I'm not sure I'd believe it if I wasn't a high school teacher, but my high school math students love displaying their good work on our classroom bulletin board! Most of the time when I ask students if they want to put their papers on our Fridge, they choose to hang them up in our classroom instead of taking them home.
To me, confidence is 99% of math. When a kid feels confident, math becomes easier and that kid is more likely to go on to take more math classes. Our classroom walls are covered with math word walls and my students' hard work. These two things combined have boosted the confidence of my students.
That fun photo above is from Australian Instagrammer @igeewithmissbee who downloaded The Fridge letters and created her own classroom Fridge. I loved seeing this so much! It made me so so so so happy!
When we run out of magnets, we just pile new papers on top of old ones. We use these super strong magnets that my husband has for his hobby stuff. They go through a whole bunch of papers so the layers can get pretty deep:)
Here, a teacher friend tweeted a photo of her Fridge that she set up before school started. At first it's completely empty, but as the year goes on more and more papers will appear.
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| "The Fridge" Bulletin Board Letters |
I recently created a "The Fridge" banner that can go into your virtual classroom. Here you can see how it looks in my virtual classroom.
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| The Fridge is ready |
After posting on social media about a teacher hack to eliminate lamination glare, a friend who went back to the classroom this year asked if I'd make her some coordinate grid fridge letters like the ones in the video I shared. So I added this option (and a couple others) to the download. Now inside there are a few style choices for "The Fridge" letters and the PNG image to use online.
Staying confident is everything in math. More so than any other subject, math is tied to our self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. It's so important to keep those little spirits up. Building in ways to boost student confidence has been one of the most effective teaching strategies I have learned.
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| Free math resource library |
LOVE the Fridge! Since I already use a metal cabinet to display work, I may just change the name!! :)
ReplyDeleteI believe high school students like having they're work displayed even though they're older! Everyone likes others to notice their hard work and success.
ReplyDeleteHahaha this is a great idea! I love the name and I'm sure your students feel pretty special to see their best work displayed for everyone to see.
ReplyDeleteLove "The Fridge!" High-schoolers are just big kids--they love showing off their work. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I bet it brings out the elementary kid that's still inside all of them. How fun!
ReplyDeleteI love how you call your student work display "The Fridge." It creates a positive, warm, loving message.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous idea! Love it! It really builds a positive culture in the classroom and among the students.
ReplyDeleteMy students post goals and dreams on a bulletin board. They love to stand and read what others have written. We all celebrate when someone meets their goal. I love the fridge ideas.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I have a bank of refrigerator-sized "coat"closet doors, so I will have one FRIDGE for each class. I don't have a honmeroom so the closets are empty. I could put snacks in the fridges!
ReplyDeleteI love those ideas!
DeleteI have material on the wall like a bulletin board for each period, but rarely put stuff up. Most of the time a gallery walk page is posted. I like Mrs. T's idea of a fridge per period.
DeleteI like that idea, too. With my smaller classes I could fit all student work on one fridge. In larger classes it would make sense to have one per period.
DeleteI love this idea! Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Toni! :)
DeleteI'm so glad I came across your idea. I have told my students in the past that I was so proud of them, I would put their work on my fridge. They take me up on that and want me to show them a picture of their work on my fridge. I am definitely going to create a "fridge" in the classroom this year!
ReplyDeleteYes! This is exactly it. I think it’s so important to display their work where it’ll be seen and commended. It makes such a difference!
DeleteIt is ironic that I came across this idea today (Friday). Earlier this week I told one of my high schoolers to hang their test on their fridge at home. This student (has a bad home life) told me there was too much on the fridge already so she couldn’t. 😢 This weekend I’ll be making a fridge for my classroom so everyone has a place to hang their work!
ReplyDeleteI find it so sad that kids don't have a place at home to hang their papers. I saw this myself. I'm so excited for you to build your classroom fridge!
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