Year 17 Completed, Now On To Something Different

What 17 Years of Teacher Stuff Looks Like

As I watch one final student in my classes take her final exam, I have a moment to pause, reflect, and blog about this whirlwind of a year. I’ve grown in so many ways and still have areas to work on but I feel great about my accomplishments and look forward to the future. Here is my Top Ten List of reflections on this last year.

1.) Increased Technology Integration

It is NO secret that I love technology. However, I am judicious about what I utilize in my classroom and whether it is using technology to improve on instruction or just as a replacement of something else I already do. Annie Forest had a blog post (that for the life of me and my Googling skills, I cannot locate) regarding her necessary needs for tech and it really makes you think about how, what, when, and where to use tech in your classroom. Some of my favorite tools this year include Google items like Docs and Sheets (even though I do not have a Google classroom), Geogebra, Desmos Activities and the calculator (especially when students thought that they were “cheating” by using the tool because of it’s ease of use), Khan Academy, Bitmojis and my Bitmoji post-its, Ted videos, Schoology, Twitter, the Post-It App to capture my daily “gots” and “needs” and our new gradebook through PowerSchool. I’ve gotten awesome with using SMART Notebook and one of my favorite things about it is drawing geometry pictures with ease, screen shotting, and inserting the diagram into a totally different program. I have involved my students now more than ever into the actual use of tech in my classroom but one aspect that I need to work on even more in the years to come is giving students even more voice and choice when it comes to using tech.

2.) One Expectation

Spurred on by reading Sara Vanderwerf’s blog, I took on the new mindset in class of one, HIGH expectation “50 minutes of math”. I plan to kick off my class in this manner next year as well. I used to have five expectations, per my discipline plan from college, but loved streamlining it down to just the ONE. Students this year would often quote that expectation not only back to me but to each other if other students got off task. I was amazed at how well it worked.

I loved having a sign up for students to come see me to get help. It helped protect my time yet give them what they needed.

3.) Getting to Know My Students Better

One of my main goals this year was to get to know my students better. Inspired by another Sara Vanderwerf blog, I successfully did a MUCH better job of this through my own table tent activity (you should do this!), really making a concerted effort to ALWAYS stand at my door (to which if I was NOT standing there I often would find a student in my place acting “like me” by saying things like “hey, girl, hey” and how are you doing), and through activities like the 5x2x10 (5 students, 2 minutes per day, 10 days of me checking in and having a one-on-one conversation). I know that I can only improve on these activities but I really felt like I improved greatly over past years when it comes to this area of my teaching practice.

4.) No (Obligatory) Homework

I fully embraced this idea second semester. I was not happy with what I was getting from students in terms of the homework that I was assigning. Many of the assignments were copied or students would actually do the whole assignment but would sometimes practice skills 10 times INCORRECTLY. I realized that my aims for homework were not being met. Specifically, I wanted students to practice the skills from class on their own. The students who were typically doing the assignments did not really need the practice and the students who were not doing the assignments were not getting the practice they needed. I made all of my homework assignments optional. To address the need to have students practice skills correctly, I used Khan Academy so that students would get feedback immediately. Students who did not respond well to Khan Academy could “opt out” of the assignment without detriment to their grade. Although this system was FAR from perfect, the understanding/scores/grades in my classes was at least comparable if not better when compared to other classes in my school and my personal experience and grades from previous years. The system needs tweaking for sure but I loved some of the outcomes in class when I could point back to the idea of 50 minutes of math. Not having obligatory homework meant more time in class to do activities like the one pictured below since we didn’t have to go through the answers. In the future, I want to incorporate “Math at Home” activities for students to do with their parent/guardian related to the math that is present at home (money required for purchasing groceries and the tax involved, looking at yearly income tax documents, the math in measuring for making dinner or the math in sports etc)

Although my prism project in class did not go completely as planned, I really liked having the opportunity to try something new, potentially fail, and learn from the experience. I hope that I can provide that same sense of comfort to teachers that I work with next year.

5.) New Job

Next fall, I step into a new position as the Division Leader for STEM which includes Math, Science and CTE departments. I am excited for the new opportunity to have a different impact with students. At the same time, I didn’t realize how much of a voice I had while I was a teacher and how my voice can potentially be different in this new position. I have found myself really considering what I say, when I say it and how I say it so much more than I did before. This isn’t a bad thing but I wish I would’ve learned that lesson before now. Treasure your teacher voice, it is much more powerful than you probably believe. I want to scream from the rooftops that “I am the same ol’ G” but I know, in reality, that I will change. My hope is to stay true to me and to always keep students at the forefront of my decisions and actions.

