Reflection Questions

I'm currently reading LouAnne Johnson's Teaching Outside the Box. So far it seems aimed more at new teachers but I've been really taking time to reflect on some of the questions in the book, which I've never really done before. I'm going to share some of my thoughts here because I think it's important for everyone to answer and reflect about their own practice.

What is my teaching philosophy?

Success is possible for everyone. Each student has different talents and different needs. My job is to provide students with the tools they need to be successful and achieve their goals. Making students successful makes me successful.


What is my teaching persona? (I don't think I answered this the right way but I like what I wrote.)

I am a mathematician: I observe, analyze, think logically, reflect, and solve problems. I am a professional: I'm organized, creative, quick on my feet, routine, and efficient. I am a teacher: I'm loyal, compassionate, funny, willing to help, and a deep thinker.

How do I want students to feel and act in my classroom?

I want students to feel safe, comfortable, challenged, successful, peaceful, cared about, and at home. I want them to feel like they matter.

Here are my actions I've come up with so far (They almost seem like classroom rules. Hmm...).

• Speak freely without interrupting others.
• Be active and energetic without being out of control.
• Be respectful with words, actions, attitudes, and possessions.
• Take risks and try something new.
  

What is my optional agenda? What do I really want to teach my students?

• Organization makes life easier.
• Be observant, looking for patterns and things that stand out.
• Justify your thinking.
• Keep asking questions until you are satisfied with the answer.
• Be firm in what you believe but respectful in the way you express it.
• Treat everyone like they matter.
• Do what needs to be done even if you don't want to do it.
• It's okay to not know, but it's not okay to not try.
• There is no substitute for hard work.
  

Now, how do I go about making these things happen?

End of Year Reflection

Finals
So. My end of year finals were a little different than at the end of first semester. Last semester, I screwed up the Geometry finals and did okay on Algebra. This time I screwed the Algebra and Geometry was better. The scores for Geometry were much lower but unfortunately, I felt that it was a pretty accurate assessment of what they knew. I just hated finals to death. But I know next year will be better because I am going to make my assessments first and plan accordingly. Go me.


Assessment in General
I started out really well doing weekly quizzes and then kind of fell away from that after Christmas. I hated that and I think the kids did too. They liked the structure. By the end of the year I was assigning homework but not grading anything which I fell in love with but by not modeling and explaining that from the beginning, a lot of my students just ended on a bad note instead. I wasn't satisfied with my teaching most of the time so it was even harder to feel like I could judge what they learned.  And I never really stopped to think, hey, what do I want them to learn? What is the best way to teach that? Did I assess that in a way that they could show what they've learned? Ahh, but now I know and next year: SBG. Ta-da!


Classroom Management
The pits. Sucked. Horrible. Nonexistent. Wimpy. My principal dinged me again and again for lack of procedures. Basically, because I had none. I was a Warm Up Nazi but I never trained them to come in, sit down, and get right to work. I let everyone do what they want and I had favorites. I knew I had favorites so I didn't punish anyone because that would be unfair. I let my students disrespect me and call the shots. I let them set the atmosphere of the room  and decide when class ended and began. I did all the things that Harry Wong said not to do and I didn't do enough of what he said to do. Poor Harry. I let my students' behavior drive me to tears on more than one occasion. I made rules I could not enforce. I made the mistakes that people said I would make and I pridefully thought I wouldn't. I was their friend and that was the only reason I could get any cooperation out of them at all. Oh yeah and because I'm cute and funny. Thank God for laughter or else I definitely could not have made it. The sad thing is, none of this has driven me to the point where I am ready to be Ms. Meany and really put my food down. That scares me. If this wasn't bad enough, what will it take? I know they like me. I know when I punish them, they will stop. For a while. I know I only have to make examples out of a few. I know it will suck at the beginning and get better. I know that it is more important that they respect me. What I don't know, is if I can do it.

My AP gave me the great advice of nailing the kid who thinks he's a bad*** and the kid everyone thinks is my favorite. That sends the message the I'm going to enforce rules and hand out consequences to anyone and everyone. I'm so afraid of being inconsistent and unfair that I choose to do nothing instead. This fear is paralyzing me and holding me back.


Failures

1. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT!!!!
2. Assessment
3. Creating opportunities for students to think deeply, process, reflect, share learning
4. Using Technology
5. Giving students the ability to create
6. Professionalism

Successes

1. Developing relationship with students
2. Making the classroom an inviting, home-y place where students wanted to be
3. Enforcing two nice things for every mean thing
4. Daily Warm Ups and Powerpoints
5. Taking an active role in leadership in the school
6. This one's got me thinking....I wore some super cute outfits. =)

My Abilities
I feel like I am better able to see my own failures. (It helps when other people point them out. Often. Just sayin...) I have direction, which is more than I can say for myself at this time last year. Or anytime previous to May 28, 2010. I have definite procedures I want to put into place: timed warm ups, learning logs/exit slips, standards-based grading, sustained silent reading, reflective writing, game day, stop assigning homework, focus on vocabulary, incorporate ACT prep from the beginning of the year, etc. I think my gift is in being supportive and encouraging. I think I do a good job at treating people based on my relationship with them and not based on how others treat them or what I have heard about them. I think the students know I will go to bat for them and try to make their ideas happen. I am good at explaining things in a simple way without making people feel inferior. I have pretty good question techniques for a first year teacher. I learned to ask them questions about their thinking and process when the answer is right and wrong. (Of course they know they are wrong if you only ask why when they give a wrong answer.)

