#Made4Math–My classroom!

After spending a hectic week planning and organizing for the department, I finally got to work on my classroom in a serious way on Friday and Saturday. It all came together and my classroom is ready.

So in the spirit of sharing, here is what my classroom looks like to the learners entering my room this morning. All photos can be clicked on to embiggen.

Notice the little numbers held up by the Target $1.00 photo holders? How about the groups? This is the first time I have tried groups, and the encouragement of my twitter PLN has made me go for it.

Let’s take a little tour. Entering the room closer:

My podium has on the side places / states I have visited on my motorcycle tours. There are quite a lot of different places, and this summer took me further East than I ever have been before. Some observant visitors here who attended #TMC12 and went to the Cardinals game will recognize a couple of the stickers.

In the podium I have a computer, a Smart Panel, an Elmo, and a KVM switch to further manage the managerie. In addition, the mess of cables snaking up the wall are 2 video cables, a sound cable, an S-Video cable and a 5 jack RCA cable which allows me to hook up an iPad or iPod to the projector. I have future proofed myself moderately well. Dang it is a mess though. That will be a future project somehow. Any ideas?

The right side of the room (with the door just peeking) is where I will post the date, the agendas of the day, and a quote of the day. I have 2 documents that total almost 200 pages of quotes in word format. I have always wanted something to do with them, and now I have a place for my quotes.

Looking straight ahead in the room. My projector projects onto the whiteboard. I don’t have a screen, and although I could get one, I have found the whiteboard gives me much more flexibility. The only downside is the board is 3 square boards, not one long one, with silver aluminum edging around them. Last year I used white electrical tape; I was not happy with the results. The tape absorbed colors easily, and wouldn’t stay white. Problem solved with sandpaper and multiple coats of whiteboard paint to the edges. Now the edging is white, not silver so they blend in and won’t hold color. It WILL stay white.

Continuing the leftward look:

I have a cart on the left in the corner. It was open last year, so looked trashy. I used the Command Adhesive picture hangers to put fabric over 1 side. Now it looks all Star Wars, and matches the board on the right side. Yay.

And finally all the way over to the left, with my curtains and my trophy case for Speech & Debate. First tournament is in 3 weeks, so I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks! eek.