March Updates

So here we are in March, and ask any teacher, March is rough.  No days off.  Spring Break is still weeks away.  The weather hasn't decided whether its still winter or spring (here in NY this week we has a gorgeous, warm, sunny Thursday, followed by snow yesterday).  Oh yeah, and throw in the marking period ending, grades being due, bulletin board needing to be updated, parent-teacher conferences, state tests coming up and losing a hour of our precious weekend time (thanks Daylight Savings, NOT), March is pretty miserable.  I didn't want too much time to go by without reflecting on here, so here goes...

6th grade
My 6th graders finished up their Engineering Design Coke Projects this week.  It went much smoother than last year's and I am happy with how everything turned out.  We are doing a super short mini unit this week on decimals and percents, and starting our last unit before the state test on algebra, Variables & Patterns.  After the state test, we'll work on our last 6th grade unit, Data About Us and they'll do their Data to Make a Difference project, which I enjoyed last year.  I'll probably combine it with what I am currently doing with the 7th graders now, Samples and Populations, since it is a lot of the same work.

7th grade
Like I said, my 7th graders are currently wrapping up Samples & Populations, which is kind of fun.  I always used to skip this unit, but it's a short one, and has led to some interesting lessons, including comparing steel & wooden roller coasters, and Counting Trees, which was supposed to be a homework, but they were so into it, I decided to go with it and gave them class time to explore it.  Our next unit will be Thinking With Mathematical Models, which is typically the first 8th grade unit.  As stressful as it is, it's nice teaching all three grades because I have all the freedom to teach whatever I want, and teaching all three grades at once has given me a lot of insight into what skills/ topics I can bring down into the lower grades.

8th grade/ Algebra 1
Finally my 8th graders, which got their high school acceptance letters this week, and I am proud to say 68% got into Specialized High Schools, are working on Say it With Symbols, which has been a nice review.  I am feeling pretty confident about the Algebra 1 regents in June, and this week we got a class set of TI 84 graphing calculators!  I have my formal observation with them this Wednesday, and we'll be exploring whether social networks make us more connected from Mathalicious, and I am looking forward to it.  I'm turning it into a mini-project also, because I think after doing the math behind it, they will have a lot to debate about.  Since they are not taking the 8th grade math state test in May, the science teacher and I decided to give them a mock Algebra 1 regents one day and a mock Living Environment regents the other day.  Speaking of regents, I've been giving the 7th graders performance tasks from constructed response Algebra 1 questions, and most of them have appreciated the challenge, so I am happy about that.

Math Club & Photography Electives
We have four more meetings of the Math Club elective.  The students are currently working on their gold level project, which we should be able to wrap up in time.   We will be switching electives in April after Spring Break, and instead of continuing with a new group for Math Club or doing another round of the Harry Potter Elective like I did last year, I've decided to do a Photography Elective, which I am looking forward to.  The spring elective cycle is only seven weeks long, so it is much shorter than the first cycle.  I can't wait to share my passion with them and see what they come up with.  A lot of students have already said that they were interested, plus it will be nice to go out when the weather is nice and take photos.

March Math Madness & Pi Day
Since Ten Marks is not doing a Math Madness this year, I decided to do my own using masting Khan Academy skills as my tracker.  I'm doing it with all five of my classes, and as expected one of my 6th grade classes blew the other classes out of the water.  Week Two ends tonight, so we'll see how it ultimately shapes up.  Pi Day is also coming up this week, although I haven't decided what to do yet.  I can use last year's activities with my 6th grade classes, but would need something new for 7th & 8th grade.  Any ideas?

Project-Based Learning, Standards-Based Grading, & Math for America
Three of my professional goals moving forward are to do at least more round of PBL with all of my classes.  I've done some great projects this year, including the Stock Market Game & Road Trip Project with my 7th graders, the Coke Project with my 6th graders, and the Lunar Rover Challenge with my 8th graders.  I'd love to plan out at least one more for each grade.

We started a new marking period this week, and another goal of mine is to tag every assignment to a standard and track in on our school grading website.  So far, I've been good with it, and I hope to keep it up.

Lastly, I am applying to Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship again.  Applications are due at the end of April.  I was hesitant at applying again, but I decided to give it another shot.  Lots of work to do for the application, but it's all worth it if I can get in.  I reached out to my three letters of recommendation this week, and think I will use the lesson I will be doing with my 8th graders as my lesson design task.  I know it's far away, but I am already thinking about what I could do for my ten-minute presentation on my own math exploration, should I get an interview.  Any ideas/suggestions would be great.

