I really am a Desmos Fellow!

 I just got back from the Desmos New Fellows Orientation in Dallas, and it still hasn't quite sunk in that I
am now a part of this group of educators!

This week I learned that the Desmos Calculator was "born" in 2012 and I have been trying to think back to when I first came across Desmos & started using it. The furthest I seem to be able to go back to is an email to my principal at the time, at my current school, back in April 2016.

Like I said earlier, it still hasn't suite sunk in that I am part of the Desmos Fellows Cohort 7. I know I will have more to say about this later on, but for now, I think my biggest takeaway is the connections I have made with other passionate math educators from around the country who love to support students in math classrooms as they learn and love incorporating technology to improve the teaching and learning process. I also got to fangirl over & socialize with some of my favorite math social media educators, like Fawn Nguyen & Benjamin Dickman!

Every single person I talked to these past 48 hours welcomed me, taught me something, encouraged me & inspired me, whether they were a new Desmos Fellow like myself, or they were from an earlier cohort, or they worked at Amplify or Desmos! We did math together, we shared stories about our classrooms, we enjoyed some very delicious food & beverages, and my heart is just so full!

I cannot wait to get some time to process it all, after I take some time to rest for a bit and enjoy my summer (we are only in week three of our break here in NYC after all and between the MfA Summer Think last week & Desmos Fellows this week, I am looking forward to enjoying some time "vibing" with my two kids.

Big Ideas from Applying for my Third MfA Fellowship

I just submitted my application for my third MfA Fellowship, and yes, I was listening to "Defying Gravity" as a did. Here are some of the big takeaways from reflecting on the past eight years, being a Math for America Master Teacher:

• Formative Assessment Lessons and the Teaching for Robust Understanding Framework are amazing resources for great math tasks and powerful learning environments. I first learned about these resources thanks to my first MfA Fellowship and actually had a lesson that I taught recorded.  Since then I have used the TRU Framework when planning out my big overarching goals for the school year.
  
  
• The Desmos curriculum is such a powerful tool for students to explore rich, deep, meaningful mathematics and aligns so well with NYCPS's math shifts.
  
  
• Being a part of the MfA community these past eight years has been a major reason why I have stayed in the classroom. I started teaching math in September 2007, right out of college, as NYC Teaching Fellow. I have two masters degrees, and several teaching certificates, but nothing has compared to the community that I am a part of in MfA. Teaching is true profession and great teachers are always learning. Excellence comes out of deep collaboration and growth and teacher accountability should be complex. MfA honors greatness, which honors the profession. 

I hope to share parts of my third MfA Fellowship application more in depth in the coming weeks, but for now, I need to celebrate my application being done, get ready for the teaching week ahead, and enjoy the rest of the weekend being mom. 

Next up, applying (again) to be a Desmos Fellow, because why not try defying gravity? ;)

Math for America III (Hopefully)

Back in 2016, I applied for a Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship. I made it to the interview stage, but ultimately did not get in that year. I was disheartened to say the least and wasn't sure if I would even try applying again. Lucky for me the Living Environment teacher at my school (who had also not gotten into MfA in the past) encouraged me to apply again the following year, and the rest is history.

MfA Master Teacher Fellowships require re-applying every four years, so here I am in the process of reapplying for my third Master Teacher Fellowship, and just like when I was reapplying for my second fellowship back in 2021, I am humbled by the application process, in a good way. 

Good teaching requires not just being knowledgeable in content but in being a reflective professional. MfA believes that teaching is a true profession, great teachers are always learning, excellence comes out deep collaboration and ongoing growth, teacher accountability should be complex, and honoring greatness elevates the profession. The mere process of re-applying the MfA always forces me to critically think about my core values as a math teacher in New York City Public Schools. I hope to go more in depth into sharing some of my responses in this year's application soon, but for right now, I just want to say how grateful I am to be a part of Math for America. Being #MfAProud these past eight years has allowed me to grow in so many ways and I hope to continue learning and growing as an MfA Master Teacher for the next four years.  

Quick 2023-2024 School Year Reflection

It is officially the first Monday summer break, which is lovely! School ended last Wednesday and boy what a school year it was. It's crazy to think that I have taught for 17 years now. I still so clearly remember counting down the weeks/days/minutes until I was no longer a first year teacher, and now here we are. This year was a rough one, mainly in the trying to balance a full teaching schedule with a full mom schedule. I was constantly behind in planning & grading this year and with the Algebra 1 regents being so early this year, I was both mentally, physically & emotionally checked out for most of June.

This year was my first full year being a teacher and a mom of two and like in "The Pursuit of Happyness," "this part of my life is called running." I will acknowledge that I hasn't in as bad of a place as Will Smith's character, but quite literally, I spent a lot of time this year running... running to work after dropping off my daughter at school, running from work to pick up my kids. This was the school year of no time to breathe because I would get to work, and have to be in front of students. Luckily I had a really lovely homeroom first period every day, which made the chaotic transition easier, but man, as a introvert, with no time to pause & breathe, it was rough. 

I did want to share some updates about the school year overall (and since I only have a few minutes before I have to wake up my son from his nap & pick up my daughter from summer camp, they will be brief, but I do (hope) to expand on them later on...

• Once again, being a part of Math for America really made a direct impact on my classroom practices, specifically in playing math games. I participated in a PLT on the book Math Games with Bad Drawings and had a lot of fun playing games with my students. My personal favorite is Teeko, but we also played The Con Game, Dandelions, Sprouts & a few others. 
  
  
• Speaking of MfA, I am excited to participate in the Summer Think again next week, which is also an inspiring three days of learning and reflecting. This year I will even be leading a splash session on team building for the first time. In addition to the Summer Think, in August I will be part of a cohort of teachers in a CSEd Program, where I will learn to teach Computer Science Discoveries through Code.org. This will be totally new for me, but I am excited to learn something new and to try it out with my classes next year. Next school year I will also be co-facilitating a PLT on FALs at MfA again, so lots of new things happening.
  
  
• I wasn't totally happy with how my Memory Makers elective turned out this year. The yearbook wasn't bad, but I don't think it was our best work. This was my seventh year running this elective and I am always in awe that we are able to make it happen, but I feel like I could use some more structures in planning so I signed up for Camp Yearbook later on this month, which I hope will help with that.
  
  
• I loved using the Desmos 6-A1 curriculum, especially for Algebra 1, for the first time this year, but there are definitely some things I would like to do better next year, in terms of pacing and overall lesson delivery. It is not confirmed yet whether or not we will be using it next year, but I really hope we do.
  
  
• With the Algebra 1 regents being new this year, the test was super early, and I have not gotten any results yet, even though I think my students did finally get their scores. I am curious to see how they did, but I am nervous, with it all being new this past year.

That's all I have time for right now. I haven't had a chance to look at my student end of year survey results, so hopefully I will have a chance to look at that and then reflect some more on here later on this week. I also have to pick out a summer book to read about math teaching, since I always try to read at least one book on teaching during the summer... maybe I will get some ideas during the Summer Think next week?

