Weary.

I don't feel like it's a word we use all that often, but it's the only way I can find to describe how I've been feeling these past few weeks.

August and September begin the academic year. By October, everything is in full swing. Then November hits, and it seems that chaos reigns. After a summer of brain storming, learning, and preparing, it is exciting to begin the year with a new class. By the time we reach the weariness, frustration and complacency start to creep in. It's this way every year, we may be powerless to stop it. How do we combat the weariness that accompanies these days and continue to be our best selves?
I've had an Apple Watch for about two months now. With the release of watchOS, a Breathe app was added. In these days of weariness, I notice that Breathe app is buzzing more frequently. We have those days when these isn't time for lunch or to go to the bathroom, but I always have time to breathe. As simple as it sounds, a deep breathe can do wonders to alleviate the stress, anxiety, and chaos that threaten to take over my classroom.

This week alone, I've had: a STEM meeting, mission trip pot luck and info session, drug abuse prevention session, faculty meeting, campus ministry meeting, drop by visit from our math software program rep, faculty social, soccer game, basketball game, mission trip make up meeting, freshmen retreat, AND it's the last week before a vacation. Add to that list that my best friend suffered a tragic loss in her family and I found out with two days notice that the funeral was happening in Chicago and booked my travel plans.

I feel like I haven't seen my house all week. My routine is totally out of whack. How can I hold together a classroom when I can barely hold together my life? How do people do this with a spouse or children?

Despite the internal chaos, I try to be steady for my students and create an environment where they know what to expect, even if I am not present. However, I've also made a conscious decision to be real with my students, to tell them when I am struggling and ask for their patience. When we get to this time of weariness, I tell them that I need two minutes to breathe before I can returning to putting out all of the fires. This honesty has also given me the opportunity to expect complete honesty from them. If you're struggling, let me know, we'll make a plan; but don't make up nonsense because you've been lazy.

Having a long term plan is really helpful because I don't have think about the day-to-day. I simply follow my plan. When I don't have time during my planning to plan ahead, it's okay because it's not for that day or the next day. I can recover that planning time.

TMC Update

With the way life it right now, I'm fairly certain that I'll miss the TMC three month check in on Sunday if I don't post about it right now.

It's never good when you have to ask, "hmm, what was my #1TMCthing"? Thankfully I was able to go back through my (mostly un-updated) blog to find my list.

• Structure to be able to make kids argue in math much more effectively 

Happening! We have argued about everything from estimations to WODB to Would You Rather? My girls have been great about using the structure Chris talked about where they stand while everyone else sits and say, "My claim is... and my warrant is..." I'm thrilled with how much I'm able to hear from them. It brings up great discussions about both novel ideas and misconceptions. 

• Desmos 3D printing project 

An end of the year project in the spring

• #alg1chat

I have failed at this. A quick search looks like it's being used scarcely. Is there interest in pumping up an actual Algebra 1 chat??

• Connecting elementary and high school divisions

I'm lucky enough to be able to actually go downstairs and talk to the teachers in our elementary school. I have a great relationship with the middle school teacher but have not yet been able to connect with the elementary school teachers. There's so much that comes up that I want to ask, "Tell me how you show this..." but I just haven't yet :(

• Honesty, openness, unafraid to fail

This has been a struggle. My class is working differently this year than last year (which should probably not be a surprise), but it's been hard for me. I'm not sure how to work through some of the challenges, and sometimes the fear that the "problem" is me has kept me from asking for help. I need to work on this.

• My classroom will be open. 

Not two weeks after I made this commitment, my principal asked if I would be okay with people coming in to observe. YES! So far very few people have come to math. I'd like to have more because I feel like I really need feedback. 

"So math is like problem solving..."

Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

After solving a number of literal equations for variables yesterday, I gave my favorite problem to the group of students I was working with.

Solve for &:      #(@ - &) = $/!

Along with the reassurance that "Yes, you do know how to do this," and, "No, it doesn't matter that there are no numbers or true 'variables' as you know them."

