Celebrate Spring and Customer Appreciation

Spring is my favorite season.  It is time of renewal, regrowth and new adventures!  Unfortunately for me and many teachers I know, it is also the start of the stress of state/national test season. :(  In this time of high stress I want to help you all out and to say thank you for your continued support of my TpT store!  I have chosen five of my products that are in high demand at this time of year and am going to offer one per day throughout this week at an additional 25% off!  Additionally, I am running a rafflecopter that will start on Monday, 4/4 and run through midnight on Friday 4/8 of my geometry riddle worksheets bundle and my algebra riddle worksheets bundle!

On Monday (4/4) my Graphic Organizers Entire Year Bundle will be an extra 25% off of the already money saving bundle price!  These Graphic Organizers are great for helping students review for finals as you finish out the year as well as useful through the year as you teach your Geometry Units! 

On Tuesday (4/5) my 2nd Semester Geometry Bellwork Bundle will be an extra 25% off of the already money saving bundle price!  My bellwork are not only great for getting classes started, but also work well as station cards and exit tickets!

On Wednesday (4/6) my 2nd Semester Geometry Word Wall Cards/Posters will be an extra 25% off of the already money saving bundle price!  This posters not only look beautiful on your walls but helps students reinforce their Geometry vocabulary and stimulate mathematical discussions!  

On Thursday (4/7) my  (Geometry) Circles Complete Unit Bundle will be an extra 25% off of the already money saving bundle price!  This bundle includes notes, bellwork, practice worksheets, review, graphic organizers and more!  

On Friday (4/8) my  2nd Semester Complete Curriculum Bundle will be extra 25% off of the already money saving bundle price!  This bundle includes 5 units that are most often taught during the second semester - Right Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Circles, Area and Three-Dimensional figures!

Don't forget throughout the entire week to enter into my rafflecopter Double Riddle Worksheet Bundle Giveaway - both my Geometry Riddles Bundle and my Algebra Riddles Bundle!

I hope that these savings will help you out as you plan out the finish to your year!

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Why I Believe You Should Decorate Your Secondary Classroom (and How To Do It!)

When I first started teaching 15 years ago, I was the only female in my department and the youngest teacher to boot! Needless to say I stuck out from the rest of my department (cue the song "one of these things is not like the other...). When I made the decision to decorate my classroom it made the difference even more obvious. However, looking around my very empty, bare, beige, cinder-block classroom I felt it was very cold, very sterile and just not that welcoming so I HAD to decorate. The big question, though, was how and with what? I had no clue how to decorate a secondary classroom so that it look like a high school classroom and not an elementary one. I had no idea how to get things to stay on the walls, where to find supplies or even a vision of what I wanted to look like! I just knew that I had to do something...

It was that last part - lack of vision - that led to many mistakes and wasted money (and as a beginning teacher money is definitely not something you have a lot of)! Finally, though, after 15 years I have finally feel like I have an under control, inviting, warm, educational and cohesive design! I would like to share a few tips with you to help you avoid the follies that I made my first few years!

1) Plan the space out before you begin. All classroom are traditionally either rectangular or square in design but you don't have all of that space to work with. If your room is anything like mine you have cupboards, heating vents, boards on a certain wall, bulletin boards, computer drops and of course 33 desks! Free space is a premium and you need to use it wise. You don't want to go out and get a bunch of things and then have no wall space to display them or floor space to put them. Before I started my current classroom "decor" I laid out on paper all of the thing that I had to have that I had no control over. For example, based on where the drops were, I had to

have my computer and teacher desk in the front corner. I have a huge air-conditioner/heater that sticks out 2 feet and takes up a third of one of my walls - but it is right under a window so I couldn't have used that wall space anyway. By laying out everything that I HAD to have, I was able to recognize what space I had to work with and could move on to the next step.