Mid-Winter Break Blahs

Well, we made it to mid-winter break (thank goodness!) 105 school days down, 73 more to go...

How I am feeling about teaching? If I am being honest, I am a little overwhelmed. There are good days and there are bad days. I am trying my best to give myself grace... teaching four classes across two grades, while also being a mom of two little kids is a lot. "There is never enough time" seems to be my theme of the year. I have only one prep period most days and it's always used to prepare for future lessons. I am always behind in grading. I feel guilty any time I do work at home because I should be doing more with my own children. I don't clean my apartment as much as I would like. I don't cook as much as I would like. Most days I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water. 

I am loving using the Desmos Algebra 1 curriculum with my 8th graders, but the Algebra 1 Regents is so early this year (June 4th), and every week I feel like we are losing a day for field trips, math competitions, me being out at professional developments... we have three full units for go, and I know we are not going to get through all of it. How can math teachers expect to go into content deeply & meaningfully when there is so much to cover in so little time? I also haven't been totally thrilled with how my 7th grade classes have been going. A few weeks ago, I gave my students their Mid-Year Math Survey & although a lot of the feedback was positive, there were several "Strongly Disagree" responses, particularly from one of my 7th grade classes, which is surprisingly not the class that I feel I am struggling the most with.

So, where do we go from here? Since we are on a break, I will take some time to rest, because, like the saying goes, you cannot pour from an empty cup, and most days, my cup feels pretty empty. Earlier this month I got nominated for a Big Apple Award again, which I really appreciate, but I am struggling to submit the application mostly because I feel like I am not doing anything special this year, so I feel a little bit like a fraud if I were to apply. I also got asked to submit a proposal for the MfA Summer Think, which I was also initially excited about, especially because that was another area I feel like I have been lacking in, again, due to there never being enough time. I always love participating in the Summer Think & have never submitted a proposal before. This year's themes are "The Power of Belonging" and "Cultivating Community Through Joyful Teaching" and as I sat down to brainstorm ideas for a 75 minute session, I realized that I am feeling less joyful and more "do the best you can to make it through the day/week/month and just accept that nothing you do will be great, but just kinda, sorta ok.

I guess my reason for writing this today is to allow myself to feel my feelings (the good, the bad & the ugly), but also figure out a way to move forward. I have been teaching in NYC Public Schools since September 2007, when I was a fresh-faced college grad, with my Psychology degree and I joined the NYC Teaching Fellows and here I am, with two masters degrees in Education, as well as my School-Building Leader certificate, with nine years at my current school (there is only one other teacher there that has been teaching there longer than me). I know I have a lot to offer, I just want actually feel like I am doing a good job.

I think I will end with an email I got from a former student, our of the blue, a few weeks ago...

Hi Mrs Anna,

I hope this is still your email, haha. Earlier today I was reminded of this assignment you gave us in 8th grade where we had to play this college simulator-type game where you had to collect as little debt as possible, and I really couldn’t remember the name of it. I ended up deciding on scrolling through the archived XXX math class on Google Classroom to see if there was an assignment posted about it (there was!) but I got distracted and kind of took a stroll down memory lane by looking through old check up questions and other assignments and projects I’d forgotten about. It made me remember how I felt about math back then, so I wanted to give you an update on how my attitude on math has changed, if that’s okay.

I really didn’t like it back then, even before I had you as a teacher. It was always so difficult , and I felt like I was always miles behind everyone else. You were the first teacher to ever change my perspective on math , even a little bit, and I’m very grateful. I think I told you this back then too, but for you to make me consider liking math, or not hating it as much, is a pretty incredible thing. I also appreciate how patient you were with me. I still remember when I took the Algebra 1 regents and you helped me when I was stressed to the point of tears. Thanks to you I was able to get an XX! ( and I was reminded of how helpful you were when I took the Algebra 2 regents this past June and got a XX..) In terms of math, in my freshman year it still gave me some trouble, but I wasn’t sure I outright hated it anymore, which was surprising for me. But this year, it’s totally different. For what feels like the first time in my life, my grades in math have skyrocketed beyond anything I’ve ever gotten before . It’s so easy now that it’s shocking I was ever struggling before. Maybe geometry is my thing. I’m consistently on top of my work in math and my other classes as well, and my grades are consistently high. I’m finally doing well on tests and quizzes, and when I get something wrong I understand why it’s wrong. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I might be starting to enjoy math now. Even though it sounds like this is the work of my current math teacher, I think it was you that made me reconsider my feelings on math in the first place and then led me to keep an open mind on the subject. It’s only been two years but I think I’ve grown a lot as a student, and you had a big helping hand with that too. So thank you, and please keep being an amazing teacher!

Maybe, things aren't as bad as I think...

Teacher Summer Camp aka the MfA Summer Think, Part 2

Like almost all of the teachers & moms that I follow on social media, I cannot believe that it is already August. Luckily here in New York City we still have more than a month of summer break left. I didn't want to much time to go by before reflecting on the rest of my MfA Summer Think experience. 

My first splash session was on creating our Teacher Bucket List. Not only was the session being facilitated by the amazing Brian but the description had me hooked right away - "Close your eyes and envision your perfect lesson. Eliminate all limitations placed on you by your school, administration, the DOE, and just dream. What are students doing? What are you doing? What does the room look like? Are you even in a room? What do you feel? How do the students feel? This workshop will make space to explore such imagining. Join us in rethinking our teaching, classroom, schools, and careers possibilities. By dreaming big, together, we will reflect on what matters most to us and create our Teacher Bucket List: a list of things we want to accomplish as a teacher before leaving the profession. The list will be concrete and aspirational, and get us to imagine what could be beyond what’s in front of us. It will reflect what matters most to us and the teacher we hope to become in the years ahead. All are welcome."

Check out my list on the right, which I have already started to use as I begin thinking of my 2023-2024 goals, which I hope to write about in the coming weeks before the new school year starts.

My second favorite splash session was on KenKen Meditation & Exploration where we did KenKen together & talked about ways to use it with our students.

My other splash sessions included How to Color War Your Classroom where we did summer-camp-like activities & games that we could use with our students to infuse camp joy into our classrooms and as someone who has never gone to summer camp, I loved the vibe it gave me and was inspired to try some new things in my advisory this upcoming school year.

Lastly, for my last splash session, I broke out of my algebra comfort zone & connected with my geometry roots in Fun with Flags! where I used a compass, ruler & Desmos (always) to play around with geometric constructions, which is something I do not do a lot of as an Algebra 1 teacher.

In addition to all of my sessions, some of my other Summer Think traditions included getting stamps in our Summer Think passport, starting our days together as a whole community and practicing mindfulness, doing math together and meeting new people in the MfA community, MfA pizza (obviously),and closing circles and ceremony. Considering that this was my 6th Summer Think, I also signed up to (potentially) help plan out next year's Summer Think, which I think would be a nice way to step up my MfA Summer Think game. Lastly, on a side note, our Deep Dive group has reconnected together via What's App because we had gotten so close over our three days together, which is just another reason why I am #MfAProud and so lucky to be a part of the amazing community of STEM teachers.

