Graphing On The Wall

I love my graphing board. I got the idea from a teacher friend that made a board out of masking tape on his white board during summer school. I went a little crazy with the idea, but I love the result. It's already come in handy to have to reference while teaching the linear functions review unit with my Alg 2 kids.

So here's what I did:

I started with some fabric, and a yard covered up enough of the board once I added the borders (click the link for the printable template). Then I used (well, stole, then used) my husband's laser level. 

I had these foam popsicle sticks leftover from a project last year, so I used them. I wanted the x and y axes to be really perpendicular, so I took my time with this step. I stapled each one on the ends as I went across, then went back and reinforced them once I was sure they were in the right place.

Then I started adding cording (scavenged out of my grandmother's sewing closet) at two inch intervals. I just guessed at the length - they're uneven, but they're covered by borders, so it looks good. I marked the two inch intervals on the foam (see the indentations from my pencil above?) then just twisted the laser to meet the dot. This step was what I had anticipated spending tons of time on, but once I did the first 2 or 3, it went by super quickly. Attaching all the cording took maybe 20 mins. total. 

 Here's a close up of how I was lining it up and stapling. (And also the proof of how uneven these really were. Less measuring = less time spent) 

Once the vertical lines were attached, I repeated the process with the horizontal lines.

Overall, I'm so happy with how it turned out. Here are a couple tips:

1. Don't use yarn for the grid lines. That's what I tried originally, but it's too stretchy. 

2. It will sag after a few days. Just staple it back up, and it should be fine after that point.

Here's what I'm using to attach points.

Small command hooks hot glued to foam squares. They clip wonderfully!

(Side note - the small command hooks aren't great for graphing lines. I've been using jumbo paper clips for lines, then attaching yarn to the paperclips AFTER the paperclips are in place. So far, it's the most accurate way to keep a line where it needs to be.)

Here's that finished product: finished with borders, and book covers cut in half, then stapled up to hold the hooks and paperclips. 

Back into the swing of things

Today's really the first day that I've felt really back into the rhythm of school. Which is really ridiculous, since today was an awkward schedule (assembly day) and nothing seemed to go right, but maybe that's what made it seem normal. I wanted to post some of my pictures of my new room, just so you can see what I've been up to. 

This is what I arrived to the first workday - empty space and lots of boxes. I'm math department chair this year, so I got the privilege of unpacking all the math supplies for our brand new school. I also had to engrave 120 calculators - which took FOREVER. 

 Ok - this is the view from the door, and this is pretty close to what it looks like today, although I've since added scrapbook paper onto the cabinet for our "Bragging Rights" wall. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my graphing wall! I'll post an in-depth tutorial on how I made this, but I love it and it's great to be able to reference this during lessons, and I can't wait to use it for centers this year!

Envelopes for my three classes Mastery Skill Levels - see my previous post here. 

Each class has different topics, and I'll post the new lists, as well as templates for the envelopes (yes I made them myself) and the number labels. 

Back corner - bins from the dollar store that hold game supplies (dice, player markers, etc), erasers for the dry erase sleeves, and index cards. 

So now I just wanna brag - we got CHARGING calculators!!!! No more batteries!!!

Did I mention the color screens and the app for mixed number operations?!?!

Even my math-hater students have been geeking out over these calculators! 

Back wall, where I post grades, and the bins where I sort their ISN page materials and student files.

Laminated color cardstock taped together = dry erase table of contents for each subject!

Each class has 2 bins. One has files labeled 1-100 for their ISN page materials. Since I do a new ISN each 6 weeks, we don't get past 100 pages very often. The other bin is for their student files, where their tests and quizzes and SBG materials are kept.

Dry erase markers, highlighters, markers, and pens all sorted by color. 

This is also where I keep the bins for their ISN supplies (stacked at the end of the day). Each group gets 1 purple bin and 1 silver bin, which stack inside one another. The purple one holds scissors/gluesticks/etc for each group member, and they use the silver one for trash, then empty it at the end of class. 

This is my system for papers that they turn in - each bin has 3 folders, one for each subject area.

Absent kid system - they get a small paper out of their class's envelope that states what pages they missed and if there's anything outside of the notebook to make up. 

Phone prison - this is just the bottom half of a show organizer that I cut up, then covered the raw edges with black tape. 

