Mathkins

Yesterday wrapped up a 4 day math conference filled with incredibly inspirational speakers and presenters. I now have a notebook full of ideas, lessons, and activities that I can use in my classroom for the upcoming year and enough enthusiasm to fill a football stadium. I was also able to have some amazing math content and practice conversations with other teachers from my district including elementary teachers. I get very little contact with them during the school year as a high school teacher. Overall, it was an amazing experience from top to bottom. But here is my question...I have so much information and so many great ideas, how do I share them without overwhelming the rest of the math department (11 other teachers) but also getting them to buy in to trying something new? All ideas welcome! On the last day, during a debriefing session, with the entire group that went to the conference, our math coordinator asked us to come up with an action plan. What will we do to share this i...

I gave a presentation at the Saint Louis Adding It Up conference on Monday on collaborative strategies that I use in my classroom. It was the first time I have ever presented outside of my school district, which I have only done twice, so I was pretty psyched for the opportunity. It was a small group but I think I everyone was able to take at least one thing away from it. I took a lot of time to share how I build community in my classroom because I feel that before I can ask my students to have deep meaningful discussions about math or collaborate with their peers, I need to establish a safe and supportive space to do that. Everyday, before we go over the warm up, I have my students talk with their partner by asking them a few of the following questions. "Hi, how are you today? How has your morning/afternoon been? What did you have for breakfast? What are you doing after school? Do you have any quizzes or tests today?" This daily check-in not only breaks the ice, it also he...

The math coordinator in my district convinced me late April that I should present at the Adding It Up conference in Saint Louis in July. Actually, it's next week July 17th - 20th. It is a 45 minute class demonstration style presentation on collaborative strategies. I definitely have plenty to talk about but I am worried that it will all be stuff they have heard before. Aren't professional development conferences usually populated by the teachers that are already trying the cool stuff? Will I really be able to bring something new and interesting to the table? I guess I should have the mindset I do with my students. If I can help just one person it's worth it, right?