Logo Transformation Project, Fundamental Counting Principle, Coke Project, 3 Act Tasks, & Einstein's Puzzle

Just have time for a quick update before I head over to a Paint Nite event with some friends, as I work to maintain a balanced work & social life. Teaching five classes across three grades this year has me in a constant state of being behind (especially when it comes to grading) but I must say, I have been pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying lots of new projects and activities with my classes this year, that I am proud of myself.

8th Grade/ Algebra 1 Geometry
Today my 8th graders started their end of unit assessment performance task on geometric transformations.  I was inspired by this Transformation Summative Assessment Project from Equation Freak and this logo transformation mini-project.  They were really into it during our double period today.  Later on this week we will start Say it With Symbols, and this Friday I will do my first 3 Act Task with them, Coin Counting!  I am nervous since it will be my first, but I've been wanting to do one for a while.

7th Grade Probability 
My 7th graders will be exploring the Fundamental Counting Principle this week with Pair-Analysis (and this TED Talk on the Paradox of Choice... hmm maybe there's a Socratic Seminar in there somewhere?) and VA-NITY PL88, both from Mathalicious, and then on Friday I want to try the Yellow Starburst 3 Act Task with them.  Look at me trying two different 3 Act Tasks in the same week ;)  I read through Confessions of a MS Math Teacher's blog post on it here, which led me to their post on their first attempt at a 3 Act Task using The Price is Right, which would fit in nicely with our unit on probability, since we've analyzed Wheel of Fortune twice so far this unit (both again through Mathalicious).  Next week, hopefully we will explore the probability of bottle flipping (which every MS teacher is probably familiar with this year).

6th Grade Geometry
My 6th graders started their Coke Engineering Design project this week, which, ironically, has a connection to 3 Act Tasks, that I just learned about this week, even though I did the project last year.  I do think that I am going to push back their presentations until after mid-winter recess in two weeks, instead of rushing them to be done next week.

Math Club
This week in math club we took a crack at Einstein's Puzzle (which probably wasn't made by him) and other logic puzzles, which they all enjoyed.  Engagement was really high, and I was really proud of the students who hadn't solved it yet, and didn't listen or watch when we played the rest of the TED Ed video with the solution because they wanted to keep working on it.

So I am excited for the next two weeks and then get to breathe a bit and enjoy mid-winter break.  Work hard, play hard, right? ;)

CMP3/ Curriculum, Standards-Based Grading, School Visit, Math Club, Spring Electives

Some things that have been on my math & art teacher mind lately...

CMP3/ Curriculum

I love teaching algebra!  It is truly where my heart is.  I am finishing up Moving Straight Ahead with my 7th graders and I think next year I'm just going to skip 8th grade and do Algebra 1 with them because it's so much more fun.  I love teaching slope and graphing and equations!

My 6th graders started Covering & Surrounding this week and I am getting more comfortable with what I can skip.  I'll also be doing the 7th grade package design project with them and have parents come in for their final presentations in the beginning of March.  Variables & Patterns will be our last unit before the state test in April, so more algebra!  Yay!

Standards-Based Grading

My independent PL cycle is going to be on standards-based grading.  I am hoping to start small this year, and see what works for me so I can fully implement it next year.  I've gotten some good input from the Facebook group that I've joined.

School Visit

Next week I'll be visiting the Brooklyn School of Inquiry with my AP.  I hope it is a productive visit and that I get some good ideas.

Math Club & Other Math Stuff

My Math Club is in the middle of their Gold-level project for the National Math Club.  I am looking forward to seeing their final presentations next week.  I've never been a gold level club before, which is kinda cool.  I also launched the St. Jude Mathathon this week, and the kids seemed interested.  Turn in has been slow so far, but I am optimistic.  I also told my 7th graders about the 2016 MoMathlon competition in April, and there is some interest, so hopefully we can get a team of 5 together and compete.  I've brought students to the Bronx one for a few years, so I know it's a great experience.  I'm waiting for the pi5ny competition to open up for this year so I can finally bring kids to that for the first time.   

Electives

The Math Club elective will end at the end of March, and I am thinking about what I should do next.  I could do a shorter Math Club elective with new kids, or I was thinking about meditation/ yoga, or maybe photography... decisions, decisions...  

First Post of 2016!