Abilities that are lacking (but which I can improve): being the authority in the classroom, relinquishing control of where the lesson will go in order to give students more freedom, being consistent, transitions, keeping students on-task, creating activities that engage students at higher levels of thinking, being more organized, backwards planning, unit planning, managing time to keep from getting stressed out, accepting criticism, being professional, and __________________.


Year as a Whole
There were definitely challenging moments: death of a student, death of a staff member, death of a student from neighboring school,  loss of 6 students due to expulsion/drop-out, some things I won't mention but won't forget, days where I cried, first semester finals oh my my, incidents with colleagues, and just normal first year mishaps. But overall, I think it was not as hard as everyone tried to scare me into believing. IT WAS NOT AS BAD AS 'THEY' SAID. I did it. And guess what? I even enjoyed it. Actually, I loved it.

I never wanted to quit. Not once. I never thought I was in over my head. I know without a doubt that teaching is my purpose, that this position is my divine appointment, that I was created for this. I've been discouraged, yes. Disappointed, yes. Angry, yes. Frustrated, yes.

But defeated, no.

Year One: You were a beast.

Year Two: I've always preferred even numbers. =)

Let's get it on.

Looking Ahead

Things I Will Do Next Year:

Standards-Based Grading

Things I Want To Do Next Year:

Organize my desk drawer (It's too late for this year.)

Actually pass back graded work.

Reading time at the end of class.

Offer math puzzle worksheets for students to turn in for bonus points.

Ask an ACT question every day on my warm ups starting from day 1.

Put more emphasis on using what you know as clues to solving what you don't know. Can I set up my entire class as a mystery?

Not collecting homework but giving homework quizzes to formatively assess.

Rearrange my room.

The Idea Box!

Folders for Absentee Quizzes

Review games other than review basketball

Way more writing about concepts, processes, and basically everything

Celebrate Pi Day in class

Math T-Shirts

Introduce TI-83 calculators in every class at the very beginning of the year.

Things I Will Do Again Next Year:

Two nice things for every mean comment

Making students pay for each cuss word (except that I will use the money to buy classroom supplies)

Celebrity/Student Baby Trivia

Folders for Absentee Work

Streamers in the door way

Pictures on the bulletin board

Have students tell me about their weekends on Mondays

Review Basketball

Be Recommended for Rehire!

January Blues

Why did I choose to teach math?

I don't even know how this stuff will ever be useful in life.

Do the little things like encouraging students, building relationship, supporting them, making class entertaining, etc outweigh the big things, i.e. being mathematical geniuses?

How many of my students will go to college, really? How many will be unprepared?

I am just filling time and handing out grades. Assignments are meaningless and just to keep students under control. Grades are attached so they will actually do them. I grade on completion only and I'm still behind in grading. Students could do every homework assignment and still fail the test. There is no self-assessment going on. The formative assessment is basically pointless.

I can tell a huge difference in the students since starting a new semester- they are more forgetful, less likely to participate, and harder to control. Say a big thank you to me being the nice, popular teacher. They now know there are basically no consequences to anything they do.

I don't even know what learning or teaching is anymore. WHAT IS THE POINT OF LIFE?

Sorry, had to get that out.

I don't know how to make it about them and not me.

I thought I could make them care and I can't.

I thought I could make them better and I haven't.

I knew I could make them like me and they do.

I hoped I was smarter than I thought, but I'm not.

Too Far

I have lost control.

Inconsistency has beat me.

Do I let the year continue this way or try to gain it back?

Am I strong enough to make a stand and keep standing firm?

First Year Goals

The title of this post is a lie. These are not really first year goals. Even if I don't accomplish them this year, I will at some point. What these really are, are things I've noticed in the first few weeks that I want to change + really cool things that other teachers do that I want to copy. But that didn't fit in the Title box.

1. Conferencing. Remember in your college English classes when you would have conference days? What that really meant is you didn't have class that day but showed up for a 15 minute meeting with your professor (who was always running late) and they proceeded to tell you everything wrong with your work. I want to do this exactly, but opposite. I want to be able to meet with every student in every class for at least 2-3 minutes and have them tell me everything I'm doing wrong with my work. I want to hear what they hate, what drives them crazy, what works, what they aren't understanding, and what they need from me. Here are my dilemmas: a. With 52 minutes of class and 17-19 students, this could take one whole period a week. Ouch. b. What are the other students doing while I am having this hypothetical conversation with a hypothetical student? c. Some students would say nothing. d. Some students would never stop talking. How can I teach students to analyze themselves and the world around them and effectively give feedback?
   
