A Day in the Life 10/11/16

So the day started at 5:30 am, which is 15 minutes before my alarm is scheduled to go off.  This is a welcomed and unusual treat to not only have 15 extra minutes to get my morning stuff done, but also not have to be startled awake by my alarm.  I spent the extra time thinking through my day, getting a jump start on emails, and saying a prayer or two.

5:45 am - first alarm sounds off. It's definitely time to rise and shine. My morning routine is inevitable now. My feet hit the floor and the day starts.

6:05 am - second alarm sounds off. This is the just in case alarm - you know, the just in case you hit 'off' instead of 'snooze' on the first alarm, alarm. But by now I am up, dressed, downstairs and making my morning breakfast shake. I have perfected my morning routine so I can get out the door in 20 minutes, if needed.

6:15 am - I'm out the door and on my way to work.  11 miles and 15 minutes later, I'm there.

6:30 am - walk into my classroom and prepare for the day. My desk is peaceful.

7:05 am - the first bell rings and the kids are rushing off the bus. The day is in full swing now!

7:20 am - homeroom time. I'm running an intervention group with the help of some of my previous honor students who are looking for service hours and having another set of students staple a packet of papers together that we will need later this week.  I love that my students love to help me out.

7:37 am - 1st period. Goes smoothly - finishing up our work on changing repeating decimals into fractions.

8:22 am - 2nd period. Planning.  I'm in charge of archiving our homeroom intervention documentation for my team so that's always the first thing I do. Then it's a quick run to the office to check on my mailbox, followed by checking my emails and returning parent contacts. I have a parent teacher conference after school, so I pull together the grade sheet and student work for that as well. I look ahead at what's left on my to do list, and knock a few other small things off, such as cut the exit slips apart & get the documentation ready for my target groups for the on grade level class later today.

9:13 am - 3rd period. My honors kids come back, and work on practicing the skill of changing decimals to fractions. This time I throw some terminating decimals in there just to make sure they are attending to precision (Math Practice #6). With 10 minutes left to the period, we talk about the answers, and challenging questions. Homework is passed out/discussed.

10:04 am - 4th period begins. This is a double blocked class and will roll right into 5th period. We will stick together for a full 94 minutes (two 45 minute blocks, plus the 4 minutes given between the two blocks for the change of classes).  We start with our daily warm-up (3 problems of mixed review)  and then roll right into our topic. We are working on subtracting integers, so our first activity is designed to compare an addition problem with a similar subtraction problem. Through this comparison, students discover they can change the subtraction problems to be addition by adding the opposite of the second value. The 2nd activity is actually take subtraction problems and change them to addition problems before finding the value.  Students worked independently first, then paired up, then the pairs, paired up making quads. Each quad then shared several items with the class during whole group discussion.  Once finished we switched gears completely.  My students have shown a lack of fraction concept understanding. At the 7th grade level, they should be fluently doing all operations with fractions so that when it comes time to have positive and negative fractions, they can build on previous understandings.  However, that's not always the case. So with that, I am going back to basics, and I'm starting with changing mixed numbers and fractions (since mixed numbers can't be multiplied or divided) and vice-versa. Today was a pre-test day so I could collect data on who exactly needed to be in this target group. Those not needing this target group will be working on an extension project during the target group time.  At this point, my desk, is somewhat of a mess.

11:41 am -6th period begins. I do the same thing with this group of student students as I did with the double block of students above, but at 12:27 we go outside for recess.

12:27 pm - 7th period it's recess. Nothing like a nice fall day, the sun is shining, its awesome.  The kids (all 160 of them) are playing in the bus parking lot. Some are throwing the football, some are playing soccer, some are shooting hoops, while others are standing around just enjoying talking to one another.

12:41 pm - I blow the whistle, its time to line them up and go in for lunch. Everyone lines up with their 6th period teacher and like a heard of very loud cattle, we make our way from the bus lot to the cafeteria. I make my way through the office to check my mailbox again, head to the staff lounge to get my lunch out of the fridge, and head to my classroom where I have three students waiting for me.  Even though this is my duty free time, students often come to my room at lunch for extra help. These three want help working on fixing their mistakes on last week's quiz. I have them sign in on an iPad using a QR code I created to keep track students who seek my help at lunch and excuse myself to the restroom while they are signing in.  After all, if I don't go now, I have to wait until the buses leave! I help the students work on their recovery questions (mostly fractions... go figure!!) and sneak in a bite or two of my lunch while helping them.

1:13 pm - 8th period, the same students I had 6th period come back and we continue where we left off when we lined up for recess.

