December/January Projects & Tasks

So, in keeping with my goal to get back into blogging on here, here I am.  I want to first reflect on December, which is usually a crazy month for us teachers, but I must say, this was probably my smoothest (and most fun) December yet.

6th Grade
My 6th graders finished up Let's Be Rational and I modified this Operations with Fractions Cookbook Project for their unit project and they came out awesome.  They really went above and beyond, which was adorable.  This week we started Covering & Surrounding, which will end with their biggest project of the year, The Coke Package Design Project.  I switched this unit with Decimal Ops, to follow CMP3s suggested pacing order this year, so we'll see how that goes.  The Coke Project will take us right up to Mid-Winter Recess next month.

7th Grade
My 7th graders finished up Moving Straight Ahead and and then I extended the Desmos Marbleslides to include all the Desmos Linear activities, which both they & I loved.  Last year, I didn't introduce my 7th graders to Desmos until the end of the year, and I am glad I moved it up and fit it into this unit this year.  I also modified this amazing Road Trip Project as their unit project.  One of my classes finished it before Winter Break, and my other class is working on it this week.  I wish I knew about this project last year because it is super fun and a great real-world connection to linear relationships.  Our next unit is What Do You Expect? on probability and expected value, which has so many fun experiments, and I found this unfinished 3 Act Task on bottle flipping (it's big in 7th grade right now) from Dan Meyer and want to look into how I can bring it into my classroom (more to come).

8th grade Algebra 1
Last but not least, my 8th graders finished up Looking for Pythagoras last month and we learned how crazy the Pythagoreans and their cult of numbers really were.  Two of my favorite tasks included having them create their own Wheel's of Theodorus (which became by December bulletin board) and this awesome task from NASA (yes, the NASA) where they had to analyze different routes for the Lunar Rover and create a proposal with their recommendations.  This week we started Butterflies, Pinwheels, and Wallpaper.

All three grades had some really great Mathalicious tasks, that fit nicely into our December units.  Next week all three grades will be taking their second interim assessment of the year, so I will get some testing data to look at.  I also got picked to score the Algebra 1 Regents at the end of the month, which I am grateful for, since this is my first year teaching algebra 1 in a while.  Last month myself and the Living Environment teacher attended one day of NY Ed Tech Week and in two weeks I signed up for the Google Teacher's Lounge, which I am curious about, and of course, I have been keeping up with the MTBoS on Twitter.

In a few weeks, we will be at the halfway point of another school year.  Even though teaching five classes across three grades is a lot (I am forever behind on grading) I really do enjoy what I do, and I am very lucky about that.  Hopefully I can keep this up an continue to grow and get better at what I do.  Here's to an inspiring start to the new year!

New Year, New Blogging Inspiration

After more than a month of not having the time to blog on here (or rather, not making it a priority) here we are in the new year and, after ten beautiful, work-free days (including my birthday), I want to get back into it.  December went really smoothly at work.  All of my classes ended their current units, and will be starting new units tomorrow, and I really enjoyed the projects and investigations my students did (which I hope to reflect more fully about in a later post).

I came across this post by Dan Meyer on his winter break in recreational mathematics and then by AJ Juliani on his 30 Day Blogging Challenge, so I wan inspired to write on here.  Coming off last year's MfA experiences, like Dan Meyer, on of my professional goals includes doing more math, which means doing more recreational mathematics, which I must admit, I have slacked on since last summer.  Hopefully I can use this space to change that.  As for the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, my goal is to write 100 words a day for 30 days (yes, I know it's small, but I want to stay realistic), and to publish one post per week.  So here we go, day 1.  As we enter into the cold, dark school month of January, it may be rough, but it also the half-way point of the school year, which reminds me that even though there's work to do, it goes by really fast, and I want to make my time with my students count.

Here's to an inspiring, reflective, thoughtful 2017!

CMP3 Institute, 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 3, and Summer Reading

Today was the first day of a week-long Getting to Know CMP3 Institute for Grade 6.  My new principal asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in attending, and although I have attended similar PDs before (and haven't always found them to be the most helpful), since 6th grade is new for me this year, I figured why not.

It was kind of slow-paced, but we went through the first four problems in Prime Time, and our presenters were actual current CMP3 teachers (not from NY, mind you, but I appreciate the fact that they are current teachers and not outsiders trying to sell me on Pearson).

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the freedom of summer vacation, but I did kind of, sort of get excited about the new school year.  Not that I don't get excited every year, but its different this year, since I'll be in a new district and school.  Lot's of good possibilities!

I also figured today was a good day for day 3 of the 30 day blogging challenge:

Day 3:
Discuss one *observation* area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.

Especially after getting back into "work mode" today, the two Danielson areas that I most want to improve on this year are 1E: Designing Coherent Instruction and 3D: Using Assessment in Instruction.  I still feel that there is a disconnect between how I want to teach my students and how I am assessing them.  It's that balance between good mathematical teaching and mastering all of the material for the state test.  I've already updated my test question bank with the released state test questions, but I still struggle with curriculum.  I want to go back to using CMP3, but like I learned in last week's blog post from EdReports, there are better curriculums aligned to the Common Core, like EngageNY.  I have lots to think about over the next three weeks.  

On a side note, I also downloaded this book a few weeks ago, and I want to read it before the school year starts back up, but I am in the middle of one of my book club books that I am really enjoying (A Man Called Ove) and don't want to put down just yet.  #summergoals 

Well, here I am again...

I started this blog last summer as a way for me to reflect on my school year and to (hopefully) become a better teacher.  Well, considering my last post is from November 2014, obviously I wasn't that successful with keeping with it.  But, the nice thing about teaching is that every year, we get a glorious and much deserved summer break, and then start fresh in September.  And this September will be even more of a fresh start because I will be working in a different school and district.  I'll be starting year nine next month, which I am still a little in shock of.

After five years at my last school, I decided, towards the end of last school year, that I needed a change.  I liked the people I was working with, but my teaching spark was dimming.  I was in a slump and I wasn't excited about what I was doing.  Looking back at some of my posts last summer, it seems like maybe this was something that started even before the first day in September.  So I applied to some other schools, just to see what would happen, and in June accepted a job for a local elementary school in my neighborhood, that was growing each year.  I was forcing myself into some new challenges: a new grade, new co-workers, a new building, and a new population of learners to explore math with.  It wasn't an easy decision to make, but looking back, I have no regrets, and I am excited for the year to come.

I found this blog post the other day, about a 30-day blogging challenge for teachers, which inspired me to give this whole blogging thing another shot.  So even though I am a few days behind, here it goes:

Day 1:

Write your goals for the school year.  Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be!

Well, goal #1 would be to be able to look back at this school year in June, and feel that I have been successful.  What would that look & feel like?  My students have learned everything that they were supposed to this year, and perhaps a little bit more.  My classroom is a community where students aren't afraid to try new things and work together.  We had fun exploring the big ideas mathematics.  We students ask questions and want to learn more.  I want to look back on this year and see how much I've grown.

Goal #2 would be to continue to work on my work/life balance.  This may be hard considering I am teaching two grades next year (and have never taught 6th before), and because I will be in a new environment, resources may be limited, but nevertheless I think that this is something that I can continue to work toward.  I like my job, but I also value a life outside my job.  

I think that that is it for now, although I may add more as month goes on.  I really hope to keep this going this time...