   
2. Dan Meyer Assessment System I read this some months ago and it has puzzled/infuriated/gladdened/excited/intersted me ever since. Over the summer I created my concept list. Score a point for me! Dan has 34, I have 59. There goes my point. I started out the year explaining to my students that we would have weekly quizzes instead of monthly tests. Score one point for me. Last week was my first attempt. Dan gives 3 or 6 problems. I gave 20. lol There went my one point. Again. I explained that they could make up what they missed at any time. But I don't think they get it. I didn't give them a concept list and I didn't make each concept worth 4 points. I don't know how to assess weekly and assess every concept twice. I don't know how to explain the system to the students so that they know how to improve their scores as well understand that their grade now has meaning. But I'm starting. So there's that...
   
   
3. My Class Website. I created one at moonfruit and then I actually won a free subscription to TeacherWeb for a year. I've used neither. Even as organized and color coded as I am, I still am too swamped with the life of a first year teacher to attempt putting this together. There's always Christmas...
   
   
4. Class Blogging/ Twitter Although I myself am obsessed with blogging and surgically attached to Twitter, I don't think I will be incorporating into my class anytime soon. 1. Twitter is blocked now. Gr. 2. I tried the blogging thing in my summer freshman academy class and it utterly failed. I am implementing a weekly math journal assessment so maybe that could be transitioned into blog entries. I have 4 student computers in my classroom but they only work on days that don't end in y. Getting to the lab is possible but not probable as again, I am currently swamped with this whole teaching-is-actually-work thing.
   
   
5. Creative Content. This is my hearts desire and what I consistently long for. But I just can't pull it off yet. My teaching consists of warm up, notes, homework, repeat four days in a row. Fifth day = review warm up, assessment, math journal assessment. Repeat next week. It's consuming all of my time already creating my lessons as a fill in the blank Powerpoint that is colorful and includes pictures, diagrams, and video. It's taking me at least 1.5 hours per class and I haven't found a way to shorten or improve this. I think it comes with time and experience which unfortunately I can't purchase. Anyway, I love Dan Meyer's What Can You Do With This? project and hopefully through the blogosphere, we can all create a fantastical curriculum. But I can't do it myself, at least not this year. So for now I am settling for mildly entertaining examples, useless trivia, and SMART board interaction to keep my students engaged.
   
   
6. Silent Classroom I might try this one tomorrow. Every period, the entire class is silent, me included. I have whiteboards for every student and they have help signs so that's how they could communicate. I, of course, have the SMART board or the chalkboard to communicate with. I could have lights off and some easy listening music playing to really set the atmosphere. I think it would be intriguing to show students that learning can take place without ever speaking. If I went to the computer lab, I could also do this via Today's Meet. And then I could hold it over their heads that I knew how quiet it could be. lol Friday we played Algebra and Geometry Bingo and so it was crazy at first and then quiet as we played. I think it would be a nice way to start the week back. I may try it this week!

More to come.

Much more.

I Will Survive

My anti-resolution resolutions are a combination of things I want to do and not do. Of course these come naturally considering I've only been teaching for one week and a day but hey, it's a goal.

1. I will keep a positive attitude in the classroom, regardless of circumstances outside of the classroom.
2. I will not give up on helping my students make progress, no matter how little that progress seems.
3. I will not kill myself this year trying to be the best, but I will strive for excellence.

Week One, Day Five

(I really wanted to put a link to every person mentioned in this post because that would be cool but that would take so much time, which is not cool. The end)

Friday! Week One accomplished!

Today was another good day. It's going to be hard to adjust to a regular schedule after having a 2:15 schedule all week. But, now all my classes will be 50 minutes instead of some 50, some 30.

In my 50 minute classes I started by asking students to name 3 uses for a paperclip (idea credited to @paulbogush) other than holding papers together. This stumped the majority of them for awhile but eventually they started to think of ideas (or copy off of others). Answers were closing a bag of chips, picking a lock, stabbing someone, a toy sword, cleaning under your fingernails, piercing your lip, earrings, bracelet, necklace, belt, a popper thing to shoot at people, and to launch rubber bands.

After testing their creativity, I transitioned into the creative activity. Students had to make a thank you card for a teacher. It could also be to a janitor, cafeteria lady, secretary, teacher's aide, or coach. They could deliver it themselves or I would put in their mailboxes. For the most part, it turned out really well. Some kids couldn't think of anyone or anything to say and I had two students who just wouldn't do it. I didn't take a grade so what could I do? Not sure how to deal with that.

But others went right to work and even wrote paragraphs. And I did get a few cards too. =) I delivered them on my plan period and allowed some of the kids to deliver at the end of class. I had at least 3 teachers come and tell me thank you and that they appreciated the cards. It even made one teacher's heart smile (I love that phrase).

This was my personal favorite:

It reads: "Thank you for making this class as fun as you already have at the beginning of the year. I'm looking forward to the rest of this year."

This from a 16 year old freshman.

In addition, I had my students make "Help Me" signs. This went over so well. So pleased. Students had to create a sign that had some sort of confused face, question mark, hand raised, help wanted, or questioning, thing on it. The rationale behind it is that if I am teaching, a student can just throw their sign up, letting me know they aren't understanding. I hope to prevent anyone from feeling embarrassed or stupid for not understanding right away. Also, I think it will be really fun! The students got really creative with this. Everything from drawing their own, to cartoons, rappers, dirt bike riders, etc.

