Classroom Tools to Simplify Any Teacher's Life

Hello!  My name is James Hunt, and I teach 6th grade math and science in southeast Missouri.  Thank you for joining me on my blogging journey! Topic - Room Transformations **Disclaimer - Before I dive in, let me point out that material things don't make you a 'good' teacher.  Your ability to keep students engaged, teaching techniques and strategies, and your passion is what makes you good.   Your classroom does not have to be pinterest-worthy.   Don't feel that in order to be 'good,' you must invest materially into a child's education. Room transformations are my biggest go-to when it comes to reviewing a math concept.  At this point when my weekly objectives board says "review," they know something is coming.  Before beginning any room transformation, I think it's important to set clear objectives, determine exactly what theme you'd like to create, pick your engaging activity, and make sure any possible scenario has been thought o...

Hello!  My name is James Hunt, and I teach 6th grade math and science in southeast Missouri.  Thank you for joining me on my blogging journey! I really want to talk about one of my favorite classroom practices: stations.  I feel that many times stations are associated with elementary school, however I'm hoping the resources I share will help break that mold a bit. Let me start off by saying...as educators, there are about a million factors that can go wrong with implementing stations - at any moment. I think (with anything) the most important thing to do when implementing stations is to be prepared.  How do you get them to rotate smoothly?  How do they know where to go next?  What do the early finishers do?  I've realized that just about every one of these questions can be answered by just being prepared.  I'm going to explain how I run stations in my room and include some free templates for you to take if needed! These are...

Hello!  My name is James Hunt, and I teach 6th grade math and science in southeast Missouri.  Thank you for joining me on my blogging journey! One tool I want to talk about is Google Slides (I'll probably talk about this one a lot).  This is without a doubt one of my favorite #edtech tools to use in the classroom because of how versatile it is.  I use Google Slides for so many things, but I'm going to focus this post on using it for displayable lesson plans.  I'll post pictures of last week's lesson plans below, and post a view-only version for you to make a copy of if you'd like.  This way, you can completely make it your own, but having a template to get you started! Cover slide with dates Missing assignments - this provides a quick display for who is missing any assignments while the colors make it easy for students to differentiate.  I also like to include Bitmojis on almost everything I do Day 1:  My schedule is set u...

Hello!  My name is James Hunt, and I teach 6th grade math and science in southeast Missouri.  Thank you for joining me on my blogging journey! A few things about me:  My wife (Ally) and I have two handsome red-headed boys (Roman, 5) and (Axel, 2).  Family life keeps us pretty busy!   I currently have my masters degree in administration and am working on a specialist degree.  Student engagement is a huge priority for me in the classroom, and I'll do pretty much ANYTHING to keep them engaged in the lesson: We reviewed decimal computation by opening up "Decimals Diner", where students were able to pick foods that looked appetizing off the menu, solve the word problems on the back of the task card, then we went over the problems and answers as a group. Decimals Diner on TPT We reviewed fraction division by trying to solve the case of the stolen diamond! Students were put into groups, had to solve a puzzle on Google Slides that led them...