New means new...

The anxiety is starting to sink in.  I'm not looking forward to coming back to work.  I've been enjoying my time off way too much.  But a purposeless life is...well...purposeless.

I'm toying with the ideas of interactive notebooks again.  I'm also contemplating seventh graders--they're a giant ball of hormone-fueled crazypants and I'm not sure if I want to be on this ship.  Too bad I love my teaching partners.  Can't have it all, amirite?

I used the personality inventories from Sarah Rubin at Everybody is a Genius with success in the past,  but last time, it didn't quite work out for me.  I'm blaming hormone-fueled crazypants.  I've been borrowing heavily from pinterest and other math bloggers out there, and I'm incredibly thankful to them, hence the need to post what I've been doing.

I'm going to start with these introductory pages from Karrie at Mrs. E Teaches Math, but I modified the first page a bit to suit my needs.  I've decided that I'll be grading their notebooks this year (marginally, it's just to increase buy-in), so I included a preview of what they'll be graded on and a signature line.  The facing page will be a table of contents for their units.  

The next pages will be my syllabus, whose formatting I took from Everybody is a Genius.  Then the math biography, that I borrowed from Math Equals Love, and an exercise in goal setting.  I'm hoping to focus a lot on the power of positive mindsets (yes, I'm on the Carol Dweck/Jo Boaler train). I'm finishing off the introductory pages with Mrs. E's Tips for Studying Math.

Each unit will have it's own table of contents and list of objectives.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about such a large tab sticking out of the notebook, but I think I'll live.

The seventh grade standards start off with a unit on Ratios and Proportions, including percents, but I think that's sillypants.  I'm going start the year off with Number Systems so integers will be first on deck, followed by fractions.  After I've figured out what I'm doing, there will be a post with foldables and stuff.








This is my notebook...
Smart Goals
Integer unit page
SaveSave

Tomorrow's go...

My daughter likes to "have a go" at things instead of "having a turn".  So, this is tomorrow's go.  I hope it turns out ok.  And even if it doesn't, change is good.  At least I will know what not to do.

I was searching for solutions for absent students, and I think this may work.  Kagan has the facilitator deal with paperwork for the absentia, so I put in a space for the facilitator to sign her/his name.  I like that it's reminiscent to the old, pink office message slips.  I think I'll even copy it on pink paper.  I made it so that there are four to a page, but still has ample space to write on.  This makes me very happy.

Dry run...

I think I may have struck a balance with how to incorporate foldables and graphic organizers in my interactive notebooks while still be able to keep up Cornell-style note taking.  In the spirit of the left-side/right side of interview notebooks, I'll have only one "left-side" page foldable, and the other pages will be Cornell notes.  I think I'll initially have the foldable pre-made, but gradually release them to make their own (dare to dream?).

I also think I've come across a student record keeping/goal setting that I can work with.  I'm looking for a little embedded structure in my own record keeping.  I'd like to have the assignments separated by how they're weighted for grading, but this works for now.

This unit's major vocabulary.  The students' books will have more.  I was too lazy to go beyond getting a visual feel.  

Cornell notes on the right-side, a foldable on the left.  I think I'll keep the foldable and graphic organizers as a team closure activity.

I'm still working on a protocol for absent students that works for me.  I"m considering going the Kagan route and having that be a cooperative learning role—it's the facilitator's job, right?

Getting off the ground...

I've been doing a lot of internet-based research on how to get my interactive notebook off the ground.  I've started my own master-version, and I'm finding that i should do a little more "staging" before the pasting process begins.  After some things have gone down, I've discovered things that I wished came before other pages.  It's ok.  This is a learning process.  Plus, I can always paste to the back.

I'm debating with myself about how much/deep I intend on going with the foldables and interactive graphic organizers. I've done a lot of Cornell notes in the past, and due to foolishness, I haven't done so this year. I'll most likely be incorporating a balance of the two. 

I'd like to take a moment to thank all the math-teaching angels out there who have done the amazing job already and are willing to share it all with the world:

• It started with Busy Miss Beebe...
• and i is a number
• and miss calcul8
• and Mrs. Hester's Classroom
• Who all link to Math = Love...
• Who talks to Everybody is a Genius...

I'm still in the planning and staging process.  I feel very positive and hopeful that this will help my kids.  It may not be the silver bullet that I'm looking for, but change is almost always a good thing.

Cover and Bobby Straightedge:

Learning styles and cover information

Personality inventories

The start of a unit, with a pocket and vocabulary Frayer models. 

I think I'll have my students set up for the upcoming unit for homework after they take their unit test.  It'll be something simple to reset their heads after a test. I also want to have some sort of progress tracker organized by standard or objective, and a place for them to record their scores and revision scores.