Professional Growth

At the end of this school year, my goal is to be able to say that I've grown in my role as an educator.  I want to be able to say that I am a better teacher than I was when the year started.  Even more than that, I want to say that that growth was significant.  I didn't just improve a little, but I made big changes in my teaching.

On Tuesday, when teachers were back at school but not kids yet, we spent a short time talking about evaluations and what they are going to look like this year.  One administrator said, "I'm more interested in your growth over the year, and your evidence of that growth, then where you end up on some rubric."  It was refreshing.  It was like she was saying, "I don't want you to do all the right things so that you get a good score on the evaluation.  I want you to actually grow and improve and be able to talk about that."  I liked the idea of not only growing over the year, but also being able to present evidence of that growth.  She talked about the idea of keeping a binder of our growth, to include reflections on our practice.  I decided to do it.  Then I thought how it could really help me write my blog.  Then I realized it was the same thing as my blog.  But, my blog is more high tech.  And sharable and feedback-get-able.

Still, there is something about the paper and pencil reflection that I like.  I am a journal-er by nature, and I know that writing about things is good for me.  I also have noticed that I journal in a completely different way that how I blog.  When I'm journaling, I'm not worried about the final product at all, just about getting my thoughts down.  I've gone back and read journal entries and sometimes they don't make sense.  There aren't actually grammatically correct sentences or full thoughts.  Just writing.  And there is something about that that I really like.  It feels organic and real.  When I'm blogging, though, I do think of the end product.  There is a thought in the back of my mind that someone else will read what I write, so I at least need to keep some semblance of order and structure.  It needs to be readable.  Even when I try to ignore that, and pretend I'm just journaling, I can't really shake the thought.  Typing is different than paper and pencil writing.  I need to go back and fix the spelling because that red line drives me nuts.  And I need to write in complete sentences and use the correct punctuation.

So, I don't know what I'll do.  I'm not willing to stop blogging.  I love the idea of being able to show someone my blog and say, "Look - I've grown, and you can read about the whole process.  It's not just a before and after, it's all the middle parts, too.  You can see all my struggle and effort and not just the final result."  I'm just deciding if blogging alone is enough, or if some paper and pencil reflecting might make this more valuable.  I don't know yet.  

First Day! (Kinda)

Well, today is my first day back at work.  The students won't be here until next Monday.  Today is mostly about meetings, and we're currently on a lunch break.

We started off the morning reconnecting.  We spent some time playing games.  The same game which our incoming Freshmen played a week ago during our Summer Bridge program.  It was awesome.  Have you ever seen 25 adults playing Fruit Salad?  It's a blast.  We also got into small groups, were given props, and had about 10 minutes to come up with a skit about what we did over the summer.

The skits were hilarious!  I laughed so hard.  For about a second, I thought in the back of my mind about how much more could be getting done right now.  I mean, teachers always feel like they have no time, right?  But, that thought didn't last long.  I think the connecting and the fun was a great start to the day and a great start to a week of thinking ahead.

Once we reconvened for some more serious discussion, I pulled out my phone to text my husband (I know, during a presentation, I'm worse than the kids) "I love this school.  I work with some awesome people."

The next portion of our morning we looked at data about the past year, revisited the school goals and our progress, and talked about some changes in the upcoming year.  It really made me think of the big picture, and the overall idea about how our school functions.

My school is a small, charter school that isn't a part of a district.  It was founded by 3 teachers who wanted to create something unique.   I'm starting my second year, and what a journey it has been.  After I graduated, I taught in a big district on the other side of town.  Then I decided I wanted something different, and I am amazed at how different this place is.  The kids who attend lead different lives.  The staff have different ideas about what success is.   The overall feel of both schools is like night and day.

I've decided that neither one is "good," while the other one is "bad."  They both have pros and cons, both have things that they do well and things they need improvement on.  Both want to provide the best for their students.

What I like about this school, though, is that I feel like I get to be a part of that process.  Almost to a fault.  The administration wants to hear my ideas, wants be to contribute to the school outside of my classroom, and wants me to feel valued.  I love that.

First Day Plans

I'll be teaching Algebra 1 and Geometry this year, just like last year.  (I'm going into my 5th (!) year of teaching, and this is the first year I'll be teaching the same thing as last year.)

I'm planning on leaving much of Geometry how it is, and I want to try to change up Algebra quite a bit.  Part of it is changing over to Common Core.  Part of it is that I really like Algebra, and I think I can make it so much more than it was this past year.

So, to introduce the class, we're going to start off with a problem!  Yes, math - math that requires you to think - on the first day.  I'm stoked.

I uploaded the handout I created on Scribd, and here's the link.  I don't know how to embed the document here.  Can anyone help me?

Anyway - I am planning on modeling one example for my students, and then setting them free.  I created cards with various patterns, all with simple expressions like 2x + 3, and am going to give a different one to each group.  Then I'll have them share their patterns and expressions with the class.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Blogging Again

So, here I am again - at the start of a new school year with another resolution to blog about it.  I did pretty good at the beginning of last year, but stopped before too long.  I just didn't make time for it.

But, let's try again.  I believe that blogging and reflecting about my teaching is worth it.  Reading "math teacher blogs" has been one of the best things I could have done to improve my teaching, and they all say the same thing - start your own blog! You'll learn even more!

Anyway - this new commitment to blogging stems from two things. 1) I also was recently inspired to restart my personal blog, and I can't write and reflect about my personal life without wanting to write and reflect on my teaching life.  2) I started poking around on this website:  Welcome to the Mathtwitterblogsphere.  Apparently, I can be a part of the math teacher community, too!

Algebra Tiles

I love them!

I had my Algebra kids color and cut their own set one day.  It took a full day (90 minutes!) in the classroom, and then some more at home for some kids. (1)

But, even with the loss of that teaching time, I think the benefits of Algebra Tiles are so worth it!

I like having something concrete to refer to when dealing with the abstracted-ness of algebra.  I like having something to point to when handing out rules (2) like "5h and -4 can't be added" and "5h and -4 can be multiplied, and the answer has an h in it" and "a number with parentheses next to it means multiply that number by everything inside the parentheses"

Most kids don't need but one or two examples with the tiles, and then they're good to go with the "symbol version" as we call it.  But, I like having them out, and having the kids know how to use them, so a) I can refer back to them when a kid is struggling and b) kids have a way of checking the correctness of their answers without me.

I spent a long time with these algebra kids doing some basic stuff, like integer operations.  When we started working with variables, I was a little worried.  But, the truth is, they've done extremely well with it, and we're moving along faster than I anticipated.  I love it.


(1) Mostly, I think kids were milking it, and taking advantage of the non-math time!
(2) I don't actually "hand out" these rules!  We spend time making sense of them, Algebra Tiles or not.

Teacher Standards Focus

My principal gave me a list of ten teacher standards.  She said she wanted every teacher to focus on standard #7 this year, and she also wanted me to read through them and pick two others that I personally would like to focus in on this year.

This is part of my annual teacher evaluation, BTW.  I really like this approach to evaluations, I'll have to write a post about that soon....

For this post, though, here are the standards I'll be focusing on this year:

#3: Learning Environments.  The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation.

#5: Application of Content.  The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.

#7: Planning for Instruction.  The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.

More to follow, including a self-reflection on where I am now, and how I plan to move forward in these areas this year.

Confession

I asked a student to stay after class the other day so we could discuss her behavior in my class.  I ended up getting so frustrated that I yelled at her.

Stuck with me all day, and I just wanted to confess it.