Chelsea Tinney
Educator. Lifelong Learner. Spartan.
Welcome to Ms. Tinney's Classroom!
My classroom in the 2018-2019 school year served 7th & 8th grade math, Project Lead the Way (PLTW), Project Based Learning support and my mentor class at Tecumseh West STEAM Center in Tecumseh, MI. This classroom was a safe place for the 220 students I had for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. My classroom was and continues to be full of student talk, collaboration, and reminders of accountability and the Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) Tecumseh has in place.
Classroom Setup
In my classroom, collaboration and student talk are extremely important. To provide more opportunities for this to occur, I set up my room with desks and tables in small groups. Although not all desks are full every class, I make sure that every single student has another student to communicate with. Students are given some choice in who they work with, however I continue to switch up seats often so that all students learn how to collaborate and communicate effectively.
Student Accountability
This year I asked all of my mentor students to determine a word that would be their focus for the year. I asked my students to decorate their word and provide an explanation of why they chose it. I then used these words as decor for my classroom. This allowed me to hold my students accountable for the goal they had set for themselves. I also asked my mentor students to reflect on their word often through journaling to determine their progress and maintain accountability.
Hands On Learning
As an educator, I believe hands on learning is instrumental in student success. In my classroom, I strive to provide activities that allow students to discover new knowledge. This is done through inquiry based activities. These activities may include performing transformations with a transparency, diagnosing a patient to learn more about common illnesses, designing and performing experiences, dissecting sheep brains and many more.
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, also known as PBIS, is the framework my district uses for prevention and intervention in and out of the classroom. We use the acronym ROLL Tribe to remind students of these practices put in place.
The PBIS matrix is found in all learning spaces, restrooms, and common spaces to continually remind students of these expectations. Students also have the opportunity to receive rewards and awards as they continually demonstrate exemplary behavior as laid out in the matrix.
R = Respect
O = Ownership
L = Learning
L = Leadership
Gallery of Student Work
