Our First Week of Learning Together!

It's hard to believe I experienced my 35th First Day of School.  This picture makes me laugh because I still carry my lunch box the same as I did when I started kindergarten!  Our first day of the 2018-2019 school year, brought so much joy and happiness to my heart.  Getting to know a new group of learners, as well as their families began at our Meet the Teacher night, the Wednesday before school started! I loved hearing how excited families are about being in our class this year. I truly believe it takes all of us working together to achieve growth and success! 

We  spent our first week building our classroom learning environment, where all learners can be successful!  Throughout the week, the noise level increased, as did the smiles and laughter, which spoke volumes to my teacher heart.  Our kids are feeling safe and will be more willing to embrace the struggle and learn the why behind our math.  

This week's learning including creating our class treatment agreement, building a collaborative learning environment, embracing a  growth mindset and diving into our digital resources!  It was definitely a packed week of learning and excitement. 

As part of our first week together, we spent time creating our class treatment agreement.  It was eye opening and honestly, heart breaking to hear what some learners have experienced in their years of being at school.  Above is a copy of the template each learner received, along with our steps to creating our class treatment agreements.  

             

   

Adding his table groups ideas for how
students should treat Ms. Pauley 

Sharing their ideas and summarizing their table groups
treatment agreements

Because our district is 1:1, and chromebook rollout occured during our first week together, I thought it would be fun to take our class treatment agreement digital!  Using Mentimeter, I created polls for each of our guiding questions and guess what....The learners of room 103 loved it!  As they each voted, or put money/points into each category they thought was important the screen changed.  They loved watching the "real" time voting.  Hearing, "Can we do this again?" once again reminded me of why they are "my kids" for the 2018-2019 school year!  

Building a Collaborative Learning Environment

I strongly believe in the power of working together and building each other up!  Our Huskies truly encouraged each other when it came to problem solving, as well as sharing during our warm-ups and class activities .  

 

If you are wanting to build this type of learning environment, I'd strongly suggest implementing WODB warm ups...they are amazing!  There are no wrong answers, since each learner gets to justify why they chose the answer.  Learners were amazed by the different ideas and reasons to why their classmates chose various patterns.  

Embracing a Growth Mindset

Here is a link to the activities we used:  Week of Inspirational Math by Jo Boahler

In 7th grade math, we spent our week learning about growth mindset and the impact it has on our learning, especially as we implement a new curriculum this year. 

I loved hearing our learners share their thinking and be accepting of others' different views on the same problems.  It was eye opening from the teacher's perspective to see how learners' visualized various problems. 

I can already tell, I have a group of innovative thinkers, who are going to thrive this year, as we embark on our journey together!

Diving into Our Digital Resources

This year we are implementing Illustrative Math.  This is a huge learning curve for both our learners, as well as us teachers!  I'm grateful to have such a wonderful department who collaborates and encourages each other as we begin this journey.  Our sixth graders were the first group of learners to embark on their digital learning journey.  We introduced them to Desmos and Geogebra, which they loved!  As I explained during our class, we all learn differently and this year we're adding another tool to our tool belt.  Because of the excitement and enthusiasm on Day 1, I can only think our learners will grow not only in their digital skills but also their problem solving skills.  It's going to be an exciting year!  

Along with learning came abit of fun as well...photo booth props make everything better :) 

Photo Booth Fun in Math 

I'd say this was definitely one of the best first weeks of learning....Here's to a year of many learning opportunities and success for the learners of Room 103!

Turning 4 Walls into a Classroom

With the start of my 18th year in education, brings the joys of creating a learning environment that brings comfort and joy, as we embark on learning together and achieving success!  Remember that peace of mind that I felt last semester?  That feeling has carried throughout the summer and into the start of the 2018-2019 school year! 

Most teachers most of their summer preparing for the upcoming year, designing and creating their classrooms and searching high and low for the perfect additions to their classroom.  My summer was different this year.  I spent my summer enjoying friends and family, not worrying about my classroom, what I would be teaching or the details of our upcoming year.  This was totally out of character for me, but again, I knew the Lord would pave the path to a joyous year!

