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#2getherwearebetter JULY – ROOM TO IMPROVE!

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Hello there, friends! Thanks for checking in with us for our JULY version of #2getherwearebetter!!!  If you’re joining us for the first time – WELCOME!!! Angie, my bloggy bestie from Lucky Little Learners, and I whole heartedly believe in being empowered, inspired, lifted up, encouraged, and motivated by EACH OTHER! We love and believe in surrounding ourselves with other passionate educators who fill our teacher hearts and bring POSITIVE energy and ideas to our lives – SO in the spirit of bringing us all together, the #2getherwearebetter linky party was born! 
It’s a linky party that brings us together to share, brainstorm, problem solve and perhaps vent about the same topic!!
With July being mid summer for most of us, we wanted to use this month to be a bit self-reflective.  We are coming together to talk about CLASSROOM IMPROVEMENTS.  We want to know…
1.  What area of your classroom or of your teaching would you like to change or improve for the upcoming school year?
2. What are your plans for changing it?
3. Ask your readers and followers for some suggestions, tips, pins, etc that will help you to better or improve this area of your classroom because, after all, #2getherwearebetter !!! 🙂
Ok guilty confession time.  Are you ready?!? 
My classroom improvement area that I want to work on is my math focus wall. – No, that’s not my guilty confession.
My guilty confession about the fact that I want to improve my math focus wall is that I DON’T EVEN HAVE A BEFORE PICTURE OF MY MATH FOCUS WALL!!!!  I disliked it SO much from day one, that I didn’t even take a picture of it for my classroom reveal!!  I have pictures of EVERYTHING in my classroom, but my math focus wall didn’t even make a single snapshot of its own!!….
However…. I DID have a PARTIAL shot of it hiding behind the screen on Polar Express Palooza day :)….. are you ready for this?!? ICK to the 393rd degree!!
I know you can’t see much but gooooood gravy! It’s just sad.  I attempted to put a black table cloth up as a background to cover the GREEN chalkboard…. but then the posters never stuck with magnets, they fell down and were fixed (OH SO CROOKEDLY) by students every day all day, and I just stopped caring!! UGH!  SOOOOO….. OUT WITH THE OLD mess of a board that was barely even functional anyway…… and… 

Because I have NO idea how to paint… this board stays green.  But my reading focus wall has green chalkboard for a background, too, and it’s okay with me! So I’ve got a fresh slate and I’m ready  to make it over with FUNCTIONAL, MEANINGFUL and USEFUL print for my kiddos all of which I know that they will use daily in our math lessons.
Before I continue – our district uses the Everyday Math curriculum.  I’m not a fan.  But I try my best every day to tweak and modify as many pieces and parts as I can to make it fit my kiddos <3…. SO, with that being said and to give you just a bit of background on it, Everyday Math teaches in a fiercely fast spiral.  I might teach money one day and I’m teaching addition with regrouping the next.  Like, SERIOUSLY? #sorrynotsorry
My point.  With Everyday Math (EM), we teach and practice a WIDE VARIETY of skills and strategies within a single unit, so I know that I want to make sure that my math focus wall includes a variety of references for the kiddos to refer to…. not just the one we are working on that week, etc.  
EM is also HUGE on strategies, word problems, and explaining your thinking….
in with the new….

So this year, I am going to be displaying these addition and subtraction key word posters by the fabulous Amy Groesbeck.  The EM warm up each day can be anything from mental math to place value to math facts and strategies, so I want something on our wall ALWAYS for them to use as a reference! I also like to make these posters for them in a smaller size for my kiddos to add to their math interactive notebooks, too! Then, they have the SAME reference tools in their hands that are hanging on our focus wall!

In addition to some new key word posters that I will display this year, I knew that I wanted a bit more rhyme or reason to how and where I hung things on my math wall than I had last year.  I mean – I literally hung new posters a) where they would fit b) where the tape seemed to hold best (onto the metal chalkboard frame above) c) if the magnet stuck.  #seriously  Hands high if you’ve been there?!?  Please say yes….
With THAT being said, I created rhyme or reason!!! In the picture above I prepped some SIMPLE, useful headings to be able to divide my math focus wall into three sections.
1) STRATEGIES
{addition, subtraction, word problem key words and strategy posters, etc}
2) CURRENTLY
{anchor charts from the current unit, kid work, class examples, etc)
3) TOOLS
{things I keep up all year – hundreds chart, money posters, place value references, even and odd posters, etc}
I used letters from Really Good Stuff that you can find {HERE}.
Then I just used a black sentence strip to attach the letters to before sending each strip through the laminator! I got those all laminated and hung up along with my remaining “MATH” header for which I used foam letters that I found at Walmart and zebra paper plates that I found in the party section at walmart, too!
Am I done? NO WAY!! Butttttt after sitting to write this post and after reflecting on the changes that I wanted to make and see for the new school year, I put together a bit of a photo/digital mix of an image for you to see what I hope that it all ends up looking like as I get it put up in the next few weeks!!