Happy New Year or as I like to call it, the almost half-way point of the school year!  There is nothing quite like making it to Winter Break!  As happy as I am with my job, nothing beats being on vacation for 11 days.  I didn't do as much work as I planned, but I have no regrets.  We've been back for three days now, and I must say, they have been quite smooth.  I'm definitely not as stressed as I was last year.  Looking back at my 2015 New Years resolutions, one of them was to "find a new (more fulfilling & balanced) job" and although I was scared to take the leap, I am so glad that ultimately I was brave enough to make a change to try something new.  Here's what's been going on in my classroom in these first few days of 2016...

Happy Teacher Challenge

Someone posted about this 30 Day Happy Teacher Challenge on one of the teacher Facebook groups that I belong to and I think it's a really cute idea, I am gonna try it!  I printed it out today and will hopefully start with day 1 tomorrow.    

Scratch Project

The Programming teacher at my school told me about a Scratch project the 6th graders are going to be starting next week, where they create a calculating machine.  So I shared with him the 6th, 7th, 8th grade, and Algebra 1 reference sheets from the state tests and they are going to use them!  I am so excited for this project.  I cannot wait to see what they come up with!

 

Math Club

After presenting the board games they designed, Shark Tank style, before the Winter Break, the Math Club will be working on a classroom redesign challenge this week and will begin looking into their gold-level project for The National Math Club.  I also would love to do another STEM project with them soon.  I was thinking maybe having them make a balloon car, but I still want to do some research.

Art

My 7th graders in art will be studying Pop artist Romero Britto this week and creating a piece inspired by him.  I also found this awesome teacher art blog to follow with some really great ideas.

CMP3

My 6th graders have been working through the Let's Be Rational unit, which focuses on operations with fractions, which I know some of them needed because the pre-assessment, but some of them are pushing back because they already know the algorithms for working with fractions.  Since this curriculum goes for conceptual knowledge, they have been doing a lot of modeling in class, which for some of them, seems unnecessary.  Today, my ICT class really wanted to discuss mathematical modeling, and I didn't want to disrupt the discussion, so I threw the lesson plan out, and we had a Socratic Seminar on mathematical modeling today instead.  They were begging not to leave when the bell rang.  It just goes to show you that sometimes the best lessons are not even planned!

My 7th graders are finally working on Moving Straight Ahead, which is all about linear relationships and I am loving it!  I am even getting to do some of the slope investigations that I used to leave out in past years.  This is always my favorite unit because I love algebra.  My next steps will be to find some good problems on Mathalicious or Illuminations or Illustrative.  I am having my formal observation with them next Thursday, so I want to make sure we do something good.  It's a great unit to be formally observed on because there is just so much you can do with linear relationships.    

Advisory Service Project

My advisory finally decided on a cause for their service project - homelessness.  I am so excited because not only did they choose it, but I think it gives us a lot of options for projects we can do.  We had been leaning towards homelessness since we read this article earlier this week and then Channel One had a segment on it today, which I think sealed the deal.  They began researching today and I cannot wait to see what they come up with!

Goals/Next Steps/Ideas for Next Time:

• Incorporating more literacy into math class
• The Package design project with my 6th graders and inviting their families in
• Standards-based grading
• Math portfolios
• Field trip ideas - Math Museum

11 days away from Winter Break...

...not that things have been bad, but come on, who can resist 11 whole days off from work!  On a serious note though, sometimes I really can't believe that work can feel like this.  Yes, it's work, but its different.  I really am enjoying my job this year.

Arts Elective
Last Friday was our Arts Elective presentation.  The 6th grade class that took Drama, but on some awesome, thought-provoking skits, the 7th graders made an amazingly funny music video, and my young artists showcased their work in the hall and in a slideshow that I put together.  It was really great!  This Friday I get my new group of artists, my 7th graders, and I am looking forward to working with them.  I have a better idea about how I want to structure the 10 weeks, and I think it will work out well.  The first difference is that I am going to have them create sketchbooks  the first day (so that they don't have to go out and by them) and we can use them throughout the class to sketch and take notes.  I am looking forward to Visual Art 2.0!

Informal Feedback
The day we got back from Thanksgiving Break, my principal did an informal walkthrough with one of my 6th grade classes.  Here was my feedback:

Glows

Student-to-Student Discussion

Students provided clarification for one another. The majority of students used accountable talk techniques (agree/disagree, paraphrasing other speakers). The majority of students tracked speakers. You paraphrased when necessary and stayed out of the discussion (only intervened when necessary). Continue to encourage these discussions with your class. It was great to see them talking their was through these ideas.

