Teacher Hacks and Organizing

Hacks might be one of my favorite things ever! They are so genius and make my heart happy.

Digital Teacher Hacks

• Microsoft Word
• always use narrow margins
• use the footer to number handouts
• insert white shapes to cover things up if you can't crop it
• use text boxes to keep things organized and move things exactly where you want
• Folders
• make a new folder for each school year
• inside that make a folder for each prep
• inside that make a folder for each unit
• inside that label things with the skill number, ie 1 Function Composition INB, 1 Function Composition Card Sort, Skill 1 Quiz
• I also make folders for INB, Procedures, and the First Week
• I have Student Council and Cheer folders but not inside school year folders since I do them every year
• Excel
• I create a 'Curriculum Notes' spreadsheet with a new tab for each course; list out every unit and skill and then next to it I make notes about things to fix/change/add
• I have an EOC spreadsheet with a new tab for each period; I list their scores from August, December, and May; I have a column for number correct and percentage; then I show growth from Aug-Dec, Dec-May, and Aug-May; also show class averages for each of those columns; (makes really nice graphs for teacher evaluation binders)
• PowerPoint
• I made a blank slide with a chevron border at the top and bottom of the slide. I save this as a template and use it for every powerpoint I create. I know it's a bit much but it matches my room and I feel like it ties everything together.
• Print your slides to your Smart Notebook printer and it automatically converts them for you. My Smartboard won't let me write on powerpoints so I have to do it.
• Since I can't use animations, I duplicate slides and add answers or whatever so that in Smart Notebook I can advance to the next slide without animations
• Classroom
• Use it for everything!
• Post links or directions
• Use one form for daily bell ringers and delete the responses every week
• I post an announcement with my 'weekly wrap-up' of two random questions. I number it with the week and I change the number of questions too. Students respond in private comments and we will keep the conversation going all year.
• Post the weekly Marbleslide challenge
• Move the bell ringer post to the top every week
• Websites
• Kahoot
• Quizlet
• Egg.Timer
• Desmos

Classroom Hacks

• More Time basket- this has saved my sanity and my desk from being covered in papers. I have a green basket labeled Grade Me and a blue basket labeled More Time. If the bell rings before students finish a quiz/test, it goes in the blue basket until the next day.

• I made laminated letters that say Date and Q/T and hung them with magnets on the board. I also made laminated numbers with magnets so I can change the date every day. And yes they're chevron. under Q/T I write students who were absent for a quiz/test. I write their name on the quiz/test paper and then put it this top wall bin. I decorated the bin with scrapbook paper and washi tape. The bottom mail bin is for random papers or mail that I don't know where to put. Just say no to paper piles!

• This hanging file organizer has one slot for each period. I put handouts for absent students in the folder so that they stand up straight and don't bend over.

• Decorate your whiteboards with bulletin board borders. The space is wasted anyway and it really brightens up the room. Magnets were too heavy so I use foam stickies.
• I use these Sterilite drawers daily. One drawer for each period, a drawer of card stock, a drawer of INB extra, a draw of manila folders/page protectors, and a drawer for random leftover stuff.

• I make a binder for each course for answer keys only. I print new originals every year in case I need to change titles or page numbers. I also found these cute paper holders at Dollar Tree last year. I use colorful paper for each different unit in our INBs.

• I print and laminate tabs for each unit in our INBs. I bought this pill box from Dollar Tree and covered it with duck tape and stickers. It's the perfect size to hold my tabs.

• I have an activity tub for each unit in each course. I am in the process of re-labeling and reorganizing them , and etc in there.

• Use a screw organizer from Lowe's to organize your classroom essentials. 
• Decorate a Pringles can to hold extra rulers.
• Decorate flavored water mix containers for storage.

