Cross Country in 40 Days

          Out of all of the projects and classwork papers I have completed throughout the school year, this project seemed to stand out. The project consisted of picking 5 destinations (cities) in the U.S that you wanted to visit; however, those cities also had to intertwine with U.S history. After you have chosen your preferred destinations, you have to figure out how many miles it would take to go round trip. Starting and finishing at Philadelphia, the stops I made along the way included, Austin, Texas, Sana Fe, New Mexico, Los Angeles, California, Portland, Oregon, and Charleston South Carolina. This trip was a sightseeing trip and like you would in a realistic situation, you had to figure out how much it would cost to eat, stay at the hotels, fuel your car, and rent a car.
          This entire project was at each individual's pace which worked out extremely well for me. I can go as fast as I wanted without having to wait, while I also could take time on specific parts of the project I might have been confused about. While this project tied in with U.S history, it not only taught me pre-algebra, math, and setting proportions, it also included a life lesson that I will know for a life time. Time management and being wise with your money are crucial understandings that I will need to know in the future. For example, I didn't want my trip to be a year long, and I also didn't want to pick the Jeep (the most expensive car available to drive my 7,650 mile journey) because it was a cool car.
          The math needed to finish this project is tedious and hard. The fact that this project had multiple steps really encouraged me to try and get one step done each day and to strive for two. The pleasure I received during this project was form part 2. In this section you had to figure out how many miles per gallon your car could go.  The reason why is because I feel as if I worked the hardest on this part over all of the others. The math needed to complete this portion was meticulous and I was intrigued even more each car I completed. Before the completion of this project, I was forced to face rough patches along the way. The hardest part might seem silly to you;nevertheless, it was pretty difficult for me. Sometimes choices are good and they allow you to do what you want; however, a bit more boundaries might have helped me finish this task a bit faster. Being able to pick your own cities was actually the hardest part for me because I am not very quick at picking choices. With over thousands and thousands of cities all over the United States,  to only pick five was a bit arduous.
          Overall, this project broadened my horizons and helped learn about math, social studies, and daily life situations. To be able to do projects similar to this one would be great because I really enjoyed everything involved with it. From the Civil War to the Battle of Fort Sumter, the cities I chose tied in perfectly with U.S history, while they also were cities that I would want to visit in real life.

What Drives You?

This morning started off like every other school day. I am at the gym by 5, home by 6 to enjoy a quick cup of coffee before getting my kids up to start our morning routine. During my coffee time, I enjoy checking out my Twitter feed to read about the great ideas that are shared by my Professional Learning Network. As many of you know, there is one post that you read every once in a while that really sticks with you. Really makes you think. The topic bounces around in your head all day, to the point that you can not shake it out of your head...

That is exactly what happened to me when I read this post by Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal) entitled: What Drives You? Mr. Sheninger does an excellent job of providing his readers with several excellent points about what "Drives Him" to do what he does everyday. That made me think: What Drives Me?

I have had this question bouncing around in my head all day. Why did I choose this profession? Why do I do what I do everyday? Why do I love coming to school everyday? It boils down to this: I enjoy helping people improve. As a teacher, I love working with my students to help them get past sticking points in their learning that allows them to understand things they previously struggled with. I love helping students learn things they were convinced they could never do.

In addition, I love helping them in nonacademic areas as well. We have all had the students that are just excellent students. There are very few (if any) areas academically they can do better. Instead, I may try to help them overcome their fear of public speaking, getting better organized, learning how to take a joke or something as simple as just looking someone in the eye when speaking to someone.

Do not get me wrong. I know I do not have all the answers. Many times, my idea of helping someone is by pointing them in the direction of the person who knows more than me. That someone could be another teacher, a colleague or even another student. By doing that, I am hopeful that person will be able to give them the feedback they need to progress past their sticking point.