They discussed it together and figured out how to solve for the &. It was my most successful uses of that problem across a number of years. But the even better part came at the end.

One of the girls looked at me questioning if we were "doing math." I said, "Of course you're doing math. You just solved an equation. Isn't that one of the things we do in math?" So, perplexed, she said, "But there were no numbers or variables." Agreed. We chatted for a minute or so more before she looked at me and said, "So math isn't really about numbers, it's like problem solving." My goodness, if we can start Algebra 1 with that idea, there is no limit to how far you can go!

I love seeing this mindset of thinking, figuring out, and solving problems spread within our classroom, school, and beyond.

Back to School night - Review

It was AWESOME!

I felt more successful at reaching parents, sharing our classroom environment, and creating a positive relationship than I have ever before. They participated in the WODB activity - and in my last class, one of the dads even figured out something we hadn't been able to all night. There was excitement, he felt awesome, it was a total win.

I feel so torn between the ideals about classroom management that are set forth in the Wong book and what I've found to be true by ignoring them. I don't know how it's possible, but it seems like creating those standards in an explicit way somehow neglects relationships. But creating them implicitly through relationships is more successful all the way around. I haven't given my students a single rule this year, yet they are on task every second even when I'm distracted by working with someone else. How does this happen? What about the environment from day 1 creates this phenomenon?

Back to School Night

After the GMD webinar on back to school nights last Tuesday, I started thinking about what I do at mine. And I thought about parents trucking along to eight different classes just to hear eight different sets of rules, policies, and generally boring things.

This year I'm going with three slides. I only have five minutes. When the parents arrive, they'll find a WODB activity with directions that ask them to justify their choice. As we move on, I'll give them a very brief, "Hi, here's who I am" while they fill out a Google form that asks who they are, who their daughter is, and if they want me to follow up with them about their daughter since we don't really have time to talk tonight. Then, my last two-ish minutes we'll talk about goals for the class: build a solid foundation for future math courses, develop confidence and a love for math, and enhance problem-solving and justification abilities.

The Power of Student Choice

Today was our first day of really getting into the groove of class. After our warm up and collaborative activities, I said to my girls, "Ok, our objectives for today are simplifying expressions and evaluating expressions. Who wants to sit and do the lesson with me in a small group?" Not a single hand goes up. "Ok, who is planning on watching the video as a refresher?" About five hands go up. I'm utterly perplexed at this point. "So what are the rest of you planning to do for this lesson?" There are some whispers between girls, and someone finally says, "We know how to do it. We just need to practice." Oh. Ok, that we can do. And so we did. They spent the rest of class practicing a series of problems of varying difficulty on MathSpace.

I've been thinking about that conversation for the rest of the day. What if I hadn't had this talk with them? What if I'd just forced them into a lesson? It would have been a waste of all of our time. They've "learned" this for at least three years (probably closer to five). The last thing they need is another lesson. Yet they realize that they need practice.

Let's listen to our kids. They know what they need. Sometimes better than we do.

Digital Sign Out

In study hall this year, I'm using a digital sign out process. I created a Google Form with simple questions (who are you, where are you going, when will you be back), then made a QR code that goes to that form. I posted the QR code on the bulletin board on a sign that says, "Signing out of study hall? Scan here."

My students simply take their iPad, scan the code, and fill out their information. That way I can keep the response sheet open in a tab on my browser so if anyone needs to find them, I can easily say where they are - and I don't have to carry a paper sign out sheet to the classroom where I have study hall every time we meet.

The Power of FitBit

I've struggled to manage time in class, to remember to stop with a few minutes left to close, give announcements, whatever. This is compounded by the fact that our classroom clocks are not synchronized with each other nor with our MacBook/iPad clocks. So I'm never exactly sure when the bell is going to ring.

A few years ago when I was struggling with this, I thought about setting a silent alarm on my FitBit, but I thought it seemed tedious to have to go in each day to turn off or on an alarm for each class because we have a rotating block schedule.

