I've long been concerned that online learning will attempt to replace real time teachers in the classroom. While it may be possible to effectively deliver instruction via a computer program, I am not sold that this will completely replace all the peripheral skills learned in school. Teaching middle school students, I wonder about the self-motivation part as well - will the average adolescent truly be self-driven enough to make it through a prescribed program without teacher intervention and drive.

This week, I am experiencing up close and personal what online learning can look like in a 7th grade math classroom. My district purchased Compass Learning this school year for teachers to use for remediation and instruction. It has been used sporadically at best district wide, with little training and support as to how this tool can be used to support instruction.

Finally, I decided maybe it would be a way to grab the attention of my students, especially those driven by technology, those who tune me out, and those who are struggling wiht the more traditional approach to learning we typically engage in. My language arts partner has been using it some in her classes and has praised its potential.

For my regular math class, I chose to assign a folder of review materials, topics we had covered at some point during the year, but ones students were still struggling with. These basic concepts varied from expressions to balancing equations, but were all review. Day 3 of the experiment and I am not any clearer on how I feel about the program than initially. Student scores on the quizzes are varied, high to low. Some students seem engaged, others look like zombies staring at a screen, just clicking their way through the program.

For my prealgebra classes, I assigned them 3 folders of assignments, one of which was new material we were going to be covering next in class. The other 2 folders were practice of concepts we had already covered, but that are typically topics students need extra practice on. Students are whizzing their way through, scoring well for the most part. However, students have asked if I will be teaching these concepts are well. They don't feel like they have grasped the material adequately from the online lessons.

It started as an experiment, and I can't give the results until it is done. However, the jury is still out. I miss teaching them, they miss the interaction with me and each other, and I wonder how deep an understanding of the topics they are really getting.

Are we ready for computers to replace teachers? Are we ready for a generation educated by a machine, just clicking multiple choice answers?

We are teaching and learning on the edge of what will be potentially the largest change in education ever seen. Sure, things are different now than in years past, but overall, educational practices have remained stagnant for much too long. School is a give and get setting. Teachers give information, students get information. This paradigm has not changed in the typical school setting since rocks were used to write in dirt.

What will schools look like 10 years from now? 20? even 50? Will we learn to be educators instead of disseminators of knowledge? What role will technology play in the schools of tomorrow?

Today's students are multi-taskers who expect everything to be exciting, engaging and motivating. They demand that their teachers be up-to-date with technology, utilizing it for communication between educators and students, but more importantly, they want technology to be a part of everything they learn. They want to work with other students creating their own paths of knowledge, designing, building, molding the old and the new. They are not satisfied with the here and the now of passive learning, but instead they want to be active and involved.

I see tomorrow's students as the pioneers of a new journey. I see them exploring their own truths and finding their own solutions. I see them excited and involved.

My concern is will our society withstand this transformation. Will be still share a common wealth of knowledge, a basis for what is considered to be an educated individual? Or will that common body of what we have come to expect all to know change?

Will technology isolate individuals into their own little worlds, unable to interact in real time with each other? Will we become a world of computers and screens, only communicating virtually with one another?

What role will teachers have in this new education system? Will we become just the facilitators of learning, independent paths of knowledge pursued by each child?

and perhaps most importantly, how in the world we will ever standardize test all this???? insert dripping sarcasm here :P

Packing My Angry Eyes

Yesterday was another sub day. I had doctor appointments out of town so I left my lesson plans, something easy, and prepped my frequent fliers to behave for the sub, whoever it might be. I left Scholastic Math magazines to read in all my math classes, thinking this was fun, easy and something my students do not normally do. I naively thought it was foolproof, and things would go smoothly.

Her note was curt and to the point: Student Z and "never innocent" had caused havoc for her last hour. "Never Innocent" had taken another student's calculator and smashed it to smitherines. But of course, that little misdeed was not enough. The two of them were 'very disruptive' the entire hour and then to add whipped cream to the mess, they raced out of class before the bell even rang.

Part of me is angry, part is disappointed, and part just wants to smash them to smitherines. It is not like they do not know the rules. It is not like they haven't had private conversations with me in the past. It is not like I haven't called home repeatedly on both of them. But the consequences I can dole out are miniscule compared to their persistent and consistent behaviors.

