Throw Back Thursday- Scantron Practice

Linking up with Angela at The Teacher's Desk 6 because I have just been busy and haven't written a new blog post. 

original post: 4/11/2014

Happy Friday! 

First of all, you did you know today is #LoveMySchoolDay? We received an email from our Superintendent today informing us of that. She encouraged us to shout out about our school and be proud of who we are! 

So here's my shout out! 

We are the ELGIN WILDCATS!!!! 

I truly am proud of my school. It's my third year here and it has been the hardest thing I have ever done. Middle School is tough. 

But, I am proud to be a teacher here and I am proud of my students here! 

This is our community and WE ROCK!!! 

Today I am including a FREEBIE for those of you who still take scantron test. 

We still have students that make errors on their scantrons by leaving bubbles blank, using pen or marker (this only happened when I was absent!), and then making mistakes on griddables because they won't pay attention to the place value. 

These are examples of real mistakes my students made. 

It drives me insane when they write WHOLE numbers behind the decimals!!! 

This is a place value issue!!! 

How do you forget to color in FOUR questions!!! 

This student made a 67 because of this. His grade would have been a 93 if he had just colored in the answers he had in his test booklet! 

This is common. Students forget to color in one answer choice. 

This student would have had a 100 on his test. 

This is what happens when you don't follow directions and use a pen instead of a pencil, you can't erase your mistakes!!!

If you can't tell, this student used PURPLE marker on his test. I had a sub that day, this would never have happened if I had been in class. But, that student KNEW better!!!! 

So, before our state test, we dedicated an entire day to error analysis of scantrons and griddables. 

This is how my two other sixth grade teachers did this activity. They placed them in the hallway and students worked together to solve. 

Students had to recognize that they can not wrinkle or fold their scantrons. These type will not be graded! 

The students have actually had a lot of fun with it. I keep hearing, "Who would forget this? or "Who does this?" I am just laughing, because they are ALL guilty at some point! 

Hopefully,  this will help with them pay a little closer attention when they take their test. 

I know some of you have gone digital and don't have this problem, but I hope those of you who still use scantrons, can use this over the next several weeks. 

It's the newest FREEBIE in my store. 

ENJOY! 

Tried it Tuesday - Daily 3... in a Middle School Class

I officially started Daily 3 this week. It went extremely smooth and that makes me nervous. Maybe its too cold for my students to act up! 

I have my chart ready! All I have to do is move the table circles as we go. 

I have tables labeled. This is new for us. The students actually love them. 

If you know anything about Daily 5 or Daily 3, I charts are created for expectations.

I needed one for all of them and done quickly for students to know what was expected of them during these rotations. 

This was my solution. I created a power point and have it up the entire class period. 

Also listed is what is being done at each rotation. This way while I am working with students, I am not getting bothered with questions like, "Where do I find this paper." or "What do I do now?" 

These are my kids at Math by Myself: They are completing a Secret Message activity with ebackpack. 

Here they are in Math Writing: They are taking Cornell Notes using videos from their textbook. 

And Math with Someone, they are creating a picture on quadrant grids. 

So far, so good. I am pleased with the work they are giving me and that they are taking this serious.

Now we are on to week 2 of Daily 3. I don't have new pictures though, but I have adpated it some. 

I have 54 minute classes. Students need at least 20 minutes for each station. I found that splitting a station between days can get confusing, especially with 4 classes. 

So, I am structuring it like this: 

Day 1: Mini Lesson for whole class, One station for all students 

Day 2: Two stations, plus time for warm up and completion of assignments. 

We will do "two sets" of stations in the week and I am leaving Friday open for make up work, reteaching, etc. Time will tell how this will be structured. I am trying to be flexible and really make it work for my students. 

This week's stations:
Math by Myself: Multiplying and Dividing Decimals Secret Message 

Math with Someone: Creating Tables 

Math Writing: Vocabulary 

Math by Myself: Final Exam data review

Math with Someone: Equations Match with Gameboard 

Math Writing: Comparing and Contrasting additive and multiplicative relationships

It has gone beautifully! My students are engaged and getting work done. 

I will get more pics out ASAP!!!! 

Be sure to check out Holly, over at Fourth Grade Flippers great "tried-it's" for the week. 

Link up and share as well! 

Monday Made It - January

I have been waiting to share these made its since the Christmas break. I was fairly productive over the break. 

I have started Daily 3 for Math in my classroom and I knew I wanted to engage my students when they were doing "Math with Someone", so I made game boards for them. I wanted them to be fun and inviting, but where I could switch them out too. I made some that are seasonal and some that can be used all year round. 

Throw some dice and counters in a bag and viola', GAME ON! 

My 6th graders have been using them for almost a week now. They love them. I think the options for these are countless and can be used for any grade level, any subject. 

You can check them out here.

If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen this. 

This is week 2 of meal planning. 

Last week, I made lunch, breakfast and my husband made meat for our dinners for the entire week. 

It was GREAT! 

This week, I have my breakfast for the week completed and lunches too. 

We didn't cook meat this week, but we do have food ready and now what we are eating for most of the week. My major concern is breakfast and lunch and that is set. 

I know so many people do this, if you don't, you should. 

Planning prevents failure!

Math is Real Life- Bubble Bath

Linking up with  my friends for Math in Real Life 

Saw this at our local HEB (grocery store) and immediately thought about how I could use this in my math class. 

What would you do? 

I bought my kids an abundance of Bubble Bath. They were thrilled! 

Heck, I was MAKING money shopping at HEB!!!! 

Then one day as I am walking through the HEB, I see a good friend of mine who works there and we are at this display. I mention that this coupon seems a little weird.  She looks confused and I explain how I am making 6 CENTS every time I buy one! She still looks confused. So, I explain it to her like a 6th grader. 

She looks at me and says, "uh... AFTER the coupon!!!!" Then shows me the sign that is COVERED up by their display! I wish I had the forethought to take a picture of it!!! 

HA!!! Joke is on me!!! I have not been making money, I should have known it was too good to be true. Lesson learned! Enjoy a giggle on me! 

#MiRL

 A monthly REAL WORLD math blog link-up hosted by

 4mulaFun, The Teacher Studio, Teaching to Inspire in 5th, AND MissMathDork,

January Currently

I am so late to the party, thanks to College Football yesterday! I didn't even look at my computer yesterday! 

But today, I am going to be productive. But first, some fun with Farley! 

I sound like an old lady, "Turn done that racket outside!" Ha! But, thankfully it is gone now... 

Hubby went back to work today, so hopefully I can get lots done. Yes, I am going to blame him and football for that huge pile of laundry taking over my bedroom! 

Like most people, I have to lose weight... I have to get healthy! I am at a cross roads here and it is time!!! 

And I know it probably won't happen, but I wish I could get out of debt. We have so much medical debt due to my son's hearing issues and bad insurance... just plugging away at it. I know medical debt is different than other types of debt, but don't be fooled, it is still debt! 

Okay, off to be positive and productive!!!! 

Top 5 Blog Posts of 2014 - Linky Party

Time for another reflection for 2014 

It blows my mind that anyone reads this blog at all, but it blows my mind even more to see how often people check out what I have been doing. I am so glad. I am glad people can benefit from what I have done, especially the mistakes and the great finds I get from my own blog reading. 

Here's my Top 5 

Tried It Tuesday-Flies, Flies Everywhere!

The Forgotten Post- The Real Number System 

A Really Large Number Line 

Homework Banners Adapted for Multiple Classes

An Entire Interactive Notebook

I loved looking back at these posts and looking at the others as well. 

Be sure to check them out with Ideas by Jivey and add your own too!