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.

Khan Academy & Make it Stick

The last day of our Restore 360 training

I can't believe that there is only one month of summer break left!  My Instagram feed is full of fellow teachers (outside of NYC) who are busy getting their classrooms ready for the new school year.  I am definitely not there mentally yet, but I have been keeping busy this summer.  Two weeks ago I participate in a week-long professional learning on restorative practices in grades 9 - 12 on building belonging, Restore 360, through the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, which I cannot wait to do with my advisory this year.

Last week I participated in two Algebra for All two-day electives, and am pretty sure I found my new 1st day of school activity for this year, Hashi Puzzles!  I need to flush it out a little more, but I think it will be awesome.

After two weeks of going to professional learnings, I am looking forward to sleeping in again - I mean, it is still my summer break after all.  I have also been working through the Edpuzzle Online Professional Development.  I finished Levels 1 & 2 and hope to start Coach & Flipped this week.  My principal also reached out to me this past week about helping out during our summer PD during the last week of August.  I will be leading the ice breakers during two of the days and a session on parent engagement.  The parent engagement session I am fine with, but anyone who knows me, knows I am not the biggest fan of adult ice breakers (insert eye roll here), but after thinking about it, I was able to come up with some ideas that I actually really like.  I haven't fully planned them out yet, but  hope to incorporate some of my Restore 360 practices, as well as some reflection from the MfA Summer Think a few weeks ago.     

My current summer read

In addition to Restore 360 and Algebra for All, I have also been keeping up with my summer goal of reading one math/teaching book for every two books that I read just for fun.  Today I started, Make it Stick.

The reason I decided to post just now though has to do with Khan Academy.  Since math teaching and learning goes hand-in-hand, I decided this summer to work through all the 8th grade and Algebra 1 math skills.  I have currently reached 81% mastery in 8th grade math and 24% mastery in Algebra 1 and hope to keep up with it and continue to work through Geometry, Algebra 2, Trig, etc as the school year goes on.

Just now, I was working through the Number of Solutions to Equations Challenge which basically

Khan Academy 

has to do with generalizing what you know about linear equations to determine if there are 0, 1, or infinitely many solutions to the system (I screen shot one of the questions on the right), and at first I hated the questions because I was going about actually solving them, but the more I worked through them, I realized that I didn't really need to solve them, but generalize what I know must be true for linear equations to have 0, 1, or many solutions.  Yes, this was something I already knew, but never really thought too deeply about.  Even though I understand and can make sense of linear systems of equations, working through these problems gave me the opportunity to really build on my prior knowledge and do some learning, which totally connects to what I have just started reading about in Make it Stick, that learning is "...acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available from memory so you can make sense of future problems and opportunities" (page 2).  Another connection I made from working though these problems just now and Make it Stick, is that it was an example of elaboration or "...the process of giving new material meaning by expressing it in your own words and connecting it with what you already know" (page 5).

I hope the next four weeks are just as full of relaxing, learning, and growing!