It’s the last day of 2017 and I’m in reflection mode. It’s around two degrees outside right now and I’m planning on staying inside with a warm cup of coffee. By the time I’m done with this coffee, I’m hoping to have finished up this post. This is allowing me some time to look at what I can change and keep the same for next year. It’s been a year of ups and downs and many different commitments along the way. I’ll be splitting up this post into ideas that I’d like to continue and some possible additions for the new year.
Continue
- I’d like to keep my arrival and flow chart process in place. I’ve been using this process with K-5 this year and so far it has been working fairly well. Over the years I’ve noticed that the first five minutes of class are golden. Getting the students thinking about math quickly after they enter the room is an important piece and is also helps get the class moving in the right direction from the get-go.
- Using WODB, Estimation180 and Scholastic math magazines for my bell-ringer work. I believe these daily tasks are beneficial to students and gets them thinking about math in different ways
- I’ve used a daily agenda this year. It’s visible to students as they enter the classroom. I’ve used a slide made in PowerPoint or Keynote and it includes all the daily activities for the class. I believe it has eliminated a lot of the “what are we doing today” questions that I’ve heard before. It doesn’t eliminate all of them, but I’ve noticed a huge reduction. Students can take a brief look and get a general idea of the tasks that are planned out. I’d say that the class rarely makes it through everything on the agenda, but it helps keep the students (and teacher!) aware of today’s happenings.
- I want to continue to have a balanced instructional approach in the math classroom. I tend to use bell-ringers and have certain math routines that stay the same, but changing up the lessons and tasks has benefits. Designing lessons throughout the week that has students working with partners, group conversations, including technology components, and having whole-class conversations tends to help students encounter math in different ways. It also adds an unexpected element that students sometimes need at this level.
- I’ve been using a digital planbook this year. It’s been a great way to plan out lessons away from school. Also, it has helped me leave school at a decent time this year – a struggle many teachers have. Being able to create the lessons and then copy and paste the lesson into my agenda slides have been an efficient process year.
Changes/Additions
- I’d like to be more intentional in planning out my math questions during lessons. Creating questions that are open-ended, yet give students time to truly think about mathematics in multi-faceted ways can be challenging. Depositing a question in a specific place within a lesson can yield dividends later on in the lesson and throughout the year.
- I’d like to actually use my planning time for planning purposes. That sounds odd while I’m writing this down. Like most teachers, I have a certain amount of time that is deemed for “planning”, but I tend to not use it for that purpose. Generally I use it to check emails, copy, call parents, or check-in with other teachers. Ideally, I’d like to use it for planning out or modify my upcoming lessons. I think this is more of an effort on my part to use this time for actual planning.
- When planning out my lessons I’d like to add more of a cyclical design. Lessons are usually designed to meet one specific mastery objective. This is often required at certain schools/districts and is part of the evaluation. The assessments and tasks are related to that one objective. I’d like to include more opportunities for students to review past concepts. This also moves students away from thinking that “fractions are done” since we finished a unit on that particular topic. Having a revision review is such an important topic and I feel like I could write an entire post on just that topic. I’m continuing to look for ways to make a 2-3 times a week commitment for this purpose.
- I’d like to commit to being more aware of what is being taught to students after they move on from my classroom. It shouldn’t be a mystery to what I’m preparing students for, although there’s sometimes a disconnect between what happens at a 5th grade level and in middle school classrooms. I’d like to check out how the standards that I teach connect to what students will experience in 7th and 8th grade classrooms.
Side Notes:
- I’m currently in the process of getting through module 3 of my NBCT certification. Watching yourself teach is a bit cringeworthy, but I’m making progress with the editing. If everything goes well, I should be getting my credentials next December. This seems like a long way off and I know that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before then. Also, I’m hoping to connect, learn and share with my PLN during the NCTM conference in April.
I’m looking forward to 2018. See you next year!
Educational Aspirations 