Wake up with Math

There are two types of people in the world, a math person and literacy person.
I am the latter and always have been. I could read for hours and hours and get lost in a fantasy land far away or fall in love with the Romeo in a romantic book. Reading is my cup of tea. Math is my mortal enemy. Are teachers suppose to feel that way???

My first year teaching, I made my schedule with reading and language arts in the morning and math right after math and recess. I suffered all year long with trying to get my students to perform math problems while their bellies were full and their faces were red from running around at recess for twenty-five minutes. What they really wanted to do was check out for the day and take a nap.

I decided this year would be different. Math would be our first thing to tackle in the morning. So why in the world would I, a literacy person, chose to do math first thing in the morning when I am struggling to wake up by guzzling coffee and secretly fighting back yawning? To just get it over with is not the only reason. ;) By starting math in the morning, I have found that my students are "fresher". They aren't groggy with the after lunch crash. They are waking up with math and actually getting it. Their brains are not exhausted at this point. They don't seem to get as frustrated.

I am also being a better teacher. I am not grumpy because I am exhausted by the end of the day and that shows in my math lesson. I am ready for the day and fresh to start a new day with math.

This is the very first number of the day they receive. Obviously it is super simple because I wanted them to learn the process and procedures for how we use them. :)

Now to help my keeps brain wheel's start spinning in the morning, their bell work is Number of the Day. They walk into the classroom, do their morning procedures, and then begin their Number of the Day. These are just eight problems relevant to material they are already learning in class. Nothing is too difficult. This is a warm-up, a review, something to get them started. I do not want my students aggravated and frustrated before the day has even began.

The first day of school, students set up their Number of the Day notebook. The design the cover of a spiral lined notebook with sharpie markers with artwork of their choice. My only requirement is that it includes their name and the title, Number of the Day. The next day students complete their first Number of the Day page. This page is titled All about Me with Numbers.

 I project a page I have completed for myself on the board to give them an idea of what I am looking for. Plus this is a great way for my students to get to know a few more things about myself that they might not have known before. 

After they are finished they trim the edges of the sheet and glue into their Number of the Day notebook and they will continue you to that with every page they complete in the morning. My students actually really love this part. I think it might be because they fill like they are an art project. At this point, they are ready to being our math lesson and become actively engaged. I only wish I would have started this my first year teaching. It would have saved me a lot of headache and grumpiness.

Click here for the Number of the Day FREE download.