The End of Summer: Now What?

As the end of summer is quickly approaching, I find myself starting to move towards panic mode. I don't really understand this shift, but perhaps it is because August 1st somehow marks the end of summer for teachers. Even though I won't be reporting back to my school until the 19th of August, there seems to be SO MUCH planning left to do.

I have spent countless hours and attended several trainings throughout the summer in order to become a better teacher to my students. I have learned many valuable lessons, and gained some good knowledge along the way. I am definitely looking forward to put those plans into action this coming up year. Despite all of these great things that I have learned, the most valuable pieces of knowledge came from some tenured teachers that I met in San Antonio at the 2013 CAMT conference (Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching).

"You can't plan EVERYTHING."

At first, I just want to my hands to my head and scream WHY NOT? But then the more reasonable and understanding Nikki comes out, and I start to understand. We cannot plan for everything. We cannot anticipate every single moment of every single day for an entire year. There is just no possible way this can be achieved. If I could, I should be playing the lottery! 

So, I am changing my game plan. I can plan the basics and skeleton of my lesson plans, but the bulk of the matter will be filled in on game day. My students will direct me on where and when I need to go. If we are moving quickly through a unit, great! If we need to move a little slower, then okay. I will make adjustments to what I need to do in order to make my students successful. So, instead of spending my last couple of weeks planning and perfecting every little detail, I am going to sit back and anticipate what my students are going to need along the way. Fellow teachers, enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

Interactive Notebooks: Composition Notebooks or Spiral Notebooks?

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been delving into my professional development courses and making a mental plan of action for the upcoming school year. The first BIG thing that I will be implementing in class is the use of an interactive notebook. Perhaps you have seen this concept on Pinterest, other blogs, or previous professional development classes. The idea is to have everything necessary for learning in one area, and it allows students to interact with the materials inside. My interactive notebooks will also include foldables, similar to those of Dinah Zike. (She is AMAZING!!) Students will be able to take ownership of their learning, and be able to have everything they need to be successful in class at their fingertips.

And so the debate has begun! Do I use composition notebooks or spiral notebooks? I am torn between the two different options. Technically there are three options, but I don't want to use binders. I don't have the space to store student binders in my classroom, and they are not as portable as a single notebook for my students. I found a blog by Mendy Gannon who discusses the pros and cons for each of these three options.

Composition notebooks offer more positive attributes than the other options.

• They can easily be customized for classroom purposes. I am thinking of putting colored duct tape around the bindings to differentiate between the classes. I may create some colored covers to put on the face of each notebook to also match the bindings. The students can then customize their cover with the name and class period. These are for them, so this step is important to me. 
• They are all the same! Composition notebooks are very standard, and the only thing that really differs between them is the cover. I am planning on customizing the cover anyway, so size is really the only thing that I am looking for.
• While the number of pages in the composition notebook is limited (about 70 pages a notebook), I can do one for the first semester and one for the second semester. No big deal in that department.
• The actual size of the composition book allows for easy storage in the classroom. I can stand them up on their end on a book shelf or place them in a file crate (easily portable in their home!). I don't know for sure what type of storage options I will have at this point, but I think composition notebooks are the best option for me.

This year I will be trying out the composition notebook and seeing how it works in my classroom. I will keep you updated as the year progresses to see how both the students and myself like the use of the composition notebook. You only know if you try it! Let me know your thoughts about composition notebooks versus spiral notebooks. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Music and Math: Increasing Student Engagement

Incorporating music and math is fun way to engage students, as well as make the class periods exciting. Music Notes is a company that has produced many math videos and songs dedicated to teaching students math concepts through the genre of rap music. What students these days will not be interested in a fun song with a great beat? Music Notes has created a wide range of math ability songs matching the concepts learned by elementary school level children all the way through high school level Geometry students.

This past week, I attended a conference in San Antonio. While at CAMT (Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teachers), I purchased a DVD showing music videos focusing on Geometry concepts at the high school level. The album/video is actually named "Deometry," which I found to be fun and catchy! The artist in the videos is a gentleman named Mr. D, s

o it makes sense that it is not just geometry by Deometry! I am excited to incorporate these songs into my classroom as I introduce these specific new concepts. With titles like: Pythag's Formula, Talkin' Triangles, Holla SAS or SSS, and On My Plane, who couldn't resist listening to and enjoying these songs!

I have incorporated music and math into my previous classrooms, and they were a great way to engage the students. However, I always thought there was a little something missing. Something that can go along with the video to help solidify the ideas that were presented strictly in the video. Music Notes has filled that void for me. Not only have the created these awesome songs and videos, but they have developed a workbook that accompanies each album/DVD! The workbook has several 1-3 question activities that can be used in conjunction with the videos. Not only are the students able to hear the information in a fun format, but they are able to immediately practice the material that is tied directly to what they just listened to!

Now, there is one more piece of fun information that I have not shared with you. When I listen to rap music, I have a hard time learning the words to the song because...well...they are just too fast for me. Maybe that is showing my age, but Music Notes has a way to help me learn the lyrics, as well as the students. Online at their website: www.musicnotesonline.com they have actually included all of the lyrics to their songs for you to print out. This can be done for the students, and any struggling teachers, to learn the words of the song. I don't know how many times I am caught singing a song with the wrong lyrics! So, I'm thinking classroom karaoke is in store for my class next year!