Mathematics Vocabulary

Students used appropriate vocabulary. They used this vocabulary such as absolute value, negative number line, denominators to talk through their understanding of the hierarchy and patterns inherent in fractions. It is evident that using appropriate contextual vocabulary is the norm in your class. Keep this up!

Grow

Student Participation

Eight students contributed to the discussion. While rich, we encourage you to cold call students who have not contributed to share their perspectives or questions. You can allow them to pass if they do not think they can contribute with the expectation that they will participate next time.

So I will work on encouraging more discussion from the quieter students, maybe giving them time to tall at their table first before the whole group.  I was proud that I didn't intervene much and that my students were really taking ownership of the discussion, since that is something I wanted to work on since my last informal.

Curriculum Updates
My 6th graders are finishing up Comparing Bits & Pieces (unit 2) and will begin "Let's Be Rational" (unit 3) next week.  My 7th graders finished up "Comparing & Scaling" (unit 2) last week and began "Moving Straight Ahead" (unit 3) this week.  I am a little worried about my pacing with my 6th graders, especially since 6th grade is new to me.  I have this month all planned out, but I plan on reevaluating and revising my pacing calendar over the Winter Break.

Mathalicious
This is probably what I am most excited about!  This week, at the recommendation of the science teacher who taught math last year, I signed up for a Mathalicious account and I love the lessons they have on there!  In fact this week, my 6th graders will be learning about the jen ratio and explore how the media affects our happiness.  This will also be the bulletin board piece at the end of the month, which is cool.  I highly recommend this resource for any middle or high school math teacher.  I can't wait to see what other lessons we do!

Students vs Teachers Volleyball Game
Our students have been studying volleyball in PE the past couple of weeks and yesterday we decided to do a Student-Teacher Volleyball game on the Tuesday before Winter Break!  I love doing things like that and I think it'll be fun.

Advisory
Lastly, last week I started restructuring advisory differently.  We started sitting in circles and literally using a microphone for the "one mic rule."  I do see some improvements.  We've been discussing our service project and so far it's been good.  During yesterday's weekend check-in a lot of them shared, which was nice, so I think the circle helped.  I hope to keep building on this momentum.  I also want to use some ideas from The Advisory Book.  I am confident we will get there!

Math Club
My math club has been working on designing their own board games the past couple of weeks.  The Thursday before Winter Break, they will be presenting their board games to each other, Shark-Tank style.  Their games are looking pretty awesome.  Plus today, the science teacher asked me if I wanted to do some rocket launcher STEM projects with the math club in January (which of course I said yes to) so I am super excited for January, since we'll have that and the Math Counts gold-level project to work on.  I go back and forth between if I want to continue Math Club in the Spring or come up with another elective (maybe photography or mindful yoga) - we'll see.

November Updates

There comes a point in the school year where everything is due at once.  November is that month.  Grades are due.  Informal observations may be happening.  Bulletin boards must be updated.  And oh yeah, you still need to keep planning and grading as usual.  Last week for the first time, I have felt a little stressed.  I am feeling better after last Wednesday (I had my first official informal observation by my AP) but I still have some grading to finish up.

Superintendent Visit:
On October 30th (yes, the day before Halloween) we had our first visit from the Superintendent.  He visited one of my 6th grade classes with my Principal.  I was a little stressed out the night before because I wasn't sure which class he'd visit (math club, 6th grade, or art) but it went well.  Here was my feedback:

• Glow
• Your classroom procedures and expectations are firmly in place. There was no time wasted and your expectation of getting started on time is firm. Your knowledge of content and academic vocabulary were evident in your responses and your student's responses. Continue to implement efficient time management. In addition, continue to ensure that academic vocabulary is modeled by you and used by your students.
• Grow
• During the share outs, students did not respond to one another. You paraphrased responses and/or asked for more ideas. For future lessons, challenge the students to directly respond to one another using evidence to support their claims. You can even ask students to paraphrase each others' comments.

Moving forward, I would like to build on that, and do less talking.  This was the beginning of the lesson, so I must be mindful of that, but I know it's something I can work on.

Getting Mail:
It took two months, but I am finally getting mail delivered to my new school.  I had ordered shelves for all my lovely math manipulatives and they finally came (after being delivered to the wrong school) and my National Math Club Box finally came (after being sent back twice).  Also my Scholastic Math Magazines are coming in now.  So yay!