Teacher Summer Camp aka the MfA Summer Think, Part 1

Growing up, I had never been to summer camp. I have, however, participated in the Math for America Summer Think every year since 2018. The Summer Think is a three day conference every July, affectionally known as teacher summer camp, and this year's Summer Think was probably my favorite yet! The theme of this year's Summer Think was Exploring the Joy in Teaching & Learning and I can say with certainty that every single session I attended not only made me think & reflect on myself as a teacher & as a learner, but every single session did indeed, bring me joy.

The Summer Think is set up such that there are community activities, multi-day deep dive sessions, mini splash sessions, social hours, community time, circle time and, of course, pizza. As typical with MfA, I wanted to sign up for almost everything, but alas, I don't have a time-turner. I wanted to take some time today to reflect on my sessions, seeing as they are still fresh in my mind, so hopefully I will try my best to get my thoughts down, while my son currently naps next to me.

Exploring Our Identity as an Act of Resistance, Celebration & Joy

My three-session deep dive workshop was probably the highlight these past three days. Originally, it was my second choice, but I am so grateful that this was my workshop. Our time together centered on exploring our identity and making connections to anti-racist and anti-oppression work. Some of the ideas we explored were safe vs brave spaces, check-ins community agreements, collective values, circle practices, ice breakers, story telling, and freedom thinking. The facilitator was wonderful and truly the group of fellow MfA teachers that I was with made our time together magical. We laughed together, we cried together, we shared our stories & listened to other's stories. My biggest take aways from our time together was that at the heart of the math that I teach, are the human beings that I get to share ten months with every year. I already do circle work with my advisory, and this workshop reminded me how important that time together is. After only three days together, I became so much closer to the teachers in my group, which is part of the magic of the MfA Summer Think and none of us really wanted our time together to end. This deep dive was a big part of what made this year's Summer Think probably my favorite one yet & I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing community of STEM teachers who not only appreciate our content, but understand the deeper part of what it means to be a teacher.

Well, my son just woke up from his nap & I have to pick up my daughter from summer camp soon,  so it looks like I will have to stop here for now, but I hope to reflect on my splash sessions sometime next week, because they were also joyful and a big reason why the MfA Summer Think is one of my favorite parts of being #MfAProud

Here were my splash sessions, which I hope to write about next time...

Teacher Bucket List

How to Color War Your Classroom

KenKen Meditation & Exploration

Fun with Flags!

Math for America: Year 6

This year is my sixth year as a Math for America Master Teacher. Last week I attended my last two sessions of the school year (a single session course on writing in math class & the last Thursday Think of the year with Peter Liliedahl). I am also signed up for this year's Summer Think next month, which I always look forward to!

Since I am home on my parental leave, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my MfA courses this past school year:

• Book Club: Mathematics for Human Flourishing: I have participated in this book club for a few semesters now and always grateful because it makes me remember the heart of what it means to actually do math - the human-ness of doing math. Definitely a must read!
• Establishing & Maintaining Cogenerative Dialogues: This PLT probably had the greatest impact on my classroom this year because as a result of these sessions, I actually started up a cogen with some of my homeroom students. The experience overall was really positive. We consistently met every Tuesday during lunch and I feel like I got to really know these students in a meaningful way. I really hope to continue to run cogens in my classes nest school year. I even got to bring my ELA teacher counterpart to one of our sessions, which was awesome.
• Developing a Math Tools Center That Works: These sessions were a good reminder about the benefit of using manipulatives & other math tools in my classes.
• Co-teaching in Inclusive Secondary Math Classrooms: This was another course that I was able to bring one of my colleagues to, which was great because she & I co-teach together and one of our school's core values is inclusion. 
• Delta Math Plus: I got more comfortable with Delta Math features. I mean I already knew Delta Math was amazing, but it's always fun to get the chance to play around with it more.
• Under Construction: Building a Thinking Classroom: After reading Building Thinking Classrooms and leading a single session on it last spring, I was excited to dig into it some more with some awesome teachers. Even though I was only able to attend two of the sessions I was inspired to try more with BTCs next school year. Initially I had started using some of the practices back in 2021-2022, but didn't really use them much this year. Like I said earlier, also getting to hear Peter Liliedahl speak at last week's Thursday Think was really inspiring
• Mathematical Modeling in Middle School: This was a good course since mathematical modeling is a big part of the high school Next Generation Math Standards.
• Writing in Math Class: This was my first session post baby #2, and it felt great to be back at MfA. I liked this single session course because a goal of mine to to have my students write more in math class (even though I am not a fan of grading writing). I was introduced to the PBAT math rubric, which I would like to incorporate into my classes somehow next year, if possible.
• Info Session Host & Small World Network Mobilizer: This year I also got to share my MfA experience with potential MfA applicants during an info session & was also able to be a SWN Mobilizer, which I always enjoy doing because it makes me feel more connected to the MfA community at large.
• Lastly, I am looking forward to this year's Summer Think, who's theme is exploring the joy in teaching & learning.

This was also my second year asa NYS Master Teacher, although I did not do as much as I would have liked with it, I hope to participate more in the upcoming year.

Slowly Getting Ready for the 2021-2022 School Year

I always have so many mixed feelings about this time of year.  We have been on summer break for seven glorious weeks now and have a little less than four weeks left before the school year starts up again.  Never has a summer break been more necessary than after the 2020-2021 school year.  I get exhausted even thinking about last school year & hope I never have to teach both in-person & via Zoom *at the same time* ever again.  I'm still not sure how we got through it all!  As we slowly begin to gear up for the 2021-2022 school year, there are a lot of mixed feelings... more than usual.  There is the usual excitement & hope that a new school year brings, but there is also a lot of fear & so many unknowns.  We know that the upcoming school year will not be a "typical" school year and we also know it won't be exactly like last school year, which makes planning for the upcoming school year challenging.  Something I am grateful for this upcoming year is that I will still have the support of the MfA community as I begin my second Master Teacher Fellowship.  In preparation for the new school year, I read Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl, after seeing so much buzz for it on the MTBoS, and it did not disappoint!  So many practical ideas about shifts we can make in our classrooms to support students in thinking about mathematics, all backed up with real classroom experience.

My 2021-2022 school year mantra: "...the goal of building #thinkingclassrooms is not to find engaging tasks for students to think about. The goal... is to build engaged students that are willing to think about any task." - @pgliljedahl #mtbos #iteachmath #mathchat #msmathchat

— Anna (@ampacura) July 27, 2021

While reading each chapter, I found myself saying "Yes!  I need to do this!"  After the insanity of last school year (and for the first time in my career, not being totally excited to go back to who knows what last summer, it was nice to be excited about all the ideas in Building Thinking Classrooms, which tie into so many aspects of education that I have always wanted to grow in - from building a classroom environment that is more authentic in doing real mathematics (and more engaging to students), to implementing equitable grading practices that support students in their math learning.

