Last Week of School, MfA, NYTL Summit, Google Certification, ATMNYC Conference

The summer solstice may have occurred on Monday, but all NYC teachers know that summer doesn't actually start until next Tuesday at noon.  Yes, we are 3 and a half school days away from summer break!  I remember around this time last year, after I knew for sure that I would be working at my current school, I walked to what would be my new building one afternoon, and just looked at the outside, and wondered which of those rooms would one day be mine, and no here we are...

What Are My Kiddies Up To This Week...

So how exactly does one keep 7th graders mathematically engaged for a double period at the end of the day during the last week of school?  Well, with TED Ed and zombies of course!  My 7th graders explored the bridge riddle in class today and the engagement was through the roof!  They loved it.  We followed up a gallery walk of their work no chart paper, this article and these NRICH tasks.  I totally recommend it!  It was the right balance of challenging and fun for my kids.  Oh and right before we explored the bridge riddle we watched John Lewis' twitter feed as the House floor sit-in began because history is happening, which just made me think about just how fast info is shared today.

My 6th graders are finishing up their Data to Make a Difference statistics project and infographics.  On Friday, both classes are presenting their work to each other during a gallery walk/ math fair.  I love how this project came out and is one I will definitely do again.

As for next week, we have our end of year survey (which I am in the process of modifying), the top 100 things we learned in math this year, one final TED Talk, and Pop Up toasts with my advisory.

MfA

I am officially an MfA Master Teacher finalist!  I have my interview next month and I am looking forward to it.  I picked out my topic for my presentation from one of my old Bank Street math exploration papers.  Now that the Praxis and application are behind me, I think I have a real shot at getting in.  More to come...

NYTL Summit, Google Certification, ATMNYC, Teaching Matters

The NYTL Summit was last week, and I feel great about our project to make our students more self-reflective through blogging.  I am so lucky to work with this team who is so open to my ideas and are such wonderful educators! I started working toward my Level 1 Google Certification last week.  It is a small summer goal of mine.  Another summer goal is to start working on my Teaching Matters micro-credentials.  I also signed up for the ATMNYC Conference in November, which will be at Hunter in November.

Still more to come, but that's all for now... here's to an amazing end of the school year!

EOY Rating, Next Year, Algebra 1, NYTL Summit...

And the magic number is 9!  Yes there are only nine days of school left this year!  Crazy, right?  Today our 6th graders had their Greek Olympics, which consisted of a neighborhood scavenger hunt (our school is in Astoria, after all), games, trivia, and the movie Hercules.  I was the leader of Team Sparta and being a math teacher, of course my team number was pi.  The kids had fun and we had fun too, but as with any field trip, I am ready for a nap, but not before I reflect on what's been going on in my classroom this past week...

EOY Rating & What I'll Be Teaching Next Year 
I had my end of year conference and got my end of year rating this week.  I received an overall Highly Effective, which I am proud of because I worked hard.  This was my first year going with option 1 (one formal and 3 informal observations).  My area of growth is (3d) using assessment in instruction, which will definitely be a focus of mine next year.  Speaking of next year, we got next year's organizational sheet, and I will indeed be moving up with my current 6th & 7th graders, and will also take on two sections of our incoming 6th graders.  I am excited (and a little stressed) to be doing 6th, 7th, and 8th grade/Algebra 1 next year, but I am optimistic, especially because I think there will be a lot of overlap between the grades.  We haven't seen a schedule yet, but it looks like I'll be seeing each class four days a week.  Again, it's a big undertaking, but I am up for the challenge, especially Algebra 1.

Algebra 1 10 Day Challenge
Speaking of Algebra 1, this week also started the Algebra 1 Teachers10 Day Challenge and have found it helpful.  I am not keeping up with it daily, but the resources provide a good framework for thinking about priorities for next school year, and I hope to fully flush it out this summer.

Flipped Classroom & Standards-Based Grading
Speaking of next school year, while at the gym I the pieces of the puzzle that is my classroom next year began coming together.  This is most definitely a work in progress, but right now the plan is I will be fully flipping my Algebra 1 class, have students move through the CMP3 investigations at their own pace in learning groups, assess using standards-based grading, and incorporate ePortfolios (which my 7th graders are beginning in class tomorrow, actually).  I am super excited about it and like I said, my vision came together while I was running at the gym, but I think it is do-able and I am pumped about it!

NYTL Summit, Micro-credentials, Google Certification, 175 PD Hours, Kahoot, Padlet
Some other things coming up include the NY Teacher Leadership Summit that I will be attending with a coworker on Friday and then my AP and two coworkers on Saturday.  I am looking forward to collaborating with Teaching Matters again and making our proposal happen at our school next year.  Also on my to-do list: earning micro-credentials, getting Google Certified, and building on my 175 PD hours that I submitted this week.  Also, I tried out Kahoot in my classroom last week and will be trying our Padlet tomorrow.

Teacher Interviews
Lastly, since our middle school is doubling next year, we have been interviewing.  In terms of core teachers, most of the 7th & 8th grade science, literacy, and social studies teachers will be new to our school and I will be the only (core) teacher moving up with our first graduating class, which is kinda crazy.  However, we have had some great candidates, that I think will really push my thinking, like the 6th grade teachers have this year.  I think we have some great things coming up on our horizon and I can't wait to continue to build and grow!

Favorite Resources
Lastly, I have been updating my Favorite MS Math (& Other) Resources with a bunch of new resources I have found, so be sure to check it out and let me know if you have others!