6.) Phone Usage In Class

Given my open integration of tech in class, students have more access to potentially distracting applications in tech. I believe that school is a great place to learn about the appropriate use of technology. If students don’t learn in school, where do we expect them to learn these lessons in an authentic atmosphere. We have to approach students as the tech integrating learners they are though. We cannot expect that they will be perfect all of the time, students never have been. Even “back in the day” we passed notes, whispered conversations, and played games unrelated to the school tasks at hand. Today, adults have addictions to apps and games (think Candy Crush, or checking the likes on your status, etc). We have to use the time with our students to help them figure out how distracting their devices can be, how to focus appropriately in class, and how to manage our classroom goals while using technology. I am happy with the work that I did in this area but I am looking to improve upon it in the year to come.

7.) Grace and Presence

I’ve afforded myself more grace this year. By giving myself more grace, I found it easier to also empathize and extend more grace to my students as well. To paraphrase Angela Watson, ease your high expectations of yourself so that the only person that notices is you but so that you allow yourself the margin necessary to decrease some of the stress. I feel much more balanced. Almost everyday this semester has included a daily practice of meditation upon arrival at work. That practice has helped to focus my actions especially in the critical beginning of each school day. I also noticed that on days where I skipped the practice, I didn’t feel as in touch with the moment. Being present with my students from moment to moment and day to day has really helped me be a better instructor and work on my students needs. This work will always be something of a work in progress, however, I am enjoying this journey and look forward to what can be produced in the days to come.

8.) Math Play Table

I hope to have a play table even in my office next year. It draws students and adults alike into the room and engages them in math without them even knowing. It is really one of my favorite additions this school year.

9.) New Visioning and ToDo Lists

This semester I worked through Angela Watson’s 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club. The club has been beneficial to my practice. The audio recordings were well matched with the times of the schoolyear presented and I love the way that she presents how to schedule your home and workweek. I will fully disclose that if you sign up for her club this month and mention me, she is offering a great deal to current members, HOWEVER, I would fully recommend this club even without the great deal. It has helped with many of the positive attributes noted above.

10.) Still Growing

I love that I can look back at this year and see that I am still growing as an educator. I am excited for the year ahead. I know I am not perfect and never will be however, I am proud of the work I’ve done this year and I can’t wait to take on the challenge of next year.

I FINALLY ditched my old lesson plan books.  I had lesson plan books from my FIRST year of teaching (pictured above).  I still have work to do but I am proud of how much I was able to let go.

Advertisements

Popcorn Prisms

My Honors Geometry students Monday lesson was inspired by a lesson posted by Fawn Nguyen that related to surface are and volume.  I loved the idea of it and figured that the day after Spring Break that also happened to be the day before all school testing would be a great one to review the topics from two weeks ago (and enjoy a snack, yum! 🙂 ).

I totally overestimated my students ability to perform this task.  I was really upset about the experience until I remembered this awesome quote:

“If you haven’t failed in the classroom lately, you aren’t pushing the envelope far enough. “Safe” lessons are a recipe for mediocrity at best.” ~ Dave Burgess

I like how this quote gives me liberty to try things outside of my comfort zone, potentially mess up and come back and try again.

Very few students were able to construct the prism, measure, and calculate the desired quantities.  I was impressed with the variety of rectangular prisms students created.  However, I found students had a number of difficulties with this project that made it hard to assess students understanding.  The activity was super beneficial and eye opening to me.  I’m writing this post to highlight the fact that I take full responsibility for their errors because I as a teacher did not 1.) give them enough to understand my expectations and 2.) assumed that they had background skills in measuring with a ruler and finding area and volume.  There are so many areas that I need to work on with my students based on their performance during this activity not to mention that surface area and volume are real life skills so I can’t just pass the buck and hope they get it next year. I am struggling with which area to address FIRST.

• constructing the prism
• measurement
• surface area
• volume

Where would you start? What would you do?

 

 

 

The 40 Hour Teacher Workweek and Me

This year has been a good one for me as far as improving my practice and reflection but I realized that I was looking for something different, something more.  For the past two semesters I have thought about doing Angela Watson’s 40 Hour Teacher Workweek Club but was scared because of the commitment (both financial and time).  As with most purchases, I applied my rule of if I see something once I won’t buy it on a whim but if I still want the item after that point then maybe I should buy it.  Additionally, a blogger that I truly respect, Sarah Carter, wrote a post about the club and that was the tipping point.

