03 Apr 2020
A Better Way To Teach Math

A Better Way To Teach Math

This episode was recorded and edited before the coronavirus & distance learning was front of mind for educators. Valuable takeaways though regardless if you're virtual or in person One of challenges of teaching math is being able to satisfying answer the question 'why'? Before we can even answer the question for students, we have to answer the question for ourselves. Why does the math work this way? It's much easier to teach a student how to do a problem. It's a bit harder to explain to them why it works the way it does. It's even more challenging to help…
Read More
21 Feb 2020
No Planning Time, Low Test Scores, & Correcting Students | Q&A Show

No Planning Time, Low Test Scores, & Correcting Students | Q&A Show

What do you do if you don't have a planning period? How do you help students master a skill after they've failed a test? How do you correct students when they're wrong? Any advice for a first time long-term sub? We explore these questions into today's Q&A show. EPISODE NOTES In this Q&A show, we discuss: How do you support students & help them master content after they've scored low on a test?How do you find time to prep, grade, plan without using all of your free time outside of school if you don't have a prep period?How do you…
Read More
03 Dec 2017

Post 12 – Sleeping In

This past week was the first time I put in for a sick day in maybe two years.  I rarely get sick, and when I do, the last thing I want to do is figure out how to send instructions up to school so classes can run relatively smoothly on their own. Monday through Wednesday were fairly normal.  I've been doing my Jiu Jitsu classes at 6am those days and Wednesday is the day I start feeling fairly sore, but I went and was glad I did.  Wednesday evening I had dinner at a friends house and noticed a sore…
Read More
20 Nov 2017

Post 11 – Integers, Rational Numbers, & Sumo Remote Controls

It is Monday of Thanksgiving holiday and as my wife is working Mon-Wed, I'm looking to get all my holiday work done these first few days.  I also realized I missed a week of reflections so thought I'd look over the last couple weeks in my classes. PRE-ALGEBRA We finished up our integer unit.  Overall it seems students have a great grasp on how to work with integers even in problems where order of operations is needed.  Looking over the assessment data, my 1st and 3rd periods generally perform about the same.  Class size is similar and a mix of…
Read More
11 Sep 2017

Post 03 – Programming Drones & Mathematical Properties

We're entering week 4 of school.  This will be the first full, normal week so far.  First day of week 1 was the odd first day schedule with assemblies and such, 2nd week had a 2-hr delay on Monday due to hurricane weather, and last week was labor day on Monday.  Glad to start getting into a normal routine.  But onto the reflection of last week. ROBOTICS & DRONING I spent most of my time last week reflecting on robotics.  I was trying out doing some drone lessons where students program the drone to do stuff.  Our first mission was…
Read More
27 Aug 2017

Post 01 – First Week Pre-Algebra, Robotics, and Advisory Activities

Well as part of my goals this year, I'd like to continue to blog every week as a reflective practice in my middle school math & robotics classes.  This is my 7th year in the classroom, 4th year teaching middle school math & robotics, and 3rd year doing weekly blogs.  I'm impressed by the number of teachers doing the #teach180 initiative where teachers write a DAILY reflection.  Some will do an Instagram or Twitter post and that'll suffice.  I'm going to be less worried about the presentation aspect of these blogs this year; I'm not spending time on cover photos…
Read More