#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?

My Favorite Friday - #MTBoSBlausut Day 5

 

Y'all, I've already messed up on my Blaugust plans!  Every year, I have hoped that I could get every day in August and every year, I have failed.  But that's okay!  What's important is that we get up and try again!!

Yesterday was our first 1/2 day back at work, then we report again on Monday.  I honestly thought I would come home and work on my pacing calendars and take some time to blog about what I learned yesterday at our ACT training, but I just wasn't feeling it!  Instead, I grabbed my Kindle and did some reading.  Why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow, right? :)

In honor of the Friday, I am doing a My Favorite Friday post!  Years ago, at Twitter Math Camp, one of the best parts of the day was the "My Favorites" where people would get up and share 5-10 minutes of something in their practice that was a favorite.  From there, it turned into some blog posts to share just little blurbs of things you've enjoyed over the week...

My Favorite #1 - My Course Schedule!

Check it out!  I get to teach Stat again!! :)

I had taught AP Stat for 21 years at my own school, so one of the first questions I had for my new school was whether they had a stat program (NO) and if not, could we start one? (YES!)

So when it came time for enrollment, I knew I would have a few interested in taking stat, but when I received my rosters today, I have *25* enrolled in a non-AP Stat course!  Wowsers!

My hope / goal is to build the program this year and maybe next year be able to have both an on-level and an AP Stat course, but I'm so excited to be teaching Stat again!  I started mapping out my curriculum this week and I think it's going to be a really fun class.  I've never taught non-AP, so it will be some trial and error, but it's nice to know that I don't have a test looming over me in May!

The rest of my schedule is pretty nice as well - I have 3 Honors Geometry classes and 2 on-level Geometry classes.  It's going to be a good year!

My Favorite #2 - TI's new printables!

Have y'all seen the most adorable new freebies from TI (Texas Instruments)?  

Printable Stickers

Printable Posters

Printable Coloring Sheets

Now, don't get me wrong - the hold that TI has on the market has me just as floored as every other math teacher out there, but I am a sucker for cute things and the positive affirmations that go with math / calculators are just the cutest.  I might have already printed some of them for my classroom! :)

What have been some of your favorites this week?

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If you are interested in joining in the #MTBoSBlaugust fun, here's a post with some prompts to help you out!  The idea is just to blog / micro-blog during August to help us focus and reflect on the year ahead.  Please tag your post on Social Media with the hashtag #MTBoSBlaugust so we can support you in your blogging journey!

I ♥️ Desmos

Years ago, I did a this thing called My Favorite Friday.  I haven't done it for years, but my favorite thing right now is Desmos.

Since March, Desmos has been my #1 go-to for Distance Learning lessons and still connecting with my students.

We've been in Distance Learning this year for 2 weeks (we are pivoting back to in-person next week, but that's a whole 'nother story), and I could not have made it through these two weeks without Desmos at my side. 

This year is a year like no other and I had already committed to blogging more regularly about my learnings, but then today, even more amazing Desmos things started happening!

My Current Favorite Desmos Hack:

So I had this brilliant Desmos Hack that has really saved me a ton of time overall... 

The first screen of the Desmos AB asks students to select their class hour, then I can use the summary screen to mark attendance sorted by hour.  Last year, I had them enter their name as "4 Name" so I could sort by name on the Dashboard, but I really like this MC question better overall.

One reason why I love it is that I can give feedback to all 3 classes during the same activity without switching between dashboards.  I was so excited to share this hack with you, but then I got home tonight, ready to blog and went to my Desmos to take some screen shots when I noticed it didn't look right...


New Desmos Feature:

Do you spy what I spy??? 

OMG - Desmos now has classes!!!  Of course, now I have my kids trained after 2 weeks, so I'm going to have to figure out how to best use this, but I am excited to explore it!

One feature that I'm hopeful this has when I explore it is a better co-teacher management system as I do team-teach and depending on which one of us created the activity, the dashboard access is clunky.  I'm hopeful that this will allow us both access to the files for our shared class without a ton of emails back and forth sharing links to activities

More New Features?!?!?

What?!?!?  Now when you add a "note", you can use italics, bold, or add a link??  I can't tell you how many times this week alone, I had wished for a way to easily add emphasis to a Desmos Activity - I swear Eli and his team are reading our minds!  You can read more about this new feature on the Desmos website.

