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January 2020

This is my first blog post EVER as a teacher. It feels so wonderful not to be limited by the character counts of Twitter! I'll start by sharing a little bit about me.


  • I am currently teaching Algebra 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is my 6th year teaching.
  • Last year I joined the #mtbos community on Twitter, and it changed my teaching practices for good. I began to implement a #thinkingclassroom and am working towards fully implementing it in my classroom.
  • We use standards based grading in our department, and I'm a huge fan.
  • I'm starting a program to get my ESL License this semester, and I'm excited to see how it will improve my teaching.
  • Outside of school, I like playing (and coaching) volleyball, doing puzzles with my husband, reading, and snuggling with my dog.


My plan for this blog is to share what's working in my room and any of my favorite resources/activities I have come across this month. I am in awe of how much is out there, and I'd love to share resources that have been helpful for me.

What I'm trying this month:

  • A "Daily 8"
    • My school uses Kickboard to track behaviors, so this semester I decided to let students know what I was looking for by giving kickboard points for them. 
      • 2 points for sitting with their correct groups
      • 2 points for participating with their group at the #vnps
      • 2 points for working during individual work time
      • 2 points for completing the exit ticket
    • I've been tracking these in a table on my clipboard. It's been a lot, but it's also been giving me valuable data and letting me see the students that are flying under the radar.
  • Visually random groups (weekly)
    • I started to give random groups of 3 weekly instead of daily, as some other teachers suggested to me on twitter. My students seem to feel a lot less overwhelmed, and there is a lot less pushback (but of course there is still pushback).
  • Giving students think time
    • I now start a timer after I send my students off to the whiteboards. For 3 minutes, I simply observe and don't say anything. I tell them what I'm doing when I do this. They have been very receptive to it, and I think it's helped them not depend on me so much.
My favorite resources this month:
  • Open Middle (always a fav for me)
    • I've been creating a lot of Open Middle problems for my students to do on the #vnps while we study complex numbers. Check out the one that my students wouldn't stop trying below.
  • Delta Math
    • We were required to give students an option for credit recovery from last semester. I have been using delta math to assign students standards and topics they did poorly on last semester, and I love that I can so easily track their progress!


Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your favorite resources right now or any feedback you have on mine!

Paige (@MrsSheehanMath)
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Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 18, 2020 at 2:43 PM

    Nice! I use teams of 4 and I switch them every 2 weeks. I do alot of team building activities now which really makes a huge difference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PaigeJanuary 20, 2020 at 5:29 AM

      I really want to start incorporating more team building activities. That's one of my goals for the next month!

      Delete
  2. JFairbanksJanuary 20, 2020 at 4:25 AM

    Nice post! Thanks for sharing. I love Open Middle and VNPS too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PaigeJanuary 20, 2020 at 5:29 AM

      Thanks! I love how easy it was to start doing Open Middle problems and how little prep they are. Plus they go along with VNPS perfectly!

      Delete

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