As exciting as it was to read and highlight the heck out of my copy of Building Thinking Classrooms, and tell myself that I am going to 100% jump into this (which is very easy to say when the school year is still 3+ weeks away) I am nervous, that like so many other past ambitious goals for the upcoming school year, it will fizzle out, as the year goes on.  The good news is that since I am starting my second MfA fellowship this summer, I hope I can use that to motivate me to blog more on here and share my learning experience, both the successes and challenges in building my thinking classroom this year and hope I can use this space to hold myself accountable in trying new things and not letting this opportunity go.

The Building Thinking Classrooms Framework consists of fourteen factors that have been found to improve thinking in the math classroom (see the image on the right), in that order (1-3, 4-8, 9-11, and then 12-14), with each group being referred to as a toolkit.  In order to be thoughtful in my reflection (and not to overwhelm myself) I think I am going to break up each toolkit into a separate blog post.

Lastly, I want to begin to formally think about my 2021-2022 goals.  Sarah Carter of Math Equals Love recently posted her 2020-2021 goals update and back in January of this year, I reflected on my own 2020-2021 goals on here.  Here are my 2021-2022 goals so far.  They are still very much a work in progress, but I decided to make the first four goals the Building Thinking Classrooms toolkits.  I am going into my fifteenth year teaching, and like any good teacher, I want to get better at what I do, and I am excited to improve the Building Thinking Classroom practices that I already do, and implement the others.  Part of my involvement in MfA this year will also co-facilitating a year-long professional learning team on formative assessment lessons and the TRU Framework.  I think my goal of building a thinking classroom ties in really well with the TRU Framework and I am really excited to do this work!

Summer Break 2021: MfA Summer Think 2021

It's been one month since the 2020-2021 school year ended, and after this past school year, teachers (and students) have never earned more of a break.  As someone who does much better with a set plan or schedule, I originally wanted to set out goals for each week of the break, but that didn't happen, so instead we are just going with the flow and enjoying actually being flexible.  Personally, I have been keeping up with my daily morning workouts (although not waking up at 5am to get them done has been lovely).  And I have been bringing my daughter to weekly toddler soccer groups, toddler dance class, toddler gym classes, the local pool, and the library, as well as our usual playground dates.  I've also finished seven books so far this summer (and am currently working on #8), attended the MfA Summer Think Conference, and am reading Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics.  Since I only have about ten minutes before my daughter wakes up from her nap (and we get ready to go to the pool again) I wanted to briefly check in about the MfA Summer Think conference & Building Thinking Classrooms book.  I know I won't have enough time to write as much as I would like to, but something is better than nothing.

Earlier this month I attended my third Math for America Summer Think Conference.  The conference was virtual this year and the themes were healing, recovery & transition and finding a way forward.  What makes Math for America such a great professional community is that it is run by teachers for teachers, so the Summer Think Conference was inspiring, practical, and good for my math teacher soul (as is almost every MfA session I have ever attended).  This year the sessions I participated in dealt with how to begin conversations around race and identity, reflecting on instructional practices during remote learning, reflecting on social emotional learning during remote learning, the difference between being burnt out & demoralized, and reflecting on assessment during remote learning.  Five years ago I applied to MfA for the first time, and despite getting an interview, I did not get in & I was heart broken.  I was starting at an (almost) new school (literally), teaching three different grades, and was the only math teacher, and was so discouraged to have made it so far only to not get in.  A year later (after applying again) I found out on the last day of school that I had been awarded a Master Teacher Fellowship.  Fast forward four years later (plus one daughter and a pandemic that would forever change education), to this year, I applied for my Master Teacher II+ Fellowship, and am so honored to continue to be a part of this amazing organization of math, science & computer science teachers for the next four years.

Unfortunately it is time to wake up my daughter from her nap, so I'll have to stop here for now.  I do hope to write some more some time this week, especially about Building Thinking Classrooms, because it is absolutely amazing and had really got me thinking about how I have run my class in the past and things I hope to change for the fall, and I want to be able to process & think through things on here.  But for now, mom-life (and pool time) calls and as much as I love my job, it's summer break ;) 

Reflecting on the 2020-2021 School Year & Life in General

Ahh the 2020-2021 school year.  Back in September I began by 14th year teaching math in NYC public schools.  I was also starting my first full school year as a full-time working mom and oh yeah, we were all trying to figure out how to effectively engage & teach both in-person & remote students at the same time... no big deal, right?

The beginning of the school year is always exciting & stressful, but September 2020 with all of the unknowns & "awaiting guidance" while trying to plan for a school year that was going to be unlike any other made it exponentially more stressful... we didn't even have a school calendar until right before the school year started.  I went into this school year knowing I would be teaching one section of 7th grade math and two sections of 8th grade Algebra 1 & would be teaching both in-person & remote students at the same time.  Students would be 6 feet apart.  Lunch would be a "working lunch" period for students.  Sharing manipulatives was not a thing.  Everyone would be in a mask all day and we could all go remote at literally any moment for an uncertain amount of time.  So many changes.  So many unknowns.  Not since my first year as a teacher, were there so many things I could not imagine.

This year has been exhausting to say the least.  This past month & week in particular has been extra exhausting as an 8th grade teacher.  I have a lot I want to say & hope to do so over several posts on here, but I want to take some time on here today to talk about the successes from this past school year.  So here they are, in no particular order:

1. First & foremost, I survived & got through it... somehow, someway
2. I got through my first full school year as a mom
3. I co-organized, not one, but two graduations (one virtual & one in-person)
4. I helped students put together our 4th yearbook (with no set elective time during the school day)
5. I prepared my 7th graders for the state test & my 8th graders for the Algebra 1 Regents
6. I applied for my second Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship
7. I was awarded my second Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship
8. Although it was last summer, I did get re-certified as Level 1 & 2 Google Certified Educator
9. Oh yeah, did I mention that I survived?

Like I said, I hope to go into some of these things more in depth, but I also want to be mindful of it being summer and to maintain a good work-life balance, so for now I will just share some things from this past school year...

• For the third year, I had my students create memes about this past school year and once again, they did not disappoint... it's always interesting to see what they come up with.
• I changed up my EOY student survey this year (I only had a chance to look it over for the first time this afternoon)
• This summer I am participating in my third Math for America Summer Think, as well as the AIM-TRU Summer Convening & will be co-facilitating next year's PLT on Formative Assessment 

On a personal non-work related note, some things I am proud of so far at the halfway point of this year are...

• Reading 33 books so far this year in the Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge
• Working out almost every morning for the pas year thanks to Beachbody on Demand (I am currently on my third round of MBF but have done MM100, T20, MBFA and other programs)
• Logging more than 1,014 miles so far this year in the Run the Year 2021 Challenge
• Being a mom to a funny, sweet, silly, curious, brave, amazing 20 month old, who is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Master Teacher II+ Fellowship Application

 Last week I started writing on here again & I gave myself the goal of taking some time to write on here at least once a week, so here I am.  I must say, since starting this back up again, I found found myself making mental notes throughout the day of "oh I should write about that" just because it is something that I get excited about and want to dig more into.  The challenge is finding (or rather making) the time to do it.  Teachers are extra busy this year.  Parents are extra busy this year.  We all have a lot going on, and especially now, we all need to remember that "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.  Be kind.  Always."  So here I am, choosing to make this a priority, at least for right now.