One thing about new features in Desmos is that they are often not advertised, so when you find them, it's like this fun hidden treasure!

Earlier this week, I was giving feedback to a Desmos activity (which I absolutely LOVE the Desmos Feedback feature), and I just happened to notice that little arrow... hmm, what does this do??

OMG - I can edit / delete now?!?!? 

Game changer!!!  I can't tell you how often I would make a typo or hit enter too soon - this is a HUGE thing for me! :)


My Favorite Question this week:

One of the things I had planned to share today before finding all of the fun new features was this question that I had added to a Desmos Activity earlier this week.

My students were supposed to try this AP Free Response problem, then I asked them to check themselves against the sample student responses on AP Central and to reflect on their answers.  The number of students who mentioned things about being specific, using good vocabulary, etc was just an absolute highlight of my week.


So major thanks to Eli, the Desmos team, all Desmos fellows, and the absolute love and care that each of you put into making Desmos better every day. 

#MyFavFriday - Sharing some Love

How are we already two weeks into the new semester? 

Third quarter traditionally is the slowest for me, but I suspect that won't be the case this year as every couple of weeks I have something on my calendar... a day off, professional development, enrollment, parent conferences, then spring break!  It's going to be important to slow down and just be present in the moment, cherishing those times with my students and colleagues, as before we know it, this year will be gone and my kiddos will be moving on to the next chapter in their lives.

As part of being present and really appreciating those around me, I wanted to do a #MyFavFriday shoutout to a few special people and their thoughtfulness over the past month..

Upper left - One of my Geometry students is extremely artistic and has been an absolute delight to have in class.  During the last week of school in December, while trying to study for finals, he decided to create custom shrinky dink lapel pins for all of his teachers.  Mine is a ladybug, of course! :)  I don't recall what he made for each teacher, but every one was individualized based on that teacher's likes and/or subject matter. 

Upper right - One of my colleagues was also super crafty in December, making these custom keyring lanyards.  I have had one of those stretch coil keyrings for years, but this lanyard is quickly becoming one of my favorite things!  I love that it's easy to loop around my arm and easy to find when I set down my keys in my classroom :)

Lower left - One of my Forensic Science kids was absent for a week as she had gone to visit family in India. Upon her return, she came in after school to make up a lab and we started visiting about her trip, including the food.  The next day, she brings me this baggie of homemade traditional Indian snack foods - how precious is that??

Lower right - Another colleague and I have a shared love for pens - I mean, seriously, can you be a teacher without loving a good set of colored pens?? :)  But this was my very first stand up pen caddy and I have to say that I love it!!  It's the perfect size to hold about 15 pens and so convenient on my desk without being obtrusive.  Definitely one of my favorite new additions to my desk this semester!

#MyFavFriday - September is Zooming By!

Holy moly - how has another week gone by?  I was looking at my Lesson Plan book today and and it's only like 3 weeks until Fall Break! 

This was another great week overall.  It went super fast, probably because it was packed from top to bottom with meetings, Meet the Teacher night, and a to-do list a mile long! :)  This weekend is shaping up to be a weekend of grading, so if you have any favorite TV binges, please let me know! :)

Now, on to this week's favorites...

My Favorite Warm-Up Activity

This week in Geometry, we've been working on Angles and angle pairs.  One thing that I've noticed over the years is that students struggle with using a protractor and often don't take the time to make sure their answer makes sense.  I found this Angle Game at NRICH last year and decided to do it as a warm-up the day after we refreshed on measuring angles.  The energy in the room was electrifying!  A student insisted I capture the picture on the left when they nailed the angle exactly.  Best part of it all?  I caught one of my students playing this later on in the week because it's just that addictive! :)


My Favorite Downtime Moment

Typically, the Puzzle Table has a puzzle of some sort.  But this week, I put out the little hexagon things that someone from the #MTBoS shared about a few years ago and wow, what a response!  Every day, there were people crowded around the Puzzle Place just to build and play and explore.  My favorite was probably the little fidget spinner / top that a student made as seen on the right side of the photo.  This week, Aldi has some building toys that might show up in the Puzzle Place sometime in the near future - assuming I make it to Aldi this weekend! :)  (Note - I have no idea what these toys are called - I purchased some at the Target Dollar Spot a few years ago)


My Favorite New Technology

This summer, I blogged about a RocketBook hack but it was still theoretical at the time.  It is no longer theoretical and it has transformed my classroom! 

