The Best Thinking

Ever wonder how teachers prepare for the school year? 

Here is how I do it.

I've been in my classroom for the last three days.  Orienting myself to the school, finding supplies and math manipulatives, cleaning out cupboards, moving my materials in, and planning.

I'd like to qualify this by saying that I can only plan so much before I meet my students.  But, I can get a sense of order.  Maybe not pacing, but certainly sequence.  And, I always plan backwards so I can help students review or relearn key concepts, or correct misconceptions that may have accidentally been interpreted. 

Especially in Math.

This year, I get to teach Grade 7 and 8 Math!  I'm very excited!  If you and hankering for a review of Pythagoras and linear equations, buckle up, because I'm going to take you on the ride. 

Seriously.  I get my jollies from teaching Math.  Math is awesome!

To add to my fun I also get to teach Core French (Grades 7 and 8) and Drama (Grades K-6).  It's a fun assignment!

Today, my girls joined me in my classroom today,  They got to see their new school, and Miss G even met her teacher.  We sought out some materials, and two small desks and two small chairs for my girls to sit in when they visit my class.  The "big kid" chairs and desks were too large, and the girls made it clear that there should be a place for them to sit. 

I agree.

So, they once we were back in my classroom, the girls opened their new lunch boxes and had a snack. 

I played a movie on the LSD projector for them, and got almost two hours of solid work done.

Now, outside of the classroom, at home, I'm sifting through the outcomes for Math for Grades 7 and 8...  

First, I begin by printing all the outcomes on labels. 

Aren't they all pretty like that? 

Then, I put each outcome on its own sticky note.

I love sticky notes.

I can't imagine teaching without them.

They are my number one school supply.

Then, I place every sticky note out on a surface (here, my office wall).

I put them in the original order from the curriculum guide, according to strand.

Then... 

I walk away.  I've read the outcomes.  I organized the outcomes.  Now, my mind needs to have the outcomes live in the periphery of my mind.  That's where all the good thinking happens you know. 

So, I go to the kitchen to admire Miss G's drawing of Kid Doggie.  He has BIG eyes, you know.  And four legs.  And big ears.  She almost forgot those. 

Then, I look at Miss G's drawing of Miss A.  This was by memory, until Miss A walked in the room, saw it and noticed that she had no hair. So, Miss A held her hair up for Miss G to see, and that is how Miss G drew it.

OK.  Good thinking going on...  Back to the outcomes. 

This was my first arrangement. 

I ignore the strands and pay attention to the outcomes and ask myself "So, what should my students leave here knowing?" and group like outcomes together.  Not conventionally, like with all operations (+, -. /, x) together, but conceptually. 

This does not happen linearly.  It happens in clumps. 

All the best thinking does. 

For example, I put these three outcomes together.  Originally, they were in three different places in the curriculum guide: 

(1) Transformations (2) 3D Objects and 2D Shapes and (3) Measurement

Now, I'm thinking of beginning with tessellations (if you are googling that word right now, just wait to see it in action in a Math room, it's SO FUN!), then move to right rectangular prisms (i.e. cubes, because you can also tessellate in 3D, not just 2D) and work with nets as well (because some of them can tessellate once flattened).

I might change my mind and do somethign completely different, but this is a "for example" picture.

You don't have to be as excited as I am.

I'm excited enough for all my students and all of you, too!

I am so pumped right now...  Truly.  I'm on a Math High.

Then I walk away...

Oh, look what's going on in the living room! 

The ponies are playing with my Dado Cubes.

They make excellent houses, you know.   

See?  Miss G walked away from the Dado Cubes and came back at them ready to play and learn. 

It works.   

The more starts and stops you have, the more efficient you are.

So long as you START again. 

Or restart, if you wish. 

Check out what Miss G is up to.  She really wanted that Large cube on top of the medium one, but it kept falling over, so she created a counter balance with smaller ones on the other side.

It worked. 

And she likes how it looks! 

Creative.  Fun.  Discovery.  Learn.

OK... back at the outcomes....

They've changed around again!  But, it looks like about 4 core concepts.  That's good news.  Good for planning.

Now, I walk away... 

And sleep on it...

But, first, check out how funny my girls were with Eli today.

Miss A found a fun place to sit. 

"You still there, Daddy?  It's me!" 

WOW!  He still has hair!

A-hem. 

My what large eyes you have!! 

Whew!  There are two of them!  What a relief!

(Sorry for the blur.  I was laughing pretty hard at this point!) 

Eli thought she was so silly! 

Monkey see, Monkey do! 

Look at her expressive toes.  She is just loving snuggling with Daddy. 

Whoa!!!  Very exciting part in Dora!  Swiper, that sneaky fox, just swiped something!! 

I think it will be alright.

Just like the school year.

Why I Love Watching Little Ones Learn

I do.

I love teaching the littlest kids.

I also love teaching adults.

And all the people in between!

I love teaching Math, but that's not what this post is about.

This is about the littlest kids in school.

And my girl is about to become one of them!

... So, really, this post is about her.

It's so fun to see how she is learning and beginning to develop concepts of print.  The pre-reading and pre-writing is what really makes me love teaching these kids, and I get one all to myself at home, too!  Two, actually!

Kids this age really do love to learn naturally.  They are curious.  They want to play.  And playing is the best way to learn.

(This hopscotch picture is from NS) 

I love watching how kids seek out opportunities to blend the gross motor with the fine motor and other concepts. They don't even know it!

You may recognize these.

I have them framed in my living room, and you can see them from afar in this post.

These are the first "family portraits" that my girls drew.  Not exactly the first faces they ever drew, but the first ones that they named with our individual names.  I scanned them, converted them to black and white on the computer and sized them to fit the frames.

I found this old wooden school desk at Value Village in NS for $5.99!  Score!  It is really motivational for Little G.  We have it in our living room here, now, and it's been inspiring her to put pencil crayon (or marker) to paper.

Her toes don't quite reach...

Her name (scrambled for privacy) is long, and she finds the lowercase letters a little dull, so I had her "follow the path" for the letters with green dots (for go) and red dots (for stop).  She likes this game!

Today, she wrote me this list.

It's a list of all the swim suits she and her sissy have.

It's long and detailed. 

She read it to me.

This is a Letter to Mommy. 

She told me it was very important. 

And secret. 

I'm still not sure what the secret is.

Little G had me pose the other day to do a portrait of ME.

It looks just like me, don't you think?

From my long hair (straight up, the way I always try to wear it) to my muscular hands, chicken legs and circle cheeks, the resemblance is truly uncanny.

When I came home from school today (prepping already!), Little G was putting the finishing touches on this picture of a one-hump camel.  It's name is Camel, in case you are wondering.  It's for Daddy, and she worked for almost an hour on it.  Sharpening the pencil crayons was a big part of the learning!

Mostly, I love watching little ones learn because they are awesome.

And, they know they are awesome, too.

Because they are.