Personal Hacks

• Keep food and drink at all times. You really need water to get through the day. I bring two separate bottles and keep one in the fridge at all times. I also keep snacks because I need them but also because sometimes students need them and how can you say no?
• Keep chapstick, tweezers, fingernail clippers, nail file, Tide To Go stick, phone charger, deodorant, hair spray, lint roller, toothpicks, and REAL KLEENEX. Okay I'm totally over prepared but these are things that students ask for and use regularly.
• Don't set anything on your desk. Anything! No piles. At the very least, clean it before you leave.
• I am not a morning person. Before I leave school, I have everything ready for first hour because I cannot trust myself to leave anything until morning. The computer screen is ready to go, answer keys laid out, handouts, whatever. 
• I try not to take anything home. If it's grading papers or something that needs to be organized or put together, it's happening in the classroom. If it's something to create or that I can do digitally, that's what I'm taking home. If I create something at home I go ahead and print out a copy. Then when I get to school I can just pull my original out of my bag and copy right away.
• Grade things immediately. I don't know why I have to say this but I grade everything the same day students finish it, put it in the grade book immediately, and return them the next day. Always. Students thank me for this.
• I color code each class and use that color of pen to write with and color code my INB to match. Anything I can color code digitally is always that colors as well. Algebra I is blue, Geometry is green, Algebra II is purple, and Trig is pink.
• I keep two automatic spray air fresheners (buy the batteries and can refills at Dollar Tree!) and one wax warmer in the classroom plus a spray can of air freshener in the front and back of the room. It smells good in my room 24/7.
• I have a student area in the back where students can use stapler, hole punch, Kleenex, pencil sharpener, mirror, lint roller, lotion, hand sanitizer or Clorox wipes. This also keeps them from ever needing to touch anything on my desk. Ever.
• Use facial scrubbers from Dollar Tree, a pack of three, as dry erase erasers.
• Throughout the day, as you are walking around and help students multi-task by cleaning the room. As I walk I straighten up things, return things to the cart, pick up trash, dump my baby trash cans, dump the pencil sharpener, grab a Clorox wipe and wipe off empty desks, etc. When the day is over, the room is clean and you are ready to go.

I suggested this theme and then had a hard time thinking of hacks that I do...To me a hack is something that makes my life easier and that usually has something to do with organizing. but I guess I ended up covering all the bases for teacher hacks and organizing!

The Mathematicians Project

It feels like a great time in society to emphasize the value and contributions of other races and cultures to life as we know it today. Math is one small corner of it.

Using Sean Corey's google folder of resources, I made this bulletin board of mathematicians.

I introduced it by connecting it to my "What Is Math?" lesson borrowed from @saravanderwerf.

At the end of that lesson, I showed two slides of three mathematicians each. I asked them to notice patterns. They noticed things like era, clothing, age, hair, glasses, etc. Then I asked what all six had in common. Answers such as humans, alive at one time, have hair, wear clothes, etc. Yes AND they are all mathematicians. They had a lot of trouble believing Danica McKellar and John Urschel were really mathematicians.

I also attached library pockets next to each picture. I plan to make this a semester long project and repeat it with another set of mathematicians. My plan is that randomly throughout the semester, {maybe after every test?} students will research and write a random fact about one of the mathematicians above on an index card and place it in the pocket. They will also type that same fact into a google form.

The next time we do it, they have to read the index cards and make sure they are not writing a fact that is already there. By the end of the semester, I will have a speadsheet of information about each mathematician that I will then share back with the class. They will pick one and choose to create some type of summary of information: video, powerpoint, paper, poster, etc.

With the facts already typed out, it should be somewhat simple to tie everything together.

I would love your feedback on this idea!

Dollar Tree Privacy Folders

Last year I used cute manila folders as dividers by attaching two of them together. They fell down often, especially when the fan was on, and sometimes fell apart.

Over the summer I found a new idea on Pinterest using dollar tree three-fold boards.

I bought 10 boards for $10 and spray painted them silver. I thought I might need a little less teal in my life. I know, I know. What was I thinking? I don't know if it was metallic paint or the Krylon paint but the paint rubbed off every time I touched it and did NOT cover well.

So I returned to my default...teal and chevron.