I printed a blank Rocketbook page, laminated it, then cut out the inside.  I then set up the RocketBook app to send files to a folder on my Google Drive that I shared with my students.  Each day, I put the homework and notes inside the frame, color in the correct circle, and the App does the rest!  It pretty much instantly sends the file to Drive and my students have access to the daily notes for when they are absent and complete homework solutions to check their daily work.  This frame just lives on my whiteboard with a magnetic clip and I use my desk as a background surface before taping the work into my notebook.  My kids have responded very well to this and have thanked me for making it so easy to get their notes / homework! :)


My Favorite Lab of the Week

This week in Forensic Science, we were talking about types of evidence - direct vs circumstanstial, physical vs biological, and class vs individual evidence.  We found a lab activity online and modified it for our class. Students had to go from station to station, reading the case file informtion and examining the evidence to classify by type.  In the station at the right, paint chips were taken from a "crime scene" and a paint can was recovered from the suspect's garage.  Students had to determine if the paint chips could be matched to the paint can or not and justify it.  The conversations were so awesome to listen to!  Other stations included footprints, tire tracks, a handwritten note, a torn t-shirt, etc.  Next year, we plan to add a couple more stations like a carpet sample / fibers, tool marks, and bite mark analysis. 


My Favorite Interactions this week

• Last night was "Meet the Teacher" at our school and one of the best comments came at the end of the night, when a parent stayed after to tell me that her son had come home and told her, "Mom!  You have to follow my math teacher on Instagram!"  The mom is an Early Childhood Teacher and we had a wonderful chat about student engagement strategies and our mutual passion for teaching and learning.  
• One of my students wrote me a note this week to thank me for emailing their dad a positive note home.  I have started emailing 5-6 parents each weekend with a Student Shout Out and the feedback I've received has been very positive.  :)
• During a passing period today, a former student was walking by with a friend and got a "high five".  After they passed, I heard the friend say "I got my high five earlier today!"
• A couple of first hour students were in my room early today.  One of them decided I needed some "pump you up" music and proceeded with a dance party in my room for 30 minutes before school.  It was an interesting mix of music as he tried to find school appropriate songs on his playlist which included "Staying Alive" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"! LOL

How was your week?

Until next time - Happy Friday!! :)

#MyFavFriday - Good Things are Happening!

How is it already mid-September and I've failed to blog since #MTBoSBlaugust ended???

Back to school this year has been rough!  I LOVE my kids and I've had the same preps for the past 3 years, but we changed our bell schedule this year, so that has taken some adjustment plus very full classes means more papers to shuffle and honestly I'm just trying to keep up on a daily basis!  Good things are happening though and that's the thing to keep in mind! 


My Favorite Homework Response

This year, I am checking HW a bit differently.  In the past, I have taken the first few minutes of class to go over HW but it often seemed like a waste of time.  This year, I am having students discuss their HW at their tables, compare answers, and check with my solutions (uploaded via Rocketbook - OMG, LOVE!!!), while I walk around eavesdropping on their conversations so I know what topics to talk about as a whole group.  I have really loved the conversations that have happened and reading their responses, but I also know that next year I will assign group roles to this to help with mangement and leadership.  Any suggestions on group roles?? :)


My Favorite Exit Ticket Prompt

Back to School brings with it new students, new names to remember, and new opportunities to make connections.  In general, my Friday exit ticket this year has two parts - a "getting to know you" prompt and a "One Good Thing" prompt (shoutout to the amazing @RebeckaMozdeh).  I love this with huge puffy heart loves!  For the Fun Fact, I learned that one of my students is on a Curling team, another student has 9 3/4 fingers, another student travelled Europe last year, etc.  It was such a fun way to get to know something about them beyond the classroom.  The OGT allows us to celebrate small and large victories, from "I survived this week" to "I learned I was a National Merit Semi-Finalist". 


My Favorite AP Stat Activity of the Week

This week in AP Stat, we wrapped up the "Collecting Data" unit with the Distracted Driver activity based on an activity years ago from NCSSM and an AP Free Response question.  The idea was to develop what statistical signficance means plus an introduction to the idea of a p-value and the 5% level of signficance.  One of the things I love about this activity is that it truly builds a deep understanding of using simulated results to know whether something is unusual.  But from a purely human side, it's really fun to watch students try to figure out how to shuffle a deck of playing cards, as game nights were something very common in my family growing up.  :) :)


My Favorite Geometry Activity of the Week

There were so many awesome moments happening this week in Geometry and honestly, we were so engaged that I forgot to take a picture more often than not!!

