Classroom Visions

Thinking about what your goals are is a great idea that is often overlooked. We usually dive straight in and then find ourselves drowning in a world that we haven't been in for a decade. Middle school is a crazy time for students with all of the hormone filled rooms. It is a teacher's job to direct their attention to the material they need to learn. My goal is to inspire children by teaching them that they can do math. I want to give them the self confidence that tells them they can succeed.
I want my classroom to be a place that children are excited to enter. I prefer chalkboards, although I can deal with a whiteboard if that is whats offered. Chalkboards offer not only the satisfying smell of chalk-dust instead of toxic marker smell, but they also make fun squeaky noises while you write. I plan to have a large stash of chalk in all sorts of colors so I can organize the notes that I write on the board by color coating them. The colors are also so that I can write problems on the board in one color, and students can come up in small groups or individually to solve them in a different color. The small details count to me :)
The desks will be facing forward most days so when I'm chatting students don't have to crane their neck to see what I write up on the board. When we do group work, we may shuffle the desks into groups. It will hopefully be faster to have the students each turn their desks than having me move through the classroom in between classes trying to straighten all the rows. Group work was never my favorite or strong suit as a student, but after participating in it in a math setting I realize that it can be quite beneficial. Students can teach each other, and even the "smartest" student may be taught a thing or two by the "slower" student in their group.
Grades will be posted by the door for all students, with their I.D. numbers instead of their names. This allows them to compete without feeling put down by their peers if they aren't at the top of the class. Also cool math things like a fun clock with equations and pi will be posted around the room, along with student work as each year progresses. Projects will be based on real world ideas and they are going to be student driven. I will approve them, but with the only criteria being that they come up with a tangible finished project that will show a mathematical concept. The students can then keep their projects or choose to display them in the classroom
My classroom will not be just my classroom, it will be a place that caters to all the students who decide to poke their head inside. It will be open before, after, and during school hours. There will be a study corner with couches and coffee for those who choose to spend their free time doing homework, or just taking a lunch break with friends. I hope students will feel free to come to me with their dilemmas so that I can offer some post-hormonal knowledge. Overall, I hope that my students will learn lots about math, but the life skills and friendships they develop while under my care are the most important things that school can teach. Students will create, and not only learn math, but understand and enjoy it.

A Changing Classroom

Every student deserves a fair chance at education. We are not all built the same, so we will not finish school the same. As a student, I have excelled in few classrooms and failed a most others. School has been a struggle, though not because of a lack of interest in what was being taught. A classroom has all sorts of components that work for or against it. The one that has affected me the most is the classroom is the atmosphere. A great teacher will motivate their students not only to learn, but to encourage their peers to want to learn.
One of my favorite teachers was my seventh grade math teacher. We didn't have any one-on-one conversations that I remember, but I excelled in his classroom. He had daily homework that was practice for what we had learned the day prior. It was graded, but only on completion. This made sure he was not punishing students for practicing because they didn't get the correct answer. His classroom was a place that I wanted to go, and I enjoyed listening to his lectures. The other way he pushed his students to excel was by keeping an accurate posting of the class grades. They had our I.D. numbers next to our grade so that we could find it, but others could not see what we had. I believe the benefit of posting grades was to motivate students to have to top grade, or at least be in range with their peers. I loved checking my grade daily, and it was the only class that I remember being on top. He created a competitive atmosphere that was still fun and rewarded students for hard work, whether or not they were correct all of the time.

I believe due dates motivate the children to study, but I don't want to use them in the same way they are traditionally used. For daily work, having the grade be for completion evens out the playing field for those students who work hard, but may not yet fully understand the concepts. It encourages all to practice what we are learning every night. Projects should also have these daily or weekly due dates. It will break them up into bite sized pieces, just as they are intended to be done in. Students will be rewarded for finishing sooner, but not penalized for turning it in on time. I believe grades need to be there for motivation instead of to scare students into doing the work.
I would love to incorporate student choice into my classroom as well. I want them to want to learn, so incorporating games that reinforce concept will be used as rewards. Stations will be set up so that students can work on what they want to at their own pace. We will still do work as a class, just less of it and more individualized work. Students are individuals, and therefore should be treated as such.
These changes are not far away and can be done in my generation of teachers. I hope to inspire my students just as my math teacher inspired me. 

Rhythm Games

There are lots of benefits to rhythm games. It can familiarize students with different genres of music and teach them how they are similar or different. For a lot of people, rhythm is something that has to be learned. That is one reason we are not all fantastic musicians or athletes. Rhythm is easy to pick out in music. There is even a timing key at the beginning of every written song. In athletics it can be harder to find your rhythm. Every movement has its' own specific rhythm. When you jump rope, you have to develop a rhythm before you can do double unders. When you ski race, there is a rhythm that each course demands you follow. If you misstep, then the jump rope will whip you as it catches on a foot and the skier will fall or miss a gate. Rhythm is something that needs to be taught, so why not do it in a way that children will love, with games. This was not my favorite game, I much prefer the real life applications of rhythm, but I still gave it a shot.

http://www.addictinggames.com/action-games/musicstomp.jsp

Then and Now

I am just three short years out of high school, yet even in that small time a lot has changed. For research projects we would go to the library and pick out several books that would be our resources for that project. That was the only time we were allowed to bring outside knowledge into our learning (other than what Mr. Textbook had to say). There were no opinions, just memorization of knowledge.

Now when students are given some piece of knowledge, they must think about it and discuss why that knowledge is or is not true. Students are being taught to think critically, not just to be living hard drives. Another difference is all this technology that is available to use in the classroom. Students no longer have the need to memorize knowledge because it is available at their fingertips. Now it is the job of the teacher to guide their learning of how to effectively look up and interpret knowledge. As teachers we should move away from lecturing and towards class discussions over pertinent topics.

Mrs. Erhart's 7th Grade Netiquette

About Me

Being able to teach is a gift. Teachers have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on children, whether good or bad. As a teacher, you have the responsibility to give your students every opportunity possible to gain new experiences and to excel in the areas they already know. Each subject has its' own challenges. Math is an especially tough subject to teach children because of the way their brains develop. Abstract thoughts are very hard to form for children until they reach late middle school or early high school. Teachers have a habit of punishing students for not getting the concepts they should because they have not developed that far yet. Great math teachers are needed to bridge this gap formed in middle school by the way math has been set up for years. The basics of algebra need to be taught in a concrete format, and then transferred into abstract thought in a later course.

As a teacher, I want to excite children about math. It was tough for me in middle school, and I don't want that to be the case for my students. I used to ask my teachers why, and they told me because they said so. This is not the answer that should be given to eager minds. If a student is wondering why they are learning a topic or theorem, then explain it to them (in an age and development appropriate way). Students should never be put down for misunderstanding or an eagerness to ask questions not defined in the curriculum. I will inspire students to want to learn.

As a person, I currently hold four different part-time jobs and go to school full-time. I make coffee weekend mornings at Starbucks. It is wonderful to meet so many different people and I love the social aspect of working at a coffee shop. I also teach CrossFit at CrossFit Station every Thursday evening to a group of 10-12 year old softball girls. It is great to work with children and inspire them to be active. On my free evenings I help friends host ThirtyOne parties. I am a consultant for ThirtyOne Gifts, and I absolutely love the organizing totes they have as well as the extra income. In my extra time, I substitute teach at Fresco Arts Academy. It is a private school, 6th-12th grade, in Eagle, ID. It is a great opportunity to already be working with children in the age group that I would like to teach. My degree is in Elementary Education, with an endorsement in Mathematics. I want teach pre-Algebra to children in middle school and hopefully inspire them to want to do math in the future.