Do I want them suspended? Maybe... But in reality, I know that will make no difference, and at least for Student Z , the time out of school would be a chance to laze around all day, snoozing, watching TV, playing video games. I am not sure what would happen at home for "Never Innocent" but likely, with his parents at work, he would also get a free pass for the day. Neither can afford to be gone academically, or would be likely to make up work missed.

What do I want done then? I have no idea. It is infuriating to me that public education is forced to try and find solutions to these problems. Isn't it enough we are testing kids to death, and blaming teachers for 'failing' them? Why can't law makers see that the problems aren't always as cut and dried as they want to make them?

I know I sound disgruntled and disillusioned, but honestly, I am. I work hard to give kids another chance, and another chance, and another chance.... I try to build those relationships and treat my students fairly and with respect. I try to talk to them one on one, working out the why's for their behaviors, and helping them grow from their mistakes. But sometimes, I need parents to step up to plate and be parents. I need them to carry out consequences for their children's actions. I need them to be the enforcers/reinforcers for what we are doing at school.

Until our societal parameters circle back to respect for adults and authority, until school is valued as the child's JOB at this point in his/her life, until we stop trying to make a one size fit all approach to educating children work, we are doomed.

I started out my day with angry eyes, but they are turning to sad, hopeless ones in a hurry.

Despite our best intentions, kids will be kids. Despite our attempts to contain and control them, they will often get out of hand. It happened here yesterday. Not a big deal. Just an 'accident'.

My last hour class has to pick up there chairs onto the tables before they leave so the custodial staff can sweep first thing in the morning. In an effort to get students to the buses on time, I have them do this chore about 2 minutes before the bell rings every day. Unfortunately, they allows them approximately 3o seconds to act like wild animals released from captivity.

In the ensuing hullabaloo yesterday, suddenly, a young man, one of the "never innocent' ones, was on the floor flailing around, groping his groin and moaning. As the bell rings and they escape, I am trying to find out what happened. Apparently, Student Z hit him in his "McNuggets". Of course, now Student Z is gone, setting a Olympic world sprinting record bolting for the stairs. "Never Innocent" is fine and Student Z confessed his sins to the powers that be and got kicked out of my class for the hour today. (don't go there on the inequity of the punishment and the crime.. it wasn't my choice... I have NO say in the matter!)

Starting today, new policy - pick up chairs and stand at your spot until *I* dismiss you when the bell rings. GRRRRRRRR.... I HATE BEING THAT TEACHER. Why can't they just be for that 3o seconds instead of expelling all their pent up energy from the day in one loud bellow? I know they are kids, and they are hyped up from the day, and excited to be escaping the confines of the school walls, but come on... seriously... can't you stand still for 30 seconds without your hand causing bodily harm to another??

House plan projects are well underway, due tomorrow, despite our rocky start and litany of excuses....

I whittled away at their excuses:

I didn't have a measuring tape. (why didn't you borrow one?)
My great aunt's funeral was yesterday. (It was also Kristi's grandma and she managed to get hers done. The woman died last THURSDAY. (this was Tuesday....)You KNEW about the funeral ahead of time.)
My dad said it is too personal. (Ok, that one is just odd and I am going to call dad this evening.)
I didn't know when it was due. (We talked about it every day and it was written on the board.)
There is snow outside my house. (There is snow outside everyone's house. AND, you could have just measured the rooms inside.)
I didn't know whether to measure in inches or feet. (OK, well, no good answer for that one!)
I just didn't do it. I am gonna do it tonight, maybe. (FINE, WHATEVER...)

The most difficult was the "too personal" but finally today, I was able to get in touch with those parents, who were just as confused by that comment as I was. Apparently, that conversation was imaginary between Dad and son.

It's been a tough project this year, though, and I think, will be my last attempt at this. Too many parents drew them for kids or printed copies from originals. But I am working on a new scale project for next year that will tie social studies, language arts and math all together, drawing scale replicas of famous Eastern Hemisphere landmarks. It should be a cool project with more to it than math. Students can research not only the actual dimensions of their landmark, but its history and interesting background.