Top Five Takeaways Thus Far

When I signed up for the club, I put a calendar reminder to myself to make a “keep it” decision about three weeks in as Ms. Watson offers a money back guarantee. At that point though, I decided this program was a keeper. Here are the top five reasons why I decided to continue my membership:

1. The List Making System As a list making person by nature I was surprised that I liked Ms. Watson’s way better than anything I had done previously.  I mean, I plan all my dinners in a Google calendar, have a grocery app on my phone that I love, and I used a post-it system at school that gave my post-it addiction purpose :).  However, this system was awesome and I loved that it was editable and in multiple formats.  As others have said, this system alone was worth the club investment. I’ve made priorities, felt less stressed, and made more time for my family.  I’ve been impressed that I have started training at 4am again and it hasn’t been detrimental to my energy level later in the day (which has not been the case in the past).  I have realized that these priorities have also allowed me more time to devote to landing a new job (I have landed TWO interviews this year….wish me luck on those positions :).
2. The Weekly Podcast I am a big books on tape person for my commutes (I have a 45 minute commute to work each day) and having this 20 minute downloadable has been great.  I love that it previews the pdf materials available and provides great insights as well.  I have gotten some great ideas from the podcasts that I have implemented into my practice immediately. Also, I love the encouragement to just try ONE thing that week.  The program has so much to offer that it can become overwhelming, BUT with the encouragement to do just ONE thing I can definitely make that doable.
3. The Online Community I like that the Facebook community is available.  I understand why it needs to be a Facebook community as opposed to a Twitter one (however, Twitter is still my preferred social media for teacher stuff). My posts have been approved quickly and I like going through this experience with other teachers.
4. The Organization of the Club Ms. Watson organizes the materials into monthly topics.  Much of what she offers you could probably get from a variety of online resources for free.  Part of what you pay for is the organization of everything.  It helps give me focus and it feels like I have a coach.
5. It’s Been Good I have had great results each time I have tried the ONE thing I decided each week.  I look forward to what the club has to offer in the remainder of this year especially over the summer as I prepare for next school year.

I highly recommend this program and have not been compensated for this review in any way.

SAT Prep Class FaceTime Conversations

Ever since I was presented with the possibility of teaching the SAT Prep class I was concerned about keeping students motivated to work during class.  Several aspects were working against this class from the beginning:

• The class is held during study hall which has traditionally meant, for our students, a work free period.  Therefore, while the rest of the school can choose what they do with this period, my students would be expected to work.
• The students did not sign up for this opportunity.  They showed up second semester and I was blessed to be the one to break it to them that this study hall would be different.
• A handful of the students in the class are interested in pursuing the military after high school.  For them, preparation for the ASVAB would be more beneficial.

Given all of this, I have tried my best to help students to the best of my ability.  The first few days of class I had students complete vision boards which was a great experience (and worthy of a separate blog post). I have incorporated games into the class at least once a week.  I’ve tried to promote an environment where students could be more self-motivated to practice.

My most recent addition to the class has been to FaceTime with people in fields that my students are interested in.  My first experience with this was inviting the awesome Angel Spiccia into my class.  She was my roommate and sorority sister in college :).  Currently, she professionally sings jazz.  Given the fact that a number of my students are interested in entertainment, I thought that she could give them a good perspective.  She provided great insight into what current high school juniors should do to prepare them to go into the industry.  She also advocated for students to get a background in the business side of the industry to ensure that they had options.  Part of that includes doing well on the SAT to be able to get into a college and pursue a business degree.  She was truly a joy to have in class.

On a separate occasion, I invited Fred Williams III to my class to talk about his experience with the military.  I loved how honest he was with my students about his journey to where he is today.  My students were very engaged in what he had to say and it was great to see him doing awesome things with his life

 

 

This class might not always be sunshine and rainbows but I love where it is going.  I love that my FaceTime worked out 🙂 and that my students have now started making requests for other people to come talk (anyone out there a published author or photographer 🙂 let me know, I’d love to have you). I like that I am pushing myself to give my students the very best and I’m proud of where this is going.

One Good Thing, Similar Triangles Activity

I am proud of myself for attempting to blog during the first couple of days back at school 🙂 the struggle is so real.  Today was a late start school improvement day.  These days are devoted to a variety of professional development activities.  Due to this, classes are shortened and I am only moderately used to the schedule on these days so I had to push through and persevere myself today.