2:05 pm - dismissal - and just like that, they are headed back on their buses. Well, most of them anyway.... a few of them are making their way to my classroom because today is Tuesday. Tuesday is MathCounts day, so some students from 6th, 7th and 8th grade have chosen to stay after school and practice math in hopes of making our school competition team. Unfortunately, for me though... I'm double booked. I've got a parent teacher conference that I must attend, so my colleague makes her way over to my classroom and runs MathCounts until I can return.

2:07 pm - Parent teacher conference. It is really nice to have a partnership and be able to share success with parents as well as reach out for helpful strategies that may help gain even more success.

2:45 pm - I am able to return to MathCounts! Man these kids are fired up about math. I just love it. We work on solving a few more problems before heading out for parent pickup at 3:15. I can no longer find the surface of my desk...

3:33 pm - "Um, Mrs. Scheetz... How late can I stay? My dad forgot today was Tuesday.... he thought it was Monday" MathCounts student. "No worries, I've done that too. How long does dad need you to stay?" I replied. "Another 15 minutes or so" the student replied. "Well, sounds like you and I can go back to my room and start our homework". I said. And off we went - the student worked on his math homework, and I worked on finding my desk.

3:50 pm - "My dad is here!" The student exclaimed. "Well, let's go meet him" I replied as I got up. Met up with dad, and laughed a little with him, as joked how it has happened to me too.  I returned to my room and worked. I got the materials ready for tomorrow, made my to-do list for tomorrow, cleared my desk of the items and filed them away where they needed to be and made sure that my today's to-do list was complete.

5:00 pm - I walk out my classroom door.  It's been a long day, and I've stayed later than I wanted to, but I'm making the decision not to bring home anything to work on tonight. I have to grade a few recovery papers in the morning, and look over the work from MathCounts. But... I've put in a solid 10.5 hour day. So, I figured - eh, those can wait until tomorrow.  And my peaceful desk awaits for my return.

A Day in the Life - 9/11/16

It's Sunday, and it's the 11th day of the month. I have chosen to participate in the Day in the Life (DITL) project where teachers from all over share what it's like to be a teacher for a day. I'll be posting consistently on the 11th of each month, even if it's not a school day; such as today. 

So here goes tonight's post, beginning at 11:33 at night. I doubt I'll hit publish before midnight...

5:23 am.

About the normal waking time and animals don't know what day of the week it is like I do. The house is quite. I remember that it's the 11th. September the 11th. My DITL post day, and a very sobering Remembrance Day. How is it that 15 years has past? How is it that the students in my classroom weren't even born when the Terrorist Attacks happen? They are so very vivid in my memory, I am so very thankful that they are not in theirs. This day. Oh. This day.  Glad this day is Sunday, so I don't have to try to keep it all together in front of my students. 

The house is still & quite so I'm going to use this peaceful time to lay here and be still, think & pray. 

8:24 am.

Time to get up for the day. Thankful it's Sunday and that I was able to sneak back in a few extra hours of sleep. 

9:00 am 

Arrived BJs Wholesale club as it opens and so we (hubby and I) along with my awesome concessions stand co-lead for my sons football team can make our purchase to restock after Friday's home opener. It was a well attended game, so our stock was wiped out! 

11:16 am

Finally pulling out of BJs Wholesale club and off to the school to get into the concession stand to put away the two trunk loads of items we stocked up on. Glad its a bit cooler of a day, the heat here has been unbearable especially in unairconditioned places like the concession stand. 

12:45 pm 

Leaving the school to head home. Hubby is driving, so I am going to check my Twitter and the #MTBoS feed. Scored this 3 act task regarding a snafu in traffic around my hometown.  From this tweet and of course this one too. 

1:10 pm

Arrive home, unpack the little bit of food that can't be left at the stand and head upstairs to Mount Laundry-more. Start a load of laundry and check on my son who was injured during a play near half-time during Friday's game. Pause and reflect to be thankful that his injury is minor. 

1:30 pm

Settle down into my work zone in my bedroom and begin to grade papers.  This has the making to be a long day. I like to highlight the mistakes students make first, then go back and give them prompting feedback to help them discover their mistakes. When you have small class sizes, this is great. But when you have class sizes of 33, it can bog you down if you decide to do it all at once. On a Sunday. Starting at 1:30.  But hey, I have my cat, and another pile of laundry to keep me company....

5:00 pm

Hubby comes up to remind me we have dinner plans to celebrate a friend's birthday.  We're supposed to be there at 5:30, so got to get prettied up. 

5:30 pm 

Dinner with friends. It was nice to get out, have conversation and forget about all that is around. 

7:13 pm

Back to reality. Laundry and grading. 

9:00 pm

Realizing as I analyze these kiddos quizzes, they didn't master some concepts from previous grades. So I decide that tomorrow's lesson will include 1/2 of my block to be flex grouping. I'm going to focus on the top level of questions on my quiz which was operations with fractions. Separate the kiddos out based on what level of mastery they displayed and get them doing some center/independent work, work with me, or on Stileapp.com to help them make more connections. 

10:50 pm

Hubby comes to bed - I'm still in my work zone, in our bedroom. He doesn't mind that my light is on... just crawls in and falls asleep. I'm quickly becoming jealous, but I have my Stileapp lessons to put together. I'm so glad that the platform is easy to use!

11:30 pm 

Ok. Done and prepped for tomorrow. Have to-do list started. Sure I will think of more:

1. Scan the kiddos quizzes so I have a copy for future reference. 
2. Contact Parents re: First MathCounts meeting is this Tuesday. 
3. Print one copy of each Fraction worksheet that I used for the Stileapp lessons so I have a hard copy, just in case. 
4. Average the leveled grades from the quizzes and enter them into the grading system. 

And that's my DITL. It's now 12:03. Hubby is snoring. And it's lights out for me too. 

Good night folks!

A Day in the Life --> Before School even begins

Summer is winding down and our county officially reports in one week from today. Our Teacher Association has negotiated one teacher work day to prep our rooms and get them ready for the entire school year. Unless you are some sort of super hero, I don't think this can be done. So with the permission of my newly appointed principal (she's been on the job for a little less than 4 weeks herself), I decided I would go in an attempt to get some things straight. 

Knowing that I didn't HAVE to go in, I set my alarm for 8 am and hit snooze 3 times.  Each time, I reminded myself that this was a luxury that would be disappearing before I knew it. 

I mustered the strength to get up and get going, arriving at school by 9:15.  I introduced myself to my new principal and our new secretary and made my way down to my classroom. The floors sparkled and shined, and I paused for a moment to quietly thank the hard work that went into making my room so fresh. Then I took a deep breath and began. 

At the end of each school year, everything has to be packed up and placed on shelves. I tried at the end of last year to pack up in a neat and orderly way so that unpacking this year would make sense. For the most part it worked. Ah. Success. 

But wait, what's in this box? Huh? Oh crap... that wasn't supposed to be boxed up there.... ugh... ok. Hmmm.. Where does this go? I don't know. Here. On this empty student desk. I'll figure it out later. 

At about 11 am, a colleague came in. Knowing that we had collaborated over the summer and sent a bunch of items to get printed by our county's print shop, he came by to help organize the 10, yes 10, paper boxes of copies we had waiting for us for this year. While this will be a tremendous time saver over the school year, right now...I'm not feeling it. Remember that stuff I didn't know where to put, when I was unpacking so I just put it on an empty desk? Well, I did that several more times, and now he and I are unpacking these paper boxes and my room is starting to look like it has exploded. 

I think I want to go home. It is my summer break. I really should go home. And watch Ellen. She'll make me laugh and forget about this.... 

But, I'm in too deep. And my colleague is here to help. And I really should take help when I can get it. Ok. Big girl britches on. LET'S DO THIS. 

2 o'clock. Wow. That's a lot of paper sorted. But look what we have accomplished! We have materials for 4 teachers sorted and delivered to their rooms. Our entire PLC has 180 days of bell ringers, a years worth of recursive homework, and foldables for all of our interactive notebooks. Who's feeling cool now? This gal. 

2:15 - Said goodbye to colleague and looked around the room.  Even though the paper boxes are gone, it still looks destroyed. I should just go home. I can still catch Ellen. I think she comes on at 3pm? Wait, why haven't I watch her this summer? Ugh. That was a mistake. I really love her show. Reruns. That's why. I'll do one more thing for my classroom and then go. But what... OOHH! My desk.

Holy crap it's 4:15! Two hours? To put my desk together? What's wrong with me? But- I love my desk.  There's a place for everything. I know where papers are going to go when they come in, I have my system in place. Oh, please let this work. I need this to work. It's going to work. I have faith. I'm good at this. I've got this.  I need to go home. But... 

Look at that top wall shelf. Maybe I should just get those few things off the top shelf and sit them down on the student desks so that the next time I decide to come in to my classroom, I won't have to climb up there to get them. Ok. It will be easy. 5 minutes at most. Wait, what's in this one? Why did I open it and look in? Now I need to go through this and purge. I haven't needed some of this stuff in years. 

A full trash bag of stuff. That feels good. Ok. It's time to go. Holy cow. My room is STILL a mess. It's 5:15. I've been here for 8 hours!! 8 continuous, non-stop hours. Vacation hours. And my room is still a mess. There's so much more to do. How am I going to get it all done? How do people in power think that we can do this in one scheduled work day?  Ah, who knows.  

Here's what I do know. I got a TON done today and I'm going to focus on that. This vacation day brought me success and a feeling of relief and a sense of excitement for the new year. I sorted 10 paper boxes full of pre-printed materials for 4 teachers that will allow us to smooth sail through the year. I set my desk up so it looks gorgeous and has meaning. I cleared clutter and purged items that I won't be needing because I haven't touched it in years. And while, yes, there are still boxes on student desks waiting for me to make a decision about their fate in my classroom, I got a lot accomplished today.  

And that was my day, a day in the life of a teacher 1 week away from officially reporting back to work. 

Reflection: 

1.)Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day.  Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming.  When you think about today, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of?  What is one you are worried wasn’t ideal?

Since I was working in my classroom voluntarily, the decision that I made that I was most proud of was just going in today and getting a jump start. I would much rather spend a few hours over several days then be super stressed during meetings and mandatory professional development experiences fretting over all that needs to get done in my classroom. This way, I can be fully present in the other experiences as my county intends me to be. The one decision that I am worried that wasn't ideal was probability spending too much time there! I should have set a timer and left when it went off rather than talking myself into "just one more task."


2) Every person’s life is full of highs and lows.  Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher.  What are you looking forward to?  What has been a challenge for you lately?

I am looking forward to my new set of students, working with my new principal and my new math supervisor. Along with what I'm looking forward too, those are also currently the biggest challenges! I have worked with the same math supervisor for 8 years and principal for 3 years. This year, I am working with new people in both of those positions!

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is.  As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students.  Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

Today, my colleague and I spent several hours unpacking several boxes of material we collaborated on over the summer to send to print shop that set up our PLC for a good routine for the school year. I consider our PLC one of the strongest PLCs I have ever worked with, and am very blessed. The four of us have built a relationship with each other where we consider each other family.

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year.  
What is a goal you have for the year?

 My goal this year is to work do a better job at blending my curriculum so that it is balanced for procedural fluency and performance tasks. Each year, it seems that I tend to be heavy on one side or the other.

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?

My daughter moved into her first apartment and is working as a full time designer 1 in an architectural firm while finishing her architecture degree and my son is getting ready to start his senior high school year. I am in total denial that I am old enough for these life events to be happening to me, while being careful to balance life and career!.

Number Talk Tuesday - Pattern Focused

My Ah-ha: I should have been doing this since August!!

Since the very beginning of the year, I have kept a routine with my class where I hope to infuse a bit of critical thinking. We have Estimation Monday, Number Talk Tuesday, Wonder Wednesday, Thinking Thursday and Flashback Friday.  With today being Tuesday, I wanted to spice things up a bit, so I turned Number Talk in to Pattern Talk.

Using Pattern #31 from the Visual Patterns blog by Fawn Nguyen and the patterns handouts found on the teacher's page,  I created this Google Document for my students.  I linked the Google Doc to our Moodle (a free MOOC that my county uses) page. Once they open the document, the create their own copy, share it with me and complete it.  These types of assignments are so super easy for me, because I never have to worry about a student losing their copy, they never have to worry about saving it since it's on Google, and I can grade it and provide feedback through the comments instantaneously.

Woah. Side track about Google Docs, sorry!

My class has been looking at various patterns, and creating function tables, equations and rules using Desmos (another digital resource I could get side tracked with), so I used today's Number Talk/Pattern Talk to re-enforce what's been going on in our lessons. I gave absolutely no guidance to the students. Just let them do the thinking and see what they could come up with.  And, I don't want to brag... but I have some pretty fantastic students. Most of them were able to complete this task in the 15 minutes I gave them (which included needing to turn on our dying, slow, computers), and all but one picked up the pattern and ran with it.

I could brag about all of my students... but, I chose just two samples of the work created. Take a look at these: Student A (who inserted a screenshot of the desmos), Student B (who linked desmos).

I am thinking I am ready to throw at pattern like #60 at them...

About this adventure

This won't be something I do everyday. That I am sure of. Why?

Because I teach math to 12 & 13 year olds. And just like any teacher, time is scarce.  And right now, I am just glad to have spelled scarce correctly.

I plan to use this blog to highlight my ah-ha moments (hence the title) of my teaching career (more likely hence forward than what I've done in the past... but all bets are off). Most posts will undoubtedly focus on math. And middle school. And... of course teaching. But there may be a rare moment when I share something other <emphasis on the word rare>.

One of my most favorite colleagues @BridgetDunbar (who is an active twitter contributor and blogs at this link) always encourages me to share my thoughts. I have tried in the past at these endeavors (eh.. third blog is the charm, right?) but I always set my expectations too high for what I have time for.

So, hence, this blog was born. Things you should know about me and this blog.

1. I am human.
2. I teach math and not grammar.
3. There will be grammatical mistakes because of #1 and #2.
4. I love my job.
5. I think middle school is the best.
6. I think math is critical to the world's success.
7. I will only blog when I have an ah-ha moment (well, duh. This should have been obvious!).

And, so, this is what I have to offer.