Ch-Ch-Changes!

It has been just over a month of changes on my end over here.

The first major change I have been preparing for was my wedding.  Jason and I were married on June 20th at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL.  The weather was a bit unreliable but mother nature pulled out a rainbow for us at one point during the ceremony.  It was truly the "Best Day Ever!"

The next change was in my career.  I had interviewed at a pair of schools toward the end of the year but none of the positions were quite right.  I had then received a call to interview at a high school but was unable to because of field trips/last week of school.  Shucks....

Well wouldn't you know that they ran another round of interviews the next week and they wanted me to come in.  I did a first round and the next day did a second with the principal.  Needless to say, I nailed it and was offered the job!  While all this was great, this was the week before my wedding and I was a bit busy at that point.  So, 1 day before my wedding, I was at human resources signing paperwork so for new job!    

Thanks Ryan, I appreciate it1

I will be teaching Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.  Honestly, I am terrified but I am confident I will do fine and after the first day, I will feel so much better.  In the meantime, this means I have to pack up my room and move.  I am a supply/manipulative/pen/book/stuff hoarder.  I was at school for 3 hours accessing the situation.  Final decision: Not good!  A few more hours, more packing tap and boxes should be just what I need to finish. 

The empty hall during summer.  

Good news, I have my own classroom.  Better news, I have an office space too!  The possibilities are endless and places to store things, infinite.   

What I still wonder is how do you make the decision what to keep, what to pitch and what to leave behind?  IT IS SO HARD!

We've hit Integer Season!

An important topic in 7th grade is integer operations.  This is the first time that adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers are formally introduced.  I went about it differently this year than 2 years ago.  CMP3 suggested using chips to introduce addition, so that's what I tried!

I really liked it.  I felt that students really grasped the idea of adding integers.  They could see when adding a positive and negative number which had more and that determined the sign of the sum.

I also found that this concept really helped those struggling students.  This is a picture I snapped while helping a student one on one build her confidence in solving. 

After the introduction, I set students on a journey with a partner to answer questions from our online book.  This is where I saw students helping students the most.  They were explaining it in terms that made sense to them.  

The journey through integers is not always easy but I highly suggest using chips.  After using chips, I also taught students how to use the number line to add integers.  I left it up to the students which way of reasoning worked for them and never actually taught a formal way to add integers.  I would say 93% of students are confident in their integer abilities.  The other 7% I am working with daily.  

What are some methods of teaching integers you have tried?  Even if they didn't work, we can always learn from mistakes!

Katie 

Get it Together!

The lastest thing that I am raving about are these activites from the book "Get It Together"

My curriculum partner has been using 'Get it Together' activities for years and let me tell you, they are AMAZING!  They are a series of clues that students must work together to come up with a solution.  They range from building models with blocks/sticks, arranging the order of people to figuring out how many things each person has.  

Students may not always be excited about these activities at first but within seconds of diving into problems, they are 100% engaged and working their hardest.  The groups of students that are usually 'too cool' for group activities are usually the most enthralled by these.  The activities range in difficulty and could be used for high school students also.  Amazing resource that I think all should try.