Seventh Grade Class
My Seventh Grade classroom was filled with mastery and growth celebrations, mathematical practices, vocabulary, and student work! Teaching twelve and thirteen year olds was enjoyable, and I was able to make a lot of connections for students who previously had trouble with math. I celebrated growth and mastery for students to feel successful, not matter their level of understanding. I wanted students to feel motivated, successful, and ready to learn in my math class. We had classroom themes that aligned with our college alma matters to promote college readiness. I was (am, and always will be) a proud Spartan and was happy to share this with my students!
We implemented bonuses and deductions within the classroom to promote not only behavior, but participation in the classroom. I was able to have many conversations with students about ways math is used in the real world and why it is important to learn. Student investment was high within the class and I was able to help the majority of my class grow. My first year teaching seventh grade math, I had 96% of my students make growth through out the school year!
Through implementing Michigan State as my classroom theme I was able to invest students in their college dreams and help to make academic goals that will help them to get to the college of their dreams. |
Example Lessons and Unit Plans
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Second Grade CLassroom
Teaching a class of seven and eight year olds is not only rewarding, but it is an enjoyable, exciting, and challenging experience. I love teaching second grade. This age has a mix of students who are still learning to read while others are reading to learn. For the past two years I have decorated my classroom with an ocean theme. The ocean animals lend themselves to classroom discussions that pull in various standards and lessons. The blues are also very calming for the students since they are not a lot of bright colors. There are hints of yellows, oranges, and reds mixed into some patterns, but most colors are calm blues, greens, and purples.
The classroom is filled with various posters that aid in teacher phonics, place value, dictionary skills, calendar skills, etc. Every day I begin each lesson by using a Target Board for students to stay on task and understand why we are completing certain activities in the classroom. Students are able to reference the board throughout the day as well as use it while we are completing a lesson.
Students are arranged in pairs so they may work together, but also are able to complete work on their own. Students are placed with a partner so they may teach and learn from each other. Every student has their own strengths and weaknesses and learning from each other will aid in their success. Students also have the opportunity to show their work on the "FINtastic" work board. This gives students a chance to celebrate their work and their accomplishments.
Example Lessons-My Template for lessons
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Examples of student work from a landform unit
All images taken by myself.