At the end of July, I went to see my "new" classroom.  New being in quotations because our school is currently being renovated and updated for our Huskies!  When I asked to come see my room,  I was told you can come see it but you can't bring anything in just yet.  This made me laugh because who wants to move in 110 degree Texas heat!  I really just wanted an idea of our space and to decide which set of classroom decorations to use this year :) 

Our Blank Slate in July 2018

After seeing my "new" room, I knew exactly which set of classroom decorations I was going to use.  Sure it helped that there were all ready 3 bulletin boards created, but the colors would be perfect to brighten up our classroom.  The original handmade set was created by my mother for the 2013-2014 school year.  I remember her sending an email of the "perfect" fabric that would coordinate with my teaching partner Will's theme of owls and my love of chevron.  Who knew that this collection of polka dots, chevron and owls would still bring great joy years later!  

I began moving all of my classroom resources into our room.  At one point our room looked like a storage room with everything scattered all over the tables and floor!  During the week, lots of love and care was spent putting our room together.  We share our room with another teacher, who teaches TX history and coaches.  Because of my experience last year of being in 3 rooms, I insisted on Coach Lawson bringing something to make the room feel like his, not just ours.  So he brought his Big XII pennants, which this TCU girl absolutely loved...bring on college football season!

After a few hours, lots of sweat & help from friends, it all came together!  

Leaning on My Faith

 December 2017 brought an event I never imagined I'd be going through at the age of 38....the passing of my father.  Though it was expected due to his health issues, I'm not sure anyone can ever truly be prepared for the actuality of a parent passing.  I remember one of my dearest friends, Hayley, who was with me when I received the news. She listened to me and offered scripture, but one of the best things she said is, "I'm glad you're going back to school on Tuesday.  That's exactly what your dad would want.  He was proud of who you are in the classroom and loved hearing the stories of your kids and their learning!"  Our classroom became my safe place and our time to shine.  We spent the two weeks before break continuing our math learning journey.  These were two of the most challenging weeks of my life.  Looking back I can't remember much except the joy and safety my learners brought to my world.  Hayley was exactly right about going back to school so "soon"...My father was extremely proud of me as a teacher, who had continued to do the best for her kids, giving 110% despite the circumstances!

The passing of my father and the daily conversation between Hayley and I are what kept me motivated during the spring semester. Our spring semester brought many opportunities for personal growth and student success.  Not necessarily the easiest but I know that the Lord was guiding me.  There were days that I missed my daily phone call from my dad, asking the usual questions about work, the weather, my mom and my puppy.  However, I know he was looking down on me, from heaven above, beaming with pride, as I listened and trusted in the Lord.  During this time, my prayer became more focused on keeping the joy in my heart and that the Lord open the doors to where both the learners would need my love of teaching, as well as a place that would provide unconditional joy in my day.  

For what seemed like an eternity, I filled out applications ranging from administration positions to classroom teaching positions. I wasn't sure where God wanted me, so I took every job posting and interview as an opportunity.  It's truly amazing what I learned during this process.  Again, a true testimony of leaning on the Lord and letting Him guide me through the journey of who He needs me to be.  

At the end of April, I had, what was the shortest interview of my entire career, in a district closer to my mom.  After our 20 minutes together, I dropped 2 thank you notes into the mail and headed back home to get ready for another interview the next day.  Like I said, it was a busy spring semester!  I dropped the notes into the mailbox and thanked God for giving me the opportunity to tell my story.  It was so refreshing to share the growth of both my learners and myself, even 17 years into my career!  

The official phone call came on a Friday afternoon in May, just before state testing.  The peace (and tears) that came with this phone call are something that I can't even begin to explain.  All I could do was thank God for carrying me through this time of change.  The next few weeks were filled with peace and joy, as well as many opportunities for sharing my story of leaning on my faith to guide me to where He needs me.  

It was hard not calling my father to share the news of my next chapter in my learning journey.  During the last few months, as I got ready for our upcoming year, both my mother and I would make references to my father.  When I see all of the TCU decor in room 103, I think of him and how proud he'd be that I am doing what I love, plus sharing our love of TCU with others.  It truly is the simple things in life that bring the greatest amount of joy to our days!

