MS Sunday Funday- To grade or not to grade?

How I grade homework

• Students are assigned homework three times a week on my class.
• It is due the next day.
• It s normally less than 7 problems.

 

After our warm up, we go over the homework.

• Students who have no completed their homework, sign the No Homework Binder.
• Students are deducted 5 points for each hw not returned and/or completed.
• Students are expected to copy corrections on their unfinished paper. Those who not return it use notebook paper. No one gets away with just sitting in class.

 

If 3 homework assignments are not completed or returned, students call their parents and  are assigned Saturday school.

 

At the end of the grading period, students who have not signed the notebook, receive a free homework pass.

 

Why I give homework:

• Students need more practice than I have time for in my 50 minute block
• Students need to see as many problems as possible for mastery.
• Their parents ask for it.

 

My system works, and I love it. All the credit goes to Leslie at Jack of All Trades for her inspiring No Homework Binder idea!

Five for Friday

This is such a fun link party. Even though I posted earlier for Friday Freebie, I am posting again.

                                             
A great Spring Break week.....

1. I woke up every day before 7:00. I know, crazy, but it made me be productive. Some days I even had an hour or two with sleeping children. I enjoyed coffee and whatever else I wanted!!!! I made a lot of stuff for school!

2. Got 2 new tires, an oil change, and renewed my drivers license. Necessities, people!

 

3. I attended THREE Zumba classes, in the park. Very fun, thank goodness the weather cooperated. I ran  15+ miles, drank a gallon of water everyday, and met my calorie count each day too!

                                 


4. Spent one day at Chuck E Cheese with my two younger kids, my sister, brother in law and  their four kids. We went early, so it was really nice. Even got an early birthday present, a chance in the ticket blaster! My sisters idea of a joke. It was embarrassing, but fun.

5. We celebrated Pi day here on 3-14!!!! What kind of math teacher would I be if I didn't? My kids loved it. Last night, I asked them in front of their Dad, so, what day is it? My 3 year old said, "Circle day!" My 7 year old said, "It's really Pi Day Dad!" Job well done! I blogged about our fun here.

Circle Sandwiches!  And a fun book!

I have truly enjoyed my week, both productive, healthy, and fun. I did what I needed and what I wanted. I could add more because my house is clean and the laundry is complete! Time to put the big girl pants on and prepare for the next stressful six weeks before the state test!

St. Patty's Freebie

I know St. Patty's Day is Sunday, but just in time here's a themed game board. It can be used for any grade level, and any subject. You can use it with task cards or even just dice for younger kids. 

In honor of St. Patty himself, it is free!

I have created several themed gameboards, you can check out here.

 



I also have task cards for upper grades. Click here to see these.

                                     

                                     

HAPPY GREEN FRIDAY!



Happy Pi Day!

Math Geeks Unite! 

It's 3-14... National Pi Day!

 

I so wish we were in school for this day, but since we are not, my lucky 7 and 3 year old get to celebrate Pi Day with me. I did this last year too. They loved it, even though they had no idea what Pi is. You can check that out here.

1st: Apple Jacks for breakfast

 2nd: Mommy read them this book

3rd: We had circle sandwiches!

                                        

                                                                

4th: I just purchased Miss Math Dork Pi package and I am getting it ready for Monday to use with my class. Click here to get your own.

                                   

5th: I ran 3.14 miles... my treadmill didn't show it though, so I have 3.17  :( I did this last year too and this year I ran much faster. That made me feel good!

6th: At 3:14 on the clock, we made circular bubbles. I am actually doing this with my students next week too. Luckily I found an art site that had how to color bubble solution and get the bubbles to show up. My boys loved this.

7th: This is on my wish list. I seriously want this. It was sold on March 6th. Wah!

Today is a fun way to celebrate Math.

Can't to see all the fun ways others celebrated this day!



March- Monday Made it!

IT'S MONDAY AND IT'S SPRING BREAK!!!!

I am in my kitchen drinking coffee and eating a warm healthy muffin. My children are still sleeping so it is quiet and it feels FABULOUS.

Monday also means, Monday Made it!!!!

Last month, I made these cute valentine's for my own children to give their friends at school. Thank you Pinterest. They were so quick, easy and inexpensive!


Tammy Mitchell Designs


I also made Zucchini chips from Pinterest and at first I thought it was an epic fail, but actually they were pretty good. I will definitely try it again.

www.buzzfeed.com

                                                              

Thanks to Andrea over at For the Love of Teaching Math, I made these games for my students to practice finding circumference and area of a circle.

I taped the game pieces to a unifex cube so they could move around the board easily.

I also made this foldable from Live Teach Create.

Then I created this foldable just like it for graphs. Get it free HERE.

I also made these great cards from the same person @4mulafun. All I have to do now is laminate when I get back to school.

And lastly, I created a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I  took the plunge! I have made a few projects for it too, but mostly I am just adding the free things I posted since starting my blog. It's slow going because it takes time and that is one department I am lacking.

My first priced item is Mean, Mode, Median, Range task cards. Click here to check them out.

Maybe this week during SPRING BREAK!!!!

I can make and post more products and get this store up and running.

Happy Monday and here's to a PRODUCTIVE Spring Break!!!

MS Math Sunday Funday- Grading Policies

Have you heard of Educents? Check them out and receive a $15 gift card before the launch in April.

And now, to today's topic: Math Class Grading

Grading was new to me last year. I had taught first for so long and the districts I worked in, didn't give grades for first graders. We did more of a "readiness". Then I became an interventionists for four years and I didn't ever give grades.

Then, came middle school and holy moly, grading was a rude awakening. I teach over 100 students. Grading freaked me out.

Grading policies, however were in place for me.

In my district, daily grades are weighted 40% and major grades are weighted 60%.

This year I have learned so much more about grading. We have given major projects outside of class. We assign these as major grades which has helped our students who don't necessarily test well.

We are required to give two grades per week. I sometimes give more, depending on what we are studying.

Another thing I have done this year is use rubrics for grading. I like that the students know exactly what is expected and what they will receive for their work and effort.

Next week I will share how I grade, or don't grade homework. This too, is something I have learned by trial and error.

Happy Sunday to you all!

All things Upper Elementary LINK PARTY

It's time for the Fun 4 All Linky hosted by All things Upper Elementary.

                                   

There are so many great links, both free and $. You will NOT be disappointed.