I have the great pleasure of introducing some of these amazing new bloggers to you. Please take a moment, read through the submissions, and leave a comment to welcome them to our community. As we all know, a comment from a reader can really brighten our day. :)
Kevin Krenz - Rational Limits
Kevin Krenz (@kevin_krenz) has a blog named "Rational Limits". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "[NBI] Focus on culture" and the author sums it up as follows: "Last year I learned (the hard way) that I cannot develop a classroom culture from the top down. It must be a collaborative and conscious effort. This year I plan on having students help decide on our values, class mission, and design of the physical space."A memorable quotation from the post is: "I can help guide the development of our culture and be intentional about which values are emphasized, but I cannot create it on my own."
My thoughts... Kevin hits the nail on the head here. Our classrooms should be welcoming, warm places, but sometimes we forget that we, as the teacher, are not the only person that we are designing for. Helping students to recognize that they also have a huge role in developing the classroom culture is key.
LeeAnn Zlomek - The Algebra Toolbox
LeeAnn Zlomek (@lazlomek) has a blog named "The Algebra Toolbox". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "My favorite unit - Linear Functions" and the author sums it up as follows: "I teach mostly freshmen in my Algebra I class at the high school and adults in the developmental algebra class at the community college. I use these activities (hot seat, desk hop, matching cards, foldable, songs) with both groups and they are very engaged!"A memorable quotation from the post is: "I’ve had a couple of students make me t-shirts with the equation on it so that I don’t have to get the tattoo."
My thoughts... One word - WOW!! LeeAnn has shared a goldmine of ready to print activities for linear equations. I think my laminator will be quite busy this weekend!! :)
Maggie Acree - pitoinfinity
Maggie Acree (@pitoinfinity8) has a blog named "pitoinfinity". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "It’s Official – I’m Whiteboarding! (Blog Challenge, Week 1, #3)" and the author sums it up as follows: "My post is about my quest to begin Whiteboarding. Along with this, I included other strategies I plan to implement along with Whiteboarding to have more student led experiences in my classroom."A memorable quotation from the post is: "I am excited to be Whiteboarding this year and excited to continue to read blog posts on how well it goes."
My thoughts... I love all posts about whiteboarding. For some reason, kids so much more willing to try something on a whiteboard than on their paper. Errors can be whisked away easily, so kids are willing to take more risks with the unknown. I can't wait to get my large whiteboards made so I can try this too!
Ana Fox Chaney - Make Math
Ana Fox Chaney (@AnaFoxC) has a blog named "Make Math". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "What do we do when we do math?" and the author sums it up as follows: "Why do we do math but make music? Doing is for things that have already been figured out and making is the verb for new things. Shouldn't students make math of their own - create and own the math they use rather than re-do the math they've seen done?"A memorable quotation from the post is: "Many adults seem to feel this way – that is, weirdly cowed by the whole discipline of mathematics – like it’s looking down on them, waiting for them to show weakness."
My thoughts... I have to admit, I had to read Ana's posts a few times and let it slowly sink in. Every time I read it, I found another detail that I had missed the time before. Ana's point about the verb of "doing" vs "making" really hit home. What would happen if we did more "making" instead of just "doing" in our classrooms? I think this post will be the starting point for many deep conversations this week with my colleagues!
Cindy W - findingEMU
Cindy W (@finding_EMU) has a blog named "findingEMU". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "Reflections: Why "findingEmu?"" and the author sums it up as follows: "Why did I choose such a goofy name? What does it mean about me as a teacher?"A memorable quotation from the post is: "I don't want the "I can do it!" math, I want the deep comprehension down in their core that builds and branches off from what they DO really know and understand."
My thoughts... I have to admit, I was wondering at first why Cindy was blogging about Emus, but then I contined to read and realized she was talking about "Enduring Mathematical Understanding". Every teacher struggles with this idea - how can we help students OWN the material rather than RENT the material? I look forward to watching Cindy's journey as she helps her students develop EMUs :)
Nathan Kraft - Out Rockin' Constantly
Nathan Kraft (@nathankraft1) has a blog named "Out Rockin' Constantly". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "I Still Suck at Teaching (and how I'm going to fix that)" and the author sums it up as follows: "I am implementing two new assessment and teaching strategies this year: standards-based grading and three act lessons."A memorable quotation from the post is: "I'd like to thank Dan Meyer, Steve Leinwand, Fawn Nguyen, and Andrew Stadel who, through their expertise and great ideas, have proven to me that I still suck at teaching."
My thoughts... Nothing like a sucker punch to start your day. Nathan's raw honesty really hits home with me this morning. As he points out in his post, as soon as I think I have something figured out, I look at the amazing teachers I've met through the online community and realize how much I really suck at this. I think we all have those moments and while it may not be something that often gets mentioned, it is something that goes through each of our heads on a regular basis. Thank you to Nathan for reminding me that my daily goal should be to "suck a little bit less than I did yesterday."
Christy Wood - Hands on Math in High School
Christy Wood (@wyldbirman) has a blog named "Hands on Math in High School". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "Why I Blog" and the author sums it up as follows: "My post is about why I started blogging and what I am focusing on this year. I have been applying things I have learned from other bloggers into my own practice."A memorable quotation from the post is: "At what point did we begin thinking that students can't benefit from manipulatives?"
My thoughts... Let me just say, I <3 Christy! I found her blog way back in the summer because she had pinned one of my blog posts on pinterest. Her passion for making math fun and interesting and hands-on is one of the things that drew me toward her. We have visited several times via twitter and I really look forward to learning from her this year.
Aaron C. - Random Teaching Tangents
Aaron C. (@CarpGoesMoo) has a blog named "Random Teaching Tangents". The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled "New Blogger Initiation 1" and the author sums it up as follows: "Who needs control groups and only tinkering with a single variable at a time? I plan to change a lot of my practices this year in order to become more efficient and less frustrated/stressed teacher. I'd rather ride the current tidal wave of paradigm shifts in education than get sucked under ..."A memorable quotation from the post is: "To stay in this game another two decades, I’ve got to stop getting by and start meaningfully impacting some lives. Ambitious, right?"
My thoughts... Aaron sums it up well in the quotation about ambition. I love his willingness to tinker with the things that didn't work for him last year and try something new. Aaron is a blogger to watch - he definitely is not satisfied with the status quo. :)
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