Let me show you.

Clockwise from top left: Lil Wayne looking puzzled, The Thinker pondering, Tennessee Volunteers basketball player Josh Tabb, both raising a hand up, and 2009 dirt bike champion James Stewart.

Clockwise from top: Handmade, graffiti skull asking 'What?', classic Wile E. Coyote help sign, and a handmade graffiti style 'Help Me' (or 'Help Ice' as some students said).

Clockwise from top left: Handmade with double sticks, Huey from The Boondocks asking for Hizzelp, a question mark made out of fireworks, and of course Stewie from Family Guy is frustrated and wants help.

Clockwise from top: rapper T.I. with a hand up, Gucci Mane making the 'ok' sign, Chris Brown looking troubled, and who else but Barney.

Don't you love it? It was a lot of fun.

The thank you cards were mainly to help promote a positive atmosphere between teachers and students as well as it was fun and needed to encourage teachers.

The help sign was my own brain child to help promote a positive atmosphere between the class as a whole. I hope that this combined with the earlier index-card-asking-questions-activity will help students realize that they can ask questions and receive help without feeling stupid or embarrassed.

Week One, Day Four

Today was a really interesting day!

First I had students do a multiple intelligence survey. I like this one because it involved simple multiplication and creating a bar graph. It also helped me to see who could follow instructions and work on their own. I gave them colored pencils so they could make it pretty too. =) I did have to define some words and phrases such as 'anagram, puns, spoonerisms', 'ducks in a row', 'the more the merrier', etc. Then I had them tell me their top one or two and explained the meaning of each. Some bought it, some didn't.

I also had students pair up. Each person is responsible when the other person is absent to take care of what they missed. I developed a What You Missed sheet that they have to fill out and make sure handouts are attached. It also has to have my signature so I can verify what they've written. As students told me their partner, I just typed it in to an Excel sheet for future reference.

And now for the exciting part....

That's my house! And I found it on Google Maps! I knew you could see a birds-eye view but I didn't know you could literally drive down the road and do a 360° and make turns and so on. I showed this to my kids every single hour and they absolutely loved it! Kids were crowding around and exclaiming and shouting directions to me. I think we found every kids house and we even visited the Eiffel Tower!

And the St. Louis Arch

It was interesting and educational! I've got to find a great way to tie this into math! I'm thinking for a mid-term project to have students pick a famous/important mathematician (thinking about making the requirement a non-white male figure to make things more interesting) and make a Glogster presentation about their life and mathematical importance instead of the usual essay/presentation. They could find different pictures of where their figure lived, grew up, worked, etc and incorporate into the presentation. I'm sure there are other good ideas to use such as parallel, perpendicular, right angles, curves, circles, etc.

The best thing for me was in seeing how excited the kids were. They wanted to know how to do it themselves and everyone was talking about it. I want to create that feeling as much as I possibly can!

It's empowering for them and for me. It makes me feel like I'm actually doing my job well.

Pretty good for my first Thursday.

Week One, Day Three

I was seriously panicking on what to do with my classes today until I talked to my PLN and had some wonderful ideas from @JenAnsbach, @jenann516, @msgregson. They were my lifesavers!

So for today I did this PowerPoint of 9 questions which came from Dan Meyer's wiki which I somehow cannot find the link to at all. It ask students about their learning in the past, how they feel about math, what makes school hard, etc.

I also went over some more procedures and did a create your own syllabus where they filled in information from the PowerPoint.

I tried the adjective game found in this book and it was alright, not real effective but at least now I know.

I had some boys in one of my classes hook up my computers and get them running and they worked well together, got the job done quickly, and problem-solved. Hmmm....this is valuable information that I'm not sure how to use! I know even more that I have to make things hands-on and doable and truly applied.

I'm having a hard time planning now and I'm doing the same thing in every class. Next week, I start to actually get into curriculum and plan things for 4 different classes! I don't know how you people do it!!! It's goin to kill me. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

And why am I sooo tired? Is 7 hours of sleep not enough?

First Days 2009-2010

Today was my first real day!

I did @paulbogush's Million Words for Students and @ddmeyer's Who I Am ( I created one just like it in Microsoft Word for us non-Mac people.)


At the end of Million Words, the kids get to ask me 3 questions about anything that I will answer tomorrow in class. I was surprised at how many kids couldn't think of anything to say. Seriously?


I had the expected questions about what is my phone number, when can we go on a date, do I have a boyfriend, etc but nothing inappropriate.


I wanted to share some of my favorite questions with you!

• Would you date the principal for a million dollars?
• Would you host a tv show if you had to wear a sombrero?
• Who is the governor of Florida?
• What is the fastest roller coaster in the world?
• What is your biggest fear and why?
• If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?
• Can you cut a straight line with scissors?
• What is the meaning of life?
• If the USA were struck by a nuclear missile and only you survived, would you be able to live and support yourself? And why?
• If Barack Obama called you to tutor his child, how much would you charge?
• Can you tell if someone is crying underwater?
• Why does a dog get angry when you blow in it's face, but when you're driving it sticks it's head out the window?
• Do you like eggplant?
• Do you know how to fly a kite?
• Do you like cheesecake with strawberries?
• Were your parents strict on you having a boyfriend?
• Do you talk about students behind their back?
• Why did you want to be a teacher if you knew it would be crazy as all get out?

