Many Points

As a learner, learning in and of itself gave me joy.  I admit, I do not understand how it could not!  But, I do understand that, at least for the majority of the students that I see each year, it does not. Well, not at least the learning in the way it comes from the curriculum. SmartBoard presentations, Power Points or Slide presentations, even with bells and whistles, is just the same old same old, with noise. I know that challenge works, my students tell me.  But not the challenge of another long math problem out of context.  In some ways, my students are very savvy.  They want to know why, like we all do, and they want to SEE it, in action, in some real world application where they can work together to come up with an answer. And yes, they would LOVE for me to do the work, at the beginning. I taught a group of students how to juggle this year.  Some did not quite get it, and could only toss and catch two scarves.  Marvelous!  They did...

I started this year with an idea, an idea that learning was going to be fun.  Even bigger, learning MATH was going to be fun.  We built towers and houses, even a website and a game.  Students asked questions, worked together, shared ideas, laughed, and learned math.  We used math vocabulary to describe what we were doing, and my students had fun.  It was first semester. Second semester came, and with it, major changes.  I had to let go of some content and embrace a different paradigm for DAEP school.  I now supervise independent learning for some students, while teaching others.  I may have less content, but I have more record keeping (have I mentioned that I am not very good at record keeping?)  My days seem longer and I have noticed that I have fallen into the trap of "direct teaching" for an entire class period.  This new group of students gives an appearance of not wanting to fall behind, but grades for the previous semester sugges...

A STEM activity and student hands.  Ok, it may not be a TRUE STEM activity, but he is building a house that he is designing.  We get to talk about math concepts like balance, parallel and perpendicular lines, slope and intercepts.  We get to build a relationship and rapport.  He gets to ask for help and I get to give it.  It is fun and afer 15-20 minutes he is ready for Algebra 1.  A once reluctant learner, he is open to instruction and willing to try.   We may be behind the curriculum, but he is ahead of himself in new understandings! A game for brain breaks.  I pull a category card and give each student 2 cards.  They pick their best fit and present it and someone else has to explain WHY it is a good fit.  We think outside of the box.  We put ourselves in someone else's place.  Eventually, we may laugh.  We come back ready to work on a challenging topic again.  This time with more energy. This week I ex...

The end of summer vacation is here.  There are those of us teachers who are rested and ready to go.  There are those of us teachers who are not so rested, and ready to go.  Sadly, there are those of us teachers, rested or not, who are not ready to go.  In whichever group you find yourself, the year begins anyway, and I am going to begin it with a smile. Smiling is so important. I am, in general, a fairly happy person.  I think I smile, a lot.  I have, unfortunately, had a few students ask why I do NOT smile.  That always makes me take a step back and think.  It always makes me wonder what is going on in my head and heart that is begin reflected in my face.  And it always makes me a bit sad. I started this post in AUGUST, and never finished. Funny how time gets away from me like that. I do believe I started this year with a smile, and kept it going.  I made it a point to have fun at the beginning of every class and carry that fun thro...