#MyFavFriday - Favorites of 2022

 

I've made it to the last post of the #MTBoSYuleBlog Challenge!  My goal was to blog 12 times over Winter Break and today is Post 12!  I still have a few more posts to write and I'm hoping to get back into the habit, but today I'm bringing back another old series from 2012... #MyFavFriday!  

This blog series was started as an answer to "My Favorites" at TMC, where people could share some of their favorite things on Fridays.  Over the years, it morphed into a Friday reflection post, so in honor of the last Friday of 2022, here's some of my Favorites from throughout the year!

My Favorite New Home Addition

Meet Gracie!

Gracie joined our family in late June and is our 2nd cat that we've adopted from Animal Welfare, with Josie, our ringtail tabby, being the first.  Gracie was estimated to be about 6 weeks old and I'm guessing she was found in a park as her name at the shelter was Fruit Salad (her siblings were Potato Salad and Pork Chop - I'm not even kidding!)

I don't know that I've ever had a cat so human oriented though.  For the first several weeks, she would wake us up around 3am screaming her head off because she needed to go to the bathroom, so we would have to take her upstairs to the litter box.  While she thankfully sleeps through the night now, she's still into everything, loves to climb, and loves to be held.  Her favorite place to snuggle is right next to your face and often drapes herself across my neck to take a nap.

My Favorite New Classroom Addition

In February, our state used some of the federal pandemic money to give classroom grants through Donors Choose.  Teachers could apply for up to $800 of materials, so I asked for magnetic whiteboards (4' x 3') plus some markers / erasers.  These whiteboards have been a game changer for me!  We tend to get up on the boards a couple times per week, plus they allow me to easily hang things around the room, such as posters seen here for Back to School.  With these 7 boards plus my large whiteboard, I have room for up to 10 groups of students.  Earlier this fall, I also applied for a grant to get magnetic graphs, so hopefully that will be added soon!

My Favorite Classroom Hack

Since the whiteboards are magnetic, I am often hanging things up around the room, whether it's a scavenger hunt or some other resource.  Originally, I was carrying around the magnets by hand, but it was too much to juggle, so I had the idea of putting them on a cheap cookie sheet and it's been an awesome hack!

Now I just walk around my room with the cookie sheet and whatever resource I'm putting up (or taking down) and the magnets stay nice and organized.  

My Favorite Math in Nature

Last week, we had a cold front sweep through and we ended up with about 1" of snow and a bitter cold wind.  I kept watching outside my front door for our outdoor stray cats to make sure they were okay and I noticed this bizarre circle just off my front porch.  I couldn't figure out what could have made the imprint as it looked like the bottom of a plastic pail, but there were no pails in sight!  Just then, a burst of wind happened and I noticed the leaf that was stuck at the center rotating.  As a Geometry teacher, I had to snap a photo to show my students about nature's compass!  

What have been some of your favorites from 2022?