04 Jan 2018

Highs & Lows of 2017. Vision for 2018.

Spent a couple days reflecting on the highs and lows of 2017 and what I was looking towards in 2018.  Not so much resolutions but more just putting to paper some of the goals I've been developing in the latter half of 2017.  The reflection ended up covering a ton of different areas of my life.  I'll share a few of them here. SCHOOL Highs Amazing schedule for 17-18 year Got to just teach Pre-Algebra this year (as far as my math classes) Really great advisory group Feeling I have plenty of planning time to help make this years Pre-Algebra…
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08 Jun 2017
Entry 33 – School Has Come To An End

Entry 33 – School Has Come To An End

Today is the first official day of summer for me!  Started out with breakfast for some friends, the first swim in a long while at the lap pool (taking a break for a week from the weight lifting as I've had some shoulder pain), and some good time to get a lot of little tasks done that have been on the back burner for a few weeks. My summer plans include doing some possible videography work (sent out a ton of inquiries this morning) and a trip at the end of summer to China!  Sara and I found a Groupon…
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09 Jun 2016
Week 37 – Summer Has Begun

Week 37 – Summer Has Begun

Today is my official first day of summer.  Let's take a look at how the final week and a half went! FINALS WEEK I like how our school does the final exam schedule.  It's basically half days with two final exams in the morning (with a 30 minute break in between the two), and students are free to leave after lunch or stick around and go to office hours with any of their teachers.  It's really excellent for teachers because I was able to get all my grading, student comments, etc. done while they tested and in the afternoons.  Had…
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22 May 2016
Week 35 – My Teacher Self Evaluation & End of Year Review Idea

Week 35 – My Teacher Self Evaluation & End of Year Review Idea

I thought for this week's reflection I would share my teacher self-evaluation that's due next week.  Quick recap of how things were going in class though: END OF YEAR REVIEW IDEA To help my students study for the final, I didn't really want to create a review sheet so instead I gave them access to all of the quizzes, tests, and reassessments I've made this semester.  I made a folder for each unit and put all the assessments (with answer keys) in those folders and then shared those folders with students and parents on our class website.  Got some positive…
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19 Jul 2015
A Belated End-of-Year Reflection : Lowlights

A Belated End-of-Year Reflection : Lowlights

This is part 3 of my 2015 school year reflections. If you'd like, check out my previous entries: A Belated End-of-Year Reflection: Changes A Belated End-of-Year Reflection: Highlights In today's episode: LOWLIGHTS Lack of clarity in what to teach Coming from public school, you don’t really have to figure out what you have to teach. You’re given a scope and sequence; you know what units are to be taught and in what order. Sometimes a bit stifling and rushed, but you know what’s expected of you. I came in with a little bit more autonomy than I expected. The math…
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19 Jul 2015
A Belated End-of-Year Reflection : Highlights

A Belated End-of-Year Reflection : Highlights

Check out some of the changes I went through from 2014-2015 in my previous entry.  These middle schoolers aren't the only ones going through changes! In this episode: HIGHLIGHTS Low stress Behavior Management-The behavior problems I had this year didn’t even come close to the stuff I would have to deal with in the past.  I had one student who was a bit too cool for school and wouldn’t always follow directions, but even she engaged in our class discussions.  The kids generally did what you asked them to do.  Behavior management was a huge stressor at Iduma. It was…
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