Teaching things they can't Google....

I'm currently in graduate school working towards a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in Mathematics.  Each semester I take an online curriculum course and a face-to-face mathematics course.  It isn't important that I drive an hour and a half there and back for that class every Monday night....   :)

I knew I wanted to further my education.  I knew now was a good time- no family and no real commitments outside of work.  This was a time in my life I could make school a priority....so I jumped in.  I do not know what I want to do once I receive the degree.  I like being in the classroom for now.  But eventually I may want to step into other roles, and hopefully this degree will open doors down the line.

Here is my frustration.  I'm not learning very much.  I learn way more from my google reader, twitter, my brother, my principal, the teachers on my team, MY STUDENTS.  My math class meets for 3 hours every Monday night-  this week we were talking about proportionality.  We spent three hours measuring body parts, looking for relationships between them, graphing this data, determining proportionality.  Okay... I did a very similar activity with my students last semester.  My sixth graders can do this.  I get the point-  we are all teachers and he is trying to share possible lessons...but of the three lessons he shared with us for teaching middle school proportionality....they were all things I could easily find using google.  By myself.  Without driving a total of 3 hours and sitting in this classroom for 3 hours and without paying tuition.

Why is education not teaching things that I cannot google?  This problem extends to my classroom...I realize this.  I'm currently teaching converting measurement....  Guess what?

Thanks Google.

I get it.  Its a skill they need.  Its in my standards.  I have to teach it.  But I refuse to let myself become a teacher that only teaches these things.  I have to be better than that.  I have to teach my kids things they cannot Google:   how to work with others, how to think, how to reason, how to problem solve, how to take risks, how to ask questions, how to create a product, how to communicate their ideas....etc.

Candy Hearts

The idea behind this entire thing is to take a traditional worksheet and trick my students into thinking it is a game :)

When I came into this position last year, I was presented with binders and binders of worksheets....they were even labeled WS 1-WS 149 or something like that.... not fun (for me or my kids).  So, I was constantly searching for ways to use these worksheets in a way that would keep my kids engaged.  

Today we took a typical worksheet.... and turned it into a game! 

My team uses this idea throughout the year and change it just a bit depending on the time of the year.  Since it is February... we played Candy Hearts for Valentines Day :)   We have also used Ghost in Graveyard, Needle in haystack, etc. 

When the kids came in-  5 red hearts were hanging around the room.  Cue excitement.  They knew a game was coming, and they know my rule: when we are playing a game-  3 strikes and you're out.  If I have to address your behavior as a class 3 times, no more game...boring, individual worksheet time.  

My students sit in groups and work in groups almost every day so they are familiar with group procedures.  First we picked candy groups, then each student received a worksheet.  Each student is responsible for his/her own understanding and work.  The students work on the assignment together and after every 2 questions (they must all agree, they must all be finished, it isn't a race), 1 student from the group brings me his or her paper.  If both answers are correct, the student was rewarded with a candy.  If either answer (or both) are incorrect I tell the student to return and re-think.  I do not say which are wrong or how many are wrong....they need to figure that part out.  

 Students then choose on which hearts to put their candies (I attach with paperclips)-  they can put all of the candies on one heart...or spread them throughout the room.  At the end of the class I reveal points...sometimes I already have it written and hidden on the back of the objects...other times I roll a dice or draw a card.  Point is-  one heart is worth 20 points, one heart is worth 5 points....and so on... the interesting part is that one of the hearts is always worth 0 points.  It's fun to watch which kids risk it and put all of the candies on one....and which kids play it safe.

Here are my favorite things about this activity-

• Kids are discussing the problems.  Some argue and yes, there are disagreements at times.  But if I can get kids to care about math enough to argue about it....that is pretty cool. 
• Kids are engaged.  I typically choose my active children to be the "representatives" of the group.  They bring me the paper to be checked and they attach candy to hearts... this gives those guys a chance to get up and move.
• Behavior is awesome.  My kids have been pushing buttons lately...but today they were awesome.  They wanted to play the game- not have to complete the worksheet individually.
• The "smartest" kids don't always win.  Because of the element of luck in the point system, sometimes my lower students end up with more points which really boosts their confidence.
• It allows me to see where kids are stuck and what mistakes they are making throughout class...not at the end when they've turned the assignment in and its too late. 