My one good thing from my Geometry classes today was the emphasis on measurement skills.  The goal of the day was to have students use similar triangles in a real world scenario and solve for an unknown.  In our case, the students were measuring their heights, standing across from each other with a mirror between them, and determining how far apart they must stand in order to see each other’s eyes in the mirror.  One class had an amazing “a-ha” moment when the pair of students who miscalculated their response and could not see each other’s eyes then corrected their work and had success.  Another class had quite the blunder when due to incorrect measurements they were able successfully see each other’s eyes when they should not have been able to.  Regardless, I was happy with the fact that students got to measure quantities in real life which they need to do more of and that they were engaged in the topic.  I was not happy with our progress toward the learning objective, but as I learned long ago, there is always tomorrow to come back and try it again from another angle.

EdCampLakeCounty 2017

I attended EdCampLakeCounty over the weekend.  EdCamp is a voluntary, free professional development opportunity, for teachers, by teachers.  I love how you have the choice to attend whatever suits your needs that day and if a conversation isn’t helpful to you that no one takes offense if you move somewhere else.  I’ve attended several of these in the past and always walk away with SOMETHING to use in my class along with a new energy for my classes.  This weekend’s experience had that same effect.   I am excited to share some of my favorite takeaways from the day.

Hyperdocs

I learned about hyperdocs through a Twitter post recently so when I saw this session get proposed I jumped all over it.  Hyperdocs are just Google docs, such as a doc or slides, that you can use to push out content to your students.  They allow you to change parts in real time if something isn’t working out and allow you to reuse lesson/unit plans from year to year.  One teacher commented that she uses them so much that students automatically know what to do when students come into her room each day however, she does not like that predictability.  I liked how it seemed like hyperdocs would allow students to self-direct their learning and that I as a teacher could be more like a guide-on-the-side.  There appears to be a nice Facebook community to support this idea along with an entire book, Twitter account, and website devoted to the resources.  Since I start next semester with trigonometry, I think I will wait to try to employ this strategy until the next unit in my classes.

My Favorite Four Letter Word: MATH

I guess this might be my EdCamp “thing” to do is propose this session.  I recommended this one and had a turn out of about 4 people.  With a group this small it is AWKWARD to leave the session, luckily I liked the conversation we had.  We talked about improving mindset and how Jo Boaler has some great talks and resources available for teachers. I’ve been super hyped about using Polygraph, so I showed the others how it worked and they seemed to like the platform.  When we got to talking about numbersense and how to build it we discussed using Clothesline math and Estimation180 to get at those skills.  Someone mentioned the idea of a student created Kahoots and I liked that idea, however, sometimes our students are over-Kahooted so I don’t know if I will utilize this idea very soon.  My biggest takeaway is that I want to use student mistakes better in class.  Similar to My Favorite No.  I think that second semester I want to incorporate a better strategy into my bellwork that includes a whole bellwork day of the week for “my favorite no”…maybe My-Favorite-No Mondays.

I’ve also got to work on getting more math people to these conferences – they are such a rich place to gain PD.

My Best Tip, Trick, or Hack

To be honest, I didn’t go to this session but I lurked during lunch and ended up with some great takeaways even though I wasn’t privy to the conversation.  I need to do some more research on Amazon’s contribution to the teacher community, Amazon Inspire.  It has the familiar Amazon search engine but is related to worksheets.  I did not get any hits from the #MTBoS community on this resource so I am skeptical that it is ALL good but some of it might be useful.  For lesson planning or rubric making it appears that Themespark.net might be a good option.  I liked how it was linked to the standards and already had descriptors in place.  If I ever make that jump to standards based grading/learning/reporting this might be a good resource for me.  My BIGGEST takeaway was the One Tab app for Chrome which takes all of your open tabs and collapses them into a single tab that you can name and reopen.  I think for future EdCamps that this extension could be super useful especially for my blogging after the event (like how I am using this today).

Flipped Learning

I am not new to this idea, however, this was a reminder that it is a great option for my class.  The teacher who was using the format was doing so with an AP Stats class so I am confident that this would be a great place to start if I wanted to flip an entire class since I would have the most control over that class.  I like the idea of having more one-on-one time with students and that they can control the pace a little more.  Coupled with some Hyperdocs we could do some amazing things here.  I am concerned about my students ability to connect to the internet at home but I think that I need to work on a Donors Choose Project that would fund hotspots to be checked out of my classroom for a year….hmmmm….wonder if that is even possible.

