The Lost is Found!

I have a math smarts survey that I do with my kiddos at the beginning of the year and I put it in my bag to bring home and make "pretty" for this fall.  Somehow between the packing up of the classroom and the moving of things back home, I lost track of it...until today!

I love using this at the beginning of the school year because it helps me get to know my students and it helps the students get to know themselves as learners of math.  I think it also helps students understand that there are many, many different ways that we can be "smart" at math.  When students can see that they are good at some things their classmates aren't and vice versa, it aids in the establishment of a community in the classroom.

Students complete the survey and then chose one thing they think they're good at.  I give them an index card and they decorate it with their name and area of expertise.  When finished, I put them all on my "Mathemagicians" bulletin board.  The survey goes into student's interactive notebooks and serves as a reminder throughout the year of the things that they are good at and those things they wanted to get better at.

Can't wait to get back to school and get to know my new students!