Section Overview

Since I've decided to go "all in" with interactive notebooks this year, I have really been trying really hard to plan out how I will introduce each unit.  Again, Jessie Hester from Mrs. Hester's Classroom is my inspiration...she begins each unit with a unit overview, which maps out the essential questions and vocabulary.  Here's what I have so far:

Instead of essential questions, I've decided to use "I can" statements.  This way, students know EXACTLY what they are supposed to learn during the course of our unit, and they can check off the statements they are now able to do!  (I'm not doing away with essential questions - my principal requires them - but I plan on using them in student reflection questions at the end of certain lessons.) 

I have a "Words Worth Knowing" section (aka vocabulary), and I've added a section where students can write down the dates form quizzes, homework checks, INB checks, unit and district tests, and a project.  That's all for now...it's still a work in progress :) 

New Year, New Classroom!

I'm out of town for a few days, but before I left, I visited my new classroom.  A bunch of the teachers at our school shifted to other subjects/grades, and this year I'm moving next door so that all the teachers on my team are in the same hallway.  Now, I LOVED my classroom, however, the main reason why I'm moving has to do with the Promethean board arrangement.  Three years ago, I painted my classroom a greenish-teal color (Behr's Shoreline Green, to be exact) and decorated with purple and black accents.  Now that I've moved next door, I've got a brand new slate to decorate!  Here's what my new classroom looks like now:

From the back corner...

From my desk in the front corner of the room...

While it's not bad, I really need color to make me happy!  I tried to talk myself out of painting my new classroom, but I just couldn't...am I crazy?  As you can see in the first picture, I tried out four colors.  I think I've found the right one:

Did I mention I LOVE teal?

It's probably a shade lighter and a little more blue than my old room.  I'll have more pics whenever I start painting!  In the meantime, I'm trying really hard to set up my curriculum and unit pacing to incorporate interactive notebooks this year.  While this will be our fourth year doing CCSS, and I pretty much know what I'm teaching, the planning involved in implementing INBs is tough!  I'm ready for the challenge... really want my students to be actively engaged this year!  Stay tuned...See y'all later!

Miss Lorenzo's Lowdown

To all middle school teachers...do you send home a newsletter to your students' parents?

I know that in the elementary world, it's probably a little bit easier to send home a newsletter every week.  However, with 130-140 students at a time, it can be a little difficult.  Middle school children often "forget" about important dates or events that go on during school.  Enter "Miss Lorenzo's Lowdown":

This is an example of my parent newsletter that I send out every Monday (It was from the second week of school last year!).  On my back-to-school handouts, I have my parents indicate if they would like to receive my newsletter via email, and I save their email addresses in groups in my school email account.  Then, I would email them my newsletter (bcc, of course - so that they don't know each other's addresses) and let them know what their kids could look forward to that week!  It takes a little time at first to input the parent emails into my address book, but once I do it, I don't have to enter email addresses again for the rest of the year AND I don't have to search for parent emails if I need to contact them!  I have gotten plenty of complements over their year from parents who are grateful that I take the time to let them know what's going on.  The students, however, complain that their parents know so much!!  Haha!

I'm thinking of changing the format for this coming year.  I really like this layout from Sarah Rubin's post, who was inspired from Jessie Hester at Mrs. Hester's classroom.  These two are my main inspiration for doing ISN's this year!  They are really the best!

What other new things are y'all (I'm from the south - it's a habit) planning to do for this upcoming school year?

New teacher on the block...

Hi, everyone!  Blogging is a brand new thing to me, so any and all suggestions are appreciated!  I want to use this blog to help me reflect on my teaching, especially since I will be incorporating interactive notebooks (INB) this year as one of my main teaching strategies.  

I am entering my EIGHTH year of teaching this year, and I'm still learning about everything related to teaching!  I'm always interested in the new strategies for classroom management and teaching...I feel that as a teacher, there is always opportunities to learn and grow in this profession.  I enjoy reading other teaching blogs and sorting through Pinterest posts to get ideas for my classroom...hopefully, I can contribute in some way by writing about my class and helping you!  I look forward to collaborating with you!