7th Grade Unit 2 & Interim Assessments:
After much thought, I decided to skip my next 7th grade unit (Stretching & Shrinking) and go right into Comparing & Scaling (my kids did one of my favorite problems from there today - The Orange Juice Problem).  Most of my 7th graders did really well on the unit 1 assessment, and I don't think all of Stretching & Shrinking is necessary, so I decided to skip it for time.  I may pull out one or two problems from there, but so far I am happy with my decision.  I am loving both of my current units (Comparing Bits & Pieces (6th grade) and Comparing & Scaling (7th grade).  Comparing & Scaling definitely has some of my favorite CMP problems.  (I might even give some to my 6th graders)

Both grades will be taking their first interim assessment (IA) (which I created) later on this week, so that will give me a better idea of where they stand in terms of overall standard mastery.  Both IA's have about 20 questions (all released state test questions)  It's meant to be done in one class period, and they will have some time with calculators.  I'm also going to try to use Flubaroo to help with the data analysis, since we don't have a scantron machine.

Student-Led Conferences (SLCs)
Last Tuesday I gave my colleagues a PD on student-led conferences, and today we started preparing our students for them in advisory.  I felt really good about how things went.  I was happy to share my knowledge and experience with my team and then to work together to make SLCs our own.  We're all even using You Can Book Me to schedule them.  I've been preparing the slides everyone is using during advisory and our kids have been working hard.  Even though conferences are always a long day, I am looking forward to them next week.

Video Intervisitations:
We also started video intervisitations last week.  I had shared the template that we used to use at my old school, and we watched a video of our science teacher and used the template to give her warm and cool feedback.  I volunteered to go next, so I will be videotaped sometime in the next couple of weeks and then we will watch the video and my colleagues will give me feedback.  Based off my informal feedback, I might record one of my Socratic Seminars with my 6th graders.

Informal:
Speaking of informal observations, I had my first one with my AP last week.  I was happy with how it went.  I got Effective in all categories except 3c (Engaging Students in Learning) and 3d (Using Assessment in Instruction), where I got Developing.  Here were my Glows and Grows:

Glows

• Instructional materials and resources - Experienced teachers provide students with meaningful instructional materials and resources and provide opportunities for students to make good choices about the materials they use. In this lesson, students were able to decide whether or not the use of a calculator or ruler would help them be more efficient in completing the task at hand. Anna should continue to allow students to make smart choices about the materials and resources they use to make meaning from their work.
• Teacher interactions with students, both words and actions - Strong instruction requires supportive interactions between teachers and students. During the lesson, Anna created an environment of respect and rapport through the use of a respectful tone, countdowns, and her interactions. When a student corrected her about the date, Anna thanked them for their observation. When a student said, “But you’re the teacher, shouldn’t you know the answer?” Anna demonstrated patience and humor by responding, “But it’s no fun if I know the answer” and proceeded to continue the lesson. Anna should continue to engage in supportive interactions like these in order to help her students be successful.

Grow (Next Step)

• Discussion techniques & student participation - At the beginning of the lesson, students engaged in whole-group discussion where Anna posed questions and students responded. In highly effective classrooms, students pose questions to one another and respond using accountable talk to extend their thinking. In this lesson, "A" used accountable talk when he said, “I want to add on to "C" .” Anna should build on this practice by encouraging students to call on one another and paraphrase each other’s thinking with limited teacher support. For example, students can use some of the Socratic Seminar techniques to deepen their questioning and discussion during more traditional lessons such as this one. Additionally, Anna can begin encouraging student to student discussion by asking students to paraphrase each other’s thinking (“Can someone tell us what "A" just said?”) and asking them to call on one another. Practicing these skills explicitly will teach the students to call on one another without teacher support in future lessons.

My AP's Grow feedback was really helpful and I was able to implement it the next day.  During the Launch and Summarize, instead of having individual students answer my questions (ping-pong style) I have been having whoever answers, call on another student to add on to the discussion.  So it is slowly becoming their discussion, and not necessarily going through me. I want to keep developing this practice and my goal is to speak as little as possible and let my students really own their discussion.  Something that has been helping with that is the my Document Camera is finally working, so I am finally having students put their work under the cam and have them explain their thinking.  My 6th graders are much better at showing their work than my 7th graders (who just write down their final answer).

