Class Sign-Out

Welcome to Management Monday once again! This week we are looking at sign-out procedures in the middle school classroom.

These procedures could be modified for an elementary or high school classroom, but here I am using them for an 8th grade math class. (I will add a picture of the bulletin board when it is finished.)

I created a table that students will fill out when they leave the classroom. It includes their name, the day of the week, the destination, their time out, time in, and minutes lost. I am going to give my students 10 points a week for participation. However, I am going to deduct from this grade one point for each minute of class they miss. (tardies and absences not included) One big reason I included the minutes lost section is so that students calculate their own minutes when they return to class. I will also use it to write "exempt" if I send them out for some reason (office errand, etc.). I am hoping that this keeps students honest about when they need to use the restroom. I also hope that this will help to get them back into class quickly. Here is a picture of the table.

I also went ahead and made signs for my bulletin board. I will have a different sheet for each hour (half-sheet actually). Then when a sheet is full, I'll move it to the Notes section of my teacher binder to keep for my records. I will use this to figure points at the end of the week and use at conference time if necessary. I also made a quick label of the different destinations they should be writing. Here is a picture of the labels.

You can download the table for free from my TPT store by clicking HERE.

My plan now is to reevaluate this system at the end of the first quarter. Hopefully, it will work like a dream! However, it is middle school and it is my first year in 8th grade, so I may end up changing things up for the second quarter. If you decide to use, let me know how it works for you!

Happy Monday!

Wednesday Freebie!

Click here to download for FREE.

Door Sign Freebie!

This door sign is perfect for any classroom that has a door greeter of some kind. In elementary, I had a student who was Greeter. Now, in middle school, I have management positions in my room. One of them is Door Manager. This sign invites guests into your room and they know to be looking for a student to greet them. I printed borderless on cardstock and then laminated. Just follow the link to my TPT store and download for FREE!  Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!

QR Qrazy Part 1

Welcome to New Tech Tuesday - QR Qrazy Part 1 - Activities and Homework! Each Tuesday we will look at new technology and how it can be used in the classroom.

QR codes are everywhere. In retail stores. On gas station pumps. In bathrooms. They link to websites to read, YouTube videos to watch, apps to download, surveys to submit, or products to buy. The possibilities are endless. Thankfully, schools are beginning to allow students to use devices in the classroom through either BYOD (bring your own device, which will be addressed in a later new tech tuesday) or school-provided devices. This opens up the classroom to QR codes as well. And thank goodness for this because students LOVE the opportunity to scan a code as part of their schoolwork.

Join me on a 6-week adventure through QR codes and how they can be used in the classroom. Each Tuesday we will look at a different way to use QR codes and examine how this would work in various grade levels and content areas. This week we will look at ways to use QR codes as part of in-class activities and homework.

First, let's look at In-Class Activities:

1. Scavenger Hunt: (Also known as a SCAN-venger hunt.) OK, so this is the typical and most common way I have seen QR codes being used in class. But that doesn't mean it can't be a great tool! This could be done in any grade level and any content. The students would start at one location and scan the code. It would either give them information or some sort of assignment to do. When they finished, they would be directed to the next code. When they would scan the next code, it would again either give information or a task and lead them to the next code. School wide this could be how new students are given a tour of the campus or classroom. In the classroom this could be used to show students where everything is located or complete an assignment or review over the previous day's work. This could easily be done in partners, groups, or as individuals. (We will look at how to create the QR codes in a few weeks as well as what equipment will be needed by students.)
2. Stations: When moving in groups around the classroom, students could begin each station by scanning a QR code to watch a short video clip giving them instructions about what they should be doing. Then they can begin with minimal help or instruction from you. These clips could be a YouTube video or a video created by you or previous students as long as it is easy to understand. This would work best starting in 2nd grade and moving on up. Also works best with the subject areas that use stations the most, such as reading and math.
3. Book Reviews: This works best in an elementary or middle school reading classroom that gives students time for reading on their own. Attach inside book covers QR codes that link to either written reviews or video reviews either by previous students or other teachers. You would want to establish procedures about how much time can be spent choosing a book, of course so that students don't spend the entire time watching review videos.
4. Lesson Websites: If you are going to have your kids go to a website during a lesson, just put the QR code on the projector screen and the students can scan from anywhere in the room. If everyone has a device, they can all be in the right place exactly when they need to be. No more wasted time typing it in or clicking through links on your class website! This works in any classroom or content area as long as all students have a device.
5. Activity pages: If you are working on something in class and have passed out a paper over it, add a QR code to the top of the page directing students to a helpful website, video, or maybe even the answer key to check when they are finished. You could also give them the ability to pull up your slides and follow along with you.
6. Interactive Dice: You could easily put QR codes on dice. Then students can roll the dice to complete a task. This could translate to a board game or give their team points. This is a great way to incorporate QR codes and gaming in the classroom. 