On the first day of school, we spent a while playing Mao. It was really important to me that we had about five minutes at the end to debrief because I did not want them going home on day one saying that they played cards in math and have no idea what the purpose was. I decided to try the FitBit alarm. And I LOVED it. It was absolutely perfect as a reminder in each class. My back was to the clock and we never finished a game, so I certainly would have run out of time without the FitBit alarm.

But could this really work long term? I mean, setting alarms for one day was manageable, but would I really do it each day as the year went along?

I'm mostly concerned about my math classes because I have the timing set up differently in theology. For one day, that means I only need one alarm. For the other day, it's two. As I walk through my class, monitoring progress, answering questions, and checking in with my girls while they work, I don't have to worry about what time it is. I have all of the alarms scheduled but none repeat. That way, each day, I can just go in and "turn on" the ones I need that day. It's going to get annoying when I have to account for schedule change days, but I still think the benefit is greater than the annoyance.

At this point, I am thrilled with using my FitBit in this way and sort of annoyed with myself for not trying it years ago when I first thought of it. It helps that I have the FitBit app on my iPad as well, so for days like today when I realized at the beginning of class that I hadn't turned on the alarm, I can easily go in and do so even though I don't have my phone in class.

The First Day of School!

What a great first day!

One of my biggest goals for this year is to use debate in Algebra, in particular by using the language of "claim" and "warrant." I decided that I would use that same language in all of the warm up activities for the sake of consistency. That way, when we get to a larger scale debate activity, it will already be established.

When the students walked in, I had the expectations for entering and beginning class projected. As soon as the bell rang, we began with prayer and transitioned to the warm up (that will normally be the thing on the board when they walk in). We did Day 1 of Estimation 180 - as I've done for the past three years. This time, I introduced it as, "Look at the picture. You are estimating how tall he is. What is definitely too high? What is definitely too low? What would your estimate be and why? I care much more about your why than about your number." Then they had a minute or so to think and chat with anyone who was around them. I wasn't sure what would happen if I gave them the freedom to chat in the first five minutes of class on the very first day, but I walked around and every single conversation was about the picture! They were completely engaged.

From there, I introduced the language of argument, claim, and warrant - what it means to justify. Afterwards, I asked for estimates. When the first person raised her hand, I gave the instructions for her to stand and for everyone else to turn their bodies to face her. They were excellent about saying, "My claim is..." and pretty good about "and my warrant is..." but needed some reminders. Having done this with at least three classes for the past three years, I was amazed when I got warrants that I had never heard before. I love out of the box thinking.

We then did some course expectations, notebook set up, sort of boring but probably necessary stuff. I capped it at about seven minutes because I do not want that to be their memory of the first day.

Then we moved into a different space and played Mao. I was a little bit unsure about whether it was really a good idea to play cards with 6-8 kids on the first day and make everyone else watch, but I am so pleased with how it went! Those who were playing at at the table with me while the others stood around the perimeter. I made it clear that even though only a few were playing, I would be looking to the others to answer questions about the game at the end.

It was a blast! We laughed a lot. The atmosphere in the room was so overwhelmingly good. They immediately began helping each other. Halfway though, one of them made a comment that this was just like math because... Yep, they got the point, and I didn't even have to say anything. Afterwards when we debriefed the game, they picked up on so many things that they learned by playing/watching others play. We talked about encountering frustration when you try to solve problems and how working together, trying things (even if they fail), and giggling your way through it can help you. There were so many good things that I'm completely forgetting now (first day of school brain...), but I'm so glad we did this today. I would absolutely do it again.

What's Desmos?

Two of my new colleagues were talking to each other about their TI-84s today and trying to trouble shoot some issues. They looked over to me, and I said, "I don't know. I don't use it. I use Desmos." (Granted, I teach Algebra 1, not an AP class where you are more or less forced into the TI world.) They looked at me and asked, "What's Desmos?"

