New INB Set-Up So Far

I'm still brainstorming, but I've made so much progress on the plan for this year's interactive notebooks that I wanted to write it out now.  (I'm worried that the school year will begin and I'll forget the things I planned.  I need to get my new master INB pronto!)

Inside Cover - I'm going to keep the notebook and important info that I used this past year, but I'm going to make it into a folded page.  Inside the fold, I'll have the important class info that I send home to parents and that students forget throughout the year.  (Students don't understand/forget the percentages attached to each grade category.  They will seriously make up one missing homework assignment and be flabbergasted that it hasn't counteracted the test they failed.)

I'm going to keep the page for Geometry symbols.  Students write the symbols in, so there is no printable for this component.  (But there could be...)

I'm adding a page(s) for postulates/theorems.  I'm still making decisions about whether I want to put just the very imperative and basic ones or all of them.  This means the difference between having everything in one place, or having things spread out through the notebook.  This is still under construction, and I will share it when I finish working on it.

During this past year, I added a few pages after notebooks were set up, so they went to the back pages.  One page just lists their NWEA and Regents goals.  This page helped to focus students before their end of the year assessments.  I also added in "How to Study Mathematics" and "Ensure Success on Your Next Test" pages.  These pages will be added to the beginning of the notebooks this year.

 

I found a great resource that explains "Problem Solving in Math" and "Writing about Math" from Rock Star Math Teacher.  I just rearranged the handout into INB form.

I plan to use the Growth Mindset questionnaire foldable made by Sarah Hagan to introduce growth mindset.  You can find the foldable here.  After teaching more about growth mindset, I am going to give my students a worksheet to fill out taking fixed mindset statements and turning them into growth mindset thoughts.  (This is not my original idea.  You can find a regular worksheet on Pinterest.  I changed it fit in the INBs, and used some sayings that I often hear from my own students.) 

The last thing I have (so far) is a grade tracker.  The tracker is broken down by marking period.  I listed all of the tests that I plan to administer in the marking period.  I added two blanks for retests on all unit tests and on the mini-Regents exams where I allow retests (and test corrections on the latter).  I also listed all of the quizzes that I know I will give during the marking periods.  I left some extra space in each marking period for any unplanned quizzes.

There is so much more than there has been before, I may have to also create a table of contents page for this section of the notebook!  This is the most progress I've made all summer besides reading.  I'm so excited and hope to somehow keep the momentum going.

Let me know if this has helped in you anyway.  Happy planning!

My Summer Reading List

On my list of things to do this summer is READING.  I'm so excited to finally have more time to read, both for professional development and for fun.

First on the list is Mindset by Carol S. Dweck.  I just finished this one, and it was great.  I highly recommend it.  To be honest though, I skipped the chapters on sports and business.  I read the chapter on relationships because I thought it would be helpful to teachers, but you could just as easily skip it as well.  I find that the great challenge is in applying what I've learned because this book is not spelled out for teachers.

The next book I plan on reading is Never Work Harder Than Your Students by Robyn R. Jackson.  I remember this being one of the most buzzed about books a few years ago, but as a new teacher I had other things to focus on first.  This summer I'm ready to finally read it.

While shopping for the two books above, I found Accessible Mathematics by Steven Leinwand under the recommendations.  It's subtitle is "10 Instructional Shifts That Raise Student Achievement."  One of my goals for this summer is to work on my methods for improving student achievement, and this one targets math specifically.

I found Teaching Smarter at Barnes and Noble while looking for another book that I will mention next.  The book promises to present "simple ways you can help kids get higher grades and test scores and be more engaged in school - all while streamlining your work as a teacher."  I might be saving this book for last to make sure I remember everything for the up-coming school year.

The fifth book (not pictured) is Total Participation Techniques by Persida Himmele and William Himmele.  I found out about this book through ASCD and thought it would help with my second goal of improving my classroom engagement.  I tried to find this book in two different Barnes and Noble stores, but I had to order it on Amazon.

Note:  All book titles are linked to their listings on Amazon if you would like more information about them.  Or if you would like to purchase these book, however I am not trying to sell anything.

Geometry Scope & Sequence Re-Write

Last year, I made some big changes to my scope and sequence.  (You can read about them here.)  The most controversial change I made was moving 3D Measurement to the first unit.  This year I plan to move the 3D Measurement back to where it belongs according to the EngageNY modules.  Another decision I made was to move Coordinate Geometry back, also according to the EngageNY modules.  This is a tough one for me, because I love teaching Coordinate Geometry early in the course when students still remember how to graph.  We refer back to the unit often throughout the course, but I then must redistribute some of the topics to other units.  (This includes coordinate proof and partitioning a line segment.)  I am, however, looking forward to teaching an easier unit toward the end of the course.  It falls at right around that time when spring break is getting close but is still too far away, and student interest is waning.

This is my proposed sequence of units:
1.  Essentials of Geometry
2.  Transformations
3.  Congruent Triangles
4.  Properties of Triangles
5.  Polygons
6.  Similarity
7.  Right Triangle Trigonometry
8.  3D Measurement
9.  Coordinate Geometry
10.  Circles

The thing that I am considering now is this:  What if I save proofs for the very end?  I often find that I teach it in about November, have to nearly re-teach it for Polygons in January, have to spend time again in February during Similarity, and then have to re-re-teach it during review.  (I usually wait until review before going over circle proofs.)  I've heard of other teachers saving proofs for last.  Geometry teachers, I need your help!  What are your thoughts or experiences with teaching proofs at the end?

Summer Goals

This past school year was so emotionally, mentally, and physically draining that I've really taken the time to relax (for once).  For me, my year didn't officially end until June 29th when we celebrated the graduation of our seniors.  I've taken full advantage of having (almost) nothing to do for the past two and a half weeks.  I've rested, done some home improvement tasks, and finally started to catch up on my scrapbooking.

I have so many ideas buzzing around my head, I ran to my computer to make a list.  I'm blogging it so I can hopefully keep myself accountable.

• Geometry Scope & Sequence Rewrite (again)
• Add class & grading policies to INB inside cover
• Add goals page to INBs
• Math Resources Section for INBs
• How to Study Math 
• How to Take Math Tests
• Problem Solving Skills
• How to Develop Your Growth Mindset
• Mindset Questionnaire - to determine students' mindsets
• List of Geometry Postulates & Theorems
• Start the foundation for a peer tutoring organization
• Complete my reading list
• More posters! 
• Write the posts that I promised to write a looooong time ago