But one thing that remained the same throughout the week was how much I just enjoyed eavesdropping.  I know that sounds weird, but there were some powerful mathematial discussions going on this week in Geometry!  From students working through an "Around the Room" multiple choice activity from Katrina Newell to arguing over the math in the Wild Wonders Amusement Park to helping each other find patterns in midpoints, the level of collaboration and engagement was one that I just wanted to bottle up and keep for the days that we aren't feeling it.  I could literally watch each child this week as they grew as mathematicians and it was just beautiful.  I know that is sappy, but true :)


My Favorite New Parent Outreach
Last weekend, I ran across this tweet from Lauren Johnson about sending home parent emails each week.  Last year, one of my goals was increased parent communication and I wanted to do more this year.  Lauren's email came and just the right time!  Last weekend, I sent out 6 "Student Shout Out" emails and this morning I sent out 7 more.  I am *LOVING* this idea to just send a quick email to the parents about their child and I have no idea why I didn't do it before!  The responses I've gotten back from parents have been so positive and I just can't say enough good about this method. :)  Thank you Lauren!!!



This was our first 5 day week of the year and I'm exhausted by excited about the fun yet to come!  I hope all of you have a blessed weekend!!

Happy Belated Friday!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Goodbye August!

This month, I am participating in a blogging challenge called #MTBoSBlaugust.  To read posts from other participants, click on the logo above.

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Tis the end of another year of #MTBoSBlaugust.  I am so grateful to all of those who participated this year, either through blogs, Instagram, or as a commenter / cheerleader for others!  I didn't post quite as often this month as I had hoped to, but this is post 14 of the month, which is almost more than I've posted in the past year, so I'm counting that as a win! :)

As is often the case, this post is serving as my #MyFavFriday post, even though it's Saturday. :)  To be honest, by the time Friday night rolls around, I'm often too exhausted to post and I am often crashed out on the couch before 7pm.  This week was no exception!  I'm so grateful that it's the holiday weekend so I can hopefully catch up on some sleep and maybe attempt to get ahead for the next week.  I'm not holding my breath on that one though... lol! :)

So here we go... my favorite moments of this week :)

My Favorite Student Comment:

I am trying really hard this year to be better about Exit Tickets and Closure activities.  Right now, I'm still in "Getting to Know You" mode, so the question on Monday was "What is a goal you have?  It could be about this class, your personal life, your future, etc."  This student chose to share their mindset goal for math!

Last week, I tried really hard to impress on the students that they ARE math people and we can ALL improve through hard work.  We watched videos from Jo Boaler's Week of Inspirational Math and did several mathematical challenges to show that speed isn't our goal - understanding is.


My Favorite MTBoS Resource:

In all of my classes, I really try to focus on group communication and exploration before we formalize.  Points, lines, and planes are really tough for students to grasp, even though I know they have heard those terms before.  Before teaching anything about those concepts, I used this matching activity from Katrina Newell as their warmup.

This group really engaged with the activity with "all hands in".  When we started the activity, I did do a quick reminder of what they had worked on the previous week with regard to what makes good group work and how to be a good group member.  This also made a good formative assessment for me plus an illustration of how mistakes help our brains grow.  Looking back, I wish I had repeated the activity a few days later to see if they were able to do it without errors...


My Favorite PD Day:

The Friday before Labor Day has traditionally been a PD Day for our district.  For the past several years, it has also been our District Back to School Rally.

Rally Day is always a fun one because we get to celebrate the start of a new year with our band, a fun surprise entrance from our Superintendent, and usually a great keynote speaker.  This year's keynote was one of the best ones we've had and I'm super excited that two of his books are on Kindle Unlimited, so I'll be able to read them for free with my subscription. :)



My Favorite Quote:

The keynote speaker I mentioned above kept us laughing during the entire presentation, but he also dropped some major truth bombs.  

The quote at the right is from his presentation - our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness.  Think about that for a minute.  Profound, isn't it?

From a teacher perspective, what if we stopped focusing on those little details that drive us crazy about our students and started seeing those as strengths?  As elements that make each child unique and wonderful?  Stop trying to get our students to conform and instead accept the weirdness?  Think about the powerful shift that could take place in our classrooms and our schools.  