It's sort of crazy to me to think that people still don't know what Desmos is. I love it. Sometimes I graph things just for fun or because I'm curious about something. Since they gave me the perfect opening to evangelize, I launched in to what I love about Desmos. 

I always start with the fact that I can enter an equation in almost any form. I'm not restricted to y= which is incredibly liberating. So I graph a line in standard form. Then I graph one in point slope form. Just because I am. And guess what? They intersect. Do you know how I can figure out the coordinates of that intersection point? Click on it. Very intuitive. That same process on a TI is about 14 button pushes. By the time you get through the "how to do it," they've forgotten why they even want to do it. 

Since I keep hearing about the card sorts, I decided to go there next since I hadn't actually played with one yet. We picked the one about quadratic forms. They were immediately impressed. I showed them the teacher dashboard and what you can see while (and after) the students work on the activity. 

The teacher who has precalculus this year was so excited at the possibilities. And I'm excited to have another math teacher on board :)

Orientation days

I have started several posts, and I just can't finish. My brain is scrambled. Today I met my students in a five minute rotation of classes. I probably can't tell you any names, but I'm excited to work with them this year. Tomorrow the whole school will come for orientation. It's one of my favorite days in the entire year. The ruckus in the gym is a celebration of what it means to go to a school full of girls. For the freshmen, it's the time when they realize that this is a special place. For the others, it's an embracing of the new students into the sisterhood. For all of us, it's a transition from summer to another year, and I, for one, can't wait.

Opening Day

When my dad and I were in Chicago this summer, he bought me a dress at Loft that I decided I would wear on the first day of school. Having worked in professional baseball since before I was born, he refers to "the first day of school" as Opening Day. It makes sense actually, the hype and expectations are the same. The newness of the first day of school brings renewed hope for a year much better than or just as good as the one before. And in a new year, anything can happen.

The Organized Life

Now that I'm officially back from my summer adventures, it's time to get life back in order. Here are the ways I try to make my weekdays as efficient and thoughtless as possible:

Outfits:
On Sundays, I choose all of my clothes for school for the week and hang them in the front of my closet (with jewelry) on hangers labeled for each day. I thought I would miss the spontaneity of choosing clothes to match my mood each day; I do not. On a rare occasion I need to switch outfits because of weather or something, but I just choose another that I already had out for the week.

Lunches:
Normally I pack four or five salads on the weekend and shove them in the bottom of my refrigerator. Then each morning, I just have to grab the salad and a fork. I almost always add an apple and a snack (string cheese, rocket crackers from TJ's, yogurt) to eat during break. On Fridays we have smoothies at school so I don't always bring a lunch.

Gym Life:
I plan my workouts in my planner. The night before, I check to see if I will be going right to the gym from school (sometimes going home first means never making it back out again). If that is the case, then I pack a gym bag to throw in my car in the morning.

Dinners:
I also note my dinners in my planner. I actually plan for the month on a separate calendar I made in a Google Doc. Then I can link the recipes from Pinterest. I shop on the weekends and make myself a note in my planner the day before if something needs to be defrosted. Because I go to a 4:30 class at the gym on Mondays, I almost always crockpot something that day so that I can eat right away when I get home at 5:45 or 6.

Creating systems to organize my life helps me to be a better teacher because my mind is focused on my class rather than on what I will eat, wear, etc.

Interactive Notebooks

INBs were sort of the theme of my day. This is my fourth year of using them, and I've always used composition notebooks. One of the new teachers in our department also uses them (in Geometry - which is an awesome follow up to my using them in Algebra). So today, while we had a thousand other things to be doing, we launched into a discussion about the pros and cons of each style.

Composition Notebooks:
    PROS
-everything is contained
-copying everything two per page ensures a decent fit (and half the copies!)
-cheap

    CONS
-page size is awkward
-all the cutting/gluing
-running out of pages
-must decide order ahead of time/pre-plan

Binders:
    PROS
-add as many pages as you want
-can re-order as desired
-less cutting/glue

    CONS
-hard (but not impossible) to include foldables
-papers might not get put in
-holes rip through
-binders can be destroyed


In the end, I think we both decided to use composition notebooks. However, in an effort to save class time, we're going to pass out the papers for the next section at the end of class on test day for the unit before and create a video showing students how to insert them into their notebooks. Then they'll be good to go on test day. With our population, this is a viable option, but it might not be in other environments.

I'm kind of excited to see how she likes it - and maybe next year I'll consider using a binder if she can convince me that it's a better system.

So, what do you think? Which is better? What factors affect your decision?

Realified

It's time to walk my talk. This afternoon I met with admin about my goals for this year. It's so nice for someone to ask about my goals and be able to give authentic answers. For better or for worse, I am opening my classroom. It's a thing. I'm committed now.

How is it possible that every year I forget how hectic pre-planning is? In the summer I think, "We have a week, I'll accomplish so much." Two days in, I've actually accomplished nothing on my list save for sending a few emails. I've accomplished ZERO things. In two full days of work. Welcome to teaching. It's a good thing I love it. :)

Expectations and levels

Last night during the Global Math Department webinar, Annie made a comment that (paraphrase) "You can't only teach a (struggling) kid multiplication tables and expect that he will make progress." It's so obvious, and yet so seldom done.

Enter today. I'm in the hallway waiting for one of my admins and end up chatting with an English teacher friend. She tells me about these two American Lit books that they are reading and how she will juxtapose the two stories so that her students can answer this essential question about American literature and their identities. It sounded really cool and complicated, so I said, "Oh, this is in your AP class?" She said, "No, it's my college prep." My first instinct was to say, "But it sounds too hard for them." Then I remembered Annie's comment. If you don't give them any challenging work, they will never have the opportunity to grow, to improve.

In our faculty meeting today, we were asked to identify two or three things that we want to work on this year in our teaching. High five to TMC16, I already have a list. But I've been thinking of my own fears as well, am I shying away from doing something because it seems scary or hard? I will never grow unless I take on the challenge.

So long to summer

It's hard to believe that my alarm will go off at 6am tomorrow, and the routine of the school year will be back. We have a great welcome back with Mass and breakfast before heading off to meetings.

Where has this summer gone?

School ended on June 8, and I mixed relaxation with future class planning for two weeks before hitting the road.

For three weeks, I was volunteering in Connecticut as is typical for the summer. This year I was lucky enough to be there for the orientation week and came away with some great icebreaker activities and games that I hope to use as needed. I also go to know some amazing Notre Dame students who shared their learning from the Summer Service Learning Program with me to the benefit of my social justice classes.

From there, I went to Twitter Math Camp in Minneapolis. I'm so excited to see everyone in my department tomorrow since I have been emailing and texting them repeatedly as I learn more and more.

After Minnesota, I spent a couple of days in Chicago with my dad. I made my first trip to the Field Museum which was incredible. I can't believe I've never made it there before. I also visited the Pauline Sisters book store and grabbed a copy of I Forgive You that I've been wanting since Nicole published it. I'll use it in my classes and share it with my goddaughter.

I flew from Chicago to Providence and spent the day with an old friend while waiting for my mom to arrive. We visited my grandma in Massachusetts for a day before traveling into Boston to meet up with my dad again. The most interesting thing we did in Boston was the Freedom Trail. I've been thinking a lot about the idea that history is written by the "winners" and the foundational principles of our nation. In three games at Fenway, I found myself "wondering and noticing" all sorts of fun and random things. Does Fenway have more foul balls because of the lack of on-field foul territory down the lines? How did they decide upon the height of the Green Monster? How are pitch speed, bat speed, and the speed of the ball off the bat related? How much must your bimonthly paycheck be if you make $24 million in a year?

My mom and I went to Bar Harbor for a wedding. What a beautiful little town. It's so interesting to me to live in a place where you don't need air conditioning, where outdoor activities (in the summer!) are the primary focus, and where lobsters sell for $2.75/pound.

I had one day to unpack, focus my thoughts, pack up my school bag, buy groceries, and get ready for the new year to begin. Other than that 6am alarm, I am so ready. I'm anxious to share ideas with my new department members, to meet my lovely freshmen ladies, and to hopefully be a bit better of a teacher than I was last year.

It's August!

August 1 – the official end of my summer and beginning of the transition back to school. As my travel wraps up, I figured the optimal time to write my first post for the MTBOSBlaugust challenge was on my flight home.

I’m suddenly very thankful that I spent the first two weeks of summer doing some planning, creating, and copying for the fall. I’ve sketched out some rough dates for units in each of my classes and have my basic framework in place. All that’s left is the fun part!

My experience at TMC16 was phenomenal, and I left with so many good ideas. Moderating when and how to implement each is now the challenge. Having followed the MTBOS for so long, I was familiar with a lot of the amazing things people are doing in their classes and have tried a lot of it myself. This year though, I’m focusing on structure. It’s primarily a behind-the-scenes organizational framework for myself, but I’m hoping that it will enhance my students’ classroom experience by creating a better flow.

The most obvious structural change is going to be the use of the words ‘claim’ and ‘warrant’ (from #TalkLessAM) to create viable arguments. I would like to embed that framework in all of what we do discussion-wise to make expectations clear and increase cohesion between topics.

Because I teach freshmen, I get a “preview” day with them as they walk through their schedule at orientation. I think it’s only five minutes, but I know that I want to use it more effectively than I did last year when we sat around looking at each other and chatting awkwardly. I think I’m going to play a game that teaches some growth mindset and is silly, fun and encourages interaction.

Beyond that, I’ve decided what Day 1 will look like:

Introduce claim and warrant while working on Estimation 180.

            Very basic course information/pass out expectations to be signed.

            Use a video (to be watched at home) for notebook set up so that I don’t have to take
                        the time in class and they get familiar with how the videos work.

            Play Mao.

I just learned how to play Mao this summer. I love it because you have to figure out the rules as you play. It is ideal for getting into growth mindset and problem-solving. It also reinforces the importance of consistency in enforcing rules and equitable treatment for all which I hope to do within our class environment. I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to work with a class of 24, but I’m excited to try it with them.

Sort of off topic: I’ve recently realized how many high school students do not recognize the four suits within a deck of cards so Mao can address this basic life skill as well J

My first TMC

I've been a member, at least an underground one, of the MTBOS for a long time. I sent people to Dan Meyer's site long before he gave a TED talk. I've bungeed a lot of Barbies. My students know who Mr. Stadel is. I had a dream of attending TMC in Philadelphia, but by the time I could make it work, it was full. Then for a few years, I just couldn't make it work with the dates. When TMC16 in Minneapolis was announced, the stars aligned for me. I stalked the @TMathC twitter account for days when registration was about to open. I was so excited that this would be my year.

Truth be told, I am an absolute introvert. My good friends find that hard to believe because it's not apparent when I'm around people that I know well, but I find interacting with strangers difficult, overwhelming, and exhausting. How did I miss the fact that TMC is nothing but interacting with strangers? It is not the type of event where you can walk from workshop to workshop, talk to no one, and check off some PD hours. Every minute of TMC is engaging and dynamic. Even in sessions (especially in sessions?), a good amount of the allotted time is spent working on problems or creating activities with other people. Introverts beware, you will be out of your comfort zone every single second.

Even though I've had an account on Twitter for years, I remained in the shadows. Coming to TMC, I told myself that I would have reason to interact with this community after the fact and planned to do just that. Well, I'm a few months behind. I wish I had engaged in the conversation during the months leading up to TMC so that I wouldn't feel as though I'm in a room with 200 strangers. For me, what's done is done, but that's the advice I'd give to anyone looking to attend in the future.