Like I said last week, I was inspired to start writing on here again after working on and submitting my Master Teacher II+ Fellowship application for Math for America last week.   Fellow Master Teacher, Brian Palacious, who I've been lucky enough to take some courses with over the past four yeas, also submitted his renewal application and said it best in a Tweet last week...

@MathforAmerica Master Teacher fellowship applications trigger so much deep reflection for me. At the end of them, I'm always in a much better, more thoughtful place than when I started. #mfaproud

— Brian (@_b_p) January 16, 2021

And it is so true. Applying the MfA the first time was intense, but working on my renewal application this time around really made me think about where I currently am as a teacher, how far I've come, and where I want to go next as a professional.  Currently I am in my 14th year year teaching math in NYC public schools.  I have two Masters degrees, my School Building Leader certificate, and my Gifted Education certificate.  I have taught in three different public schools, and in addition, have, at times, taught visual art, led advisory classes, been a graduation advisor, yearbook coordinator, and NJHS advisor. I would be lying if I said that I haven't thought about leaving the classroom at various times throughout my career, but at the end of the day, I like being a classroom math teacher.  I like teaching middle school students.  It is not always easy, but I am very fortunate that I like my job and being a Math for America Master Teacher these past four years has definitely played an important role in inspiring me to continue working in the classroom, while at the same time working to change the way we talk about teachers and teaching.

A large part of my MTII+ application focused on my work in various professional learning teams (PLTs) on analyzing free formative assessment lessons in math for 6th-12th grade.  I have been a part of this PLT for three of my four years at MfA, and am currently on a year long PLT about it.  It has probably had the most direct impact on my teaching because as a result I have used the resources that we have been analyzing from the Math Assessment Project in my classes, I have contributed to the Teaching & Learning Exploratory at the University of Michigan, and MfA's Remote Learning Resources, and have begun to reflect on my teaching practice using the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) Framework.  What makes this PLT so great for me is that not only do we explore math together, but we analyze quality resources and reflect on our own teaching practice.  Our work within the TRU Framework has also helped me reflect on my own math classroom within the dimensions on content, cognitive demand, equitable access to content, agency, authority and identity, and formative assessment.  One way that I have been thinking about recently about how to address these areas in my virtual classroom is through the 2nd Annual NY Times STEM Writing Contest.  I hope I can continue to make the time to write more about these dimensions in future blog posts.

I am a Teacher aka Starting Fresh (Kind of, Sort of)

It's hard (but not too hard) to believe that it has been over two years since I have written on here.  Life just happens.  But I have been wanting to get back into reflecting on my math-teacher-life on here for a while now, and finally found the motivation that I needed to do so in the form of submitting my Math for America Master Teacher II+ Fellowship this week.  It seems like just yesterday it was 2016 and I was writing on here how disappointed in myself I was when I applied for MfA for the first time and did not get in.  Fast forward a year, and in June 2017, after applying again, I became a MfA Master Teacher.  And here we are, four years later, and I applying to continue to be a part of this incredible organization that has been such an important part of my professional career these past four years.  However, whether I get to stay in MfA or not (don't get me wrong, I really, really want to) I think it's important for me as a teacher to find the space to reflect on my practice and make my voice heard, now more than ever.

A lot has changed since I last wrote on here.  Personally, I gave birth to my daughter in October 2019 and now view the world not just a teacher, but as a mother.  Professionally, I have learned to adapt to teaching in a remote, and then blended, and then remote again setting due to school buildings being closed because of COVID.   I am currently in my 14th year of teaching mathematics in NYC Public Schools.  I have taught in three different schools and have taught everything from 6th grade math to 8th grade Algebra 1.  When school buildings closed for the first time on March 13, 2019 (yes, I know, the day before Pi Day!) teachers everywhere were forced to rethink the "how" of their jobs.  I say "how" because even though how we did our jobs looked completely different, the "who" and "why" of our jobs, our students, has never changed.

For me, switching over to remote teaching in 2020 was just a new thing to learn how to adjust to last year since I had been out on my parental leave until mid-January, and had to learn to adjust to being a mom, while also being a full-time teacher.

While I have been able to stay active on Twitter, I haven't on here, and going through the process of reflecting on my last four years as a Math for America teacher as I worked on my MTII+ Fellowship application these past few weeks, has reminded me how important it is for teachers to make the time to reflect on what they are doing and how reflect on how are they changing the landscape of education, because teaching is the most important profession - the one that makes all other professions possible, and as professionals with skills, creativity and drive everyday, we have a responsibility and power to change the way we talk about teachers and teaching.  

I have started a list of topics that I hope to expand on more as I get back into writing on here.  Being a mom and full time teacher, my time is limited, so I am setting a goal of writing on here at least once a week, even if it is just a couple of sentences.  I am a professional.  I am empowered.  I am a teacher.

A4ANYC, MfA, MTBoS Goals & First Day Plans, Google Certification, 100 Problems, Swimming, & Teach180

A fellow teacher friend of mine posted this on Facebook earlier today:

"Oh Pinterest... its that time of year again... time to get my creative juices going!"

Yes, indeed she is right.  Don't get me wrong, I am loving this summer break, but with many teachers in other parts of the country setting up their classrooms and starting up the new school year, it's hard to resist that spark of excitement that comes with a new school year (especially when technically it is still a month away and there is still lots of time for fun summer non-work-related adventures!)  I have been tweeting a lot more this summer, and I have done a lot of work-related things, but there has definitely been a balance between work and life, which is always the goal (now if only I can make that last all year and not just July & August...)

Algebra for All & Math for America
Last week I finished up the Algebra for All Summer Institute, and next week I have one day of professional learning at the Japan Society.  Overall, the 12 sessions at Algebra for All were really good.  We also have five sessions throughout the school year and then we come back together again next summer.  The sessions were a good balance of content and pedagogy, which was a nice split between between being a math student and being a math teacher.  It made me really excited that I will also be starting my first year as a MfA Master Teacher Fellow (I officially signed my Fellowship agreement last week) and I will continue to grow as a math teacher and learner between the five A4A sessions and the 7+ MfA sessions.  Part of the last week of A4A was planning for the first day, week, and month of school.  September has 15 school days, and as of right now I have half of them outlined.  Since we are going away the last two weeks of August, I have this week and next week to get as much planning for September in before we go back after Labor Day.

