01 Oct 2018
What Would Make A Great 1st Day of School?

What Would Make A Great 1st Day of School?

With the start of the school year upon us, I've been thinking a lot about the first day of school. Is it the most important day? How do you balance the need for rules & procedures with getting kids stoked about being in your class? How do you ensure students have a voice and feel seen & heard on the first day? How do you not only begin to develop a positive relationship with students but also help them begin to develop positive relationships with each other and with the content you're teaching? What do students think makes a great…
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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…
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20 Aug 2017

Teacher Goals – 2017/2018

We had a goal writing exercise during in-service this last week.  We were to come up with at least one pedagogical goal, one professional goal (not necessarily related to content), and one wellness goal.  Here's the gist of what I wrote in my journal: PEDAGOGY GOALS ROBOTICS I've been thinking through Robotics mostly lately. I'll be doing stuff with the drone for the first time. Still thinking through how to run the tests outside with one drone; what will others do while they wait their turn? Maybe someone else could bring a DJI if they have one. Perhaps my own…
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28 Aug 2015
Week 1 – Less Stress Than I’m Used To

Week 1 – Less Stress Than I’m Used To

Last year I read a few blogs from folks who were reflecting everyday in the classroom.  I thought a more manageable amount for myself would be a weekly update and reflection.  Will hopefully stick with this as the year continues and will probably be more successful if I recognize that every post doesn't have to be a world-class entry. FIRST DAYS First weeks of school are sometimes the most stressful.  When I was a 5th grade teacher, I was quite a disciple of the Harry Wong 'First Days of School' philosophy of the first day being the most important.  I…
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