TIME FLIES…

How? How is it almost December?!? We are already passing out midterm reports for the second quarter of the school year and my last blog post was my classroom reveal.  This is not okay.

I kind of don't even know where to begin...  

While I feel like I am in constant need of a nap, my year is off to a fantastic start. Here are just a few things that have brought a smile to my face recently.

First, I love my students.  Each year, as June approaches, I can't help but start to pay more attention to the fifth graders down the hall.  ...and if I am being honest, last year there was a whole lot of anxiety as I thought about what the future school year would bring.  Although I call them my little hurricanes, and while they are the noisiest silent class I have ever met, they always manage to brighten my day.

oh, Origami.  On Wednesdays and Fridays, the middle school students at my school participate in an elective program.  This semester I decided to teach origami, and I was shocked to learn how many students had no idea how to make a paper airplane.  We promptly resolved that small crisis and recently had the First (Possibly) Annual Paper Airplane Launch where prizes were awarded for the Farthest Flight and the Most Unique Design.

I have decided to experiment with Interactive Math Notebooks this year.  I am still sticking with the [Fantastic Math Cheat Sheet Organizer] for my 7th grade students, but I decided to attempt notebooks with my 5th and 6th graders.  It is definitely an experiment, and I already have a growing list of things I want to do differently next year, but, live and learn.  If you have suggestions or resources, I will take 'em.

I have prep time!!  Yep, for the first time in my teaching career, I have more than forty-five minutes a week to plan at school.  Thanks to our fantastic, new gym teacher, I have THREE forty-five minute plan periods a week.  ...it may not seem like much to some of you, but, oh my goodness, it is wonderful.

…and as of 3:35 p.m. today, I have a four-day weekend to enjoy.  Hello, naps!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." 

FANTASTIC MATH CHEAT SHEET ORGANIZERS

I will admit it, I was not brave enough to go all out and commit to using interactive notebooks to teach math this year.  Instead, my students keep all of their foldables and flippables in their Fantastic Math Cheat Sheet Organizer.  Check this thing out!!  With just one fold, a few cuts, and a little glue, students have a mini-book complete with an envelop to store their notes!

Now, I have to be honest,  I cannot take credit for coming up with brilliant idea.  However, I am also unable to give credit where credit is due.  At a conference this fall, I ditched a not-so-great presenter, and happened upon THIS.

Here is how...

Fold the bottom of the envelop to the top of the envelop.  

Fold carefully so that the flap of envelop is still able to be closed.

Use scissors to “shave" along the three folds that I have highlighted in the picture.  (This is by far the most challenging step.  I am a huge advocate of "hands-off" moments in my classroom.  Take your "hands-off" your supplies, and have your eyes on me.)  By shaving those three folds, you now have an additional page for gluing your flippables and foldables.  It is important to not shave past the fold that was made in the first step.

Carefully use the smallest bit of liquid glue to seal the fold from Step #1.  This will allow you to still have an envelop for students to store notes that you do not glue in place.

With a well-placed single hole punch, you can close all the pages of the 

Fantastic Math Cheat Sheet Organizer with the envelop flap.

BAM!  Decorate, add all the flippables and foldables that create in class, and enjoy!

These were easy to make, and they have been a great alternative to going all out with interactive notebooks. ...I would love to jump to an interactive notebook next year.  I have pinned and bookmarked tons of resources, but if you have any advice or resources you are willing to share, I will take it!!

THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

okay.  I am a nerd.  I know it, and I embrace it.  I LOVE the Pythagorean Theorem.

When I was in high school, I had an amazing Geometry teacher who made us memorize the Pythagorean Theorem.  We were warned; he would be stopping us in the hallway, in the cafeteria, at after-school activities and we would be expected to recite it back to him.  As a result, I can state the Pythagorean Theorem with incredible speed and accuracy, bound to amaze students everywhere.

"In any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides."  BAM.

After discovering an awesome "Properties of a Circle" foldable that was actually shaped like a circle, I decided it was time to create a Pythagorean Theorem foldable that was actually shaped like a triangle.  ...because I was crunched for time, rather than thinking through how to create it on the computer so that it would print front-to-back and fold the way I had in mind, I went to work with a a piece of printer paper and a sharpie. 

I started by creating a square on which I wrote out four practice problems that would be folded into the inside of the foldable.  Some of those practice problems require the students to solve for the hypotenuse, but others force them to solve for a side length.

Then, I folded along the diagonal to create a right triangle and used sharpie to draw blanks where students would label important information.  As we made our foldables, we filled in that important information and color-coded the legs and hypotenuse.

Next, I folded the acute angles of the triangle up to the right angle to hide the triangle and create a square where students can write the definition of the Pythagorean Theorem.

Finally, fold along the diagonal and add a title to the front.

When I worked through this process with my lovely 7th graders, we did all the folding first.   Then we started with the title on the front and worked our way to the center of the foldable where the practice problems were located.  Foldables are nothing new to my students, so while this process may seem complicated, they folded and labeled like pros. 

Before walking out of my classroom, students glued them into their Fantastic Math Cheat Sheet Organizers.  (Click [here] for more information on this stroke of brilliance...)

As if I didn't already love the Pythagorean Theorem, now I have a fabulous, colorful, triangular foldable to use when I teach my favorite theorem.