MTBoS #SundayFunday #PushSend Goals & First Day Plans
Speaking of the first day, the MTBoS is bringing back #SundayFunday.  I did one of their blogging challenges back in January and found it to be very helpful to "force me" to take a step back and write on here each week.  Last week a lot of MTBoS teachers posed about their goals for the 2017 - 18 school year, so here is mine: problem solving.  I want the focus of this upcoming school year to be all about problem solving.  Going into this year, I will (probably) only be teaching 7th & 8th grade Algebra 1, and I feel good about it - I mean last year I somehow managed to juggle teaching 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade Algebra 1, Math Club/ Photography Club, and 6th grade Advisory and all my 8th graders passed the Algebra 1 Regents, so I felt good.  I was inspired by a lot of things at A4A including SVMI's Problem of the Month, the new Illustrative math curriculum, YouCubed's positive math norms, math routines, math talks, and using the mathematical modeling process to explore problems and at the heart of it all is problem solving.  To help support my goal, currently my first seven days of school include: Get it Together problems, intro to our first POM, reviewing the syllabus and positive class norms or Algebraic Habits of Mind, our first math talk,  possibly a three act task, a Week of iMath problem or two, and lastly our formal baseline assessment.  Last year, my students took their baseline on day 4, and this year I moved it back to day 7, especially after reading this article, The Math-Class Paradox.  We won't even look at textbooks until day 8 and I am proud of that.  The nice thing about looping with students is that you already know them and they know you, and since I was their teacher last year, I know what was covered and what wasn't.  My new 8th graders are a full unit ahead of where my 8th graders were last year, and I plan to use that wiggle room that I built in for myself last year as problem solving time this year, so I am excited for the things to come.  I do want to be mindful that saying and doing are two different things, but I am fairly confident going into this year that I can make problem solving in my classes a real priority.

Google Certified Educator Level 2
Last year I decided I wanted to finally be a Google Certified Educator.  I started the Level 1 modules last summer and never got around to finishing them until two weeks ago.  I took the Level 1 certification test and passed.  Then, another teacher in a Facebook group that I am a part of posted about how she dad taken Level 1 and Level 2 back to back and passed, so I decided why not go for Level 2?  As a teacher who has used G Suite for Education for the past six years or so, Level 1 made sense.  Level 2 though introduced me to so many new features that I had never even heard about!  I learned so much, like Google Arts & Culture and Google My Maps, so Friday I went through the modules, and took the certification test and will be going into next year as a Level 2 Google Certified Educator!

#100Problems in 100 Days 
Still loving Brilliant.org's 100 Day Summer Challenge!  I appreciate being a math learner.  Something I have noticed about myself is that sometimes (very much like my students) I know how to get an answer, but I don't know how to "show my work" or justify my solution.  I will be working through a problem, come up with a solution, but not necessarily be able to explain that solution or show my process in a way that would make sense to another person - I mean, it makes sense to me, but I doubt it would be fully clear to someone else.  The math teacher in me says to "show my work and make it clear", but the student in me (sometimes) says "if it makes sense to me, and I know it's right, why do I have to?"  It has made me mindful when working with my students that doing math takes work, not just in content, but in practice.  Learning something new has been a pretty powerful experience.

Learning to Swim
Speaking of learning something new, earlier this summer, when I made my Summer 2017 Goals, one of them was to learn how to swim.  Yes, I really didn't know, and decided that this would be the summer to change that.  So I signed up for four one-on-one classes at my local pool, and could definitely could see progress, but I still wasn't fully there, so I signed up for a month-long membership at my local pool, and have been going on my own as often as I can.  I am definitely not ready for the Olympics, but I can happily (and proudly) say now that I can do several laps on my own, even in the deep end.  Like the 100 Problems in 100 Days, this whole experience has really made me aware of what it takes to learn something new, specifically that I needed the support, encouragement, and feedback of a teacher and time to actually practice on my own.  I had to take an active role in the learning process.  I needed the guidance of a teacher who supported me and then I needed to get in the pool on my own and practice, practice, practice.  Also, I was actually in the pool, with my teacher for each of our sessions together.  Learning math, like learning to swim requires supportive, encouraging teachers who can give useful feedback while you are actually doing math.  I would not have made as much progress as I have if I had a teacher who demonstrated for me how to swim and then expected me copy her.  I also would not have made as much progress if I hadn't actually continued to practice swimming on my own.  There are just so many parallels between learning math and learning how to swim and I am grateful that this experience has put me in the learner seat.  If you had asked me two months ago, if I enjoyed swimming, I would have said "not really" because I didn't know how and there was no way I was going into the deep end of the pool, but turns out, I really do enjoy it.  I enjoy seeing how far I have come, building on my skills, and having something to work towards.  My goal is to be mindful of this experience of learning something new all school year and allow my classroom to be the "pool" - where we are *doing* meaningful problem solving, and I am supporting my students, each at their own level, encouraging them, giving them the feedback they need to push their own learning, and at the end of the day, having fun.

#Teach180
Lastly, one of my favorite math bloggers, does something called #Teach180 which is a challenge to post one picture from your classroom each day in order to inspire and learn from others.  It is a no pressure challenge, but I like the accountability, since blogging everyday is unlikely, but tweeting is doable.  I am excited to see where this goes and to see what others are doing.  Making my twitter account professional and public last year really was one of the best forms of professional learning I have done.

Algebra for All, Google Certification, 100 Day Challenge & MfA

Here we are, in the thick of summer break (even though the past two days have felt more like Fall).  As we approach the half way point of summer break, I wanted to take some time to reflect on Algebra for All, and my own mathematical learning, so here it goes...

Algebra for All

Last week we wrapped up week 1 of Algebra for All.  Some of my big takeaways were how can I be strategic during the summarize part of my lessons, using the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Mathematical Discussions.  I am confident in my ability to anticipate, monitor, and connect student work, but need to be more strategic in the selecting and sequencing.  Although I have gotten better and selecting which student work I want my classes to share and discuss, there are still times I simply open up my summary to any student that wants to share.  So a goal of mine next year is to be more mindful of that.  I also want to incorporate more Three Act Tasks into my classes.  

This week we started our first round of electives.  Yesterday and today I had Routines for Building an Algebraic Learning Culture for Struggling Learners with Metamorphisis TLC, and tomorrow and Thursday I have Conceptual Approaches to Algebra in Secondary Mathematics with Bill Jacob.  Next week I have my last two electives, Problem Solving with SVMI and Developing the Habits of Algebraic Thinking and Problem Solving with CUNY Collaborative.  My big takeaways from my first elective is how can I promote mathematical habits of mind and the CCSS MP through math thinking routines?  I already use a notice/wonder routine with my students, so I would like to continue to use that.  I love the "What could the question be?" routine, where you present students with an image or scenario without a question, and they have to come up with what the question could be.  I love this idea and cannot wait to bring this routine into my classes next year.  We also explored the "Which one doesn't belong?" routine, which I enjoyed and think I may even use it on day one in September.  All of these made me think of how can I support my students in making their thinking visible and how can I support their understanding of mathematical structure?  Overall I reflected on the constructivist-transmissionist spectrum and where do I fall, and more importantly, do my actions in my classroom, align with my beliefs?

Google Certification
Finally finished all the units in the Google Educator Level 1 training and signed up to take the certification exam within the next seven days.  After wanting to get certified for the last year, I hope I will finally be able to cross this off my to-do list.