This idea really captivated me during the entire talk and I even came home and made hubby watch a couple of the videos I found.  (If you would like to watch one of them, click here)



And there ya have it - my last post of MTBoS Blaugust 2019.  And Happy belated Friday to all!

#MTBoSBlaugust - Back to School!

This month, I am participating in a blogging challenge called #MTBoSBlaugust.  To read posts from other participants, click on the logo above.

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Whew!!!  What a week!  Kids came on Tuesday and I feel like I've been running ever since.  I am hopeful that this weekend allows me to get ahead and be proactive versus the being reactive like I was all this week!

Anyway, I know it's not Friday anymore, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open last night to blog, so we'll pretend it's Friday, k? :)



Student Information Google Form:

I tried something new this year and *I LOVE IT* :)  Before school started, I was on a panel during New Teacher Trainig to talk about classroom culture and building relationships.  One of my colleagues mentioned a blog he had read this summer talking about "A Million Words or Less".  I stole his idea, asked about it a bit on twitter, read a bit more about it, and here's what I did.

Last Friday, before kids arrived, I emailed all of the parents to introduce myself, share about school supplies, and to invite them to tell me about their kiddo via a Google Form.  The form had 6 questions - name, student's name, course, best time to contact the parent, and then two questions about their student - personal and academic.  The responses have been so insightful and I have really appreciated having that extra information as I get to know the students.  I will never start school without this again!  It was a way to establish some positive parent contact plus collect valuable information.


Quotes from Kids:

Throughout this week, I have been *so* impressed by my students!  In Geometry, we watched several of Jo Bolaer's mindset videos and the kids had some amazing insights.  In Advisory, we watched a couple of videos on grit and determination and the reflections were just powerful.

The picture at the left is from one of my Advisory kiddos..

From another Advisory kiddo with regard to playing the guitar:
"No, I was not born with it; I put in the work to get good. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's a struggle. I don't let it stop me. I keep going. That is what made me good."

From a Geometry student: "Math is like... cooking for the first time by yourself, you mess up but you'll learn"

From another Geometry student regarding the Jo Boaler Week 1, Video 5:
"In order to succeed you need to learn and in order to learn you have to make mistakes."


Favorite Lessons:

In Stat, my "go-to" first day lesson is Kristen Gilbert. I have used her since I first read about it years ago in the book, Numbers behind Numb3rs. It's the story of a nurse who was suspected of killing her patients and it has a fabulous statistical side to it! Highly recommend reading about her if you've never heard of Kristen. :)

In Geometry, I love love love 31-derful as a way to talk about Group Norms and that it's okay to make mistakes and try new ideas. This year, I also found the 16 Quadrilaterals task, which was another great task for persevereance. It will come in handy when we look at area and perimeter in the first chapter too! :)

In Forensics, we did a great timeline activity, but I forgot to get a picture of it! :(


So, there's week one in a nutshell. I need a nap... :)


Hope you had a great week!

#MTBoSBlaugust - It's Friday!

This month, I am participating in a blogging challenge called #MTBoSBlaugust.  To read posts from other participants, click on the logo above.

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It's Friday and the first (partial) week of school is done!!! :)  We reported Wednesday and it's been a super busy week of meetings, visiting with colleagues, and cleaning / organizing my classroom.

For the past few years, I've done a "My Favorite Friday" post as a way to reflect on the week and to focus on the positive reasons that create our "why".  Last year, I fell off the blogging wagon around mid-October and as a result, there was much of the year that I didn't spend time in reflection and celebrating victories.  I definitely want to bring back #MyFavFriday this year though!

So here we go...

My Favorite Classroom Decoration

To be honest, it's *really* difficult for me to choose a favorite part of my classroom.  From the Puzzle Table to the walls, to my desk area, I'm constantly reminded of my #MTBoS family.  But if I had to choose a favorite new addition, it woud have to be this corner :)

Three things I love in this corner...
1)  The Women in STEM posters are just absolutely gorgeous!
2)  The Puzzle Place got a make-over with new wall puzzles to encourage more problem solving
3)  The "How to be a Math Person" poster finally got printed and put on my podium.