What initially struck me about the MTBOS at TMC was how friendly people were. I arrived at lunchtime on Saturday with more luggage than anyone would ever need for four days. [Traveling for five weeks straight will do that to you.] Multiple people helped me carry my bags up various flights of stairs or around corners. Lisa, seeing my name tag, stopped me and told me how glad she was that I had arrived. I couldn't believe she knew me by name. I was invited to eat lunch with a group of people by David who was simply holding the door open at Jimmy John's. The openness, willingness to share, and friendly dispositions of all were enchanting. How can this be a real place? It's nothing like the rest of the world. [But what if the rest of the world could be like this?]

I'm supposed to be choosing a #1TMCThing. Like I can pick just one... The thing is, I've been doing a lot of these things for year but going to TMC helped me to do them better.

• My first entry in this blog is about how I finally got my kids to argue in math, but a framework for doing that would be really beneficial. Enter my morning session with Chris and Mattie. I'm taking home a structure to be able to do this much more effectively (probably in theology as well as math). 
• I've been trying to figure out what the heck I could use the 3D printer for in Algebra 1 after having a good time using it with my Geometry kids two years ago. Enter Heather and her incredible idea that involves using Desmos and the 3D printer to create 2D and 3D designs using functions.
• I attended a flex session about Algebra 1 where I learned that #alg1chat is a thing! What? I'd love to join in this conversation on a regular basis especially because I'm the only one who teaches Algebra 1 in my high school. 
• I was inspired by Tracy's keynote about connecting high school and elementary school teachers and how much we need each other. The thing is, in my school, we can do this. We don't have to drive anywhere or get a sub or miss anything. We can see each other in action and learn from each other. We only need the invitation and an end to the fear that keeps us apart. 
• Both Dylan and Glenn talked about fear. Teaching in the iLab last year helped me to overcome a lot of the common fears we have when we talk about opening up our classrooms to other adults. My takeaway is this, be honest with your students, your parents, and your admin. You are not perfect. It would be foolish to expect that you are. We're asking our students to have a growth mindset that we ourselves choose not to have (again, because of fear). 

So I am committing to this: my classroom will be open. In person to any teacher, parent, admin, whoever wants to come by - you are welcome anytime. On the web through this blog and Twitter. I want to share what I am doing in my room because I want to grow as a teacher. My students deserve that. Will I get to do any of the other amazing things I learned about? I hope so. In fact, I'm fairly certain that being open will only lead me to more and better ideas that I ever could have come up with on my own.

The Two Options

Yesterday was the EUTELSAT & ABS launch. Anyone who knows me knows that I love space. When SpaceX landed their rocket for the first time in December, I cried. I stood in my kitchen and cried thinking that I had just witnessed an incredible moment in history. It was even more amazing in light of the fact that an earlier launch, in June, had literally exploded in the sky. SpaceX is back, or so the storyline went.

One of my primary focuses in my classes this year was having a growth mindset, constantly working to improve, trying to be better than the day before, for my students and myself. As I watched the launch yesterday, something that the SpaceX engineer said on the webcast caught my attention. In referencing the landing attempt, he said, "We'll either have successful landing or another opportunity to gather data." He did not say that they would succeed or fail; he said that they would succeed or learn something about how to succeed in the future. That is a growth mindset. As it turned out, the rocket crashed, it exploded on the drone ship. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX tweeted, that it had an "RUD = Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly."  They take the setback in stride, an opportunity for learning. That's a lesson from which we could all benefit.

Summer Reading

Inspired by Twitter a few weeks ago, I quickly grabbed four new books from Amazon. It continues to amaze me that I can order them at night and find them on my steps when I get home from work the next day. Life in the future...

As much as I'd like to re-read Mindset from last summer and Mathematical Mindsets from the fall, there will be different books in my backpack this summer. Interestingly, traveling with bunches of books for school makes for some unique conversations, and I get to share their content with people far outside the realm of my day-to-day at school.

So what am I reading this summer?

