Logical Poetry

 Part of setting up my class with the Modern Classroom Project is a progress tracker. This worked well for my CS classes, since I follow the Code.org curriculum and they already have unit and lesson numbers. The biggest problem that I have is that both of my CS classes are around 40 students, and trying to display that many names in a way that everyone can see is challenging. Even with my large interactive tv screen, it can be hard to see everyone. Another issue I had is that I would allow students to keep working on lessons while we were in the same unit, but often I'd have students who'd finish the work a week later than everyone else and be upset that their progress wasn't updated on the tracker. Code is a bit different with mastery checks because students do a project to prove mastery, and I'm not able to limit their access to that. As I'm writing that, I'm wondering if I can set up a multiple choice form for each lesson based on the project they are suppose...

I go back to work in 10 days, so I decided I'd start blogging about my thoughts as I prepare to return.  Last school year, I listened to the podcast Truth for Teachers featuring Modern Classroom Project, and I was immediately enthralled. My district has pushed for blended learning, but I've never felt 100% confident with it. I've tried it on and off with station rotation, mainly, but I always ended up overwhelmed. I really liked how the MCP was set up to be basically just a self-paced classroom, which is where I've kind of been settling at anyways. I always (try to) make videos for lessons, because it makes my life easier and it's so useful for students to be able to go back and review the video.  Before going fully into it with all of my classes, I started with my CS class, which is what I usually do when I want to experiment with something that I could use for both CS & Math.  I did make some mistakes along the way, but I'm glad that I tried it out first q...

I've been reading a lot of good ideas on #MTBoS this summer, which I think will really help my organizational issues. It costs a bit of money, but I think if it helps it'll be worth it. First up is table folders . I always have issues remembering to pass back students work, and getting stuff back quickly. In my ideal world, I'd have enough time to pass stuff out to tables in between classes, but we only have 3 minute passing periods and I can never pass out work and get to the door in time. I went back and forth trying to decide if I should get paper (cheaper) or plastic (more durable but more expensive). I ultimately went with cheaper, because the Dollar Tree had a pack of 6 for $1, in 6 different colors. I'm going to use 1 color per period so it'll be easier to keep track of. I'm currently trying to decide how to organize the folders. Should I get a magazine file holder and leave them on the table groups, or put them elsewhere and have the resource manager o...

Ohh INBs. I love/hate you. All of the papers to set up this year's notebook 6 pages? No problem! I bet we'll have time to get started on the Unit 1 handout, too! WRONG. I decided this year I'd make sure each student's notebook has their name on it with Sharpie before leaving the room (I monitored Sharpie usage.) But many students asked for me  to write their names, creating a long line & time suck I didn't prepare for. Especially in my classes over 30, which happen to be after lunch and more rambunctious anyway. They only got 3 pages done. Inside cover, Table of Contents, and the Syllabus page. At least we made it through the syllabus? It did remind me, though, why the TEEM notebooking people use a printed Table of Contents. One student used about 3 or 4 lines per item to write in his table of contents. Margins going almost to the middle of the page. Not going to lie, I was horrified but unsure of how to proceed with him. So I think I may end up us...