Now, let's look at ways to use QR codes for Homework:

1. Answer Keys: Similar to activity pages discussed above, a QR code on top of a homework assignment could lead to an answer key. This is especially great in math (upper elementary up to high school) when students can check their answers but must have correct work to earn credit. It's a great way for students to find their mistakes and fix them to get the right answer.
2. Multiple Choice Practice: QR codes can be put on assignments as multiple choice selections. For example, I created a QR code lesson where students differentiate between rational and irrational numbers. If they scan the rational number code and it is correct, the link takes them to a YouTube video that is short and celebrates that they got an answer correct. However, if they chose the irrational number code, the link would take them to a video of me explaining how to figure out that it was actually a rational number. (And vice versa for irrational numbers.) Basically students were given immediate feedback and instruction to correct their mistakes. This assignment really couldn't be taken for a grade, since there would not be a way of knowing how many they got right on the first try, but it's great practice and the students want to do it, because it involves their smart phone or tablet. You can download this assignment on rational and irrational numbers for FREE in my TPT store by clicking here. (There is a short preview below.)
3. Review: At the end of a homework assignment, include a couple codes that link to further instructional videos where students can find extra help if they are still confused or not completely understanding the information.

Begin thinking now about ways to introduce QR codes into your classroom this fall. Write down your ideas to save for later as we go on to discuss other ways of using QR codes and how to create and view them.

Make sure to submit any questions about using QR codes in the classroom. I will respond and we can discuss new ways of using QR codes!

Happy Tuesday and happy coding!

Student Grouping Labels

Welcome to Management Monday! Each Monday we'll tackle classroom management and include a little technology as well. This week we are looking at student grouping labels and all they can do in the classroom!

When I was still in college at SBU taking education courses for my undergrad, we used something similar to these in my block classes. Everyone had a sticker. These stickers stayed on our notebooks that we took to all our block classes (Teaching Math, Teaching Social Studies, etc.). On the sticker was our name, a colored shape, and a picture representing a season. There were basically four groups formed with each item (color, shape, and picture). The teachers used these groups throughout our classes to differentiate our groups. I will explain more as we go along.

I am teaching 8th grade math this year and I am SO excited to bring this idea to my middle school classroom. I made a template for these and you can find it here. Here are a couple pictures of my room arrangement and the stickers on desks.

My desks are hard to maneuver, but I have them arranged in 7 groups of 4.

Each group has an A, B, C, and D student and each sticker has a letter, color, number, and shape.

So here is how I am using these. They will stay on the desks so that each group of four has an A, B, C, and D. The way my desks are situated, I am already set up with 7 groups of 4. We will discuss procedures on the first day and my students will understand how these labels are going to be used. If I tell them to get into their letter groups, all the As will be together, Bs will be together, etc. In this arrangement I would have 4 groups of 7. (Note: There are 30 stickers plus blanks built in for extra or replacements. However, my classroom only has 28 desks.) I could also arrange by color, number, or shape. I designed these stickers to allow for different group sizes. I have included 6 colors to form 6 groups of 5, 5 shapes to form 5 groups of 6, and 10 numbers to form 10 groups of 3. (You may have some smaller groups if you are not using all the labels.)

