Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Talk Nerdy To Me

Y'all - I'm a big nerd.  A big fat Math nerd.  I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Math.  Love it!

I've taught Middle School math for 8 years and I have the best time sharing my crazy love of math with bunches of 12-14 year olds :) (What?!?!?! That isn't your ideal day????) hahaha

I love Math so much I secretly want all of these shirts...





On Sunday, I posted this pic on Instagram...
... they're my "Have Mercy" passes and I got a BIG response from it.  Which got me thinking that maybe every once in a while I'd share some of the fun teacher stuff that I've come up with over the years.  I like to infuse humor and fun into my class and would love to share that with some of my teacher readers!

So here are my "Have Mercy" passes in a printable format for all of you!!!
(right click, save to your desktop and print)


Here's how a "Have Mercy" pass works... I give each student one pass at the beginning of each quarter and it allows them to "Have Mercy" on one homework assignment.  If they had a basksetball game the night before and a History test to study for and didn't have time to do it OR they did it, but they left it at home they fill out this sheet (I have a big stack printed on CRAZY pink paper at the front of my classroom)... (again, right click, save and print)

... and give me their pass.  They can turn it in the next day with no penalty (my normal penalty is 30 points off for turning an assignment in late).  When I collect papers, they turn in the above paper with their mercy pass and that helps me remember that they're using a pass.  I keep them in a stack for the next day so I remember to ask them for the assignment on that day.

Sidenote: Academic detention is something our whole Middle School does.  If a student doesn't have a mercy pass and they don't have their homework, they're expected to serve an academic detention after school to complete it.

One of my favorite things to do is put a funny picture up on my SmartBoard every day.  I have a collection of about 500 silly pics that I choose from and the students love it. 

I also have "theme" pictures for different times of the year.  We just had exams so I thought I"d show you some of my favorites.

Hahahaha.  This picture of Mason cracked me up and so I turned it into an Exams Are Coming graphic.



 This one is usually on the board a couple of days before the test :)


Anyway - hope you found something fun to use in your classroom, or read this and were thankful that you don't have to teach pre-teens to solve quadratic equations all day :)  

12 comments :

  1. Oh my goodness! First, I thought nothing could make me laugh harder than the post title...until I saw that picture of Mason. Flipping hysterical!

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  2. I teach first grade but I can appreciate these! So fun! Love that Uncle Jesse is on your Have mercy passes. And I love math too!

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  3. Andrea....wish we could go back in time and you could somehow be my middle school math teacher!!! Would you believe me if I told you my 8th grade math teacher and I BUTTED heads?? She even called me into the hall one time because I was being so disruptive!!!

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  4. That picture of Mason, well let's just say I almost spit my coffee out....SO funny!!! And I have always hated Math and give you huge props for doing what you do and loving it....you're a great teacher!!!

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  5. I'm totally passing these ideas on to Kev. I love the Have Mercy idea, but I'm curious if your students even "get" why there is the picture of Jesse from Full House...so funny!

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  6. I wish you'd have been my Math teacher when I was in jr high! So fun! :) That pic of Mason is too much. Ha ha ha what a hoot he is! :)

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  7. Hi Andrea: I found your blog via Shay @ Mix and Match Mama... loved those math shirts. If you go to www.cafepress.com and search for "math" there are many math items that you may like...

    Have a good day!
    Laurie S

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  8. Man, I thought I was good at math but I guess it's been too many years. The middle shirt has me stumped..what's the square root of -1? Lol

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  9. My fifth graders still watch reruns of Full House, so I know they would get the "have mercy" line. Too funny.... I like to post a " photo of the day" on my whiteboard too. I use pics I've taken of the kids & they love being featured on the "big screen.". I like the idea of adding captions. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

    Court in MI

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  10. I love all of these ideas!!! And I love love love the graphic at the beginning of class ordeal. I am totally going to start doing this. Now, I just need to find some graphics, haha!!! :) I look forward to seeing more of your teacher posts! :)

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  11. I taught 7th grade math for 6 years and this post kind of makes me lonesome for it! Those pictures and passes are absolutely perfect! I love the idea! I know your students must LOVE it too!

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