• A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger
• Make Just One Change, Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana
• Intentional Talk, Elham Kazemi and Allison Hintz
• Weekend Language, Andy Craig and Dave Yewman

Truth be told, I started Intentional Talk on the very same day that it arrived. My only let down so far is that it's very elementary-based - and I specifically bought it because a review said that it was the book of its type that most geared itself towards middle grades (sadly, nothing exists for the high school level, at least to my knowledge).

As for other summer activities, I am super excited to be going to my first Twitter Math Camp! I have been wanting to attend this annual for teachers, by teachers PD since its inception. I actually stalked the TMC Twitter account for hours over the couple of days that registration was supposed to open. I've been through the program schedule multiple times, and I can't wait to actually meet the amazing people of the #mtbos. And, it's in Minneapolis! I've never been to Minnesota so I'm excited for that as well.

"It's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them."

Wise words from one of my theology students today. We were discussing the new apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, and those words were what she took from Pope Francis' message.

It was a beautiful sort of "worlds collide" moment to see that the message I have pushed so hard in the math classroom this year has transferred over to other courses (and is reinforced by the Pope himself).

It's also just a good reminder for all of us. It's okay to make mistakes. It's life in fact. Just be sure you learn from it.

What I've learned

I've been reflecting more and more over the course of the last year about what learning actually looks like - and how it's related to what we do in schools.

Earlier this week I was asked to create a small piece about my classroom as part of a much larger project. It took me a few days to track down a student to record the audio portion, but once I did, the entire movie (only 24 seconds) came together in under five minutes. I sent it off to the person in charge without a second thought.

Later in the day, as I was walking through the building, I realized how far I have come as an individual in terms of technology use. I only truly learned how to use iMovie last summer. Now I can import, edit, record and include audio, and be finished within minutes. The project I had completed would probably not have been possible for me (or at least taken significantly longer) if I had tried to do it a year ago.

It struck me how unaware we can be of our own progress in learning. I don't know why I stopped to think about how far I've come, but I'm glad I did because it is yet another remind of how important metacognition is for the learning process.

"It's like the boat that takes you to Magic Kingdom"

I had not one but two serious fights in my class today. It was thrilling, invigorating, and made our entire journey to this point seem more than worthwhile. I had students arguing, in multiple classes, for 15+ minutes at a time, about math.

To be honest, I didn't see it coming. We were working on an estimation task (http://www.estimation180.com/day-159.html) like we do in every single class. They had done the previous day's estimation in the last class without much excitement. Today though, everything changed, I had girls jumping out of their seats and running to the board to try to convince everyone of their reasoning, trying to get them to take turns was chaotic because they all wanted to share their thinking. I had students who have NEVER spoken in class (we only have three days left...) raising hands to chime in.

First the argument was that children's life jackets are 2/3 of the size of adult's - or is it half? And if they're smaller, then do more first in the same space or less? That generated a good bit of discussion, but then, the mother of all questions came out, are the benches the same size? Each size was so passionate about their argument that they actually formed arguments! It wasn't just "because I think so" or "it looks like it" - they were coming up with ways to convince the others. This WAS the moment I had been working for us to get to all year long. It was awesome.

I think my favorite part though, was when the door opened and a member of the Buildings & Grounds staff came in. I thought he was there to take care of an issue, maybe repair the chair I had submitted a work request for earlier, but he just watched us. When I asked him if he needed me for something, he shared that he had seen the photo and question through the window and was curious about the answer himself. I asked his estimate, and thinking he had something better to do, ran over to him to whisper the answer. But he stayed. He stayed for 15 minutes while my girls argued with each other over the size of the life jackets, how they could possibly be arranged, if the benches were the same or not, why there might even be different benches on a boat. I was amazed by my girls, their passion, and the arguments they were constructing - but I was even more in awe at how their excitement and the question itself could spark the natural curiosity of a passerby. It was a really beautiful experience at the end of outstanding year in this crazily re-designed course we know as Algebra 1 in the iLab.