2) Place physical objects that take up floor space before posters or other decor. Start by placing your desks, tables, file cabinets that have to be in your room in the place that they need to go. If you want book cases, shelves, a student resource area (i.e. pencils, paper, sharpener, etc.) then they need to go in next. There is nothing more annoying than to put up posters, only to have to move them because a book case, file cabinet, etc. needs to go in that space. Placing everything physical first also allows you to see sight lines and room flow. If you want to post homework, you need to have it in a spot where it is easily accessible and visible versus someplace that it is going to get lost or cause mass congestion.

3) Decide what you want to put on your walls before you buy or make it. Do you want to illustrate your vocabulary (check out my previous post on word walls for ideas if you need them!) and formulas? Do you need to post your objectives and I-cans in a certain place? Do you want to post a list of previous homework or a homework calendar? Do you  want to do some encouragement posters (character, effort and the like?) or words to think about? Do you need to post your rules/expectations? Do you want to leave a space open to display student work?

Do you want to use a lot of different colors or stick to more of theme? Remember, the purpose of putting stuff on your walls is to not only make your room educational and helpful, but also inviting and some place that students feel encouraged and free to learn. Also keep in mind, while you students look at the walls for an hour or so a day, you look at them for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week...

4) Shop smart and frugally. When I first started out buying posters for my classroom I just went to local teacher store and bought what caught my eye. I put tape on the back, hung them up and called it done. It never occurred to me to laminate them to make them last longer, to make them myself or to shop online. Matter of fact, when I first started teaching, the internet barely existed!!! Now, there are so many options. You can go to Amazon and get them in two days for cheaper than the teacher stores offer which is fantastic - depending on what you are looking for that is! I found that while teacher stores were great for the encouragement posters, basic concept and a small portion of middle school math skills that we use at the high school level, they did not cover what we do at the high school level. There just did not exist posters covering the higher level math that I needed. Again, since this was really before the prevalence of the internet I was left with one option - make them myself! And make them myself I did! :) I ended up making over 200 "posters" that are 8.5 by 11! (If you are interested in having them for yourself, check them out in my teacherspayteachers store.) Over time, I have also bought some from other sellers on TpT and finally found a few on Amazon as well! If you choose the route of buying digital and printing them yourself, you can get cardstock pretty inexpensively at your local craft store or some of the big box stores. Also, look into the cost of printing them on your own color printer versus paying an office supply store to do it, often times they are cheaper!

5) Take care of what you have so that it lasts beyond a school year. We live in a green-conscious world and we need to conserve resources so make yours last! While I

know that laminating something and then pitching it is not good for the environment, more often than not, when you laminate a resource, it is because you plan to keep it long term! All of my posters are laminated for two reasons. One because they last longer and two because when I put tape on the back of something that is laminated, it pulls off easily and the poster can be stored easily. I also recommend that you buy a few totes or something else hard plastic to keep them from getting bent or damaged. I tried buying on the poster folders that the local teacher store had, but they were flimsy and unless stored flat, they would eventually curve and curve the posters with them.

My room has evolved a great deal over the last 15 years from a cold, empty, beige (oh way too beige) room to something full of life, color, warmth and that is welcoming! It has been and probably always will be a work in progress but it is also something that I have found enjoyable! I hope that my tips have helped you! I would love to hear what you have done to your room or to answer any questions you might have below in the comments!

The Effect of Posting Word Walls and Vocabulary at the Secondary Level

I sat down and did a quick count of the "new" vocabulary that students encounter in Geometry.  If I discount the ones that students 'should' have heard before, I am still left with over 200 crucial terms, formulas and figures that students are expected to master by the end of a school year.  Yep, over 200...in addition to writing English papers, reading literature and history (and all the intricacies that it entails), science, electives and too many other things to list.  I don't know about you, but even just reading that list makes my brain hurt.  In an effort to help my students achieve mastery, I took it upon myself to create word walls of all of the major terms, figures and such.  

First Semester Bundle

Each entry on my word walls includes the term, its definition, a diagram and/or example and other pertinent facts.  I broke my terms into semesters (first and second) and then further subdivided it into units.  I have found that keep them all up for the course of an entire semester has resulted in some fantastic results.

1)  My students refer back to the walls when they are stuck or don't remember something from a previous unit.  Their frustration level has decreased a great deal because they have a quick reference if they get stuck instead of having to flip through the book, their folders or other reference materials.

Second Semester Bundle

2)  Their ability to explain their thinking has increased dramatically because they have a better grasp of the vocabulary and how the concepts fit together.  For example, when we recently did our congruent triangle proofs, students were more successful because they were able to better remember facts about midpoints, bisectors and isosceles triangles - all of which are posted on the walls.

3)  Students are more focused on the concepts that we are studying because they can see how all the pieces are fitting together and they can see where we are headed.  I open the first week of school by telling the students that what is illustrated on my walls will be what we are studying.  We talk about what they already know and what impressions they have about what they are going to learn.

4)  My room just looks more put together and is a better reflection of high school.  Strange I know, but at the secondary level it is difficult to find decorations that are "older" instead of "elementary".

While it hasn't solved the entire problem of the horrendously long list of things that students today need to remember, it has helped and as teachers, that is one of the best things we can do...help!  

If you want to read more about word walls, my friend over at Scaffolded Math and Science shared their own experience with word walls in this blog post.  They also shared a link with me to their spectacular word wall for Algebra 2 available here.  The description includes "...references for domain, range, increasing and decreasing in interval notation, ... Also included is a quadratic example graph showing the vertex, the equation in vertex form (and how those two relate), domain, range, increasing and decreasing. ... how the x and y at the vertex can show up in domain (in the radical example) and range."

If you are looking for more of an Algebra 1 word wall then check out All Thing Algebra's "Relations & Linear Functions: Word Wall Cards + Template".  Not only does it include the terms "coordinate plane, quadrants, origin, ordered pair, relation, domain, range, mapping, discrete graph, continuous graph, function, function notation, vertical line test, zeros, slope, slope formula, zero slope, undefined slope, positive slope, negative slope, slope-intercept form, standard form, x- and y-intercepts, horizontal line, vertical line, parallel lines, and perpendicular lines" but it also includes a bonus template to create your own.  

If your needs fall into the middle level then check out Lindsay Perro's "Middle School Math Vocabulary Cards  "The product includes "120+ Common Core related vocabulary words. Each page includes three cards - one with the word, another with the definition and another with an example. Use together on a word wall or as a matching activity to help students learn the words that are critical to common core success in middle school! These cards would work great as a math center in your classroom! Included are both color and black and white versions. Also included are templates in PowerPoint so you can add your own words!"

To the Square Inch- Kate Bing Coners has taken the idea of math word walls one step further and not only offers them in English but in Spanish too!  Both sets feature "Common Core based word wall words with illustrations with super bright colored backgrounds."   The Spanish ones are "Perfect for bilingual classrooms, ELL classes, Spanish math classes or supporting your English Language Learners."  I encourage you to check them out!  I know I will be :) 

I would love to know how you use word wall cards.  Comment below and I'll chose one lucky commenter to receive their choice of one of my twelve sets of word wall posters!!!  

Back to School 2015 Secondary Mathletes Giveaway!!!

Wait, what? It's back to school for some people already? Then let's celebrate! My friends in the Secondary Mathlete's and I have teamed up to put together an awesome giveaway! The giveaway is designed to help you get your room set-up, get yourself organized and to give you a little something for those first couple of days! The giveaway will run from Sunday 8/16 to midnight on Saturday 8/22. The two lucky winners will be notified on Sunday 8/23!




1. From Teaching High School Math is Just for Fun Math Posters Bundle! This is a set of fun math posters that you can hang anywhere in your room. Hopefully your students will get a little laugh from the "inside" jokes!  They are fantastic to use as funny launches or hooks for new lessons as well!






2. From Secondary Math Shop we have 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice Posters. This set includes 8 posters (one for each standard) that highlight the standard, some key vocabulary for each standard as well as some questions that students can answer to help direct them to mastery of the practice.  These are fantastic to hang on a bulletin board, use as the launching pad for discussions or many other uses.  There is also a two page handout included for students interactive notebooks or to put in a binder for quick reference.




3. From Scaffolded Math and Science is their Task Card World Trip. This download is a fun addition to any task cards you use in any class. It can be added to task cards that are being used as test prep, completed on days leading up to a holiday break (hard to focus!), or anytime you'd like to add a layer of friendly competition to your task cards activity. As students complete each task card, they move their avatar to the next world destination, eventually making their way back home. Each student can start on a different task card (and correlating destination card) so that each student's "home" is different. This allows you to print just one or two sets of task cards instead of a set for each student. My students get extra motivated when they can see their progress as their avatar moves along the board!


4. From To The Square Inch - Kate Bing Coners is Math Classroom Decor Pack Number Lines, Posters and Signs. Many students have learned to dread math class, so it is important to welcome them and create a great environment for them to learn in! This pack includes everything you need to make your math classroom inviting and functional. Included in this pack: * -20 to 20 bright chevron number line (can be constructed to include any numbers your want!)

* Personal desktop size number lines with bright chevron backgrounds (5 per page, 6 different colors) with numbers -10 to 10 and 0-20.
* Calculators Permitted/ Calculators NOT permitted half page signs
* 5 motivational math posters to display in your room
* ”STAR MATH WORK” Rainbow Chevron Bunting
* Standards for Mathematical Practice Rainbow Chevron Posters (multi-color background and single color background set)

5. From Lessons with Coffee is a set of Classroom Management Posters. These are posters that you can use that follow the guidelines of the "Teach Like A Champion" book. Students can use them for not only monitoring themselves as you are teaching but to also give you feedback so that you can know when you are not talking loud enough or too loudly. The show five is a method that multiple teachers use that has been modified to allow use as a countdown rather than a salute.



6. From Teaching Math By Heart is a Math Portfolio Pack (Bundle) that includes 4 different resources! This pack includes a collection of ways to motivate your students to think critically about, and reflect on, their math understanding and learning.These activities make great assessment tools and give you a glimpse into how your students think about math, and themselves as math learners. These activities also make a great discussion piece at conferences.  This pack includes:
*Start of Year Math Survey

*End of Term Math Reflection    

*My New Years Math Resolution
*End of Year Math Reflection

7. From Hodges Herald is their Back to Basics Middle School Bundle. Included you will find nine middle school interactive activities for students to review previously taught skills. This is a great way for students to learn procedures for Math groups or rotations. Teachers will be able to see where students need support and skills they have already mastered. Start the year with content, right away!





8. From Lindsay Perro is their Behavior, Data, Lesson & Communication Teacher Binder Resources. This resource includes 17 different pages for your teacher binder to help keep you organized and make lesson planning and parent communication easier! A few resources included are : grade sheets, class lists, a parent conference worksheet, a classroom behavior notice, student surveys and more!

9. From Live Love Math is their Teacher Toolbox Labels - Bold Chevron - Editable.  There are SO many ideas to make a super cute teacher's toolbox on pinterest! Here are my labels that I used for mine. Save time by purchasing this set and have your toolbox ready to go in under 30 minutes! This file includes 22 labels that are completely editable PLUS the complete set of 22 labels that I used with the text embedded already. If you want to use the same font, it is called appleberry. You can find it on dafont.com.

10.  From All Things Algebra is their Algebra 1 Review Flip Book.  This flip book was created to use with Geometry or Algebra 2 students as a review/refresher of the following Algebra 1 topics: Multi-Step Equations, Exponent Rules, Radicals, Polynomials, Factoring Polynomials, Linear Equations, and Quadratic Equations.  This alternative review can be used in lieu of weeks spent re-teaching concepts!

11. From Miss Math Dork is their How to Be A Good Mathematicians Poster Set. I am so excited for this product! So many students don't know what it means to be a Good Mathematicians These 14
bright and colorful posters serve as a constant reminder!
Included in this product:
*14 bright and colorful posters
*14 colorful, but more printer friendly posters - these also print beautifully in black and white without losing the details
*A handout for your students to keep close at hand to remind them of the qualities of a Good Mathematician. (The handout is available in 4 colors, and one printer friendly version)
Check out the Preview for FOUR of the posters for FREE! Also, check out the preview to see thumbnails of ALL 14 posters and the handouts!

Please follow the directions below to be entered into the giveaway!  Two lucky teachers will win!!!

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Why I Do Vocabulary Assignments and Quizzes

During classroom discussions, my room used to sound a lot like this:

Me:  What do we know about these angles (points at a set of vertical angles)

Students: -----

Me:  What do these two angles share?

Student A:  A point

Me:  Great!  Where is that point located?

Student B:   Where they cross

Me:  What is that point called?

Students:  ------

The "discussion" would go on from there with me asking ever more information loaded questions trying to get the students to the point that the angles were vertical and therefore congruent.  It seriously made me doubt my teaching abilities.  Until the day that a light bulb went off in my head that is.  I realized that their lack of ability to answer my question had less to do with an understanding of the concepts and more to do with the fact that they lacked the language to express themselves mathematically.  I sat down that evening and made a list of all of the vocabulary that was new(er) to that unit.  Terms that they might have heard in passing or ones that I might have used, but not ones that they had ever really practiced.  I came up with almost 40.  I was astonished so I went back through the unit I was teaching and double-checked.  Nope, no mistake, it really was almost 40.  The next day I went into class and gave them five of them to define as bellwork.  The majority were able to give me two.  At that point I felt like I was in an old space movie - you know:  "Houston, we have a problem"...

As any good teacher does, however, I took the problem as a challenge to be tackled, addressed and fixed to benefit my students.  Out of this problem was born a simple solution - vocabulary assignments to launch each unit and periodic vocabulary quizzes through each unit.  

Vocabulary Bundle

Vocabulary Bundle

Each vocabulary assignment contained two parts.  The first part asks students define the term, draw a sketch (if possible) and to give any prior knowledge that they might have.  I stress to students to read the definition given in the glossary, the textbook or online and then to write it in their own words.  We talk about the fact that when they write it in their own words they will better understand it and retain it for future use.  For the prior knowledge portion we talk about maybe hearing it in a prior class, hearing it at home, seeing it in a book or other words a way may be used to help them start to make the connections.  I will admit, at first this is the column that they struggle with the most but as the year goes on, it gets filled in more and more.  The second part of the vocabulary assignment is a set of puzzles.  I include a crossword so that they read the definition and start to make connections to the term and a word search so that they learn to spell the vocabulary terms.  The students not only learn from doing these, but they also seem to enjoy them!  I have even had a few students ask if I could make them a specialized set!  (I have bundled an entire year of these assignments for Geometry here!)

The vocabulary quizzes that we do through the unit vary.  Sometimes they are matching with the definitions in one column and the terms in a second.  I also give them quizzes where there are paragraphs to fill-in with words from a word bank.  The hardest version, and the one that I tend to save until towards the end of the year, are the ones where I just give them the definition and they supply the word without being given a vocabulary list or word bank.  I find that as the year goes on, their scores on the quizzes get better and better.  

Games

Activities

In order to help  my students practice the vocabulary throughout a unit, I will utilize a variety of review and practice techniques.  I have made a few matching activities where the students cut apart pieces and match the term, definition, diagram and label.  I sometimes will do this in stations and just give the students an answer sheet.  Other times, I will literally have them cut and paste everything together.  I also have a created a few vocabulary based BINGO games that we use.  Additionally, we use Kahoot and Socrative to practice as well.  

Wall Posters

Finally, I have also created a set of posters for every unit that we study.  Each poster features a single vocabulary term, a diagram, the definition and any other crucial information or facts to support the definition.  I print the posters on card stock and laminate them so that I have them.  I post the vocabulary for the entire semester along one wall of my room.  It stays up until the new semester starts.  I find that students will take pictures of parts of the wall, especially if they are studying for a test or quiz.  And yes, I even leave them up during an assessment (although I will cover a specific unit during a vocabulary quiz).  By the time we get to an assessment the students know the vocabulary well enough and realistically, I am testing their application of the concepts by that point, not their memorization.

It's not a "sin" to do Trigonometry, It's a "Sine" of new content!

One of the biggest jokes in my class when I teach the Right Triangles and Trigonometry unit in my Geometry class is how to pronounce "sin".  I inevitable end up telling my students (jokingly of course) when they pronounce it as "sin" and not "sine" that it is not a sin to do Geometry.  Most of them giggle and then we discuss how to properly pronounce Geometric terms. 

One of the biggest problems I find in my Geometry class is a students inability to define the terms.  I cannot begin to count the number of times that I found it necessary in past years to redefine terms that we have already covered multiple times (think alternate interior angles versus consecutive interior angles).  Since vocabulary is so important in both general content and problem solving as well as on state testing I decided to talk the issue head on.

So in that spirit I want to share with you my top four ways to reinforce Geometrical vocabulary and to help students to retain it beyond a single unit.

Geometry B Bundle

Geometry A Bundle

1)  Illustrate, illustrate, illustrate!   I have embarked on a quest to illustrate our terms whenever possible.  I created sets of posters for every unit that we will study throughout the entire course.  Each poster is 8.5 by 11 and includes the definition, a labeled illustration and and pertinent facts.  I print them on card stock, laminate and hang them around the round grouped by unit.  I leave them up the entire trimester and refer to them constantly.  (I have them in my TeachersPayTeachers store in money saving bundles).

Triangles and Congruency

2)  Practice leads to retention!   I start every unit by asking my students to complete a vocabulary assignment (I usually give it to them as their assignment to complete after finishing the prior unit assessment).  Each vocabulary assignment includes a few pages where students give the definition, an illustration if necessary and any prior knowledge they might have.  I also include a crossword puzzle and a word search.  The students enjoy usually enjoy doing these assignments since it helps to give them a preview of what the unit will be covering. We refer back to these vocabulary lists as the unit goes on and students refine their definitions as the unit progresses. 

Congruency Vocabulary Activity

Early Concepts Bingo

3)  Play games or do activities!  Whenever possible I do vocabulary activities or play vocabulary games with my students.  I created some cut, paste and match activities for my students that require them to match the term, definition, a diagram and a label.  The students LOVE doing these.  It helps to tie all of the pieces together for them!  Additionally, we play vocabulary bingo games too.  I play one of two ways.  I either give them cards that are the terms or cards that are a diagram of the term.  Depending on what I gave them as a card, I will either read the term, read the definition or a project a diagram of the term.  We also play Kahoot (this does require you to have access to either I-Pads or smartphones and a projector or smart-board with internet access) which is the best online game to play I have seen in many years of teaching. 

4)  Get the students talking about the vocabulary and using it correctly!  I'm pretty sure that at times my students are either rolling their eyes when I'm not looking or thinking I'm slightly strange but I do not let them get away with skipping over the vocabulary during classroom discussions.  I ask them questions like "why can you do that" or "what geometry concept is being illustrated/applied" leading them back to the vocabulary all the time.  "Tell me why" is so commonly said in my classroom that after a couple of weeks I find students saying "wait, let me tell you why" or asking each other why!  I love it when it works!

Whatever works the best for you, embrace it!  The more you can get the students to understand the why, the what and the how behind what they are doing, the better they get at it!  In my opinion, students need to use mathematical vocabulary to truly retain the material. 

What Do Teachers Love Even More Than New School Supplies? Saving Money On Them Of Course!