After letting them dry a couple days, I cut them in half with a razor blade, using an
 L-square ruler.

I only sprayed the outside brown cardboard part and the inside was already plain white. Next, I covered the cut edge of each board with duck tape. Last year I bought chevron duck tape in different colors but this summer I couldn't find ANY. Until I found some for $.89 a roll here! The shipping price was kinda high considering I ummm bought 10 rolls but it still average out to about $2 a roll and it's super strong.

The duck tape was the hardest part! I put it with top half sticking above the top edge. Then I cut small slits where the board folds.

Then I folded the top half over the edge. I also did the sides which wasn't necessary but it sure is cute!

Then I decided it would be nice to hang something on the inside of each board. I decided to make formula sheets for each course and post them all inside. 

This is the part where I tell you I printed and laminated 60 pieces of paper which took 3 hours to trim and cut and another three hours to put sticky foam squares on the back.

I did all of this over the course of a month and a half and somewhere through that time I bought a cardboard box at a yard sale for a quarter.

Weirdly enough, it was the perfect size to hold all of my dividers. You know where I'm going with this right?

You guessed it, it got the royal treatment as well!

One last thing to complete the look.

P.S. Sorry I turned the camera halfway through these pictures.

P.P.S. It took 5 cans of spray paint for 10 boards.

P.P.P.S. It was worth it!

No Sew Intruder Curtains

This idea came from Pinterest and I added nothing of my own to this. But when I went back to read the directions, the blogger made her blog private.

Luckily I have a really good memory and found one diagram from the post still on Pinterest. The empty stars here represent paper clips and the solid stars represent binder clips. My numbers are different since my window is different.

So I am not taking credit for this but I want to give directions in case you can't find them anywhere else. All pictures below are mine.

Supplies Needed

• 1 Dowel Rod
• Two Command Hooks
• Fabric
• Ribbon
• 4 Small Binder Clips
• 8 Large Paper Clips 
• Spray Paint (optional)

First measure the window you need to cover. Your fabric needs to be wider than the window. The fabric needs to be at least twice the length of your window.

I have a long skinny window which measurse 6 inches by 24 inches. Since fabric comes in a 36 inch length that means I needed two yards so I would have more than 48 inches. The width of the fabric is 45 inches so I left it folded in half for a width of 22.5 which is still WAY wider than my 6 inch window.

I bought chevron fabric from Wal-Mart for $2.50 a yard which was WAY cheaper than Hobby Lobby.

Width wise, calculate how much you need to fold. My fabric folded in half was 22.5 and my window is 6 inches. I upped that to 8 inches to make sure you couldn't see through the sides.

Do some math:

22.5 - 8 = 14.5

14.5 cut in half = 7.25

This means I need to fold the left side and right of the curtain over 7.25 inches. If this seems complicated, cut a piece of paper the width of your window and lay in the center. Then fold each side over.

Use two small binder clips on each end to clip your folds firmly.

Then use 4 paper clips on each side, evenly space, to hold the shape of your curtain.

Next you need your dowel rod. I found this pack of assorted sizes at Wal-Mart for $.98 and used the largest size. Of course I had to pain it teal.

Lay this in the middle of your fabric. Then fold the fabric in half over your dowel rod. Starting at the binder clip ends, line them evenly and roll tightly toward the dowel road.

Now you need ribbon. This is my favorite teal ribbon from Dollar Tree which also comes in many other colors and is the best deal anywhere. (It's near the flowers and vases.)

Tie the ribbon around your curtain roll and leave as much extra as you think looks nice. Double knot your bow.

Last thing is to place your two command hooks above your window. If you use the 3/16 dowel rod that I used, you can't use those little clear hooks. Check this first!

Once your command hook is hanging, the dowel rod sits nicely and your rolled up curtain is ready to go!

Pull the ribbon to unroll. Since we left our binder clips and paper clips attached, everything stays in place making it easy to roll back up when needed.

The 'Best' Right Things aka "The Day After Perfect"

There are other posts I want to write but I can't do anything until I get this one out of my brain.

