Room A108

As a teacher, I love peeking into other teachers' classrooms.  Even other teachers at my own school.  I love seeing how they organize, how their desks are arranged, what they have on their walls, and what they do to make their room an inviting space to learn.  I had full intentions on posting a classroom tour a whole year ago.  And then life (more like, all new preps) got the best of me and I never got to it.  So one year later, here are some photos of my high school math classroom.

Random fact: they removed the Mr. and Mrs. from our name signs a few years ago due to school safety reasons.  It's better that a possible intruder doesn't know whether a teacher is male or female.

The view upon entering my classroom

The views from the back corners

My "student station" full of anything and everything their little hearts may desire - a 3-hole lunch, a pencil sharpener, a stapler, pens, Kleenex, recycling bins, and school info (on the bulletin board).  I also have bins on the desks with fun math tools like protractors, rulers, and compasses, among other things.

My daily agendas and content objectives.

Another whiteboard on my side wall that contains the date (which I'm horrible at updating), important upcoming dates, language objectives, and things I like to call "Good to Know".

Probably my proudest nerdiest thing.  I bought an $8 clock at Target, removed the cover, and designed and printed a sheet of paper that includes the square roots instead.  The kids despise it, by the way. ;)  

When students are absent, I put their notes, homework, and any handouts in these folders for them to pick up.  They can also print what they missed from my Blackboard (class website).

I love displaying little momentos from students through the years.

Here is my view from my desk.  I can't stand crap on my desk, so it is always organized and every item on it has a very specific place.  If things aren't in their right spot, I literally can not work.  Type A, much?

I like to include an abundance of photos of my family and friends in my classroom.  But they rarely get updated so my poor, poor second child has every reason to feel neglected.  I may or may not print more recent photos before Christmas... 

I love these colored drawers.  They keep my supplies very organized.  And yes, I do realize my Hawkeye banner is backwards.  I used to keep it outside so the front side is very faded.

Some motivational signs I found on Pinterest a few years ago.

A view of my {very organized} desk area.

I've tried arranging my desks about a million different ways through the years.  From traditional columns, to pairs of desks, to rows, to pods.  I find it easiest to quickly move around the classroom while the desks are in pods of 4.  These little desk dividers are what I use during tests.  I don't even know what the material is meant for, but I purchased it at Home Depot in the "building materials" section and the drafting teacher here at school cut them for me.

Some fun similar figure projects I used to do in geometry.  Each student received a 2x2 inch square with some kind of design.  They had to determine the scale factor and enlarge it only an 8x8  inch square.  We then put all of the pieces together to make these large pictures.  

I also have about 30 tessellation projects scattered about my classroom.  Another project students in geometry used to complete.  Here are six of my favorites throughout my six years teaching the class.  Starting in the top left and going counterclockwise: Minnie Mouse, Thomas the Train, the Olympic rings, an ice cream sundae, Pinocchio, and Wilma Flinstone.  These projects took an incredible amount of time and I love remembering these students 5+ years later!

 I loathe this question.  And if I'm being honest, I usually answer, "You probably won't."  Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff you learn in high school that you never use.....but because it's math and most students hate it, they like to throw this in math teachers' faces. 

And that's it for the tour.  This is where I spend my week days nine months out of the year.  Teaching, inspiring, and being a role model for kids ages 14 through 18.  And hopefully giving them a slight admiration for the subject of math, one student at a time!  Thanks for visiting.

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