Creative. I like it.

The most common questions were, what is your favorite subject, what made you want to be a teacher, do you give a lot of homework, how old are you, and do you like teaching.

It was pretty interesting. Some kids said they had homework already while other kids said my assignment was the first thing they had actually done all day.

I let students pick where to sit and had them fill in the seating chart with the names they wanted me to call them. Most students went right for the back row but I made them scoot up. I already know all their names so it's really just for a substitute.

I did stand at the door and greet as they come in. I had instructions on what to do on the SMART board but a lot of them either didn't notice, didn't read it, or didn't believe me. I can see this will be an important routine to start.

The day went well, I had no problems. But on the inside I was feeling so retarded and like all my ideas were silly. I kept having urges to throw everything out and start over. But, by the end of the day I just tried to plan for tomorrow and not go crazy thinking ahead.

I can't wait to read all the words my students wrote to me so I'm sure there will be something interesting to post tomorrow!

First Day

Today was my first day of teaching. Except I didn't teach. And I didn't have any students.

Our school just has homeroom for two hours while the teacher goes over all the paperwork stuff. I don't have a homeroom so basically, I just made an appearance. I haven't been nervous at all until right when they were introducing the new teachers. And I already know all the kids!

After that I just went to my room and did fun stuff. lol

So Monday will be the true test.

I think I'm ready. The whole first week I am doing intro stuff, learning about them, seating chart, book assignment, icebreakers, team building skills, etc. The next week is when it gets scary.

All my PLN playas gave me the same advice- Breathe, Smile, Relax. And take it one day at a time. If I wasn't organized, I don't know what I would do. I never understand how teachers even function without being organized.

I learned how to laminate this week and that hot glue is a teacher's best friend. The copy machine is already jammed (and it's my fault) but no one can figure it out. I checked every part possible and no success.

I forget that I'm a new teacher because I subbed and did summer school. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a new teacher and not know any kids or any teachers or anything period. Luckily, I'm very familiar with everything except the best way to teach.

Think I'll figure out this year? ;)

Watch Me Live It

Imagine reading a book about a place you have never heard of. The book describes other people's trip there, what it looks like, what it sounds like, what it smells like, what you should take on your trip, and basically the amazingness of said place.

Now imagine the book ending without telling you how to get there.

=(

I've been reading a lot lately and I'm not sure if it is helping or confusing me further.

Ok, I take it back. It is helping but not the kind of help I want.

I just finished Understanding by Design and There Are No Shortcuts. Both encouraged and discouraged me.

Understanding by Design showed me that I need to have a whole new mindset and perspective on learning and curriculum in general. Which isn't hard to do, since I didn't really have a set perspective anyway. But it left me discouraged because 97.8% of the math examples were about non-Euclidean geometry which is interesting but nothing I've ever seen at the high school level. Or that I could even teach. So. I felt more lost and confused than before. Here is the magical place that makes school interesting and engaging and meaningful and leads to improved student achievement. But I don't know how to get there. I can think of creative ideas and trips and activities and lessons for any grade or subject area but my own.

Sometimes I question, How DOES math relate to the real world? Why did I ever find this subject interesting? In school, I did what I was supposed to because I was supposed to. I didn't question how I would use this or why it was important. Teacher said it, I did it. I just graduated high school 5 years ago! Have things really changed this much? Ay yi yi.

So then I read Rafe Esquith, There Are No Shortcuts. (PS Is it Rafe like Rake with an f? Or is it Rafe like Mafia with an R? And without that last A. I'm terrible at pronunciation.) First of all, it made me feel like a failure for being a high school teacher. I mean this guy spends from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM with the same group of kids. I have 8:00 to 8:52. How can I possibly fit life changing moments with every student in that amount of time?

He had amazing stories that brought tears to my eyes and horrible stories that made me uneasy because I know I will be facing some version of them myself. But overall, I didn't get a lot of practical advice on how to do what he does. That's what would have been most helpful for me.

But on the positive side, I loved his take on how we have made education look easy, when the truth is that it's not. It takes hard work, discipline, practice, determination, commitment, etc. There are no shortcuts. That's on point. I also loved using Atticus Finch as a role model. Rafe and Atticus both have a bunch of wisdom and good character.

In the end, the more I read, the more I know I can't do this.

Alone.

I can't do this alone. I know without a doubt, 100%, that this is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing. I don't really know how to do it.

I think God has moved me from what a predictable teaching career is and into something far beyond that. I know I am on the edge of something bigger than me but not quite sure what, where, or how to approach it. My insides say that it is probably going to come one day at a time in ways that I would never have expected.

So someone smarter wiser than me needs to write a book that tells me step-by-step how to be an amazing teacher that changes lives, wins awards, and how to plan a curriculum for high school algebra and geometry. Or else you all are just going to have to watch me live it.