For open house, this was on the board as the parents walked in - all I did was write supplies on post-its, and replenish as it grew low (I had some generous parents this year!)

Primary Board - this has since changed to a vertical setup, since it gave me more room to write the warmup. 

I give 3 warm-up questions per day, and the students respond on a weekly page that I collect as a quiz grade at the end of the week. This is also where I check their homework and give them a stamp on their punch pass. The warm-up sheet is available here. 

The labels on the board are also available for free in black and white, but they're easy to edit in word to be colorful. 

Let me know what you think!!

Classroom Decorating

Wow it's been quite a week. I was at the Meredith Math Institute learning about how to create rigorous math tasks for Math 1 students - lots of good stuff there. If you teach Math 1, 2, or 3, check out this google group: it's free to join, and we have posted all of the tasks from the week. 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/navigating-seven-seas

Right before I left for Raleigh, I had a chance to go school supply shopping and pick up my class decor stuff - fabric and bins and such. I'll post pictures once I get my room set up (this morning was the first morning we could access our rooms), but for now, this should give you a decent idea. 

Most of the fabric I found in the clearance section of Walmart, and together for 1-2 yards of each, it was around $15.  

I am so in love with that purple batik! I'm also super happy to have two of the same pattern but in a dark and light version. One of those two will become my curtains for my room. 

The solid colors will be used for the bulletin boards - I love being able to reuse them year after year, and they don't fade like the butcher paper does. My boards are across from the window, so that was a definite concern this year. 

I have 3 preps this year, so everything will be color coded in these 3 colors. Blue = Algebra Two (see what I did there? HAHA), purple = Algebra 1/Math 1, and green is foundations. I need a pneumonic device for those second two. (My hubby suggested "purple is for derples," but I don't think that will work.)

The ribbon will be woven around the crates. (An idea I found on Pinterest)  One of the great things about Walmart is I can get everything in the same colors, since they're made by the same company. The ribbons, fabric, boards, and crates match almost perfectly!

While we're color coding, I also made these contact cards to put in the front of their interactive notebooks. It has my website, google voice number, and email both in print and as QR codes. 

Download the template for free here. 

I used the website http://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/ to come up with the QR codes. 

I also made these supply labels - download the free template here. 

That's it for now - coming soon: pictures of last year's Math ISN. 

Freebies on Friday! Editable, printable bulletin board borders!

I got a little bored this morning, so I made a few things to share: printable, editable bulletin board borders. I can never find ones I like, and even using scrapbook paper to cut out custom ones can get time-consuming and pricey very quickly. So I am printing them this year, and of course I'll laminate as well so that I can continue to use them in years to come.

I've made several templates in Word, and all you have to do to make them your own is change the fill for the shapes! I usually download some free background paper from TPT, or use one of the built-in patterns from Word.

It's not too difficult to make your own template as well. Just in case my templates don't give you the type of border you want, here's how to make your own!

1. Open a new Word document, and change the paper orientation to landscape, with narrow borders.

2. Find an image (ANY image) of the type of edge you want on your border. Paste the image in Microsoft Word, and adjust the length of the image so that it is around 10 inches. If you picked a short image that you do not want to stretch, simply copy and paste more images to create a longer border. Also, change the "Wrap" setting on your image to "Behind Text."

3. Click the Insert Tab. Then click Shapes. In the dropdown menu, select the "Freeform" shape under the Lines category. This will allow you to create a custom shape, by tracing over your image. Each time you click, another section of the shape is created. I recommend zooming in on your figure so you can be very precise as you click around the edges over your picture. 

4. Once you have traced all along your shape, you can fill the shape with any color or picture you like. To do this, click the Format tab, then Shape Fill. If your edges seem choppy, sometimes it helps to add a white 3-pt. border for your shape, which you can do by clicking the Format tab, then Shape Outline, then weight, 3-pt. The shape really doesn't have to be super smooth, since you will be printing it out and cutting it out. Any rough curves can be smoothed out when you cut it out. 

5. Copy and paste a second (or third!) shape onto your page - so there's less paper waste when you print. 

To download the FREE templates I've created, visit my TPT store at tinyurl.com/learningwithtapeTPT !  Below are the templates I posted: