You gotta give all students even students that are not good at math an opportunity to feel success!

Today in math class we were challenged to create a giraffe using tangrams. Now you can call me crazy but I have never seen or used a tangram before. I found it very challenging to create the giraffe using the tangrams. I was the first one at my table to almost create the giraffe I almost had it with a little more manipulation I got it. My table group then created the giraffe twice its size. Once we created the first giraffe doubling the size of the second one was still challenging and took some thought.

This was an excellent opportunity to see how working with shapes to create something was challenging for some and easy for others and is a great way to explore the individual strengths of ones peers.

We also talked about backwards design and the idea that it was teaching to the test we decided backwards design is not teaching to the test it is away for the teacher to focus on what she wants to learn from the students and what she wants the to learn. If the math is not beneficial then it should not be on the test. You have to find out whats important to you.

Math journals are and excellent way to  provide a possible entry point for students to work through their understanding and provide a deeper reflection on what they comprehend about the concepts and ideas they are learning. Math journals provide learners with a place to put math into words and give all students the opportunity to be successful at math.  There are numerous way a teacher can use a math journal they can be created as an online document that allows a teacher to touch base and discover a students understanding almost instantly and away of checking in with students who are struggling or might have misconceptions as they are trying to explain something.. Especially if the math journal is an open ended assignment that is not necessarily graded can provide an access point for multi-ability learners.

Combining math with literacy is an excellent way to combine math with other subjects. mathmatizing literacy is an excellent way to get here and another great way of incorporating group work. Allowing a student that claims I am not a math person but I am a creative person to thrive in math especially if this is a group assignment. When students struggle and flounder as a group they are more likely to discover each others strengths and a lot of learning can come out of that.

Help Along The Way

     While reading the Writing Essentials text I have been thinking about writing and why writing is so scary for so many people. I think about how I felt about writing as I went through school so many years ago. I remember teachers grading my writing for  grammar, spelling, and neatness. I remember writing prompts and essays that had to follow a format specific format such as: narrative, persuasive, or argumentative. I don't remember a teacher ever asking me to write about myself. Routman explains how important it is to teach students to love to write she suggest one of the best ways to do this is by asking students to write about themselves.
     I connect this idea back to the book Bird by Bird and I can easily make the connection between these two texts. Lamott talks about index cards and the way she jots down notes when she sees or feels something she thinks is, as she puts it, "something wonderful that makes me want to smile or snap my fingers". Lamott talks about the way she carries a note card with her at all times and has them all over the house. She jots down phrases to jog her memory and help capture the feeling she has at that moment or a memory she doesn't want to forget.
     Now I have never thought of myself as a writer but I noticed ,while reading Lamott, that  I began to jot notes down on scratch paper or  sticky notes a few years ago. I have these notes stuck to my computer, car, and desk. These sticky notes don't usually say much but I keep them because I just know one day I am going to have the opportunity to use what is written on them someday. However, I usually end up throwing them out at the end of each quarter when I get everything cleaned up and organized for the next 10 weeks of chaos.
     Just this weekend I had a thought on my way to work and I grabbed some old mail from the floor board of my car and jotted down my thoughts. I thought it would be fun if I tried to write something on my blog using the notes I had on the floor of my car, like Lamott does in her book bird by bird.
    When I jotted down these notes it was the anniversary of my sons death, it has been 18 years since I lost him.  I was thinking about how drastically my life was changed by this tragic event all those many years ago. I was thinking about the grief and guilt I have lived with for most of my life. I was thinking about my own life and  how different it feels today. I was thinking about and how very fortunate I feel  because I have found a new way of walking through life. I no longer walk through my life as simply an observer punishing myself for decisions I have made in my past. Today I walk into my future and I try to live in the moment. To be present and to be living in the moment  has changed everything for me and every year feels different, if there could be a new color added to the rainbow that is how different it feels.  I have spent so much of my life running and hiding not only from relationships but from the intimacy of  a relationship and real love. I know why,  I think anyone that has had their heartbroken finds it difficult to really love again... to actually get closer, allow myself to get pulled closer, and to actually pull someone closer to me; has had a profound effect on my life. When I think about falling in love. I get scared and my instincts tell me to look for an exit plan. However,  I am finally, after all these years, learning to get honest with myself, finding independence, finding romance, experiencing heartbreak, good news, and bad news. I am learning to have intimate, honest, conversations about love, freedom, and internal spiritual struggles.This has not been an easy path for me and I have come to the revelation that there is a particular shaped specific size hole in my life that can only be filled by the real thing. For many years I filled that hole with things that weren't truthful, things that weren't healthy, things that lead to an easy escape.
   Wow, that was a great experience. I am sure it is not great but I have to tell you I don't think I have ever enjoyed writing so much! It really works. I was writing about my own private thoughts and I was into it even thought it took me way to much time and I could probably keep working on it all day.