Two options.

Read it or Write It.

Curriculum Design

*Update: Check out my first ever Algebra lesson: The Real Number Line*

So apparently this curriculum design thing is hard.

Really hard. Especially when you are totally unprepared. I don't feel like I have learned anything about how to plan and design a lesson, let alone the entire curriculum. Sure, we learned how to make a lesson fit Madeline Hunter's lesson plan outline but that doesn't help me answer the questions I'm asking myself now.

Where do I start? How much should I review? What order does it make sense for me to teach these lessons in? What format will I teach each lesson in? How do I set up each lesson? How do I involve students and give them ownership of their learning? How do I start the lesson? How do I close it? What's best for the students?

These are hard questions that I know I can't possibly figure out all at one time. I know that I can't know everything my first year. But I want to.

My perfectionist nature is taking over to the point that I am so overwhelmed with options, ideas, suggestions, formats, and so on that I end up doing nothing and getting nowhere.

One important thing that I have learned about myself is this: I need to see the big picture first.

I was overwhelmed because I had no idea where to start. So I started with order. I opened up my Algebra 1 book and started looking at each section. Some things didn't make sense- it looked like the authors just threw it in random places to make sure it was covered. So I began to take things out and move them around, or cut it out completely. I kept questioning my PLN to make sure I wasn't making any huge mistakes or totally screwing up. I talked to the other math teacher who teaches higher levels and he helped me decide what could be taken out of my class that would be taught in his class. He even gave me his plan book from last year to see how far he got, what sections he skipped, and how long he spent on each topic. This was all very important for me to get a sense of where to begin. I had to have my framework in order before I could even begin planning a single lesson. Your brain may not work that way, but it definitely worked for me.

So after a lot of blood, sweat, and tears I came up with an outline for the entire year, broken down into separate units and sections. Ta-da!

Algebra 1 Curriculum

I would love your feedback on this list. It took a lot of work but it could always use improvement. I hope that by posting this, someone else will find it a little easier to start their lesson planning,

I have since started creating my day 1 lesson, but have not finished. It's slow going and complicated to produce something that you've read about but never seen or experienced. I think I know what I want it to be like, but I'm creating it blind. I've had many recommendations to use the book Understand by Design and I've ordered it but haven't got it yet. =( And it doesn't help that the mail doesn't run until 3:30.

But I digress.

I covet your suggestions, recommendations, guidelines, feedback, and critique. These are the hard but important stages. It's easy and exciting to create a class website, design student and parent letters, organize supplies, and decorate a classroom. But the most important and time consuming thing is to plan the day in and day out high quality content and assessment that every student deserves. This is where I find fault with a lot of teachers. We, myself included, usually don't want to do the work it takes to develop high quality content. We rationalize that doing all these other things like having color coordinated folders, and keeping our desks in five perfectly straightened rows and sponsoring these clubs and coming to x amount of basketball games and high-fiving y amount of students in the hallway or even using z amount of technology in our class are the ingredients to being a good teacher. Those are good ingredients obviously. Ingredients for a good friend, supporter, mentor, sponsor, person that relates well to youth, and etc. But that's not what makes a good teacher. Only one thing matters.

Did they learn?

My First Classroom

Most little girls grow up dreaming of their wedding.

Not me.

I dreamed of my first classroom.

I've never wanted to be anything else but a teacher. At an early age I considered being a lawyer but realized that it was had to play pretend lawyer with no jury, judge, or prosecuting attorney.

Playing school was much easier. Set up the stuffed animals. Write on the chalkboard and teach. The silence of my audience just showed my skill at classroom mangement. Good students don't actually talk, right?

As I got older, baby sisters replaced stuffed animals and yes, I created my own homework papers just so I could grade them. I would come home from school and tell my mom that I wanted to be a teacher so I could show them how to do it right. My attitude hasn't changed much.

I've been waiting to have my own classroom for years! I love cleaning, organizing, arranging, color-coordinating, and decorating. If you can make it pretty, I want to and I have a good time doing it. My dream is coming true! I have my first classroom and so many ideas of what to do that I can't decide. So I am recruiting your help.

Let's start with a visual.

Enter my classroom.

Notice first, my SMART board, computer, and document camera!

Second, I have a stage. Yes, a stage! Who asked for a stage?!



Next, please observe my green chalkboard. Yuck. Hate chalk.

Means I'll be using Smart board more often.

And also, fugly bulletin board.





Notice the random chairs, desks, filing cabinets.

Big windows in the back.




Soon to be big empty wall.

That bookshelf is going to the back.

My computer cart is going on the stage.


First things first. A lot of this cluttery crap will be moved out by the janitors. The big honkin gray desk and tan partition on wheels in picture 3. Also the long blue table of computers in picture 4. I get four student computers in addition to my teacher one in picture 2 and the one connected to my smartboard in picture 1.

Color. I want to paint my walls! Teal and aqua are my favorite colors. I want to do the two short walls in picture 1 and 3 in teal. Then the big tall walls in pictures 2 and 4 a pale seafoam/mint green/bluish/aqua-y color. Not overwhelming. Calm and cool. Just see it in your heads people!