It's that wonderful time of year when teachers are shopping for all of their back to school supplies.  We find the pencils, pens, rulers, glue sticks and dozens of more supplies in our local stores at (hopefully) great prices!  But if you are anything like me, you find that the teaching resources at your local teacher supply shop aren't quite meeting your needs.  You might find yourself thinking "I need something on just _________, not with ___________ mixed in too"!  That is how I discovered TeachersPayTeachers and over time, I migrated from buyer to buyer and seller and the SecondaryMathShop was born!

My shop specializes in primarily Geometry resources with some Algebra and Trigonometry mixed in.  I have notes, homework, posters, graphic organizers, binders and so much more.  Next week - August 4th and 5th - is the annual Back To School sale one TPT.  You will be able to save not only 20% on everything in my store (money saving bundles included!) but TPT is offering an extra 10% on top of all sale prices.

So please, shop away.  Visit the SecondaryMathShop if time allows and get your year started off right and save money doing it! **Thank you to CampingTeacher for the fantastic artwork on this post!!!**

Posters/Illustrations on the Wall at the Secondary Level - Why they are necessary!

The walls of many classrooms at the secondary level (especially the higher you go in math classes) are quite bare.  Not all of them, some of them are quite well decorated with useful information but many are just bare concrete blocks.  The reasons for this are multiple.

1)  Your curriculum changes so much over the year (I do 10 units in 26 weeks) that you would be


Surface Area/Volume Wall Posters

constantly needing to change them (and who has the time).

2)  We are trying to prepare students for college where most of the walls are quite bare.

3)  There is a severe lack of quality resources or posters to put up on your walls. 

It is this third reason that I got in touch with my creative side this past year!  I had posters that after 15 years were worn out and to be quite honest, no longer reflected the CCSS rearrangement of topics!  I had rearranged my curriculum so much that nothing "fit" what I was covering in the groupings that I was covering them.  As I started illustrating our units as we did I found some results that while they shouldn't have surprised me, they did.

Quadrilaterals Wall Posters

1)  I heard more mathematical conversations between students.  They were referencing the posters that I put up on my walls to help each other and were using the terminology correctly!

2)  They understood the topics more clearly because the concepts were illustrated with their properties right there on the same sheet of card stock.

Area Formulas Wall Posters

3)  They were retaining the connection between topics and units longer because I left the posters up for the entire trimester.  They were continually seeing the ideas/concepts/definitions as we moved from one unit to the next.

4)  Students grades showed a rise - not as much as I would have liked to be honest, but sometimes you take what you can get! 

Right Triangles Wall Posters

At the end of the trimester I noticed students referencing the posters as they worked on the review and made note cards.  I even had multiple students ask if they could take pictures so that they could reference them at home for study. 


I have illustrated this post with a few sets that I made (many more are available in my store).  They were quick and (mostly) easy to make!  Here is how I did it.

1)  I used PowerPoint as it allows the best way to layer the concepts, diagrams, labels far better than any other program I have found.

2)  I made a list of the all of the terms/concepts that I wanted to include before I started so that I didn't forget anything.  I designed each set of posters to be a unit of study.

3)  I made a basic layout for the slides so that they all "matched" in that they used the same font,

Transformations Wall Posters

borders, style.

4)  I made sure to include all of the necessary information but did not make the slides so "busy" that they were overwhelming.

5)  Once I had them done, I printed them on cardstock and laminated them so that they would last!  I chose to do it on colored cardstock to save on ink and to make them eye-catching.

However you choose to do it by either making them yourself or buying some that are already made, I highly encourage you to do it!  I have found nothing but positives from using Word Walls/Concepts Posters.  I am looking forward to seeing the results when I start with them from day 1 of the new school year instead of waiting for the second trimester like I did this year.  I am working hard to create some that I can use for the first half of my curriculum and look forward to testing the results!

Click here to download a sample of my Geometry "A" Poster Bundle.