Bell Ringers and Warm Ups

Do you use a Warm Up, Bell Ringer or whatever else the kids are calling them these days?  They are a great way to get your students focused for your class. As well as give you a minute or 2 to take attendance and get psyched for another class. 

Here are a few possible ideas:
-play a song.  It's a great way to introduce your students to different types of music and set a mood for your classroom whether you choose classical, oldies, rock & roll, etc.  Or all of the above.

-solve a problem.  There are oodles of riddles available to get those teenaged brains thinking.  
example: A man and his son are in a car crash. The father is killed and the child is taken to hospital gravely injured. When he gets there, the surgeon says, 'I can't operate on this boy - for he is my son!!! How can this possibly be?
(The surgeon is his mother) 

-share a cartoon.  Laughter (or groaning) works wonders. 
 

-writing prompt. Have students write a quick story based on a picture or a challenge such as- "End your story with this sentence: Despite a few fatalities, everyone agreed that Mindy’s first cookout was a roaring success." 
Or finish a sentence:  "If I had a million dollars I would..."

-Etiquette Tip. One thing I did to start each day was share an Etiquette Tip each day.  Our class topics were so varied throughout the semester (finance, relationships, nutrition, careers, sewing, etc.) that it would take me decades to collect resources for a bell ringer to go with the lesson of the day.  I truly believe that everyone needs to learn better manners and so my Etiquette Tip of the day was born.  The students recorded it on a chart each day which were kept in their folder. Some days they would just write it and we would quickly move on to the lesson for the day.  Other times we focused on it for a few minutes. When the tip was: "Write and send a thank you note as quickly as possible- within a day or two.  (BUT- a late thank you note is better than no thank you note)" I would have to students write a thank you note to a staff member in the school.  I would deliver them- after reading them as there always seems to be one or 2 students that are too cool for a sincere thank you.  It gave the staff a boost and helped students develop an attitude of gratitude.  

113 different Etiquette Tips to start each class are available for purchase in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. Or my Etsy shop.

Do you do a bell ringer/warm up to start (or maybe end) your class? 

What do you call it?  Bell ringer?  Warm Up?  Something else?  

Organizing Class and Assignment Information

This is another idea I can't take credit for as I spotted it in a classroom I was subbing in, but I loved it.  It is a great way to organize information for each of your classes.  The box on the top right lists the class and all of the dates they have class- crossing off each one as it passes.  This provides a very visual way for them to see how much or how little time they have left to work on their projects.

The box below it is chart containing each students name going vertically and each aspect of the project going horizontally.  You can check each student (or have them check it) once it is accomplished.  The red arrow is moved to show them where they should be.  I love this for the sanity of the teacher- knowing who is on what step and showing the students what step is next.  It also provides a kick in the rear to those slow-pokes who would rather socialize or stare at the wall than get it done.

I assume the folder on the left is where the teacher puts instruction sheets.  Love this.  I was recently in a classroom where the teacher had all of the instruction sheets for every single project in an accordion style file folder.  While helpful to have them all in in one spot- the students lacked the ability to look through it and find what they needed.  Providing them with just what they need in a place where they can see it and you can easily point to, is genius.

I appreciate smart and organized teachers.  I also appreciate cell phone cameras allowing me to capture teachers genius ideas and share them with you. 

Soapy Solution

Holy Molies. Has it really been OVER a year since I last posted?!?

Never again.

In fact, I have a goal to post something a couple times a week.
Sometimes it will just be an idea... like today.

When I heard this idea I thought "why didn't I think of that... 6 years ago?!"

Such a simple idea, but in my opinion a GENIUS idea.

I am a fan of having a small bottle of dish soap in each kitchen. Small being the key word as I find students use more when they see more.

Instead of scouring the stores for those small dish soap bottles that are never in stock when you need them but everywhere you look when you don't and get all gunky, and the lids break off, and the paper labels get soggy/saggy/sticky... use these: Squeeze Bottles.

Easy to clean. Easy to refill. Easy to spot when they are in need of a refill. And easy to find at craft or restaurant supply stores.

