Setting Up for Success

My classroom has almost always been arranged in groups. With the exception of the COVID school year, my students have always been encouraged to collaborate, ask questions, and compare understandings with each other.

Classroom management has been a strength of mine. This allows me to use different areas of my classroom for stations, small group, and independent work.

Students enter the room and get their supplies out. Bellwork is on the overhead with instructions for the warm-up. For math classes, the warm-ups were low floor-high ceiling activities: Make an Estimate Monday, Talking Visually Tuesday, Which One Doesn’t Belong Wednesday, This or That Thursday, and Fraction Talk Friday. Feedback from students was positive for the warm-ups.

For technology classes, the warm-ups include managing their Google Drive, reading and responding to feedback on recent projects, and checking grades. I would also like to add some reading strategies to articles about current and past engineering successes, failures, and marvels.

Every week, I ask all students to check in with me with a message online. I have been doing this since 2015. Students can ask me a question, give me a compliment, make a suggestion, or address a concern. I respond to every student, even if they just say hello.