On a slightly unrelated note, one of my 6th graders, who had never participated in a class discussion before, rose his hand this week to share and my co-teacher and I were so proud of him!  (I feel like only a teacher or parent would appreciate this).  I was so proud of him - definitely a highlight of my week!

Math Club & Art:
I am very happy to report that my Friday morning math club is now Silver Level Math Counts Club! So the next step is to work on a gold-level project and we can become a gold-level club.  I am so proud of them.  This Friday is also our Canstruction trip and the first trip that I am organizing.  I think it's going to be great!

Unit Tests, Performance Tasks, Field Trips, BBs & Halloween... oh my!

Before I even start this entry, there is something I must say...

I am all caught up on my (paper-based) grading!  

I know that only fellow teachers can actually appreciate those few, ever-so-brief, few-and-far-between moments where you are actually all caught up on your grading <3  So yeah, I am doing my happy dance.   Here are some of the goings on in my math & art teacher life...

Unit Assessments:

Work has been busy, but good busy.  Not the overwhelming kind, the happily productive kind.  My 6th graders took their Prime Time unit assessment last week and they did OK.  Not great, but OK.  I made my first review video of the year, and I am letting them do test corrections.  I think moving forward, I would like to include at least one quiz before the next unit assessment, to gauge formal understanding more.  The problem with that is our periods are so short (42 minutes only) and I hate taking away from our already limited class time.  My AP has mentioned that we might be changing the schedule to have longer periods (it is a school-wide concern), which would be fantastic, but for now I have to make do with what we have.

My 7th graders are taking their unit assessment tomorrow, so we'll see how they do.  The next suggested unit is supposed to be Stretching & Shrinking, but I may just skip that one and go right into Comparing & Scaling, with maybe some Stretching & Shrinking problems thrown in.  I am going just based on prior experience, but I need to go back to the standards and baseline and make my final decision.

Performance Tasks:

Something I did last year was use released state-test constructed response questions as standard performance tasks.  I held onto these pieces for student portfolios and used them as formal pieces of student work.  I used to think of these pieces as "meeting the standard" but this year my thinking is more that these are the bare minimum to demonstrate mastery of the CCLS.  I have all the 6th, 7th, and 7th grade released state test questions organized by standard, but not Algebra 1 yet, so I think my next step is to find some high school-level performance tasks and incorporate them into my rotation.

Field Trips:

I scheduled my first field trip!  I am super excited to be taking my 6th grade art class to the Canstruction Exhibit in Manhattan next month!  It ties in really well with my Pop Art unit and it's for a great cause.  Typically my school doesn't do Friday field trips, but since art is on a Friday, I was able to make it happen.  I feel really organized and my kids were excited when I told them about it last week.  On a personal note, it's just nice being excited about things like field trips again because last year, I just wasn't.

BBs:

Ahh yes, one of my least favorite parts about teaching - having to update the BB, which is weird, because I love scrapbooking and stuff like that.  Our first official BBs are due by the end of day tomorrow and I am looking forward to putting up my 7th graders Dealing Down reports (our BB theme this time around is "inquiry").

Halloween:

So even though we don't have school on Halloween, I have found some cute Halloween-themed explorations for my math club on Friday (Halloween Logic Puzzle, Witches Potion, Halloween Algebra Puzzles, and of course problems from Math Counts) and a great Pop Art Halloween themed activity for my art class, in addition to finishing up their Pop Art Candy Wrapper piece.  When one of my 7th graders saw the candy corn catapults that my math club made last week, he even said he wished he had signed up for math club instead, which was pretty cool.  I am grateful that I get to teach these two electives because they give me such freedom to try out different things and they allow me the time to explore different projects with my kids.  

Advisory:

I love celebrating random holidays with my advisory every day.  I highly recommend National Day Calendar, because it's both fun and educational.

It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good...

I finally feel like I am getting into the groove of things.

Routines are feeling more natural and I really feel like I am finally owning the school year.  I find myself leaving work (most days) feeling successful, accomplished, and looking forward to what the next day will bring.  This doesn't mean that every day is perfect.  In fact a few weeks ago, I left work feeling dejected because I had not one, but two 6th graders cry during math class.  This also doesn't mean that I am 100% on top of all the things things that teachers must do (parent emails, grading, etc...) but still, I leave work knowing I accomplished a lot, and proud of my hard work.  I mean, after all, if you're a teacher, there is *always* more work to do.  As happy as I am with all my new challenges pushing my thinking and practice, I think I big part of it, is simply I have more time.  My official school day  is 30 minutes less than my old school, and not commuting for an hour on the subway in the AM and PM, is amazing.

