Geometry. The project is simple and used by many. I've seen many different versions. This time around I utilized the project as a disguise to get them to practice finding the area of shapes. I allowed them to determine the difficulty of the project, and I allowed them to include as much detail as they wanted. I just set basic criteria and allowed them to work. Here are some of the results.