Feel free to pin this image, too, to save this idea in your “Back to School to dos” file!!!
So what do you think?? A bit more organized and visually appealing, no?!  Are all of those posters hung? Not yet! I’ll build this focus wall WITH my kiddos as I teach each piece and part.  The middle section will be changed most often to match the vocab, skills, anchor charts, etc that we are CURRENTLY working on.    The TOOLS are their go to reference posters for things that come up most often in our lessons. And the STRATEGIES will be focusing on using the variety of addition and subtraction strategies that we learn all year to refer to as the lessons themselves for the strategies might come and go! 
I kind of love it!! 
SOOOOOOO before you (hopefully) run off to write and link up your OWN classroom improvement posts with us….. I’d like your help!!!! WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?!?!?!? How else can I make this math focus wall functional, meaningful, and useful for my Everyday Math using 2nd graders!?!? Do you have suggestions for me?!?!? Do you have a pin that you know I would LOVE to see as additional inspiration?!? Leave a link in the comments!! I’d LOVE to hear form you!!!
Then, let’s hear what YOU are working to improve this school year, and LINK UP WITH US!! We can’t wait to hear and offer you suggestions, too!!! <3
Thanks so much for reading, friends!!
Oh and ONE more thing before you go because we don’t want a single one of you to miss out…

Are you ready to learn a new fun app called Periscope?? It is a live video streaming app that allows you to connect with others from around the world!! 


Do you have an account??  It’s very easy and quick to sign up! Once you’ve signed up, follow me as well as Angie at Lucky Little Learners so you can be notified when we go LIVE in VEGAS!!!! Yep! That’s right!! We will stream live from the TPT conference in Vegas and we want you to experience the level of learning and excitement that is taking place! More details to come soon!!! Spread the word and grab your smart phone to download the app and create your account today!!!!



Comments

  1. 1

    Jennifer Graff says

    I LOVE what you are doing with your math focus wall! I really think the strategies, currently, and tools section is a great idea! You have inspired me to make my math focus wall (or really any focus wall) more functional!! Thanks for sharing!

    Jen
    KindergartenCoffeeTalk

  2. 2

    Emily Yerty says

    Friend that looks Uh-Maze-Ing! I love how clearly you can see each component and there is space for constant updates- so, so smart! I am already excited for your 2015 classroom reveal.

    XXOO
    Emily
    Polka Dots Please
    morepolkadotsplease.blogspot.com

  4. 4

    Jennifer says

    I love your math focus wall! I have one in my room too and I added a small pocket chart from Target Dollar Spot. We keep math vocabulary in the pockets. Students make the cards for all of those terms that keep tripping us up, then if anyone forgets what "quotient," means they can go and look at the card!
    I'm also so excited that you and Angie will be periscoping (can I use that as a verb?) from Vegas! I love that app and I am so bummed I can't be in Vegas! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what we are missing! It will get me excited about 2016 I'm sure!
    The Blessed Teacher

  6. 6

    C Hath says

    I love your new math wall! It looks awesome!! I need to do something like that this year too! Can't wait to get in there and figure it out!! See you NEXT WEEK friend!!

    Mrs. 3rd Grade 

  7. 7

    The Cutesy Teacher says

    I LOVE your Math Focus Wall, but now I have yet another thing to add to my to-do list! I'm so sad that I can't go to Vegas, but am excited to try to follow along using Periscope!

  8. 8

    Sweet Tooth Teaching says

    That math focus wall is beautiful! (Just pinned it) I also love the fact that you're giving teachers that aren't attending Vegas the opportunity to get in on all the action! You guys rock! 🙂

  9. 9

    Janae says

    LOVE your Math Focus Wall!!! I just had a math smorgasbord wall last year and it definitely needs a facelift! P.S.I have an ugly brown chalkboard in my room. I cover it with butcher paper and I'm still able to use magnets. 🙂

    Janae
    The Sharpened Pencil

  12. 12

    Katie Fretwell says

    Your math focus wall looks great! I have posters for the CC Standards for Mathematical Practice that I add to my math wall so my kiddos can refer to what "good mathematicians do" — they go great in any unit. I love your spot with Currently – I'm going to add that to mine!

    Katie
    Simply Creative in KY

  13. 13

    Anonymous says

    Your math wall is very eye catching and you have put a lot of effort into it. I will be honest, I find it too busy and really hard to focus on the information you have instead of all of the décor. Kids with ADHD & Autism would find this very overwhelming. I would love to find out how it works for your class though:)

  14. 14

    Brain Ninjas says

    This is so great. Your math wall is similar to mine in that I don't ave photos of the before, but now I have so many great ideas to try out for the new school year. Thanks so much!

    ~A from Brain Ninjas
    Brain Ninja Notes