Looking back... Looking forward...

Yet again, I have failed in my resolution to blog more often :) When I look back over previous posts I often find nuggets of wisdom that I have forgotten and that strengthens my resolve to blog, but then life happens and my daily energy falls well short of my daily to-do list. Right now I have so many posts bouncing around in my head but have struggled to put "pen to paper" and get them out there.

Looking back...
This year was a struggle for me. I moved to a new building and it had its pros and cons. There were definitely good things that happened this year, but what I missed the most was the daily interaction with my peers. For some reason, in the new building, I can go all day and only see a couple of colleagues. Contrast that with previous years when I would see a dozen or more teachers/staff members a day and the difference was extremely noticeable. However, not to focus on the negative, there were some awesome things that happened. I had the opportunity to work with the science teachers a lot more and that was a definite plus. Also, I tried SBG with my AP Stat class and in general, I liked it a lot. There are still things I need to improve on, but I'll see when the scores come out how the kids did. Overall, this year went okay and while it's not my favorite year of all time, nothing horrible happened either :)

Looking forward...
Next year is already looking promising. After a year out of Alg2, I am scheduled to have 2 sections next year and 3 of AP. My AVID students graduated this year and I don't plan to pick up a new section. I am very eager to try some new things in both Alg2 and Stat. I'm really looking forward to Twitter Math Camp in July and learning about a variety of new ideas that I want to implement, including Interactive Notebooks and Foldables. I have already started on the Exeter problems and I'm eager to incorporate more of those in my classroom. All in all, I have high hopes for this summer and next year :)

Summer List...
Last year, I didn't start my "summer list" until July, so I'm trying to get it out there earlier this year :)

Exeter Math Problems - I've started these already and am eager to use them in my classroom. I think these will fit in nicely with the CCSS implementation over the next few years.

Processes/Procedures - Last year at the AVID Summer Institute, two of our science teachers learned about Interactive Notebooks and I met with one of them this week for a few hours to talk about how to implement an INB. Part of the INB is student created output such as foldables and graphic organizers. I am very excited about these! I need to spend time this summer creating an INB to test out some ideas. I also want to tweak my warmups, closures, and as always, continue my search of the holy grail of homework :)

Professional Reading - I have several books on to "to be read" list, but one in particular that I want to read is Mathematics Formative Assessment.

Relax!! - This one should go without saying, but part of my love of summer is time to nap, read novels, and chill in the pool. This summer is no different :)

Speaking of naptime.... :)