In the spirit of the holidays, I want to share some of my favorite things with you! Keep reading until the end, because there is something for you too!
My Favorite Holiday Activity
I love decorating the Christmas tree. As long as I can remember, we have always blasted old Christmas music and put up the tree as a family. My mom would take us to the store to pick out our own Christmas ornament every year. We would put our initials on it very small at the bottom and the year. Then, when I got my own Christmas tree as an adult, my mom gave me all of my own ornaments that I picked out as I was growing up. All of them bring back memories and it's fun to put them up and tell my son about each one. I hope to start the tradition with him next year when he's a little older.
This is my Christmas tree this year:
My Favorite Math Activity
My favorite math activity is a sum 'em activity. I use them to review all kinds of concepts. They encourage students to work together and find their own mistakes.
Students are put in groups of four and each student in a group is given one card with a problem on it. When all of the students in the group have finished their problems, they add their answers together. Then, students check their sums with the teacher. If they are incorrect, they trade problems within their group and try again. If they are correct, they move on to another set of cards. I love this type of activity because it gets students working together and talking about math.
If you sign up for my Free Resource Library, there is a FREE sum 'em activity included. If you'd like to see my other sum 'em activities, you can find them here.
My Favorite Math Teacher Tools
I can't limit this to just one thing, so I thought I'd list my top three!
First, if you haven't tried Flair pens yet, you need to. It took me FOREVER before I was willing to try them. I'm kind of cheap about some things and I just thought they were overpriced. However, I LOVE them! I love that they are so bold and bright, but don't bleed through paper. I also like that they liven up the white pages in my interactive notebooks.
My second favorite math teacher tool is a timer. Really, every teacher needs a timer. Yes, I have one on my phone, but I don't really want to have my phone out around my students all day. I have this cheap, digital timer and it works great. Timers help keep students one task by putting a little pressure on them. Also, they can help by minimizing transition time.
The last teacher tool for today is STICKERS! Even my high school students like getting stickers. I always put a sticker on tests and quizzes that have earned an A. My students love seeing that they have earned a sticker. There are some amazing and cheap sticker packs out there for teachers.
Giveaway Time!!
Giveaway Closed
To help you get through the holidays and the new year started off right, I am giving away a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!
- Comment on this post, answering the question below.
- If you haven't already, sign up for my mailing list to get teaching tips and the inside scoop on sales and giveaways.
What unit is the most difficult for you to teach and why?
This giveaway ends Monday, December 18, 2017 at 8pm EST. Now it's time to hop on over to Kara's blog at Learning Made Radical for another giveaway!
