DAY 1!!!!!

Aloha, today was weird, everything was different.  We have a new middle school so all of our joyous, noisy, middle school students are no longer with us and it's just too quiet, yes, I miss them.  

Day 1 assignment:  I have the same students in my high school Algebra 1 that I had last year in Pre-Algebra so there is no "getting to know you" activity.  But I didn't want the students to have to listen to me go on about rules and procedures all period so I did an "I want to know you better" activity.  I used Dan Myers "Who I Am" worksheet to let them practice graphing.  

Students went up one at a time and wrote their data under each of the four questions from the handout.  They worked in groups to develop each graph.  They didn't have much time so they will be turning them in on Wednesday.  

VNPS - I don't have enough space on the whiteboard for all of my students to go up and write so Wednesday some will be drawing their graphs on the chalkboard.  It's not a "real" chalkboard but it will work until my new whiteboards come in.  I have a little money from a donor that will allow me to purchase some whiteboards for the other wall (third picture). The picture above and below are of the same wall.  

 This picture below is my south wall awaiting new whiteboards.

Here's the rest of my classroom.  No decorations yet, focusing on students, procedures, rules, etc.  Making the room nice and cozy is important so I will be working on it for the next couple of weeks.  The walls were painted just a couple of years ago so I didn't think the school would spring for new paint and I spent any spare money I had on the decorations.  Maybe next summer I'll paint.  These pictures were from last week before I arranged the desks.

I loved my summer vacation and I got a lot of rest, play, and organizing done but I was really happy to be back with the students today.  

My goal is to blog again on Wednesday to share the graphs my students worked on at home.  Then next week I will be in Jo Boaler's workshop and will blog about that when I get back home.

Thank you for reading.