My Favorite Gifts

I received two lovely gifts this week that really shows how well the givers know me! :)

This afternoon, a colleague down the hall brought me this amazing mug and said she saw it and thought of me.  If you don't know me very well, I can easily get stressed and I do love my cats.  In fact, one of my cats came from this colleague and that very cat woke me up this morning at 3:30am and wouldn't let me go back to sleep! :)

This morning, I had a parent stop by with a gift from her son who is now in college.  I was so extremely touched that he took the time to write me a note and send a gift during the back to school craziness when he is getting ready to start classes himself.


My Favorite Hack of a  Hack

My last blog post was about a Rocketbook Hack that I figured out and how I plan to use it in my classroom.

But wait - there's more! :)

That night, I was laying in bed, almost asleep, when I had a "moment".  I literally sat up in bed to share my moment with hubby (who was NOT as impressed as he should have been).

I realized that I could use my Rocketbook frame and assign one of the icons at the bottom to go to a Google folder for Student Work.  Then, as students are working, I could put the frame on their whiteboard, on their notebook, on their notes, whatever and easily send it to my computer / projector and share with the class!  I can't wait to try it with students!!!

Oh - just to note, the laminated page worked fine at home, but had a glare issue at school.  I ended up printing the RB page on white cardstock, cutting out the inside and putting the frame into a non-glare sheet protector - problem solved!!!


And a statue...

The statue at the left is Hector.  I have the pleasure of hosting Hector in my room for the next month as the teacher equivalent of the Spirit Stick. :)  I was awarded Hector on Wednesday as a sign of a "True Trojan" by a dear friend and colleague.

While I don't get to keep Hector, I did want to be able to remember him, so he's now a #MyFavFriday :)


Now it's time for the weekend and some rest before the kids come next week!  Happy Friday y'all!!!

#MyFavFriday - Fall has arrived!

It's hard to believe that we are two months into this year and already 1/4 of the way done.  Fall weather has finally arrived, which makes it difficult to get dressed, but I am ready for some tall boots and blanket scarves!  I love the Fall colors and the crisp days, but I really hate the lack of daylight... :(  I need my sunshine!

This week was our first week back from Fall Break, so it definitely was a "hamster on a wheel" week as we all adjusted to being back in school.  To top it off, we had a Collaboration Week, which means we had late start on Friday in order to work with our dpartments on pacing, finals, etc.  Overall a busy one, but definitely some good things happened!

My Favorite Lesson of the Week:

We have started Fingerprints in Forensic Science, which is our first foray into "individual evidence".  I love this unit because fingerprints fascinate me.  From the fact that no two fingerprints (so far) have been found to be identical to the different patterns to the mathematical investigations comparing our class to the national - it's super cool!  This year, we have a full-time campus police officer assigned to our school, so he even came to observe and help the students with how to roll prints and make a ten-card.  Next week we'll move on to minutae and dusting prints, which is where the real fun starts!  It can definitely get messy, but so much fun! :)


My Favorite Meal of the Week:

Look at that feast.... and oh my, that pie was to die for!

On Monday morning, I received an email from our football coach inviting me (and some other teachers) to join the team for the weekly team dinner on Thursday night.  In the email, it said that we had been selected by members of the team as a person that had a positive impact on them and on our school in general.  We sat with our host players and after the meal, they introduced us to the team. I have several of the senior football players in AP Stat, so after the meal, we all took a picture together.  I was so honored and so humbled to have been chosen by my kids as a special guest.  I've had the opportunity to represent our school and our district as Teacher of the Year, but those pale in comparison to being recognized and honored by your students, the kiddos that actually see you every day and truly know how much you love and care for them.  It was a bit tough to drive home that night because while it was raining outside, there might have been a few waterworks going on inside my car too... :)



My Favorite Whiteboard Moment of the Week:

Overall, it was a great week with a lot of activities and foldables and laughter and who can ask for anything more?

On Friday afternoon, my kiddos were reviewing for a test by doing stations around the room.  In that class, I have a group of girls that have some absolutely gorgeous writing and have started a business with hand-painted bibles and other gifts.  As they were working a problem near my desk, I overheard them in a discussion of handwriting and after they left, I found this on the board... 