I am frustrated with the first few projects turned in as well. Several 'A' students have turned them in, happy to be done, ready to hand it over for a grade. When I sat down with them, however, it was obvious students had not looked over the check list I provided, leaving off the most obvious parts, such as the scale it was drawn to! Therein another struggle presents itself: give it back and make them do it correctly, or deduct the points as shown on the sheet they had from square one on the project and they can suffer the consequences of the low grade.

Part of me wants perfection from each and every one of them, wants to keep handing it back, over and over until it shines. Another part says wait... they KNEW they had 2 more days of classtime to work, as well as they had the checklist to look at, and models to compare theirs to, but made a conscious decision (is there such a thing as a conscious decision for a 7th grader??) to NOT get the 'A'.

Either way, most of the rest of my week will be spent digging through piles of blueprints, counting squares and measuring walls, assigning points of shame or grandeur.

I've been thinking lately about public education's true purpose.

There seems to be a growing consensus supporting the need for a national curriculum. Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. Part of me is supportive, realizing the inequities which exist from school to school, and state to state. Children should be guaranteed comparable, viable access to knowledge, regardless of where they are schooled.

However, looking at the students in my classroom, I see a wide variation in abilities and interests. Should those come into play at all when planning a curriculum? I see the shift nationally for test/data driven instruction as an attempt to even out the playing field, but without consideration for the players themselves. Just as all players on the Little League team will not grow up to play in the Majors, my students will not all need the same skill set when they are adults. Without limiting their possibilties, we have to also acknowledge the discrepancies in innate abilities and work to maximize the potential of all learners.

Given a student driven curriculum is only one piece of the educational puzzle though. Isn't the socialization part of school just as important as the curriculum driven piece? Don't we have an inherent responsibility to teach children how to function in society as well?

As I look at my middle schoolers and picture them as adults in the workplace, I can fairly accurately predict which will be 'good' employees and which will struggle, floundering from one job to another, unable to meet the demands of their boss and the constraints of productive employment.

A student who is consistently tardy to school/class will likely be the same in the work place. The child who comes with no materials (despite the availability of those) will be the carpenter fired for showing up with no tools. Ones who cannot take a directive without a negative reaction will probably be the ones fired for insubordination.

Don't we as public educators, have a responsibility to also actively teach these life skills as well as the prescribed curriculum? How can we assure each child has the best opportunity to be successful in adulthood?

Boredom is a Pattern, NOT a Reality.

We are settled into February, the month that seems the longest in the school year. It's been forever since Christmas break, and even longer until Spring Break. The kids are lulled into a monotonous plodding along pattern, and so am I. It is like we are caught in the horse latitudes with no wind to lift our sails.

February seems to be the month for fights, parent complaints, and excessive absences among both teachers and students. Fuses are short, tempers flare easily. We seem to be looking for direction.

How can I harness all that boredom into something productive?

In math, we are starting our house plan projects where students draw to scale floor plans of their houses. The options of the project allow them to draw elevations or create actual models of their homes. I am hoping to generate excitement in the upcoming project by hanging actual blueprints around my classroom as well as displaying models made by former students. So far it seems to be working :)

Tomorrow will be the true test. Students have had a week to measure their actual houses. How many will 'forget'? How many will have no measurements to begin the project?

What do I do with THOSE kids? It is a struggle, always. Do I send them out, to the office? This seems the easiest option, but the one which is least productive. Do I create an alternative assignment? If so, WHAT? Do I just give them some sort of busy work to keep them out of my hair while I try to help students who ARE working on their projects? What do I do if they won't work on the busy work I give them? How do I assess them accurately and comparably to students who complete the actual project?

More questions than answers, for sure.... but at least my mind is back awake, and I am excited to get my classes going tomorrow!

In teaching, it seems we constantly walk a fine line between teaching, spoon feeding and helping students become independent learners. I struggle with that walk daily.

My social studies class is, for many students, the first time they have ever really had to STUDY for a test in order to be successful on the written assessment. In the past, either tests are rarely given, or the material has been presented in such a way that tests are redundant, or students are allowed to use their books/notes on the tests. But as students progress to higher and higher levels, more independent learning is necessary.