Here are a couple ways I would use these (OK, quite a few ways...I got carried away):

For technology use:

Let's say, for example that you have the privilege of having 10 tablets of some kind in your classroom. You could have your students get into their number groups to use the tablets. You definitely want to plan ahead as far as how multiple students are going to share one device and have procedures set up that students know and are ready to follow. 

Another example would be if you only have 5 computers in your room. You could use stations (discussed below) and one station could be the computers. You would form 6 groups of 5 so that when a group arrived at the computers, all students would have one to themselves.

For classroom management:

This is a great tool for those rowdy or talkative classes. Some groups just need to talk! When a group has clearly been sitting for too long, get them up and moving by choosing one grouping and allowing them to share their work, comments, or questions with those group members. The best way to manage the classroom when using these groups is to have signs on the wall for each group. Perhaps in each corner is a letter sign. Also spaced around the room are number, color, and shape signs. Now when you have students get in their shape groups, they know exactly where to go and they are not wondering around the room saying, "I'm a star! Where are the other stars!" Putting signs up in my room is one of my next tasks and certainly something I will have done before school starts. If you are using these with stations (discussed below), you could use the locations of the signs as the starting  stations for each group. One less thing for you to figure out!

For stations:

Stations are a great way for you as the teacher to be able to meet with all students in one day. First, you need to figure out how much time you have, how much time you want with each group, and how many students you want in each group. These things will help you decide your group sizes and therefore, which grouping option to choose. Then you just need to give each group a place to start. Students will know immediately where to go and what to begin doing. You can meet with a group, a group could be working on homework, another group could be on the computers, while a fourth group practices on the smart board or works with manipulatives. These groups will look different depending on the class and activities. Using stations is also great with differentiation (discussed below).

For differentiation:

Another way to use these are for differentiating in a very discreet way. When you originally set up your classroom, you may not have enough information to ability group. But, you can always do this later. In elementary, you are probably given at least one set of test scores for one subject. You could group your students at the very beginning. If you want four ability groups, your letters would be your ability grouping. Then you know when you do stations by letter, that your A group is high and your D group is low (for example). I would suggest mixing up the letters so the students won't catch on so fast. In middle school, you are probably not given this information up front. But that is just fine because you are probably not giving every student their own sticker. Instead, you are placing the stickers on the desks. After the first week of school (maybe sooner depending on pre-tests), you could arrange a seating chart that used colors, for example, as ability groups. Then you could put them into color groups to work on a particularly difficult assignment or project and automatically know what groups are probably going to need your help more. At the same time, you could know that if you used colors for ability grouping, your shape groups will be fairly heterogeneous.

In elementary classrooms:

Each student would have their own sticker. They could keep it on their planner or agenda so they would have the same one even when you changed seating arrangements. You could include their name and class number if you did it this way. If you knew enough about your students in advance (or had their test scores from the year before), you could set up one of the options to use for differentiation (discussed above). These groups could be used in any subject, line order, etc. You could also use it to call on students by asking for only stars to raise their hand on a question. If you only had a few classroom jobs but wanted all students to rotate, you could have Red Job Week, where only red students would have jobs and you would switch after 2 or 3 weeks. (I NEVER suggest switching jobs after just one week, but that is a personal opinion and a rant for another day!)

In middle school classrooms:

Middle school is a whole other ballgame. You may teach the same material 5 times during the day. Choosing groups randomly may work out just fine for you. However, if you need to finish up that work the next day, are you going to remember who was in what group? The kids probably won't either! And what if a student is absent? You'll have to figure out a place for them the next day while keeping the groups even. If you arrange by a previously decided set of groupings, all you have to remember is whether you told them shape groups or color groups! If a student was gone, they know exactly what group to join and you don't have to hear, "I don't have a group!" In short, it's one less headache for middle school teachers.

Visit TPT to purchase these stickers already made and formatted for you. Just click here to go directly to the product. They are only $1.00 and come with instructions and tips for use.

So tell me, how would you use this tool? What other ways could it help in classroom management and everyday tasks? How could it be made even better?

Happy Monday and happy grouping!