Last Friday was amazing!  My math club did their first engineering design project, my 6th graders (and I) did our first Socratic Seminar, and in art, my 6th graders discussed Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans.  Next week my 6th graders will finish their first CMP3 unit and I'll get to go on my first school trip.

Something I think is going well is using discussions in Google Classroom for my students math reflections.  In previous years, I have used Schoology, but the science teacher taught me how to do discussions via my Google Classroom page and it's been working out well.  Keeping up with grading has been hard, but I am able to give my students individual feedback on their math writing and they are able to comment on each other's thinking, so I am proud.

I am also feeling closer to my Advisory.  We did a bag project where they decorated paper bags on the outside with things that represented their outside personality, and then inside they put things that represented who they are on the inside.  I have learned so much about them, and am glad we did it.  I feel like we are slowly getting there.

A couple of things that have come up that I don't have time to go into too much detail now:

• I want to incorporate social justice into my math curriculum.  I bought this book a few years ago and would love to actually incorporate some stuff.  I might start with freerice.com.
  
• I have an iLearn account!  My amazing social studies teacher, who uses iLearn, is going to give us a PD on it next Monday, and I think it might have potential.  I watched my class today for a few minutes, and I was just so inspired, not only by by physical classroom space, but what the 7th graders were working on!  I have so much I can learn from her!
  
• I'm gonna be bring student-led conferences to my school!  I sat down with my AP and school social worker yesterday afternoon, and they are on board.  I am going to give a PD for the whole middle school staff on Election day and we are gonna make it happen for our first round of Parent-Teacher Conferences next month.  I am so excited to bring this great practice from my old school to my new one!
  
• I was introduced to Genius Hour this weekend and I think it has potential (maybe during study hall?) - I need to look more into it.
  
• I also want to look into Makerspace -  one of my 7th graders shared that he attended the NY Maker Faire a few weeks ago, and he was excited about it - another thing I need to look more into.  I also have these resources: MakerCamp, and Maker Space at NYSCI.
  
• I still want to teach my kids mindfulness and yoga.
  
• I found this NY Times article about the importance of recreational math, which is just beautiful.

So many things coming up with work that I am looking forward to.  I am really grateful that I was mindful enough last spring to know that I needed to push my thinking professionally, and then actually brave enough to make a change.  After all, "sometimes change can be scary, but life without no change at all is terrifying."  

The Joy of Work

Here we are, the last day of September!  One month down, nine more to go.  The irony is that technically, this is only our first full week of school.  I am sitting in a local coffee shop, as I usually do on Wednesday afternoons, before my meditation class, and as I reflect on the first month of school, I can't help but look back and think about this quote by Nick Offerman, from his comedy show, American Ham:

I first watched his show and heard this quote earlier this year, and man did it force me out of my comfort zone.  A few months later, I would make the decision to look for another teaching job because I was losing my joy and passion at my current job.  My old job wasn't bad, but it was time for a change.  So as the sun sets on September, here are some things I have reflected on about my life as a math (and art) teacher...

I know for a fact that I am doing more work.  How do I know this?  I am teaching/ lesson planning/ grading/ two grades, as well as two electives.  Yet somehow,I haven't fallen behind yet.  I have time to do this (yes, I know technically we're not even done with our first full week yet) but it's been work.  And yet, I find myself grateful for the fact that I am teaching new material (6th grade), and confident about what I do know (7th grade).  Routines are finally feeling more natural and I am enjoying learning new things about my students. 

Every Friday, I also get to end my work week with my Math Club and doing art!  I was terrified of being the art teacher at first, but I am having a blast (and learning quite a lot about Pop Art, I might add).  

I even enjoy lunch duty.  It gives me a chance to observe my students in a much different environment than the classroom.  For example, I have a student who would completely shut down in math class, but I noticed how she was at lunch and saw that she seemed to be good friends with another girl in the class, so the next day I moved her to a group with the her other friend, and she was much more open in class, still not 100% but much more than I had gotten before, and this is something I might not had ever known had I not observed her during lunch.

Lastly, this morning I got an email from one of my former students and it made my day!  She is doing so well and I am so proud of her, and it warmed my heart to realize that she thought of me <3

I am one lucky teacher, and I am really lucky that (at least for now) I have found "something that I can tolerate or love." 

