KHS Math Dept. News
Week of January 4, 2016
Excited to be back!
For those of you who do Facebook, you may be familiar with the app "TimeHop". This app, when connected to your Facebook account, will show you what your Facebook activity was on that particular day for previous years that you used the social network. I happened to look at mine yesterday and saw that several years ago, my Facebook status read: "So excited to get back to work and see my kids!" If I'm being completely honest, this year, I was thinking it would be really nice to have an extra couple of days to rest before coming back. But thinking back to how excited I was to get back to my students when I was a teacher within the first few years of my career reminded me how much I love working in education and with kids. I remember my first year teaching...I was at Cleveland High School just up the road, and I didn't enjoy a single break because I knew of several of my students who were considered homeless and I was too worried about whether or not they would even have a roof to sleep under for Christmas. Through the years, I learned to separate myself a little bit (you have to, or you'll take all that weight into your home life). But yesterday, I decided that it's my choice to be excited about going to work and loving what I do every day. So my Facebook status this year should read: "So excited to get back to work and see my teachers!" Looking forward to seeing you all this week!
Just a warning...
If you're not a fan of making your class more fun, decorating your classroom, or interesting new desk arrangements....you should just stop reading now. Because that's all I'm including from here on :)
PowerPoint Game Templates!
Want to spice up your boring test review or add some competitiveness into your class? Check out this website with PowerPoint game templates like Family Feud, Jeopardy, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader. I was a big fan of using games in my classroom, so if you need any tips on how to tweak these games so that the whole class participates and gets the math practice, let me know!
Link here: http://bestteacherblog.com/powerpoint-game-templates/
30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge!
Feeling down about your job? Try this "30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge" to perk you up! If you would like a color copy for yourself, let me know and I will happily print it and put it in your box.
Looking to Revamp your Classroom?
I found this interesting website over break with several different new/different ideas on arranging desks. Just click the number of students in your class, and you will see a chart and usually several links to other possibilities. Check it out here: http://www.classroomdeskarrangement.com/ClassroomDeskArrangement/22_Students.html
Fun fonts to print and decorate your classroom!
Print these and decorate a bulletin board, or put your name on your door!
Check out this blog post for links to all the fonts: http://schenkgr4.blogspot.com/2014/01/best-bulletin-board-fonts.html