Try as I may, some students will not study, will not take the time outside class to even look over their notes, much less actually study them. I realize many of them do not have good study habits yet, so I try to teach those skills to them as we work together in class. We make flashcards for vocabulary words. We create outlines, diagrams, and other visual representations of the material together, trying to create meaning and organization to the concepts. I create slide shows with illustrations to help them remember things with a picture.

At some point, however, the ball really IS in their court. I can only use so much time in class to go over concepts repeatedly. For the students who grasp new material easily, this allotted time may be enough. Unfortunately, for others, allocating personal time to actually STUDY is the only path to success.

So I walk that fine line between reviewing one more time, going over the topics one more time, flashing up one more visual, and just expecting them to pass or fail on their own. It truly is a balancing act. Is there such a thing as OVER-teaching? I wonder.... at what point are we causing more problems than solutions? Can we hover too much? Can we guide too much? At what point do we just let go and leave it in their hands?

As always, I am frustrated with some of my students who just simply seem not to care. I feel like a grouch because I am always, always, always on them, trying to get them to be a student, to do their work, to use their time productively. While I realize this is part of the nature of the beast of 7th graders, I struggle with the way those kids zap my patience for the good ones, the one who do their work, who come to class prepared, and try their hardest. It seems I end up snapping at them because I am out of patience from dealing with the other ones. Especially towards the end of the week, especially towards the end of the day, I struggle to find patience with one more question about something I've said a hundred times, one more struggling student who seemingly can't get the smallest of concepts, and the student who needs constant reassurance that everything they write on their paper is correct.

It seems an almost argument for having flip-flop school days, where every other day, classes are in reverse order, so I could see my end of the day students in the morning on occasion. Or perhaps, a floating schedule, where each hour becomes first hour in a rotation type schedule, Monday being a 1,2,3,4,5,6, the Tuesday, 2,3,4,5,6,1, Wednesday, 3,4,5,6,1,2, and so on. I wonder how different it would be having those students earlier in the day, when my mind is fresh and full of patience and excitement, and their minds are alert, not overstuffed, and eager. Would a schedule like that ever become routine, or would chaos ensue every day?

I would love to experiment with it.... hmmm.... do you think I would get stoned at the next staff meeting???

Tangram day is one of my favorite days of math class. While students each individually cut their own set of tangrams, we learn vocabulary words. This is a terrific interactive way to review previously taught concepts as well as learn new terms.

One of the big concepts in 7th grade math is similarity of polygons, so I use the tangram pieces to teach congruent, similar, as well as corresponding sides and angles. Touching the pieces as we learn the terms seems to help most students grasp these before we start looking at figures on paper and trying to match up sides and angles.

The fun part really begins when students start using their pieces to create predetermined shapes. It is such a visual spatial thing that many students, boys and girls, struggle to manipulate the pieces. I love the way their minds wrap themselves around the struggle, working against themselves many times, trying to force a match where there really isn't one.

I think geometry and playing with shapes, drawing 3-D isometric drawings, etc.... are more important to the development of young minds than our curriculum allows time. Unless at a young age, students work to strengthen those parts of their thinking process, the ones that create visualization, I think it is lost forever.

For today, we will continue playing, and shaping, and stretching our brains!

Once, in a very blue moon, I allow my students to take a test with a partner. This practice was common in our previous curriculum, Connected Math Project. I like students working with each other because they tend to catch the silly errors, the not including a negative sign, or a simple miscalculation. The discussions between partners can be rich with math terminology, and lead to a more in-depth understanding by both members.

I had done this with this particular group of students once this year, with some marked success. I decided to try it again today. I gave them a choice - #1 they could choose to work with a partner with no re-do's on their test, their partner being their re-do, or #2 they could work alone and redo their test after I corrected it.

I had thought most students would choose to work with a partner, but out of my first hour class, only 2 sets of 2 buddied up. It will be an interesting progression through the day.

My 6th hour class is the lowest group, the one that could probably benefit the most from the discussion with a partner, the interaction of ideas. They are also the group who exhibits the least concern about work completion and grades. They also tend to be very social. My hope is this group will choose the work together option.

When I allow this, I always question the validity of the test scores. Are the scores truly indicative of what students know? My gut instinct tells me yes, they are pretty darned accurate. Occasionally, a low student partners with a brighter student and likely benefits from the pairing, gradewise, but that is a rarity. More often, the partners are like-skilled. Even in the off-balance pairings, I like to think the lower student benefitted from the interactions and explanations of the other partner, gleaning understanding from the matchup.

It is not a practice I would implement for every test, but on occasion, it is a fun option for students.

It's been an event-packed week.

I started out Monday away from school at a Formative Assessment Team meeting at the EUPISD with 3 representatives from there and 4 other teachers from our region. We met virtually with folks from the State Dept of Ed, talking about this new project being launched to use formative assessment across our region to improve instruction, and ultimately, our students' learning and growth. I was struck by the conversation's turn towards how to help other teachers learn to use formative assessment, how to formatively assess our own actions, rather than focusing on the actual use of this tool in teaching.

Ironically enough, that made more of an impact on me than one of those sessions where you go and get all these cool ideas to use in your classroom, but by the time you have gotten back to work, you have forgotten most of them and put your notes in that huge to-do someday pile, and forget about. I spent the rest of the week second guessing everything I was doing, wondering more where my kids were at in their learning, and thinking, oh wait, this is a great example of formative assessment, and whoa.. I thought they would GET that problem. How to I remedy their misconceptions?

Often in education, we are searching for that quick fix, that WOW moment that will change everything for the better.

Learning to use formative assessment is a process. It is a new way of thinking about the things you already do, and yes, perhaps expanding your repertoire with new skills, but more importantly, thinking about the results of what you do differently. Formative assessment is a constantly changing process, a true process... it means my Monday lesson plans for the week won't be set in stone, that day to day I will have to look at what I have done, and where it has taken me, where on the journey my students are, and re-evaluate the next days' lesson based on that information.

I love the reflective piece of this puzzle. I love the natural formative assessing I already do without having called it that. I am excited to think more intentionally about the learning process and the role I have in creating a successful end point in that journey for my students.

I still struggle with letting go of the control, the organization, the moving along at a pre-determined speed. The overwhelming pressure of meeting the standards is always there, breathing down my neck like a fire-breathing dragon. How to meld the using formative assessment to drive instruction, and still stay on pace to teach all the required material each year will be a challenge.

Rise over run... rise over run... rise over run....

Every year, slope is such a difficult concept for students, given that it seems such a simple one in reality, and one so easily applicable to real life. Stairs, roof lines, even road grades are measured in slopes. Counting how far up, compared to how far over, seems trivially(is that a word??) easy.

We talk about rate of change, in particular how things change over time, comparatively. We look at graphs of points, lines, and explore many different scenarios. I even developed a game called Slope Mania for them to practice slope. Still, for so many students, it seems like black magic!

What is so difficult??? How can I make this concept easier for them to understand???

I wish that just for one day, I could zap myself back to my 7th grade school year. When I look at the faces of my students, and try to imagine what it must be like to be them, I wonder about the me of then. Granted, 7th grade is an entirely different experience now than it was in 1973 when I was in their chairs, but whether an adolescent then or now, I wonder what it would be like to be trapped again in that time in my life.

What kind of a 7th grader would I be in today's world? Would I be popular? Would I be smart? Would I be a social outcast? Would I be one of those peripheral kids, the wanna be's? Could I survive the pressures placed upon students today?

I think back to me, my friends, our classmates, and I don't remember there being the marked discrepancies there are today. Or perhaps, they existed, but we didn't notice?

Thrown into 7th grade, I think I would be a peripheral kid, one who struggled to be with the in-crowd. My parents would not buy me the cool clothes, the cell phone, the iPod, that all the cool kids have. That fact alone would have aligned me outside the cool kid crowd. As sad as that is, it is a middle school reality. The have's and the have-not's become marked at this age. It isn't about the house you live in, or the car your parents drive, the jobs they have, it is all about you and what you as a teenager have. My parents were also strict. I am sure I would not have been afforded the freedom to go to the movies or a ballgame, unsupervised with a group of friends.