Every Friday, I stand at the door and greet them with a "Happy Friday!!" and a high-five.  This has become one of my favorite traditions thanks to the #MTBoS and Glenn W.  :)


On that note.... Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to you all! :)

#MyFavFriday - Fall Break

It's been a few weeks since I've done a #MyFavFriday and honestly, I almost didn't do one again this week.  But, as I'm sitting here fighting off sleep, I realized how much I really value these posts for my personal mindset and positivity.  I really do love what I do each day, but it's also so easy to feel overwhelmed by my inadequacy.  I love my students dearly, and it truly hurts my heart when I'm not able to reach a child, when there's not enough hours in the day to be what I need to be for everyone, when I recognize that a student needs more than I'm able to humanly give.  Recently, I've allowed myself to go to that place where instead of celebrating the successes, I focus on the failures and wallow there.  One of my friends posted a picture today that said "Just because you are struggling doesn't mean you're failing" and while I see an academic application with regard to productive struggle, that quote hit me personally as well.  Fall Break is coming this week and to be honest, I need it - time to recharge, to refocus, and to center myself again, so that I can celebrate the successes...

Speaking of, let's look at what happned this week!

My Favorite New Notebook:

Full disclosure - this is actually from last week, but hey, it's my blog post, so I can do whatever I want, right? :)

I have a lot to do on a daily basis with 3 preps plus all of the other things I try to juggle.  I often fail struggle with keeping everything straight.  It's not uncommon for a student to remark on how organized I am - HA! if they only knew... lol!  For years, I've put a "to-do list" in my lesson planner and it rarely gets used - I'm more of a post-it notes girl!  But at the end of last year, I started keeping my lists in a small notebook and then summer came and the notebook went away.  Last week, while at Dollar Tree, I found this adorable small notebook and I now have a to-do list book again! (Bonus: it has polka dots and a positive message - can it get any better than that???)  Plus, it's small enough to fit in my purse, but it has a hard cover so it's less prone to damage - that's a win win situation for me!


My Favorite Lesson of the Week:

This week in Geometry was the week every teacher dreads - the introduction to proofs!  We had spent time last week on inductive vs deductive reasoning, the laws of logic, and all of the conditional statements, now it was time to pull it all together.  Last year, I had found (via the MTBoS of course!), a great lesson plan on how to introduce proofs using word puzzles and I really liked it.  This year, I tweaked it a bit to include the structure of a 2-column proof with the puzzles and the kiddos took to it like it was nothing!  The next day, we did algebraic and basic geometric proofs and they rocked it!  This literally was the smoothest transition to statements and reasons that I've ever had and many students commented positively on how much they enjoyed the lesson.  That's a keeper, folks!


My Favorite Warmup of the Week:

If you don't follow @1to9puzzle on Twitter, I highly recommend it!  This is my go-to Friday warmup and I really, really LOVE using the movable 1-9 puzzle pieces to make it more of an low-floor problem.  I had tried using the puzzles last year but without the manipulative pieces and it did not go well.  With the pieces, though, is a game-changer!  I had actually created the numbers for use with Open Middle problems, but it just happens they fit perfectly in the enlarged @1to9puzzle too!  Kids just can't resist a good puzzle... :)






My Favorite Instructional Technology Moment of the Week:

Not every day is a great day in my classroom.  We finished up proofs on Wednesday, then I had one spare day before we paused for our midterm test.  I knew I didn't want to spend another day on proofs, so I decided to put together a Desmos AB to review parallel and perpendicular lines, which is the unit we'll start after Fall Break.  I worked on it for a while, had my student aide test it out, tweaked it a half dozen more times, and then it was time for the students.. and it flopped.  Big time.

BUT - thanks to the comments and the running around I did during 1st hour, I was able to edit it and make some much needed revisions for my 2nd hour and it went much better.  We don't use the Chromebooks a ton in my class, but I am super grateful for tools such as Desmos that allow for some great mathematical conversations!



My Favorite Acts of Student Kindness:

How better to start off a crazy Friday than with donuts???  This week was Homecoming week, so today included a pep assembly, shortened schedule, early dismissal, and a parade - oh, yeah, and a Football game tonight too! :)  But, before all of the craziness hit, one of my students came in for extra help and surprised me with breakfast! 

I really have some great kids this year and while they can sometimes be onery, I am so blessed to be their teacher and to play a small part in their lives.  Sometimes in the busyness of life, we (I) can lose sight of my "why" of what we do - and in one small act of kindness and appreciation, it made so many wrong moments right again.  Thank you, kiddo - I needed that :)



What were your favorite moments this week?  Share out in the comments or tweet with #MyFavFriday :)

Until next time... Have a blessed day!