Five on Friday

ONE.

Every year it seems at least one student ask me about a class pet.  I always tell them it's enough work just taking care of them.

One year I inherited a huge fish tank.  It remained empty for a good portion of the year until one of my students caught a fish and brought it to school.  We put the little fish in our tank and named him Ryan.  Students took care of him and I did absolutely nothing until the end of the year.  I was not about to keep this fish all summer.  I took him to the river and set him free.

For whatever reason I'm considering getting a class pet this year.  Call it peer pressure.  Several of my Instagram friends have been talking about class pets and it makes me think it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I'm leaning towards a Beta fish.  They seem like they would be easy to take care of.  Maintenance is the number one factor.  I need this pet to require little to no work.

But I also think it would be fun to have a rabbit.  My biggest thing against the rabbit is I don't think my dogs would do too well with it when I had to bring it home for breaks.

Do you have a class pet?  What kind?  

If you don't have a class pet, what's stopping you?

TWO.

One month from today students will be walking into my classroom for the first day of school.  ONE MONTH!  What have I done to prepare?  Pretty much nothing.

I just can't seem to get excited about a theme or color scheme.  I have several ideas but can't seem to put them together for one wonderful vision. 

I went to Hobby Lobby today and saw a few things that I really liked.  Maybe a vision is starting to form.

THREE.

I created these Mathematical Practices posters a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted them to be simple but after I printed them I didn't like them.  They were too simple.  But I'm not sure what it is specifically that I don't like or want to change.  What would you do to spruce these up a bit?

FOUR.

Next year I will be coteaching 7th grade Math class.  The students who will be in my class haven't experienced a lot of success in Math.  I want to change that.  I want to help them to have a growth mindset and feel successful.   I love the idea of have "The Fridge" to celebrate their growth.

FIVE. 

Speaking of growth, I've been working on a digital data tracking notebook for my students.  I believe there is something very rewarding or students when they can track and see their growth.  I'm really excited about this idea.  Right now it is simple.  I'm not sure if I want to keep it that way since I've never done anything like this or if I want to add more to it.