Exhausted, but Excited

At 3:30 when the bell rang today... I was exhausted.  I was also pleased with the day's lesson.  My district is new to C-SCOPE.  I heard lots of horror stories but decided to go into it with an open mind.  I knew if I didn't there was no way it was going to work.  I'm so excited to say that so far, I love it.  It's a lot more prep work than I'm used to and a lot different way of teaching math concepts, but I can already see some of the purpose in their sequence and in their activities.

I saw lightbulbs going off like crazy today.  I heard so many OH!!!s.  I LOVE that.  My kids were working non-stop from start to finish... no time to get in trouble.  I LOVE that.  Several made comments that my class was a lot of work and several others made comments about how much they liked math so far.  I LOVE that. 

First thing we did-  Fraction strip ruler activity!  This really helped the kids visualize fractions and make connections to measurement.  They also could visualize the equivalent fractions that we discussed yesterday :)

Then we made vocabulary foldables... each flap lifts up to a definition and example.  I have a lot of LEP students and have had to force myself to put more emphasis on vocabulary... its not something I worked on enough last year.  I forget that math is a different language for my kids.  

Mixed numbers and improper fractions!  The top two doors open to definitions and the bottom open to algorithms for converting.  Before teaching algorithms I gave the kids lots of pictures until they could explain what was happening on their own.   We'll see tomorrow how well it stuck :)

First Day

Even though I was ridiculously nervous (even more than last year, why is that?), my first day was wonderful!  I seem to have an awesome group of kids and think we all got off on the right foot!

During open house, I ask most of my students how they feel about math.  One student told me it was not her thing, and I told her that I was confident that the next time I asked that question her answer would be different.  My third block is in my class for an hour, goes to lunch, and returns to my class for 30 minutes.... as I was walking this class to lunch she told me she already liked math so much more.  :)  Hoping my (nerdy) enthusiasm will rub off on others too! :)

I briefly went over procedures, gave a quick room tour, gave the kids a quick "about me" quiz that I called My Life in Numbers, and then they completed a pyramid activity with get to know you information.  Timing was perfect and everything went so much smoother than last year!

Two of my girls from last year came by to see after school and shared how different junior high is.  Love seeing/hearing from my kiddos and felt amazing that they thought to come say hi! 

I'm crazy stressed since we are using a new curriculum this year and I'm unsure about timing, etc.  Definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I suppose all will work out...

Prayer for First Day of School

I found this on pinterest tonight and is perfect at this time.

Exactly where I need to be...

I never would have pictured myself teaching in Brenham, TX but cannot explain how grateful I am that it is where I am.  I work with the most amazing teachers and administrators.  We are not perfect, but preparing for open house tonight, I saw how dedicated each and every one of us is to making Brenham Middle School the best we possibly can for our kids.

Our theme this year is "Oh, the places you will go!" by Dr. Suess.  We've made videos, we've decorated the hallways and our classrooms.  We met our kids tonight during open house.  We are ready for Monday!

Math department met today and we are changing EVERYTHING!  I'm so excited to work with such an awesome team that is embracing change.  We are all stepping away from what has been done in the past and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone to meet the needs of our students.  We will undoubtedly make mistakes but I'm confident that as a team we will recover and continue to move in the right direction. 

Overwhelmed and Excited

A coworker sent me an email earlier today suggesting I participate in a live foldables conference.  The conference was through the Global Math Department and the presenter was Julie Ruelbach.

I am so amazed by technology and being able to connect with math teachers from so many different places to be able to share ideas and resources.  For 45 minutes of sitting on my couch with computer in lap, I came away with so many ideas for foldables and interactive notebooks!  I see so much worth in being a part of this huge community of educators online, but at the same time, I'm overwhelmed and not sure where to start.  I'm blogging, obviously, but not really connecting with any other bloggers, and not sure that what I have to say is important...  I have a twitter, but again, not sure whether I should be retweeting, producing my own content, or what... I'm determined to figure this all out though. :)

Regardless, I'm so excited about this year.  There are so many changes happening-  new curriculum, new laptop, new discipline procedures, new rooms, new teams, new schedule.  I can't wait to jump in head first and make year two even better than my first!