100 Day Challenge
I am finally all caught up in Brilliant.org's 100 Day Summer Challenge and I am still loving it!

MfA 
Lastly, it is kind of important for me to be able to post this this week.  One year ago tomorrow, I found out I didn't get into Math for America and I was super bummed about it.  Looking back, it really put a damper on my whole summer.  I think it's important to recognize that (temporary) failure.  It's nice to be able to look back at that experience and see how far I've come, getting into MfA this year and growing both as a math teacher and math student.  Man, does it feel good.     

MfA, Student Surveys, Summer Math PL & the 100 Day Summer Challenge

I can't believe that it is already July 11th!  Where has the summer been going?  Even though we are on summer break till the day after Labor Day, one of my goals was to keep writing on here (I only blogger three times last summer) so here I am with my first post of summer break 2017:

Math for America
After packing and cleaning up my classroom for the year and saying goodbye to students for the summer, I got some pretty awesome news... I am a Math for America Master Teacher!  Yes, after applying and not getting in last year, I applied again this year, and earned a Master Teacher Fellowship, which I was super happy about.  Even better, the Living Environment teacher at my school also got in, so now our school is lucky enough to have not one, but two MfA Master Teachers, which means great things will happen over the next four years!  Too bad it happened after we had said goodbye to students because I had shared my experience applying to MfA the past two years with them.  I already signed up for orientation in September, and cannot wait to take in all the new learning and experiences to come from other MfA Master Teachers!  I worked hard for this, and man does it feel good to have finally earned this.  One thing I am a little jealous of is that since I just got in, I am missing out on the first MfA Summer Think going on this week. I have been following along on Twitter, and even though I can't participate this summer, seeing everything going on only makes me more proud thatI am finally a part of this amazing group of STEM educators!

EOY Student Surveys
Before the school year ended, my students took their EOY surveys for me.  Unfortunately only 81% of my students responded, but I did get responses from all five classes I taught this year.  I hope to spend some time in my next post really reflecting on what they said and how I can improve for next year.

Summer Math Professional Learning 
I had the first of three math PLs that I am going to this summer yesterday, on Enhancing the Math Classroom: Using Authentic Tasks to Support Conceptual Understanding (6 - 12) and next week starts Algebra for All for 12 days, which I couldn't go to last year because I was getting my Gifted Certification at Hunter College.  I was inspired to start the next year with a Dan Meyer 3 Act Task.  I did at least one with my 7th graders last year, and a couple with my 8th graders.  I think it will be a rich way to kick off the new school year.

I also signed up for The Art of Origami in Your Math & ELA Classroom at the Japan Society next month, which sounds fun.  I also hope to participate in the CAMI summer book club, which starts today.  We are reading Fostering Algebraic Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 6 - 10 by Mark Driscoll.  Lastly, I want to continue (and hopefully finish) becoming a Google Certified Educator this summer.  It was another one of those things that I started last summer, but never followed through.

100 Day Summer Challenge
Finally, this summer  Brilliant.org is hosting the 100 Day Summer Challenge, and even though I am slow to start (I was still teaching until June 28th), I finally got into this week, and I am loving it!  Every day from June 1st - September 8th they post a math problem or puzzle.  Like, I said I am behind, but currently up to day 5 and am on a 4 day streak.  I love this idea and wonder how I can do something like this in my classroom?  I already use the Math Counts Problem of the Week in my class, but find that it's always the same students who try it and would love to get more invested.  Since I am 36 days behind where they currently are, I am going to try and do at least 5 a day, which would bring me up to date by next week (yes, I had to do some math there).  I really do think that a essential part of being a good math teacher, is always being a math learner, and this challenge (as well as my MfA presentation last month) force me to push my own mathematical thinking, which is pretty neat.

Circles, Systems of Equations, & PL opportunities

I've been meaning to write on here for a few weeks now, so rather than let another day go by, here are some things going on in my classroom recently...

Area & Circumference of Circles
Last week my 7th graders explored circles.  It's kind of a random geometry standard in the 7th grade CCLS, and I wanted them to go beyond simply calculating area and circumference, so we explored these three tasks from Illustrative: Eight Circles, Designs, and Stained Glass.  We also explored the Penny Farthing from the MAP.  They all led to some interesting conversations about perimeter and representing units with pi, and a number of students used ratios as opposed to straight conversions, which I didn't even think to use (I love it when they do that).  Definitely going to do more with circles next year.

Systems of Linear Equations: Standard vs General Form
My 8th graders began their second to last unit of the year before the Regents exam, It's in the System, and I am really enjoying it so far (it might be one of my favorite 8th grade units).  We had an interesting discussion last week about the difference between the standard form and general form of a linear equation.  The standard form being, Ax + By = C and the general form bring Ax + By + C = 0.  From what we have gathered, there are benefits to using one over the other, but why is the standard form more common than the general?  Why make the distinction?  Definitely a conversation to be continued.  I also found this Linear Systems bundle from Desmos, which I had used before, so I am excited to have them explore it this week.

Spring 2017 NYC Teaching Lab Demonstration Cycle
Earlier this week, a former colleague of mine, sent me a message on LinkedIn about this free Math Demo from Teaching Lab in June, because it was going to use content from Mathalicious, which I love, so I signed up.  It is two days of Math PL, including an inquiry cycle of trying out the material with my students, and then analyzing the student work.  I am excited, but the only potential downfall is that my 7th graders already explored the problem they are using, Coupon Clipping, earlier this year and it doesn't fit into what my 6th or 8th graders will be doing in June.  When I signed up, someone from Teaching Lab reached out to me and suggested pairing me up with another teacher in Queens, so see them teach it and then analyze their student work, which is a possibility.  Hopefully all goes well and I am able to attend this PL.

The NYC Math Lab
Speaking of teaching labs, I also applied for the NYC Math Lab in July.  I have never gone before but it looks like a good opportunity to connect with other math teachers in the city and analyze our practice.

The Teachers Guild Fellowship
My AP sent me a link to the Teacher's Guild Fellowship, which I had also never heard of before but sounds exciting.  According to their website, "Throughout the one year Fellowship, you’ll design an innovative solution, share it across your school or district, and be a part of a cohort of 10 exceptional educators from across the U.S. who believe in the power of teacher ideas to transform education from the ground up."  I felt really supported that she thought of me, and I think I am going to apply because I would love to do something to support strong math education.  Applications are due next month.    

Math for America
So, once again, I have submitted my application for MfA.  This year, the whole application process will occur before the end of the school year.  I am nervous, especially because it was rough when I didn't get in last year, but I am glad that I decided to try again.  Now we play the waiting game to see if I get an interview again or not.  Part of my reapplying, involves me continuing to explore something I am excited by and continue to learn about in math, so I am currently reading Taming the Infinite: The Story of Mathematics From the First Numbers to Chaos Theory, by Ian Stewart.  I wish I had time to read more at a time, but with work and life, I can only read so much at a time.  There is just so much math out there!  Some of the topics in the book have been beyond my understanding, but it has introduced me to other ideas, such as spherical geometry, which totally goes against the idea that a triangle's angles add up to 180 degrees.  Again, another conversation to be continued.