I am hoping to continue this belief when I obtain my first administrative job. I love discussing teaching and the art of teaching with people. I enjoy discussing topics that I read about on Twitter or someone's blog. This leads me to another thing that "Drives Me": Constantly Learning. I am passionate about reading whatever I can get my hands on that pertains to our profession. I have read numerous books, magazines and blogs trying to learn as much as I can about the greatest profession on Earth. Then, I love sharing that information with my colleagues. It is my hope that by sharing what I have learned, I create an environment where everyone is open to sharing ideas and techniques. An environment, that as professional educators, we are excited to collaborate with each other. By doing this, I hope to create a constant back and forth discussion amongst my colleagues that has one purpose: to make each other better!

Thank you, Mr. Sheninger, for sharing your thoughts with us. Thank you for giving us something to think about. Thank you for providing us with questions to challenge our thinking. Thank you for "Driving Us" To Improve?

So, to keep the discussion going...

"Smart board, Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow..."

I love my Smart Board. I love the lessons I can create with it, the games I can share with my students and the presentations I can make. I always make sure there are extra light bulbs for the projector in case it breaks. Heaven forbid I go a couple of days without standing in front of the class using it...

Needless to say, I have not "powered up" this machine the last two weeks. No, it works fine. I have just committed myself to more project based learning with my students. During the last two weeks, I have had students throwing a Frisbee to calculate their experimental probability, a group shooting baskets with a Nerf ball for their Probability Project and another group with markers on their hands from making their game!

That is right, I have tried to create more of a Maker Space in my room the last two weeks. After spending some time reflecting, I have created a list of tips or suggestions for anyone attempting this:

1. You can not worry about noise: They will laugh, talk, giggle. But, as long as they are productive, I am okay with it.

2. Do not try and clean up until the end of the day: Early on, I tried to clean up my room throughout the day. I quickly realized I was missing interacting with the students. That's my job, right?

3. Apologize to the custodian. Repeatedly: Things will not be as neat as they were earlier in the year. Wear it like a badge of honor.

4. Know where you want them to go upon completion: Be prepared for the group that finishes in half the time. Know how they can extend the project. Or better yet, let them figure that out for themselves. For example, I asking a couple of 8th Graders today about the Science Fair, they began researching the idea of creating a school app!

5. Be a good swimmer: It is tougher to swim with your students than stand and serve as a lifeguard!

6. Provide them with steps (dates) to complete parts of the project by: This will help the student(s) that struggle(s) with time management.

7. Be flexible: Know what you want them to demonstrate to show understanding. Do not care so much what medium they choose to do so.

8. Be able to juggle well: You may need to be working with a group reinforcing a skill while listening to another group work out some struggles while finding your stapler that a group needs to use!

9. Be prepared. For most things: Understand that somethings will arise that you did not expect. Regardless of how well you planned.

10. Be well rested: Planning for a day where I am at the front of the room does not even come close to how tiring it is after "swimming" with your students for the day.

11. Still allow redoes/retakes: I have had several students take my feedback and alter their presentations to show a higher understanding of the concepts. I loved it!

Now, I still plan on using my Smart Board. I am not going to have it removed from my room. Come to think of it, I will be powering it up next week...for my students to give their presentations on a Recreational Center they are pitching! May have to dust it off before the students get in that morning.

Did I leave anything off my list? I am really excited about the changes taking place in my room. My students are working and creating this late in the year. I am learning (slowly) how to scaffold from the lessons to extend the learning experience further. Would love your feedback/suggestions on this.

TLAP on TGIF!

What a great day. After spending over nine hours the last four days watching my 8th Graders work on their state assessments, I could actually teach today! I was looking for a great way to get the kids re-energized about learning after taking those "silly" exams for four days. I found two great projects for my students to work on: Create Your Own Carnival Game and How Will I Survive?

The Seventh Grade just completed a unit on Probability, and I wanted a different method to evaluate their understanding of the different standards within this topic. The groups were asked to create an original game of chance. They were provided with a brief introduction and then turned loose. Within fifteen minutes, I had students bouncing ping-pong balls into cups to test the Experimental Probability of someone winning their game. What I really enjoyed watching was how the students reacted to their errors. They quickly realized that adjustments needed to made to their game. Some had to make it more challenging, others less so. I thoroughly enjoyed circulating around the room listening to the discussions of each group. I was there simply to ask questions to get a deeper understanding of the concepts the were calculating or a change they made to a process or procedure. It looked like a circus in my room, but man, was there a lot of learning going on!

The Eighth Grade will be tackling a project on budgeting and working with graphs (How Will I Survive?). Here, they are given a job and a family status to factor in while creating their fictional family budget. They are being asked to research where they are going to college to earn the education for that job. In addition, they will be gathering information about the kind of car to drive as well. I was very happy to hear them question each other. They asked why someone was choosing to go there when a cheaper school was also available. In addition, a number of students whispered to me that they were looking to buy a used car to save more money. All I could say to them was: "Welcome to the Real World!"

What a great day at school! What a great change of pace for both myself and my students. Do not get me wrong, there was still a lot of planning that went into these activities, but when you see the excitement on their faces, it is all worth it. We did not crack open one textbook all day, yet it was a day full of learning...For ALL of us in the room!

What projects/activities have you done just to throw a change-up to your students?

"I Made It"

Well, this is it. Tomorrow, my Seventh and Eighth Graders will sit down and take the math sections of their state tests. They will be required to take three sections tomorrow and Thursday (for my 7th Graders) and six parts all tomorrow (for my 8th graders). These scores will then be punched through a formula to determine my "effectiveness" as their teacher. There are so many things fundamentally wrong with this, but that is for another post.

I made a commitment to myself at the beginning of this school year: I was not doing any test prep! In the past, I have spent the two months prior to testing working from a "test prep" workbook and giving my students weekly "practice tests". We would review those tests (after slapping a grade on them, of course!) to get them to do better next time. I have to admit, it must have been effective, because for the most part, my test scores were high. So, that is all that counts, right?

This year I focused on altering my instruction to allow for more group work and higher level thinking problems. I worked hard at providing my students with a chance to work with each other to get guidance and/or support. It also gave me time to float around the room to engage my students in conversations about their work. This gave me a great opportunity to meet my students on a more individual basis. In years past, I never gave them that chance. I never claimed to be a "quick learner".

In addition to the intentional shift mentioned above, I have changed my instructional technique as well. In years past, it was a lesson a day. Period. I graded homework and gave frequent quizzes. I ended up with a lot of grades. It got to the point where I was spending all my time grading, that I could not prepare anything exciting to enhance the instructional part of the lesson. There just was not enough time in the day.

Now, I do not need to spend as much time reviewing homework because what they do at home is work from several days prior. I have worked hard at presenting material over several days with multiple chances to practice in the classroom prior to allowing them to work at home individually. This did take some time getting use to, but I really like this adjustment. I have found an increase in the amount of homework completed since it is a topic we have spent several days discussing in class. As a result, I am noticing an increase in my students' confidence as well.

That confidence is what I am hoping will carry my students through the next couple of days. I had to wait until the last minute to write this post because I had second thoughts (repeatedly) throughout the year about reverting back to my "old way" of doing things. I have to admit, I am glad I did not. I found this year much more enjoyable to teach without the test prep. I am just glad I had the will power to see it through...

Are there any changes you made this year to your instruction? How did it go? I would love to hear from you...

Feel Like A Number

I met with my Superintendent yesterday to discuss our school's PLC work, and how we are working towards our vision and goals of our Math PLC. The discussion turned to the new Teacher Evaluation Model and Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs). We were discussing how we thought teachers were handling things considering all of the unprecedented changes that have taken place in Education the last few years. I enjoyed the conversation and the give-and-take between us. Everything was going well until he said the following to me: "I thought you would love this. You are a numbers guy. I thought this would be right up your alley."

My mind began to race. I could actually feel myself starting to get warm. I was suddenly overcome with frustration. Maybe it was the proverbial "last straw" trying to deal with all of the new changes. Maybe I was letting my exhaustion get the better of me. I composed myself the best I could and replied: "I do not like these at all. What I do is so much more than a number on a scale. It is about relationships. Plain and simple. It is about relationships with the kids I teach!"

Mind you, I was very respectful, but I knew it came out a little more heated than I intended. I just firmly believe that what we do as Educators, what we really inspire, can not be measure by a number. The impact we have on the students we interact with everyday can not be summed up by the median score from a state test that arrives once a year. Make that now twice a year with PARCC! How do you measure the following?

* That I have a 7th grader that does not shut down when faced with a difficult problem like he did in September?

*That I have kids staying after school ON A FRIDAY to retake a test before the weekend begins?

*That I spent time working w/ an advanced 7th grader on multiplying binomials with radicals?

*That I had 2 8th graders inform me first thing this morning that they went home to Google the name of the race of people Christopher Columbus eradicated?

*That I had 2 different 8th graders come in with permission slips to read books I mentioned yesterday?

I understand how great numbers can be. I teach Math. I get it. Thye absolutely can be used to quantify anything. I just do not think what Educators do can be viewed this way. We work with children. Our students might be pre-schoolers or high schoolers, but they are still children. I just wish the people who crunched all of those numbers got that!

I had to laugh when I heard Bob Seger's song: "I Feel Like a Number" on the way home yesterday. Needless to say, I turned the volume way up!

I am interested to hear how you are handling the movement to dwindle what we do down to a number? I would love to hear from you!

5 Words to Describe My Classroom

Can I sum up what happens in my room in five words? Is there a way to describe what happens when five classes pass in and out of my door everyday? Can everything I have worked on over the last 18 years be summed up in five words? With inspiration from @msssackstein and @garnet_hillman, I believe I have chosen the perfect words. It is just sad it took me all afternoon to think of them.

Challenging: I am selecting this word because I do not like the buzzword rigorous. I believe the work I ask my students to complete is right at their level everyday. I believe we handle topics that initially students think are above them, but through patience and hard work we tackle them together. I like working with them to push past what they initially did not think was possible to complete. I love seeing the proverbial "light-bulb" moment in my students.

Respectful: I work with 7th and 8th graders. Voluntarily. I really enjoy this age group. That being said, there is a high level of respect in my room. I expect that my students respect each other and themselves. I also expect that materials in my room are treated the same way. I believe my students are treated with a large amount of respect as well. I expect the same from them in return. If I had a nickel for every time I said, "You know things are done differently in here..."

Accountability: I work very hard at holding my students accountable. I hold them accountable for their actions everyday. I expect them to work as hard as possible everyday. I am always asking them to give me their 100% that day. I know some days will be better than others, but I want 100% from them. I have no problem asking this of them because I demand the same from myself. I work hard at not bringing outside things into my room. I work hard at staying in the moment while I teach. I ask my students the same in return.

Accommodating: I do not know if I like the connotation of this word. On the surface, it implies that I allow my students to walk all over me. It paints a picture of someone being taken advantage of. I prefer to use it as a way to describe the lunch times I give up so a student can retake a test or a quiz. I prefer to use it to describe how students are able to do corrections on assignments to show they understand something better. I prefer to use it to explain the various/creative ways I allow students to show me they understand a standard. In this context, I think I am 100% okay with this adjective.

Humorous: Again, I work with children. Humor and laughter are present every day in my classroom. I try to bring in laughter as much as possible to keep things light. I understand that several of my students see math as stressful, and I can not teach them until I break down that barrier. I use humor as a way to do that. I am okay with poking fun at myself because of my inability to draw if it gets my students smiling and relaxed. I have learned over the years that if they are laughing and smiling, the math is easier to learn.

Thanks again, Starr and Garnet for inspiring me to write this. I did not think what we do in my room could be summed up in five words, but I think these words paint a great picture of my classroom.

How would you describe your classroom?