Interactive Notebook, Meet Math Folder

All during this summer I have been researching the idea of using an Interactive Notebook for my math classes, or at least for my honors classes.  Pinterest is full of ideas for using the interactive notebooks, but none of them really seem to fit for me.  I want something like an interactive notebook, but more conducive to my own classroom needs.  I finally settled on a compromise: this year I am going to use Math Folders in each of my classes.  This idea is a blend between the writing notebooks of my ELA friends and the interactive notebooks on my favorite math blogs.

I put a lot of thought into how to pull this off, and the first thing I decided was to provide the folders for each of my students.  Since I work in a lower income school I was worried that my students would not all have the ability to provide their own, so I did it for them.  Staples had folders on sale last week for $0.15 each, so I bought 25 purple, 25 blue, 25 yellow, and 25 green.  I thought it best to have one color per class in order to keep it more organized.

This is the cover of my folder.  I plan to let my students personalize their own at some point during the first week of school.  I'll be providing magazines from which to cut letters, as well as basic art supplies like markers and glue.

This first page in each folder will be the instructions and requirements for using the math folder.  Click on each image below to download the file for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

After this I'll have a page titled "How to Justify Your Answer."  I know that being able to write in math is becoming increasingly important, especially with Common Core just around the corner, so I wanted to give my students the tools they need to write well from the very beginning.  

The last pre-made item in each folder will be a Table of Contents.  This will be followed by blank notebook paper.  

I have high hopes that this will be a great start to using math folders in my classroom.  I have about two weeks to work out the kinks and get it ready for the kids, but I'm feeling confident that this will be a great addition to my classroom!

What is this "Teaching is Forever"?

I decided to start this blog mostly on a whim.  I couldn't sleep and kept thinking about the upcoming school year, so naturally I thought, "Hey, let's share all of my random thoughts with the internet!"  Now I am not so naive as to think that the entirety of the internet will read my blog.  It doesn't really matter to me if anyone reads my blog (shocking, right?)  However, I do know I'll have one reader so here's a little shout out to that guaranteed one : Hi Mom!

Enough rambling.  Now to the real nitty gritty of this blog:  I am a teacher.  It is really the best thing about me (speaking modestly).  I love what I do a solid 90% of the time, and the other 10% is dedicated to ranting and venting about what I would like to change about the 90%.  All in all, it's a good life.  I think teaching is one of the noblest professions.  You might think this is a little biased, seeing as how I am one of these noble professionals, but let me tell you a secret:  teachers are the best people I know.  

I have seen a teacher stay after school for HOURS just to tutor ONE student.  ONE.  And let me tell you, for that teacher and that one student, it was worth it.  

I have seen a teacher take the toughest kid in school and turn him into a gentleman.  Was he the top of the class?  No.  But he was kind and good hearted and dedicated to making her proud, even if meant flipping burgers instead of dealing drugs in the bathroom.  

I have seen a teacher make the nerdiest of the nerds feel special.  Was she a nerd?  Nope.  Just a teacher, dedicated to making a difference, no matter who the kid was.  

I know what you're thinking: not all teachers fall into this "noblest profession" category.  You're right.  But I choose (90% of the time at least) to look at the bright side.  Teachers make a difference.  It doesn't matter if it is big or small.  It doesn't matter if the final product doesn't happen in an instant.  Teachers make a difference, hopefully for the good, and it matters.  Big time.  Long term.  This is why I say teaching is forever.  What we do as teachers is important, not because we are important, but because the lives we impact are. 

Unrelated postscript:  I promise not every post will be a mini-rant on the awesomeness of teaching.  I promise to throw in some good-old-fashioned rants about the kids, fellow teachers, and probably even  the laws dictating what I do (even though the law makers are for the most part clueless).  I even promise to throw in some thoroughly boring examples of what I taught that day or what I wish I had done differently.  The point is, you never know what you might get, so you are reading at your own risk.  

Lucky you :-)