Baselines, Lesson Timing, & Electives

I wanted to be good and squeeze in a quick post tonight...

Baselines:
The new school year has been going well.  I finished grading my student's baseline assessments today.  I'm gonna look over the data formally on Monday with my AP, but the data is definitely interesting.  I created the baselines using old state test questions, and assessed my 6th graders on 6th grade standards, and my 7th graders assessed on 7th grade standards.  I predicted that my students would do OK (I teach at a city-wide G&T) and most of them did.  I even had one student get everything right, in other words, they would have already passed the state test for this year!  That's not the case with everyone, but this is definitely a new challenge for me.  From what I've observed these first few weeks of school, most of my students will do anything I ask them, in terms of work, but I need to always have extra work.  A challenge I've had is finding that balance between really challenging their thinking, while making sure everyone is mastering the material.

Lesson Timing & Resources:
Another challenge I've encountered is changing from a 55 minute period to a 42 minute period, as well as not having the same kind of technology as my old school.  We also haven't had a full week of school yet, so that has made getting into a rhythm not easy (my brain is still on semi-summer mode) but that will change next week.

Math Club & Teaching Visual Arts:
Something that I have gotten more excited about as this year has been unfolding is having a Math Club elective and teaching Visual Arts.  It's been fun because on Fridays we teach our electives, and starting up my Math Club again is always something I look forward to.  I love my group of mathletes!  Also, the more research (aka mostly Pinterest) I do, the more excited I get about teaching art.  I even took a free painting class and free drawing class at my local Michael's earlier this week and got some good ideas!  I am learning a lot and am feeling much more confident about teaching art!

The First Six Weeks of School, Electives, & Advisory

Week 1 of the new school year is in the books, and what a year it is shaping up to be!  I know we are still in the honeymoon phase, but if the next 39 weeks are half as stress-free and fun as this, then I will be a very happy teacher come June.

Our kids found out their advisory classes today and this afternoon we had our individual first advisory periods, and I am proud to say that after three days of school, I knew all my advisee's names, which checks off the first goal from my "The First Six Weeks of School" list.  I am happy about that, and next week when we formally start to have classes, I hope to fully accomplish the other six goals.  September is so broken up this year, we only had three days this week, and the next two weeks.  Believe me, I am not complaining, but it does make planning and pacing a little challenging.

I am also happy to report that I have decided on my Visual Art elective!  At my colleagues suggestion, I have decided to go with Pop Art as my unit, partly because it's something I want to learn more about and I think it'll be fun.  (FYI my other Friday elective is Math Club, which I am super excited about).

As for Advisory today, I had my kids start working on their coat of arms (an activity that I brought over from my old school) and it was really great to see it coming together.  Earlier in the day, before we split up into advisories, my co-teacher and I had them create their own individual coat-of-arms and I was just so impressed with what they were coming up with.  It's going to be a great year!

Massive Numbers Talk & Blogging Challenge Day 2

I blog today from the Starbucks that has brought about so much change to my work life.  It was here that sent my resume to who would eventually become my new principal, after finally deciding to go for it.  I have also come here to grade and generally get work done, when I need to leave my apartment.

I just got back from a Math Encounters talk at the Math Museum by Po-Shen Loh, and was thusly inspired and think I found a great first problem for my math team this year.  He was definitely my Math Encounters presenter I've seen.  His excitement is so pure and his "teaching style" motivating.  You can read more about a similar talk he gave here.  I left loving that the beauty of math is that there is always something more to explore.  Hopefully if I actually do keep up with this blog this school year, I can share some student work.

The other thing I wanted to post about today is day 2 of the blogging challenge:    

Day 2: Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why.  You might also write about what you're hoping to see out of this edtech integration.

I am gonna cheat and share two pieces of technology that I would like to try out this year.  Both have to do with grading.  Since I am changing schools, I am losing access to the grading program we used last year, Mastery Connect.  Mastery Connect was nice because we could scan assessments easily and get data fast.  One of the pieces of technology that we might use to replace it is Zip Grade.  Another piece of technology is Jumpro.pe, to explore standards-based grading.  One of the first things shared with me about my new school was the assessment calendar, which has been helpful with planning and creating the assessments that I will be using next year.  Jumpro.pe especially will be my pet project because I have bee wanting to move to standards-based grading for a few years now, but haven't been able to fully make the jump. I hope that this year changes that.