The joy of learning has returned to my heart and I am beyond excited to begin my 18th year of teaching with 135 6th and 7th graders!  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for opening these doors and guiding me through this journey of life.   

When Hershey's Asks for Your Help

After meeting and reflecting over our first PBL, "Becoming a Financially Responsible Citizen," our 7th grade team began brainstorming and creating a PBL, where learners would be given the challenge of creating a new 3D candy and wrapper.

Google Forms came to our rescue once again as we determined our design teams!  Learners were asked about their most favorite and least favorite types of candy, which of course sparked interest in why we needed this data.  Soon groups were created and the challenge was accepted!


Based on our reflection of the previous PBL, we decided that we needed to make a few changes on how we kicked off!  On day 1, we gave each learner  the entry document, which was a letter from the CEO of Hershey's, Volume & Surface Area Checkpoint of what the project entailed as well as a copy of our Unpacking the Standards document.

As students read through the letter, they annotated the documents and began to create their Knows & Needs to Know Charts.  Because we included more details about what was going to be required as far as designing and creating both a 3D model of their new candy and wrapper, writing a persuasive letter,  they had  specific questions for our class charts!

After creating our Knows and Needs to Know, we dove into discovering the volumes of various 3-dimensional figures.  The twist came when we used composite figures in our Willy Wonka workstations.  We created 25 scenarios and included QR codes, so learners could quickly check their work to see if they were on the path of success!

     

 

During this learning opportunity, students had to determine the type of 3D figure and write the correct formula.  We focused on triangular prisms, pyramids and threw in a few challenge problems with spheres and cones!

One of the standards that our PAP students had to cover was determining the relationship between the volume of a cone and a prism.  This is one of my favorite lessons to teach during this unit!  Learners used Flipgrid to explain how they determined the relationship between the volume of the cone and prism.  

     

 







As we finished our Willy Wonka Workstations, students began to create their 3D models, using Tinkercad.  Tinkercad is a web-based program that allows you to create 3D models and eventually print on a 3D printer.

One of our goals was to be intentional with allowing time for students to use the program prior to when we actually needed it in class.  During the month of February, each 7th grade teacher posted the directions on how to use Tinkercad, as well as digital files for additional resources.

To ensure we knew what our Falcons would be experiencing, we also created items in Tinkercad and then used our 3D Poly Printer to create objects.  It's so important to understand where our learners are and how it feels to be in their shoes, during a new learning opportunity!

        

 

Students used the days leading up to spring break to create their 3D candy models and loved being able to actually print it on our 3D printers!  Of course we had a few curve balls thrown at as as far as the dimensions but we all figured it out and models were created.

                                            

After spring break, it was time for our learners to focus on designing their wrapper for their new candy.  In order to help them learn about all of the details that go into packaging, we reached out to a local company Virtual Packaging.  Jordan Patterson, Director of Admissions, and Tara, the VP of Sales, came and spoke with our Falcons.    Jordan and Tara did a great job on keeping our kids engaged as they shared graphs about how one's age determines the type of candy they prefer.  Did you know that those older than 35 prefer chocolate over sour?  It's not too shocking considering how much our middle schoolers love sour candy!  Our Falcons also learned about various packaging materials that are used.  Information learned from this presentation was used in several students persuasive letters and commercials!  

To build on our experience of Willy Wonka's candy factory, we created more workstations that focused on the wrappers of Willy Wonka's candy products, in another gallery walk!  Because of the confidence and success of our Falcons, we were able to move faster through this activity which allowed for critical friends to be implemented (another goal from our last PBL!)

We reached out to our speech teacher and asked if her 8th graders would want to serve as critical friends and offer advice on our Falcons' presentations.

Another new idea that we implemented was having our Falcons write persuasive letters.  We reached out to our 7th grade ELA teachers, who jumped on board with helping us!  This was a huge learning opportunity for everyone as this was the first cross curricular lesson we had done, as well as making it digital.  The kids felt extremely "grown up" and loved being able to tell the judges why their candy should be chosen!  

Student Presentations:

Sour Express

                                      

Yum Yums

Economics of Airplane B