I was always a smart kid, one who easily got good grades, eager to please my teachers. To some extent, those are still traits that help the transition into the cool kid club.

How would I feel, being on the edge? Would I find that unacceptable, and like so many kids who WANT to be in the in-crowd but can't quite make it, would I rebel, and chase that other group of kids? Would I become a 'bad kid'?

What does this knowledge, this look inside a 7th grader's mind tell me as a teacher?

I know for sure it tells me for many kids, many days, there is much more on their mind than the European history lesson I am trying to teach, more than the rate of change formula I am trying to get them to internalize....

High stakes tests are what schools are measured by now, for better, worse or indifferent. While I think we as educators need to be held accountable for teaching the specified curriculum (which I do not always agree with content-wise), I struggle with my worth as an educator being measured by a fill-in-the-bubble sheet given to my students a solid 4 months+ after I have them in class.

Some years my scores are up; some years my scores are down. I take them all to heart, celebrating the highs and mourning the lows, wondering what I could have done differently.

Truthfully, those scores are little a reflection of me and my teaching, and more a reflection of those students, their innate intellect, and their mindset about school.

Some kids learn, soaking up knowledge like their very being depends on that nourishment. They come from every possible home situation, bringing along baggage too heavy for the average adult to carry, shouldered upon their young adolescent shoulders. Knowledge is their escape from reality, offering them an open window to a sunny place they long to grow.

Other students come from homes where school is considered their job, their reason for existing at this point in their lives, where expectations for success are high and unbreachable. These students never need a pencil or paper, or lunch money, or clean clothes. Even when their families struggle financially to make ends meet, educational needs are a priority.

But then, the ones the politicians accuse me of leaving behind fill the rest of the classroom. These are the students who come to class hungry, but not for knowledge. Instead, they seek acceptance and kindred spirits. They do not feel like they can learn, or worse, do not care if they can. Education is nothing in their mind. It doesn't offer them window to look out, because they are unable to see beyond today, beyond the walls of school, to any kind of future of success.

Some of these struggling students make a connection with a particular teacher or counselor and find help opening their window. These are the lucky ones.

Many more, come with their windows so tightly closed, often dealing with drug, alcohol or other abuse issues, that as a teacher, I struggle to help them. I can try, and try, and try, and sometimes, it seems, make a dent. More often, they are lost to me despite my efforts.

Other students simply do not come to school. We have no consequences for extreme absences, so we have students who miss 30, 40, even more, days a year. But yet, these students take the same bubble in test their peers do. And, those are the students who miss by choice, whether it be illness or just lackadaisical parenting. Others miss that many days because of suspensions. Either way, it is instructional time lost, that cannot be replicated.

The saddest students are those who come hungry, dirty, tired and without hope. The ones from homes destitute for sustenance. How can we expect those students to learn, retain knowledge and apply it, when their brains are deprived of nutrients?

Students come to class with nothing, no textbook, no pencil, no intention of learning. I can plan engaging lessons, work individually with them, try to connect with them on a personal level, but I simply cannot make them learn.

I don't want to leave them behind; I just can't figure out how to drag them along....

It seems to me teachers spend a great deal of time and effort whining about how terrible a deal we've been shuffled:

• parents who not only are not supportive of their children's education, but seem to go out of their way to be difficult and make our teaching more difficulty


• students who are unmotivated, discipline problems, behind academically, or just downright rotten


• adminstrators who seemingly don't have a clue what it is like to be in the classroom, who are unsupportive of our efforts


• policy that says a bubble sheet score says more than true measures of growth


• ever-shrinking budgets that cause us to fork over more and more of our own paycheck to keep our classrooms running smoothly

All legitimate complaints, sure, but interestingly enough, according to this latest Gallup poll, teachers score higher than other professionals in well-being.

We consistently rank ourselves as healthier, happier, and more emotionally happy, than other professionals. However, we rank our wenvironments as less satisfying than others. We don't feel like our bosses treat us as equals, we don't our work environment is "open and trusting" but 91% of us say we get to use our strengths at work.