Seating Arrangement. I'll have two computer tables against the window walls in picture 3. My desk will kind of be diagonal to the stage facing the window wall.

I DO NOT WANT MY DESK ON THE STAGE. In case you were wondering.

I'm thinking of doing pyramids of 3 for the student desks. I have to fit 22 desks in there at the least and again, I have a stage! Which will make things awkward. I like horseshoe shapes too so I haven't totally decided.

Decor. I've gotten a lot of suggestions from my people on math related artwork, showing student work, using magnetic paint, posters, and plants. I'm a simple kind of girl. I don't do overly busy and lots of stuff. My motto is less is more. My whole idea I'm trying to create is a beach colored, calm, serene atmosphere. I'm thinking about a palm tree. I saw some cute hibiscus flower wall stickers. I like the idea of fake flower arrangements around the room to brighten it up. I have a couple of cityscape posters I inherited that I might hang up. I really like the idea of painting a section of the wall with magnetic paint and hanging student work or other important things there. Is it possible to paint a bulletin board with that stuff? Because that would just be handy dandy.

Hmm...what else. I thought about a cool carpet/rug on the stage. Both to make it prettier as well as more comfort for my feeties. I'd also like a mirror. Mirrors brighten up the room. Plus I like to look at myself almost as much as the teenagers do. Also might help me keep an eye on the class. ;) Should I put out some personal pictures? Like from my past vacations, when I was in school, family, etc. Keep in mind that I went to this high school, my younger sisters are currently in high school there, they all know someone I know, and vice versa.

Seashells. Books. Music. Lights. Other furniture. I'm open to suggestion. Any ideas? Please please please comment or critique. I'd love to hear what makes your classroom unique!

Official

Hi.

I haven't been able to post in a while for a number of reasons.

1. I've been reading Blogush and dy/dan and these blogs are blowing my mind. I feel totally inadequate to even write or think a single thing. Seriously, my mind has no words.
2. I was slightly depressed over my first experience with teaching summer school.
3. With summer school over, the main office has recruited me back to office work.
4. It's summer.
5. I get lazy.
6. I'm easily distracted by Twitter, blogs, books, shopping, food, and shiny things.
7. I'm so overwhelmed with thinking about how to design my curriculum and decorate my classroom that my brain closes up and shuts down.

I told you there were a number of reasons. But, the good news is.....I was officially hired Monday night by the school board! I've been subbing at the school since January, chaperoning trips, assistant coaching, after-school tutoring, teaching summer school, grant writing, etc. So it's been a given that I would be hired. The delay (which was somewhat my fault) was in paperwork. I was certified in Missouri and had to apply for a license in Illinois. For those of you that don't know, Illinois is the oddball of America. In everything the states do, Illinois always has to be different. So, it's taken a while and I still don't actually have the certificate in hand but everything is done and I'm official and that's all that really matters.

So I've been spending a lot of time reading, thinking, planning, arranging, dreaming, and obsessing about everything school-related. Now that I have some more time, you will start to see those obsessions show up in real life. Well, as in real life as reading the blog of a person you've never met can be.

:]

Not Smart Enough To Teach

This is the comment I just left on @paulbogush's blog:

This is the tweet I just wrote before I read this post:

Currently reading @paulbogush 's entire blog- realizing I can't do this. Not smart enough 2 b a math teacher! I have no clue what I'm doing!

As a first year teacher, I have nothing to fall back on. I want to have a classroom like what I think yours looks like but I have no idea where to begin. I have no experience to draw from and nothing to do if I can't create something cool. I have never experienced the classroom I want to have. I don't know anyone, maybe a few on Twitter, who has the math classroom I want. I can come up with all kinds of ideas for problem-based learning in social studies or english but not for math. Plus I'm afraid if I could create the problems, I wouldn't know the right answer. When I think about how these math concepts relate to real life, sometimes I don't know that they do. Why do I teach what I teach? I don't even teach yet! Grr. I am a combination of terrified, clueless, and frustrated.

I am currently watching @ddmeyer's dy/av videos on vimeo and taking notes. Yes, that is right. Next, I am tackling his blog, where each post usually makes me want to cry, tear my hair out, run away, or a combination of all three.

I have come to the conclusion that I have no clue what I am doing!

I plan on doing a lot of reading, twittering, and learning this summer. I also have to design my curriculum for the year. Where do I start?

The first thing I am going to do is declare "A Deep Thinking Day" (said in a deep-booming-movie-announcer voice). I am going to go somewhere away from my everything where I can be silent and really think about some things. That will be my foundation to start building my teaching curriculum. Here are some of the questions I plan on pondering...

• What does learning look like?
• How can I tell that learning is taking place?
• What should teaching look like?
• What are the real world/real life/ real job skills I want my students to take from my class?
• What do I want my classroom to look/feel/sound like? (Thanks to @paulbogush)

More specifically for lesson planning,

• What is my objective?
• What’s the best tool for it?
• Am I using the tool to the best of my ability? (All 3 via @ddmeyer)
• Will my students like this lesson? (@paulbogush again)

And those are just the basics. Notice that none of those questions involved math.

