Depot'n' and Rappin'

I feel myself becoming the hyper type-A, so ridiculous that it must be TFA, person that I once feared and loathed.

Example A: Yesterday I purchased about 80 - 1 inch view binders from Walmart. I stared at the wall of binders in front of me. It stood about 7 feet tall and consisted of all sorts of brands, colors and sizes. Locating the cheapest brand, I began pulling binders of all sorts of beautiful colors from the sea of choices...blue...sea blue...turquoise ...red...fuscia...and then the vision hit me. 30 students fighting each other for the turquoise gem. Yes, indeed this was a special piece that all student should have the opportunity to use. However, would all students really like this color? And how extremely out of control might my classroom get should I allow students to choose their favorite color? I solved the problem! Everyone gets white!

This was only the beginning. I purchased bright orange printer paper with which students will create binder dividers (turns out a set of 5 is about 3 times as much as a 1inch binder). As a class, we will set up binders in exactly the same way. I also purchased hanging folders and a crate in which to carry them - I will have one folder for each student, where I will keep a student survey, parent survey, and track contacts with parents. Lastly, I got sweet boxes to put white board markers, pencils, and markers in. I'll have these on counters for students to grab when they walk in the door.

Best teacher tip ever: To make white boards for your students go to Home Depot or a similar store. Ask for shower board or cardboard with a white coating on top. You get an 8ft by 4ft board that can be cut into pieces. I now have 32, 1ft by 1ft, white boards all for $12.95. Pretty crazy.

I hope this organization pays off...school starts a week from tomorrow.

Also, my math dept. coordinator asked us to come up with a little rap to present to the staff tomorrow, this is what I offered:

Eh EOC
Yeah you know me
We're comin for ya to achieve
So high, you can't believe

West Mecklenburg
Low scores, we gonna purge
Yo Myers Park, you better hop to the curb
We're goin straight to the top
And you know we don't stop


(EOCs are the NC high school standardized tests and Myers Park is a predominantly white high school with great scores)