ABOUT MY CLASSROOM
I am fortunate to teach seventh and eighth graders at Berkshire Middle School in Birmingham, Michigan. I am a math teacher, so naturally I love pi, I can calculate a tip in under 10 seconds, and I am never without my Papermate pen. The best thing about my job, is that it it doesn't require me to go to work. I get to go to school, instead. My students are crazy, spirited, dramatic, exciting, passionate, and wonderful. I never cease to be amazed by they work the do, or by the effort they put in. I truly have the best job in the world.
Every day, I ask students to collaborate with each other, get creative, engage with new technology, and have fun. Every Friday, we open with "Fallon Friday" and every other day we break out into our groups where students teach each other in an effort to better understand the material. Most importantly, if another student is teaching, we call them Mr. ____ and Ms. ____, because it's just the right thing to do. My students have been asked to get up and dance to the transformation shuffle, get crafty with projects, and turn on their competitive side for Kahoot! and Quizizz games. There is truly never a dull moment in our class.
After becoming a Google Classroom, my class has done a complete flip. We now use Google Classroom, among several other apps, every single day. My students have used Google Docs to write and edit papers. They've also used sites like Code.org or Code Combat to build skills in problem solving while going through a maze of tasks in an Angry Birds world. Students have engaged with a multitude of sites and apps, and have been given affordances to ask for help as my lessons can be more inquiry based. All of the apps/sites that I am using in my classes are listed in greater detail on the Tech Tips page.
One of the greatest challenges in a math class, is the lack of time required to reach every child, every day. While I try my best to give ample homework time and float around the classroom to answer questions, sometimes students go home and get stuck. To avoid tears and frustration, my Google Classroom presence is substantial, I give everything away. Students know that each day of the week will have a specific post, and that post will include my daily slides, notes copies, videos and any handouts. I then post all keys on the "About" section, broken up by chapter, and students/parents use this frequently to find out the answers, and sometimes to reteach the lesson at home. I also use Remind to communicate with parents and students, and Twitter/Instagram to post exceptional work and humorous memes. To get a closer look, take a peek into my classroom below.
Every day, I ask students to collaborate with each other, get creative, engage with new technology, and have fun. Every Friday, we open with "Fallon Friday" and every other day we break out into our groups where students teach each other in an effort to better understand the material. Most importantly, if another student is teaching, we call them Mr. ____ and Ms. ____, because it's just the right thing to do. My students have been asked to get up and dance to the transformation shuffle, get crafty with projects, and turn on their competitive side for Kahoot! and Quizizz games. There is truly never a dull moment in our class.
After becoming a Google Classroom, my class has done a complete flip. We now use Google Classroom, among several other apps, every single day. My students have used Google Docs to write and edit papers. They've also used sites like Code.org or Code Combat to build skills in problem solving while going through a maze of tasks in an Angry Birds world. Students have engaged with a multitude of sites and apps, and have been given affordances to ask for help as my lessons can be more inquiry based. All of the apps/sites that I am using in my classes are listed in greater detail on the Tech Tips page.
One of the greatest challenges in a math class, is the lack of time required to reach every child, every day. While I try my best to give ample homework time and float around the classroom to answer questions, sometimes students go home and get stuck. To avoid tears and frustration, my Google Classroom presence is substantial, I give everything away. Students know that each day of the week will have a specific post, and that post will include my daily slides, notes copies, videos and any handouts. I then post all keys on the "About" section, broken up by chapter, and students/parents use this frequently to find out the answers, and sometimes to reteach the lesson at home. I also use Remind to communicate with parents and students, and Twitter/Instagram to post exceptional work and humorous memes. To get a closer look, take a peek into my classroom below.
100Students I teach
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2Math Lab Classes
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5Number of students who are nominated DJ of the week
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