I feel overwhelmed, lost, confused, anxious, excited, and like I have no idea where to start. But I'll just start here. For now...

I am a good teacher because...

I googled teacher meme's and so I stole this one from Tim Fredrick who stole it from Nancy. I don't know these people but hey, give credit where credit is due!


I am a good teacher because . . . I have a gift for easily explaining things, I love being part of my students' lives, and I take time to learn about and know my students personally.

If I weren’t a teacher, I would be . . . an office manager. I am all about analyzing, organizing, and efficiency. I love office work, data entry, and computers. But I do hate answering phones.

My teaching style is . . . .delegator or personal model. I like to explain, give a few examples, then let students comment and work on examples. I am no mathematical expert but I'm working on incorporating more creative projects and cooperative learning.

My classroom is . . . non-existent at the moment. But I hope for it to be colorful and interesting. It's also my second home and a place where students can relax, laugh, and feel safe.

My lesson plans are . . . simple. I like clean cut examples and I write notes as if I was talking to the students. I don't like formal language.

One of my teaching goals is . . . to be the best teacher in the world! On a serious note, my goal is for all of my students to pass my class with a better grade than they had in their last math course.

The toughest part of teaching is . . . is not having enough time and resources to devote fully to each class. The classroom could be so much more fun and effective is money, equipment, and time weren't so limited.

The toughest part of teaching is . . . is trying to truly teach the students a good foundation for math while aligning to standards and teaching to multiple nonhelpful standardized tests. (I liked this one so I did it twice!)

The thing I love most about teaching is . . . the positive comments and hugs from students. I love being a part of their life! I really enjoy giving students advice about life and developing character more than I care about math grades.

A common misconception about teaching is . . . that it's easy. The hours and vacation are great but it takes more than a warm body. There are too many negative people who don't even like students or care about teaching in the school system. If you want to be a teacher, you should geniunely care about the students and improving their lives as well as improving yourself.

The most important thing I’ve learned since I started teaching is . . . teaching is a gift and I have it.

Gr8ful

I've spoken before about how I know 100% that I am in the place I need to be.

I would like to honor the one who made it happen for me.

To all teachers out there, you should be jealous of me. I'm not even a first year teacher and I have been blessed beyond measure. My administrators told me that if it was up to them alone, they wouldn't even post the job opening, they would just offer it to me.

I told them I wanted a SMART board, and they made it happen.

They're already sending me to Professional Development, and I don't even work there yet.

They've allowed me to choose what classes I want to teach. And I got to pick out my own textbooks.

They're already ordering the supplies and things I've requested.

The guidance counselor keeps me updated on my class size and I am able to work with her to decide who should be moved, kept, etc.

My plan period is the hour before lunch. + Bonus +

The administration is recommending that the school board hire me pending my certification in April.

And the students....I can't even explain to you the favor I've found with them. I am literally bombarded with hugs and hello's no matter where I go.

They remember the outfits I wear. They constantly compliment me on my shoes, shirts, pants, hair, jewelry, nails, pretty much my entire everything.

When they find out that I'm their the sub, the following are shouted in the halls....

"Yes! Our teacher isn't here and we have a substitute! And it's the cool one!"

"You mean it's a 12:00 day and our teacher isn't here and you're our sub? This is the best day ever!"

"We get to play? You're the best teacher EVER!"

"I actually understand it when you teach me."

Honestly, I have so many students who love to joke with me, tell me stories, and just want to be near me. I love talking to them, teasing them, and just being real with them. They brighten my day, make me laugh, and love me. The least I can do is return the favor.

This is what it's like to be in the Lord's will for your life. I've spent my whole life preparing for this and I'm reaping the rewards before I've even started to sow. Obedience brings blessing. Four years of college and thousands of dollars are already paying off. The Lord brought me here. He paved the way, escorted me down it, stood beside me when I wanted to run, waited while I caught up, and cheered me over the finish line.

The finish line is just the beginning. I'm at the end of what I need and at the beginning of what I need to give.

I would never have made it without Him. Everything I have is because He valued me enough to give it. I don't deserve this. I could never be a good enough teacher to deserve it. I can't even begin to do this without Him. He's given me the gift, the opportunity, and the reward.

All I have to do is teach.

Preparing for First Year Excellence

*update* Thanks to Joel at SYWTT for helping me out and sending readers over!*

The main advantage I have of being a substitute is time.

Time to prepare for the upcoming school year - my first year of teaching. Time to get to know the students and invest in a relationship with them. Time to try out different jobs such as grant writing, tutoring, coaching, and club sponsoring. Subbing requires no lesson planning so I have my nights free and I spend a lot of time blogging or reading books about teaching. I know that nothing can fully prepare me until I actually start teaching but I want to do the best I can to get ready.

What should I do to prepare for my first year? What kind of things can I do ahead of time? Can I start writing lesson plans, homework assignments, and tests or do I need to wait until I know my students? What things should I start buying ahead of time so I don't have to spend a million dollars in the first week of school? What are some other blogs I should be reading?

I want to live my life with a spirit of excellence. Help me be excellent!!

Please?