mi mesa

My favorite part of my classroom this year is my table.  I'm not sure where the idea originated from, but one day last summer I decided I had to make some sort of white-board table.  I knew this was a necessity since I would be teaching mainly math this year...and math requires a lot of writing.  I covered my table with white paper, then I covered that with a clear vinyl table cloth, and...voilà!  It's like a real white board...it uses the same markers and everything!

One of my favorite ways to use the table is to slip worksheets under the plastic so that the kids can complete them and erase when they're finished.  Then I can use them again.  The little boys think it is so fun to complete a worksheet and pull it out from under the plastic before they erase.  Then all their answers are still on the table!

I am encouraged to see that we're three months into the school year and the kids and I are still excited about the table.  Here are two of the ways we've used it so far (the only ones of which I have photo evidence):

Saúl attempts to write the names of his family members.

Larimar writes a word problem.