Where Did My Summer Go?!

We just got "the" email the other day.  You know the one I'm talking about.  The one where your principal says the floors are all done and then proceeds to outline the back-to-school week agenda.  As much as I'm not ready for my summer to end, I am glad to (a) attend a really cool professional development with some of my coworkers and my administrators (b) go to the beach one last time and (c) get back into my classroom so I can finally finish organizing my files and a mountain of papers.

I went back into my classroom and got the basics out of the way (desk arrangement, uncovering bookshelves, starting to clean off the counters, etc).  But my to-do list and to-buy list are already starting to grow...

 

At the top of my list is a long bookshelf to go under the white boards and Smart Board at the front of the room.  I have amassed so many books over the past three years that my bookshelves are overflowing and I still have two Scholastic boxes filled with books to be sorted.  My two little bookshelves at the end of my carpet are going back to  my house...I just put them there temporarily to make my carpet go flat after being rolled up all summer.

I changed the location of my small group table.  I usually meet with my reading groups on the front carpet, and I use the table more for testing accommodations.  But this year, because I'm planning on implementing a new approach to guided reading, my children will need to sit and write while they are meeting with me.  I wanted to leave the carpet area for students to spread out and read, and I also like that I can now see the door to see who is coming and going out of our room.  More pictures to come soon!

My To-Do List:

• Make personalized postcards for my new kiddos
• Name plates for desks
• Name labels for notebooks and textbooks
• Procedures and expectations PPT
• Put caulk on the underside of my mini rugs to keep from sliding
• Make my birthday balloons with crazy straws
• Plan stations for Back to School Night
• Double-check materials for Back to School Night

My To-Buy List {Once I Get State & PTO Money}:

• Febreeze Wall Plug-Ins
• Cookies and popcorn for B2S Night
• Avery Labels
• Crazy Straws
• EOY Gift {so I'm sure to use school money and not personal money}
• Playdough and auction prizes

MM + TT = Secret Ninja Math

Yesterday and today = grad school work (blah...but only two more weekends this semester!).

As usual, however, my procrastination of grad school work has led to me working on something for my classroom.  I introduce to you...SECRET NINJA MATH!

This idea came to me during the last few weeks of school while I was trying to motivate my kids to continue to practice their multiplication facts.  It was one of those ideas that pop into your head and make you drop everything.  We stopped working on our math boxes and I had the kids write down a fact or a composite number on a sticky note.  I turned off the lights and played "Inner Ninja" by Classified (you have to play it past the 1 minute mark to avoid the one profanity in the song...still waiting on a clean version to come out).  The kids moved around the room and tried to covertly leave their sticky note on another student's desk without being seen.  Well, they LOVED it!  I had them answer the problem or write out the factors for the number on a piece of notebook paper.  After we did a few rounds, I had them buddy up to check their work.

This is a great way to get students up and moving while practicing basic boring facts, OR you can create your own "ninja stars" or cards with long division problems or word problems.  Another idea is to have a "ninja star" with a problem on it, and place it on a student's desk first thing in the morning.  It becomes their mission to solve it and then covertly pass it on to another student (and so on).  At the end of the day, I would ask for all of my secret ninjas to meet me with their answers and give them a reward for their hard work.

A few things to consider with this activity:

- Students may get the same problem/number more than once if you have the kids create them.  I tried to eliminate this problem by assigning each table a fact family.  I also gave them the rule that they had to put their problem at a different table when we went into "ninja mode."

- If you create a set of cards (or use my set off of TPT), you don't have to worry about more than one student having the same problem, but they still could get the same card again.  If that happens, I usually had them trade with someone at their table.  *I told them real ninjas could secretly switch without bringing it to anyone's attention.

- I'm thinking about using this to replace my timed multiplication quizzes.  If I use the "Scoot" idea and have students leave a card on their desk and then just have the students move around the room quickly and quietly to write down the problem and the answer then I don't have to worry about them repeating a problem.

You can grab a free copy of my Secret Ninja answer sheets I made at my TPT Store.

Please feel free to share your questions/suggestions/comments!