Seems a little contradictory to me! It sounds as if we have it pretty darn good in most aspects of our jobs. I think maybe we need to take a long look at our jobs from the outside and appreciate the fact we do have it made!

We work long hours, without overtime, in circumstances often beyond our control, with students who do not fit into round bubbles. Our pay not equate with our educational opportunties if we chose to work in the private sector.

But really, our job is the best in the world. Kids make it interesting, unpredictable, and never a dull moment. We get to make a difference in their lives. What more could we ask for??

The snowflakes are hung round the classrom with care,

The teachers are gone from the building and scarce,

IT'S CHRISTMAS VACATION for 2 WHOLE LONG WEEKS!!

Santa, all I really want is some sleep :)

When I posted my Facebook status above, I was still on the high from the exuberance of my 7th graders on the last day before Christmas break. Now, awake before 6 am on the first Saturday of our 2 week break which will fly by like a short weekend, I am more reflective on our day yesterday.

Wanting something fun, but remotely educational, and slightly purposeful for our last day, I found this cool activity on making perfectly symmetrical snowflakes from National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to do with my math classes.

The rest of my day was already planned since the entire 7th grade was watching Pictures of Hollis Woods together during our 2nd hour and homeroom periods.

I copied the directions, and lots of backup just holiday coloring activities, word searches, and crossword puzzles, just in case the snowflake making was not successful.

Too often it seems we never let our middle schoolers be kids anymore. When I first started teaching here, we had so many fun things we did with them. For the holidays, each homeroom decorated their classroom door in a huge competition. We had other fun days with games, and challenges and other kid-friendly stuff. Part of the reason we have gotten away from these activities is simply too much curriculum and not enough time, but the main reason is honestly, our staff just isn't into it anymore.

But yesterday in my classroom WAS all about being a kid again with scissors and paper and tape and crayons. We had so much fun! After realizing first hour how difficult the instructions were to follow, I walked the other hours through the step by step snowflake folding process. We folded and creased, then snipped and snipped, waiting to unfold our magical creations. Paper snips flew everywhere and the room got more and more beautiful.

The premier location to get to hang your snowflake was the window, of course. The best part? To access my window, you have to stand up on the heater register, looking out the snowy window, down 2 floors to the ground below. But my little elves were NOT intimidated and soon 3 Santa hat clad kids were dancing up there, using double sided tape to fill the window with perfectly symmetrical flakes.

They laughed and they smiled and acted like 12 year olds SHOULD act, instead the more typical sullen texting adult-wannabe's who usually are in my room.

Happy Holidays, 7th graders!! See you next year!!

I will admit to loving Christmas gifts from my students. Not so much the perfumes, the candles, and the mugs, as the true gifts, the ones you remember years later.

Handwritten cards are among my favorite. I save them all but some are especially touching. On the bulletin board in my bedroom hangs the envelope from one young man, who had his 'moments' in my class. The envelope is wonderful though: From: Mike To: Mrs. Goerge, AKK the world's best math teacher. What more could I have wanted for a gift??

The week before Christmas, gifts start trickling in. Today, one student handed me a diet mountatin dew, the fuel for my day. Another gave me a Green Bay Packer Christmas ornament, knowing I am a HUGE Packer fan. Yet another young lady handed me this round red wrapped gift, complete with a green ribbon. I unwrapped it to find a roll of duct tape! (See previous post if you don't understand the significance of this gift.)

See... it really isn't about how much money a parent spends, or the actual gift itself, as it is about the thought that went into the gift. Middle schoolers have such a great sense of humor and I love when that shows in their thinking about what to gift. Over the years, I have gotten everything imaginable: the cute, the odd, the inappropriate, the thoughtful, the handmade, the expensive.... but it touches me to realize I am appreciated for my efforts. It isn't about the cost, it's about the thought.

So, go gift a teacher something meaningful this year!

