my classroom
Fun with Proportions
In math we’re finishing up a chapter on ratios, proportions, percents, and a bit of probability. Yes, that was a lot to put in one chapter. 🙂
Anyway, since I was teaching in a classroom with students (versus cyber) I thought I’d try something I had done during my first teaching position. A fun way to introduce or practice ratios is to use recipes of some kind. The cheaper way (rather than making cookies with terrible proportions) is to use powdered drink mix.
So I split my class into 2 groups and they took water and iced tea mix and had 5 tries to determine the best ratio of water to mix.
They had to measure the amount of water and mix.
They taste-tested with spoons, so as not to pass the germs around.
Don’t forget to record what you did and what you think about how that ratio tasted!
We had some REALLY strong iced tea (as you can see on the left) and some more weak iced tea.
It was a fun way to start off the chapter. We’ve continued having fun using Nips (sort of like M&Ms) with probability too. It’s made for a slightly lighter chapter leading up to Christmas break. I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
My Classroom
This is a pretty delayed post since the 1st semester ends in about 2 weeks. I took some pictures of my classroom back in August or September. It doesn’t look quite like this anymore but I thought I’d share them with you anyway. I’ll be posting about my classroom at the end of Christmas break (most likely) since I am planning to organize and perhaps rearrange a few things. We will see how the time goes. 🙂
Anyway, for now I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Here is a view from the back of the room to the front.
These are my rules & consequences (with connected Bible verses) on one of my doors.
This was a plot diagram from 8th grade literature. We used sticky notes to fill it in. Different types of sticky notes were for different stories.
The table has 3 trays (one for each grade) in which they submit their assignments.
This is a view of the front of the classroom.
Here are my bookshelves along one wall.
Of course I need a Dr. Seuss poster!
Vocabulary bulletin board
Grammar bulletin board and another plot diagram
Hopefully I’ll have some updated pictures in a few weeks!