EdCamp for PD at Your School

I love the EdCamp experience so much and would LOVE to bring this concept to an institute day at my school.  The person who spoke about the concept said that the following happened after their institute EdCamp:

• several committees were formed that day
• several committees were able to act on the steps discussed such as student surveys and discipline
• most teachers were invested in the process
• 100% of the teachers participated at the beginning of the day

Now I just have to figure out the people at my school that I can talk to to make this a possibility.  I love the choice, the opportunity for everyone in the room to feel empowered, and the opportunity to grow.  Maybe if I apply it to a lesson in my own class I could ask an administrator to come in to see and hopefully they could see the potential as a school initiative.

Overall

Huge props to the organizers of the event.  Loved the breakfast and lunch offerings.  I loved the conversations I had with others during the event.  The facilities at Carmel High School were fabulous and the internet connection was flawless.  The student helpers were great!  (Side story: as we walked to our first session students pointed out the way and one student said “Go down this hallway and then…take…a right…aaaattt….Jesus?”…with all of those pauses – so cute and authentic – I loved it).  I highly recommend this EdCamp to others who want to give it a try.

NCTM Regional Conference in Chicago

Who loves being around math people?  Well I do and I had the great opportunity to be with a whole bunch of them (3,000+) at the Regional NCTM Conference.  I should mention that I was able to attend the opening presentation virtually.  Huge thank you to the people who posted live video and tweets that night so that I could put my kids to bed AND learn from the session.  The session really spoke to me so Thursday morning I attended a presentation on equity that was hosted by one of the speakers from the previous evening.

8am Hidden Figures by Dina Williams

I was unaware that when I chose this session based on the idea of equity in our classrooms that it would be led by one of the speakers from the previous evening but was pleasantly surprised when she began singing a song similar to one she did the previous evening.  During the piece she sang on Wednesday evening the quote that stuck out to me was “no need to wonder why, just write it down”.  I think that quote can come out of anyone’s mouth in utter desperation to “get through” things or “cover” topics (speaking of “cover” have you ever noticed that that word “cover” can mean to hide or conceal something, I realize that teachers don’t MEAN that when they say it but it is another meaning, but I digress).  I really liked Dina’s songs and it made me think of how powerful a force music can be.  I’ve been using “bumper music” in between classes lately and it has been a great addition.  Parts of her talk that really spoke to me included:

• the use of pictures from our students’ world to teach the content of my class (she showed the image below, overlayed a grid and talked about having students estimate which was more and by how much)

I loved her use of math talks to get at some very important fraction skills.  First, she talked about using money. 

I remarked to someone near me that idea was all fine and good but what about thirds and Dina happened to be standing right there and she was excited about how that was the next portion of her talk.  It was awesome.  I do question on whether my students would know that 1/6 of an hour is 10 minutes but I believe it would be worth teaching if necessary

I really liked this session and I hope to incorporate these number strings soon.  My biggest issue with these ideas is thoughtfully incorporating them.  I find that I get these great ideas and if I don’t use them the next week I lose them, however, this doesn’t always work well with whatever I am teaching in my curriculum.

Volunteering

Sendhil got me to volunteer for this event.  I didn’t know what to expect but it was a worthwhile experience.  First, I was privy to the wi-fi access from before the event even started.  Second, when I checked in for my assignment I was introduced to the layout of the hotel which was good because the only way you could get to one side of the hotel to the other was on the second floor.  Also, I became VERY familiar with the rooms on that side of the building which made my own experience of finding rooms much easier. During the lulls in the crowd I was also able to make lunch plans for my crew which was amazing because about five minutes after we were seated we saw a line forming outside that was down the street a bit. I LOVED getting to help people where they wanted to be and I even got to see some people that I haven’t seen IN AGES in the process.  It’s crazy when you see people you know from outside of the context of the conference you are attending….for instance, the picture below is of one of my former students who is now an administrator!  I barely recognized him but was so glad to see him.

Coteaching with Tech by Allen and Eutsler

It was so amazing to see this team of teachers work together.  You could tell that they truly shared their responsibilities in the classroom and had the utmost respect for each other.  That kind of relationship is amazing to watch in action and gave me so much to think about my own co-teaching relationship.  They even named their classroom as a combo of their two last names.  Maybe we could be Janicone or Staniki.