101 Reasons to Love Middle Schoolers:

1. Funny names they give each other and you
Over the years, I have been called a variety of names, some I would not care to repeat, but some are endearing, some funny, and some just odd. My favorites? Gorgeous George, Georgie, Grandma G. Part of the allure of a nickname comes from the community building aspects of the experience, the feelings of comfort among those giving the names, and the acceptance of those being called them.
Today, one of my girls got a cute new nickname : Bri - tiny. Her name is Britini, with that unusual spelling. When she wrote it on the board for a library pass, someone caught the alternative pronunciation of Bri - tiny, which is one of those names that will stick. It is cute, with no respect issues. It serves to make her feel special though, and gives students in my homeroom as sense of community that only they get to use it, kind of an inside joke syndrome.

2. Twisted sense of HUMOR
The best part of teaching middle school is their laughter at the oddest of things. Humor can be used to deflect a mouthy student, get an unmotivated one on task, or even to stop the adolescent female teary eared outburst.
When I catch a student staring into outer space instead of focusing on the task at hand, I often tease them about staring at MY beauty. I tell them how flattered I am that they find me SO breathtaking they can't HELP but stare. This gets their attention, with a smile and giggle, and refocuses their mind at the task at hand.
When a student is being particularly annoying, I often tell them to strangle themselves so I don't have to. The best actors get it, and do a fantastic job of reaching their hand around their necks, pretending to strangle themselves. Again, laughter ensues, order is restored, and back to work for all.
Other funny sayings become part of our routine. This age group loves the twisted logic of sayings like, "Silence is golden, duct tape is silver" and learn quickly to respond the the first part of the quote with the second, refocusing themselves to a quieter work tone. Another favorite of mine is, "Don't be sorry, be quiet."
The key to success is knowing your audience. Some students respond extremely well to this kind of humor, but others do not get it, and are even offended by it. You must be able to read your students, and know how to deal with each individual personality.

3. Their sense of fairness and right & wrong in everything
You will never meet a group more in tune with fairness. Dare to give another student 1 tiny extra point on a graph, or one extra day on an assignment, and you will experience wrath like no other. Even if it means they must personally suffer, they want everything, everyone treated exactly the same at all times. They are quick to point out the shortcomings of each other and themselves as well, just to make sure the balance is maintained.

4. Magic and wonder are still part of their daily routine.
Whether it is the first snowfall of the season, an ambulance shrieking past the window, or a video on knights in shining armor, they love every unique detail that passes their way. Middle schoolers still have that little kid lust for learning. They CRAVE new information, especially if you can show them how it relates to them, how it touches their world, how they can personally interact with that knowledge.
In particular, they love new tech tools. This generation has grown up making powerpoints, typing papers, and instant messaging and texting each other. But give them a new tool to explore and watch the magic dust fly! My social studies class is making mundane powerpoints on a European country. Once I showed them some new fun things like Tuxpi and even the 4 square google search page, their excitement peaked again. Just exploring in a new way gives them the added ummph they need to tackle the next part of their challenge at hand.

5. Middle Schoolers LOVE to share their joy with you.
Sometimes it is a new shirt or shoes; other times they got a puppy or horse or a baby brother or sister; it might even be that amazing touch screen phone or iPod. Whatever it is, they LOVE to show their 'things' to you, explaining all the details in great detail. It is their way of sharing their world with you, bringing a personal touch to their school world.
Nothing makes a middle schooler happier than to see you in the bleachers at their basketball game, or cheering from the fence at a track meet. They know you are there for THEM, and they LOVE that special attention.

OK, not 101, but 5 that make my day, every day!!

Today starts one of my favorite math projects of the year, the infamous Tootie Fruite Project. Each student gets a scoop of the cereal (which costs me about $10 for 70 students). Then then data collection begins. Students total their own cereal, how many of each color. The ensuing debates about how to count partial pieces are always interesting. This morning, we had the most unusual cereal piece ever though: it was 2 toned. The student decided eating it was his best option :)

Once individual totals are counted, then we must compile class data. Whew... this always tries MY patience the most, with students who can't speak loudly (inevitably the LOUDEST kid in the hallway can't speak above a whisper to say "12")

Then students settle in to work, creating bar graphs and circle graphs of their individual as well as class data. The projects are colorful, fun and a light activity I try to do the last week before Christmas break. It meets a Michigan Grade Level Content Expectation, D.RE. 07.01 Read and interpret data using circle graphs.

Final projects are displayed as posters, which liven up my normally dull classroom.