I'll take 8 please.

Storebought vs. Homemade

I just posted this on the FACS teachers listserv so I thought I would post it here too... just in case. This is a lesson I teach on comparison- store bought versus homemade and nutrition labels.

The very first recipe I "let" my students cook is Homemade Oreos. I have made (and loved) these cookies since my childhood. They make a great first lab as they are easy and delicious. My class periods were 47 minutes and there are some groups that struggle getting them done on time- but it is possible. Because they are easy, they are a good way for groups to learn how to work together- since it is their first time in the kitchen together. Whenever cakemixes and icings are on sale I try to stock up so it can be an inexpensive lab as well. You can use any cake mix you desire- chocolate is the best with cream cheese icing. Mmmmm. I always demo this lab (since it is their first) and have a LOT of cookies leftover. You can be "mean" (their words, not mine) and not allow them to taste them the day of your demo- or you could give them halfsies and should have enough for both purposes. Unless you have longer class periods than I did, you likely won't have time for a demo and this activity... but you can try. These cookies are also great in the freezer if you want to freeze them after your demo and do this activity at a later date.

I like to tell my students that Oreo heard of my homemade version so they came out with Cakesters to compete. :) So to show the Oreo makers I like a little friendly competition, I came up with this activity to compare the two. This is the front of the worksheet. I figured out how much each of the ingredients in the homemade oreos cost- cake mix, oil, eggs and icing. We do the math as a class to figure out the total cost, the total number of cookies made and finally the cost for one cookie. This is a little challenging as you have to get the cookies to be the exact same size as the cakester. I have yet to accomplish that so when I do, I will give you the correct numbers. We then figure out the cost for one cakester.
Then comes the discussion on which is the better buy. It SHOULD be the homemade by almost half.
I then give them a few minutes to think of some reasons why you would purchase food instead of make it at home AND why you would make something at home rather than buy it from the store. Then the fun REALLY begins with more math on the back. I cut the nutrition labels from each product and pasted them on the worksheet. Using the amounts on the front and the serving sizes, they need to figure out the fat grams and calories for each ingredients. This can be a little tricky since the fat grams/ calories for the ENTIRE cakemix are needed but the serving size is only 1/12. So they need to multiply the calories for one serving by 12. Likewise for the fat grams. The oil serving size is 1 Tablespoon but you use 1/2 cup in the recipe. This is a good review of equivalents.
Once that is all figured out, you need to add it up for the entire batch of cookies, then divide by the number of cookies made to figure out the information for one homemade Oreo.
The Cakester math is much easier as you just need to divide by 2.

If the cookies are the same size, the homemade oreos should be a little "healthier".

I try to do this as a class since some parts can be challenging. There are a few that give up or drift off so I give a tasty reward at the end to those who turn in a completed and correct worksheet- half a Cakester and half a Homemade Oreo. This of course tends to motivate those that gave up or drifted off.

You can do this activity with anything that you can buy at the store and make homemade. And if you choose something that has even more "versions" you can add more math to the mix- such as pizza- homemade, restaurant, frozen, deli, etc.

The possibilities are endless.

Signs

I made these signs a couple years ago when my students seem to think the fridges were there for them to investigate. They would look in them for food, drinks or anything else that might suit their fancies. Some teachers are okay with that.

I am not. Not that I have anything to hide.

I just like my space to untouched by teenagers. Especially when I see what they do/scratch (or don't do- like wash) with their hands.

I left the signs at my old school so I made new ones for my new school. I made "Do Not Open" ones for the fridges and "Do Not Enter" ones for the pantry and office.

Feel free to use them as you wish!!
These signs are available for FREE at Teachers Pay Teachers.  Check it out!

I know this is probably a silly question... but there is a reason why I am not an English teacher- it is teacher's right? Not teachers. Just checking.

Need ideas? Join this group.

Do you know about Yahoo groups? There is probably a group for anything you are interested in.
There is even one for Family & Consumer Sciences/ Home Economics teachers.
You need to join to be able to read/post ideas questions. Sign up today!

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/familyandconsumerscience/