Take what you can get because there is no going back

Today was sort of an easy day. We took the entire freshmen class to the SD Zoo today. I split my advisory into three groups since I had two chaperones. Therefore, I only had to manage 11 students. I consider that much easier than going through all my classes.

I want to flip this intro to a topic we went over in class on Thursday. The topic is taking what you can get because there is no going back. It is derived from one of the 8 Keys of Excellence-"This is it!" Since this is my first year teaching, I need to be taking every bit of advice and using every resource I can find to learn from. While I could be doing more observations and talking to experienced teachers more often, I have been taking advantage of our school resources.

Today, after I got back from the zoo, I finished the activity I have planned for tomorrow and Wednesday. I took 8 different linear equation problems, made 7 sets, laminated them on construction paper, then cut them out into the individual steps. The game for tomorrow and Wednesday is for the students to take the whole pile all mixed up and put them back together.

They're laminated, so guess what, you can use them over and over again. You can also make different sets for different concepts in the future. Just make sure you find a TA to help you because the work can be a bit monotonous. Plus, it's called a laminator, not a lamitor.