Test Prep & Photography Club
Next week we go round two of state testing, so my 6th and 7th graders will be doing test prep this week.  I usually do a combination of station and math lab work to keep it interesting.  At least it's only week of test prep, then three days of testing, then we go back to our regularly scheduled programming.  It's crazy how fast this year is going.  Tomorrow is my first Photography Club meeting, and I am excited to do something different.  As much as I love Math Club, it's always good to change outlets everyone once in a while, and I am excited to share my creative hobby with my students.  So far 24 students have signed up.  Our electives meet on Mondays, so this cycle is only seven weeks long (although don't get me wrong, it's kind of nice knowing that there are only seven Mondays left in the school year) ;)

MfA

I did not want to write this post...

I have been waiting for this day for the last several months.  Today would be the day that I found out whether or not I got into Math for America.  

I didn't... and that sucks.  But I'll be OK.

I found out yesterday.  It caught me off guard and I wasn't expecting it.  After last week's interview, I felt good.  After all, I had made it that far.  Mentally, I saw myself getting in.  I knew how I would feel, I knew how I would celebrate.  Man, I really wanted it.

So now what?  First, I gave myself permission to feel bad (at least for a little bit).  Yeah, this sucks.  I wanted to get in.  I worked for it.  I would be a better teacher because of it.  So yeah, I'm sad and a little angry.  I would also be lying if I said that a part of myself didn't feel personally hurt because the subject that I have struggled with many times as a student, once again got the best of me - maybe I'm just not good at math.

But then I realized that that just wasn't true.  I have worked my butt off to get where I am today.  I have failed in math before, and come have back from it.  I am just not in Math for America, yet.

I tell my students that everyone is a mathematician.  Everyone can think mathematically.  There is literally no end to where you can go in math.  So what kind of teacher would I be, if I took this failure, and just gave up?  I would be a hypocrite.  And middle schoolers pick that up fast.  So that is just not OK.  If I want my students to be mathematicians, I need to be be a mathematician right there with them.  

So, what does this mean?  I need to dig deeper into my own mathematical practice.  I already do do this to some degree, but it's time to step up my game, and I think this blog can a good vehicle for that.  Originally I started this blog to focus on my teaching (which I will still most definitely do) but I also want to use it to reflect on math that I am learning.  I think I'll start exploring with Khan Academy and Desmos and make sure I connect with other math teachers looking to do math on the MTBoS.  Plus I'll be teaching Algebra 1 next year, so that alone will open me up to new things.  After all, I plan on interviewing for Math for America again next year, and I want what I share in my interview to be good ;)

Not getting into MfA this year simply means that I have more math to learn.  And the more I think about it, this could be really cool for my classroom this year because I'll be getting messy with mathematics, just like I want my students to.  We can explore our ideas, and apply new concepts, and invent hypothesis and argue with each other and question why and prove our reasoning... we will be doing math together.  And it will be great.

I will be a better math teacher because of this.  

Engineering Design, Harry Potter, and Growing Professionally

Wow, I cannot believe that has been over a month since I posted on here.  Mid-winter recess is behind us and we in the middle of probably my least favorite month of the school year.  March is long, state testing is right around the corner, grades are due, and the end of the year just seems so far away.  I've been busy, but productively busy as opposed to overwhelmingly busy, which is nice.  Not every day has been good, but there has definitely been some good in every day...

6th Grade Coke Engineering Design Project
So my 6th graders have been working on their engineering design projects where they had to come up with a new box for Coke that was not the same as the original 3x4 and 2x6 can configurations.  They had to come up with a rationale why their box was the next big thing, both a net and a 3D model of their package, accurately calculate the surface area and volume and cost of their package, and come up with a pitch to present their ideas with visuals and enthusiasm.  It was a two week project that they worked on in both their math and science classes and between yesterday and today both classes gave their presentations to their classmates and about 25 parents and adults.  The parents acted as "representatives" from Coke and had questions and eventually picked the "winning" design.  This was a fantastic project and I was so very lucky to have the support of the science teacher and my co-teacher.  I was so proud of my students and got to see so many of their talents.  They enjoyed working on it, and the parents really appreciated coming in to see their kids shine.  I also learned a lot from this experience, and got many ideas for other project-based learning opportunities.  I hope to do something similar with my 7th graders for their current unit on statistics and probability.

Math Museum Field Trips
Tomorrow is my first of two field trips to the Math Museum this month. Tomorrow I am going with my 7th graders and in two weeks I'll be going with my 6th graders.  I am looking forward to and I think they'll have a good time exploring Mobuis strips, plus the weather has been so nice, we should be able to enjoy a nice lunch in the park afterwards.

Math Competitions
Next month, I'll also be taking two different groups of students to two different math competitions, the 2016 MoMathalon and the Girls Math Olympiad.  I was also looking forward to possibly going to Pi5NY this year, but I have another engagement that day, so maybe next year.  

Ten Marks Math Madness
Ten Marks Math Madness began again this week and interest has been OK.  We are taking a break from Khan Academy, which will be a nice change before the state test next month.  I am hoping that once my students see the week 1 standings they will be motivated to try for the grand prize, a class set of Amazon tablets, which would be awesome.  We'll see how they do....

Service Learning
My advisory will be volunteering with Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen later on this month as part of their service learning project.  I am proud of them for picking a huge topic like homelessness and finding a way to give back.

Harry Potter Elective
Our current elective cycle is coming to an end at the end of the month, and I think I want to take a break from Math Club.  I was thinking about doing meditation/ yoga or photography, but some of my 6th graders asked me if I'd want to do a Harry Potter elective, and I told them I'd think about it.  Well, they were very persistent, sending me several documents that they created outlining inclusive activities, rules of conduct, and even a schedule.  So I did some of my own research (here, here, and here) and submitted a proposal to my AP and it looks like I will be a headmistress next month for our first Harry Potter elective and I am kinda super excited about it.  I will definitely be sharing more details as it develops.

Growing Professionally
One of the reasons I changed schools last year was because I felt I wasn't growing anymore.  Despite being Lead Teacher for the past two years, my thinking was stagnating, which is never really a good thing.  One of the best things I did was take on the new challenge of finding a new school to force me out of my comfort zone, which I am happy to say has worked.  So what next?  Well I finally started my application for the Summer Institute for Gifted Certification, which will get my my G&T certification, and I am also applying to the Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship for next year.  I went to an info session a few weeks ago, and I just had stars in my eyes!  Math for America sounds like an amazing organization to be involved with and I want to be amazing!  I started my application for there too and even signed up for the math Praxis exam next month.  I won't hear anything until the summer, but I think I have a decent shot of getting in.  I want this!  Lastly, I was also inspired by a former colleague to sign up for EdCampBROOKLYN next month.  It sounds like really amazing teacher-led PD, so I am looking forward to that.

So lots of good things happening and lots of good things to come!  Like I said before, every day may not be good, but there is some good in every day.  I am very lucky that I am in a place in my life where I can keep growing and learning.  Isn't that what education is all about?