TI Rover/Programming 

I walked in late to this session but am soooo glad I made that move.  I loved doing a little programming with TI’s new product, the TI Innovator Rover.  We got a quick lesson on how to do the basic code commands in TI’s menu system and then were set loose to get the rover to move through a short course.  I have a little programming experience (three courses in college, writing SHORT TI programs on my calculator, and dabbling during the hour of code every year in my classroom).  I was able to capture a short video of my second to last trial run with the rover (I’m mad I didn’t get my last run as I got the rover to basically parallel park which was pretty sweet).  I was saddened when I was running my last run and I overheard someone questioning the application of this activity in a math classroom.  The TI person was caught a little off guard and I stepped in a little to talk about how I loved how this activity really spoke to the attendance to precision and measurement (I would make my students measure the course in order to do the programming) and discussion possibilities of area versus perimeter and I could keep going but you get the point.  I will admit that this changed my mind about TI.  I have been a little down on TI products with the advent of Desmos and Geogebra as those products are FREE and it is hard to argue with FREE.  However, this product made me reconsider their products.

Team ASAP

This session intrigued me as I know that my school would like to improve AP offerings, increase the number of students enrolled in AP, and get students to achieve scores of 3+ on the exam.  They mentioned that their school has both regular and honors taking the same curriculum which I LOVE that idea because think everyone deserves to be challenged and get high quality instruction.  I was intrigued by their Geometry in the summer program as I wanted to know if the topics dealt with in the summer were to the same rigor as a typical Geometry course.  It definitely gave me food for thought.

Standards Based Grading with Darshan Jain

I just loved this presenter from the beginning.  He was so welcoming and I felt like I wanted to learn right from the start.  He was very interested in the story of the people who attended his 8am on a Friday session.  He talked about the difference between assessing and evaluating a situation which is slightly nuance but an important idea.  I loved that he took time to discuss why teachers get into teaching because I believe that SBG/SBL really speaks to who you are as a teacher.  He talked about a process of asking some vital questions to structure the standards assessed:

1. What do I value?
2. How can you show this value?
3. How well can you show this value?
4. What helps to show this value well?

Check out my sketchnote on the session below.  I had other sketchnotes from the conference but spilled water on them :(.

I loved some quotes from this session like the idea that 21st century illiteracy means someone who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.  This really spoke to me as I know plenty of people, myself included, who struggle to unlearn something even if it is not a correct understanding.  I loved that the idea of SBG/SBL does not mean that we forget everything that we as teachers have done to get to this point – hence the house quote of “don’t tear down the whole house, just rearrange the furniture”.

#MTBoS

I volunteered to work at the #MTBoS table during this morning for an hour.  I loved getting to meet some of my #MTBoS fangirl favorite people.  I always struggle with how to explain the community to people ESPECIALLY when they don’t have Twitter.  However, I usually say something like “well I was you once, where I thought Twitter was only for celebrity gossip and couldn’t possibly offer me anything”.  Working the table made me highly aware of all the great things that the #MTBoS has exposed me to, the fact that I love this community and that my teaching practice has improved because of it.

Side note to working the booth is that I got to play with Mannifold which I LOVED. 

I couldn’t put it down so I promptly ordered my own stackon Amazon for my playtable at school.

Math Games with Susan Chadaz

I felt like I learned some things through this session (even if they were not my personal intended goals of attending this session).  First, she incorporated sign language into talking about the common core math practice standards.  We learned one sign for each of the 8 standards.  Additionally, she showed us how to tie a string without letting go of the ends which was comical to see a whole ballroom of people attempt to do.  She showed us a couple of her games.  I don’t know if I will use them in my classes but others seemed interested.

Tech to Increase Conceptual Understanding with Annie Fetter

I was so excited to meet Annie when I was volunteering at the #MTBoS table.  I liked her applets for this session.  The triangle applet was fabulous as I hope to use it the next time that I introduce triangles in my Geometry class.  I loved how she modeled the Notice/Wonder routine for this activity.  Notice/Wonder has really been a game changer in my classroom this year and I hope that I can continue to do it justice in the future.

Chicago

I could probably go on an on with this post but I am going to just #hitsend or in my WordPress world hit Publish on this.  But before I do, I will mention that I am thankful for Chicago.

I love being so close to a metropolitan area that attracts great events like this one.  I love all of the food, culture, and unique opportunities that this city affords.

I am grateful for the AWESOME weather during the last two days and just so proud that this is my home.