I'm back!

Well, I'm back!!! I wish I kept up with blogging this year since I was able to do some awesome things with my algebra class! Life got in the way and it was too much. My goal for this summer is to introduce a different activity, INB foldable, etc each day of the summer. I'll try and go through my whole year in a summer :)

First post - my classroom!

Since I teach 3 sections of AP Calculus, I'm able to do some fun things with my students when the AP was over in May. One thing we chose to do was to re-do my bulletin boards - a win for me! Throughout the year, I have students create funny calculus or algebra posters for extra credit. Well, they have been sitting in my closet all year and we finally had a chance to look through them all after the AP. My room has never looked so clean and bright. I gave each class a bulletin board to decorate and let them take over. I would say the end result is pretty awesome.

2015 senior college selections

This is my favorite one! It's a collection of all the pictures my students have taken with me and printed out. Plus, the Ryan Gosling poster is the best :)

Each year I have my seniors sign a poster with where they are attending school. After, I put their senior pictures around. 

That's it for now! No more students at work - just teacher work days and proctoring state exams! Signing off for now!

Calculus Projects on a Saturday morning

Hi guys! It's  gorgeous Saturday morning here in NY. I'm currently sitting at a local coffee shop with my fiance` doing some work before an afternoon BBQ later. 

For my post today, I wanted to share some projects I do with my AP Calculus class.

Project 1 - I don't have any pictures of finished product at hand (they are all sitting in a drawer in my classroom waiting to be hung up for next year) but the kids really have a fun time with this one. I usually hit related rates in October which is a perfect time to assign a Halloween related rates themed project! My requirements are:

- The question they come up with must be original and Halloween themed

- It must be completed on poster paper or computer paper - no lined paper

- They must use color and creativity - the more the better

- The solution must be carefully worked out and explained on the back

I receive some awesome projects and will hang the best ones on my bulletin board!

Project 2 - This is by far my favorite project (and most time consuming for the kids) that I assign all year. I created my own original calc book for dummies project (modeled off of the book). I break it up the following way - each chapter corresponds to a unit I taught. 

Chapter 1 - Limits and continuity

Cahpter 2 - Derivatives

Chapter 3 - Curve Sketching

Chapter 4 - Integration

Chapter 5 - BC only topics

Within each chapter, I have specific questions they must answer. They also must provide me examples of what I ask for. It's a very detailed project and great for review. Even though they moan and groan, they admit it forced them to look back at their notes and helped them review for the AP. I make it due in April so I can grade it and return it before the AP exam. I'm going to post the actual document  when I get home later. I'm using my ipad right now and don't have the doc in my dropbox. Feel free to assign this to your class! I love it and love seeing the kids creativity!

Talk soon! Lex

First post!

Hi guys! I've been toying with starting a blog for a while now. After reading so many inspiring teaching blogs, I decided to try it! After some pondering this summer, I decided to focus on documenting my school year and all the ideas I (try - emphasis on try) to implement. Hopefully I will be able to share some things that work and didn't work in my classroom!

A little about me - I'm entering my fourth (oh-m-gee) year of teaching! I cannot believe it. It went so fast. I have spent the past 4 years teaching AP calculus and 10th grade geometry. It has been a wild ride and I wouldn't change any of it. This year I will be teaching common core algebra and am hoping to use Interactive Student Notebooks! I'm a huge dork and after trying to scare the kids on the first day, my dork side comes out in full force.

Here's a little look at my classroom last year!

My calculus side of the board. Each year I have the kids do an extra credit project where they have to come up with a funny calculus poster. I get some awesome stuff to decorate my room with! SCORE!

My geometry side that will now become algebra!

Each year after the AP, I create a list where all my seniors are going to college. The following year I have it hanging up all year so my current seniors can take a look! They love it and get creative when decorating their class list (I have 3 sections of AP calc).

My wall of success! At the beginning of each year, I ask my seniors for their senior picture. I hang it on my wall and keep it up year after year. It's pretty big now after 3 years so I'm not sure where I will expand it to. I also hang up pictures of myself with the students at various events!

Well, there it is! My first post. I'll be spending the next two weeks organizing my classroom and getting those lessons created and organized! Countdown to inservice - 12 days! Am I the only one who loves going back to school???

Talk soon!