I've already posted about this quote a couple of times:

"Be brave enough to be bad at something new." It's from a motivational speaker, author, and entrepreneur Jon Acuff that I subscribe to. He's coming out with a new book called "Finish" and he released the first chapter. Everything in quotation marks in this post comes from that chapter.

I was reading it and re-reading it at the same time because it goes right along with the TMC-hangover we all deal with in some measure...the fact that we can't do everything.

We hear so many good ideas that we aren't doing that we forget about all the good ideas that we are doing.

And then we go home feeling like these other teachers are awesome all the time and we are awesome never. We start to make plans feeling like we need to shove every new idea into every inch of our lesson plans. If not...we're not doing the best thing for our kids. Right?

"The first lie perfectionism tells you about goals: Quit if it isn't perfect."

Well guess what? It's not going to be perfect. It's never going to be perfect. You aren't going to be perfect. Ever. Now that we have that out of the way, there is nothing to be afraid of! The door to better teaching is forever open to you!

"We will gladly give up the whole thing when we discover some error or imperfection in our performance."

We make posters about how important mistakes are for learning and growing but then we beat ourselves up for our own mistakes. We talk ourselves out of trying something new because making a mistake might....embarrass us? Scar the children forever? Make us lose control?

"Doing something imperfectly won't kill you."

It won't kill anybody expect that spirit of perfection that tries to keep you complacent. If you aren't growing....are you dying?

I live in farm country so I guess that explains why I keep comparing teaching to farming. Do farmers plant the same plant in the same ground forever? Or do they take breaks so the land can recover? Do they try new strains? Do they try new fertilizer? Do they try new technology?

At the end of the day they are still planting seeds and reaping a harvest as new tools come and go.

But here's the thing maybe we forget...every farmer starts with different soils. Different climates. Different weather patterns. Different seed batches. Different talents. Different pests. Different equipment. Each farmer has a learning curve and has a wide variety of areas to grow in. How does he decide which area to work on? Well, there's too many variables so he better try one thing and never change it forever.

Since when has too many variables stopped a math teacher?

It's important that we recognize how we are all starting with different soils- a different foundation. My foundation is building relationship with students. I'm really good at and it comes naturally- it's hard to even explain things that I do that make it happen. So when I am reaching for new tools, I'm reaching for things that fix my pacing, my curriculum, my rigor, etc because those are the areas where I need growth.

"The problem is that perfectionism magnifies your mistakes and minimizes your progress."

Twitter and blogs can put a magnifying glass on our mistakes because we see such a plethora of new ideas. But turn that magnifying glass on to your craft and your progress. Where do you see gaps? Where do you see low performance? Now when you look at new tools, use that magnifying glass to direct your focus. Pick the tools that are going to make the biggest difference for YOUR SOIL.

And realize that everyone needs different tools for different seasons.

"The harder you try to be perfect, the less likely you'll accomplish your goals."

If your goal is to be the best teacher you can be or to make a difference....you're not going to accomplish them perfectly. Do you even know what perfect would look like it? And if you let perfect scare you, then you aren't going to accomplish them at all. 

You are doing the right things. You are scared you aren't doing the 'best' right things. But if you are honest with yourself about your progress and trying new tools to fix problems, that's always going to be the 'best' right thing. And the energizing part is that there will always be a new problem to fix and a new tool to try. You will never run out of data to analyze or classes to experiment with.

Welcome to a lifetime of growing!! You're officially a farmer.

"The day after perfect is what separates finishers from starters."

So the day after perfect fails...when you screamed at a kid, when you said something inappropriate, when a lesson flops, when the whole class fails a test, will you give up forever? Does a farmer who makes a mistake go back and rip out every seed he's planted? I don't think there's a perfect harvest but there will always be hungry people willing to eat. And there will always be curious students who are willing to learn. They won't be perfect and you won't be perfect but together you will make things grow.

"The opposite of perfectionism is not failure- it's finished."