Where was admin?

I had a beautiful conversation erupt during math time today.

Here was the problem:

They were solving with a partial products array (they're not quite ready for traditional or standard algorithms for multiplication) and a very loud, very passionate conversation erupted.  One student argued that having the "zero tens" row in the second factor (409) wasn't necessary.  Another passionately disagreed.  

Soon, I lost the whole class to this beautiful, loud conversation about if zero is a value or simply a place holder.  

Did it need to be represented? 

Could it be skipped? Always?

I reeled them back in after about five minutes of debate, much to the horror of the original instigators who hadn't successfully defended their perspectives.

What a beautiful, natural example of the math practices coming to life.

Now, where was admin?! That would have been a lovely example of math discourse in the classroom for my end of year evaluation.

Compare & Contrast

The fact that it's mid-November is still mind baffling to me.  This time last year, I was emotionally done with work.  I was tired of having others seek out opportunities to make me seem inferior.  My grade level was amazing, but the respect seemed to end there.

The days I was observed last year?

1. Thursday of the first week of school.  We are setting up notebooks and building class norms.
2. Halloween afternoon.  
3. Thursday afternoon before winter break.
4. The Monday morning after winter break, when we had been in the classroom for 10 minutes.
5. The Thursday before field day, which was right before spring break.

Yup, those five magical days are what my evaluation was based on.  Was this fair? Absolutely not.

I've been formally observed once this year.  My admin has popped in, my coaches have popped in, but I've had one formal observation.  We had both pre- and post-observation conferences.  It was a Tuesday afternoon and was planned.  Did it go perfectly? No, of course not. One kid went to the nurse for throwing up.  We had an assembly later that day.  It was a three day week.  However, my admin's first words to me was how great the lesson was and how I have wonderful classroom culture.

My new admin is looking for ways to praise my teaching and find minor tweaks to help me improve.  My old admin? Looking for ways to humiliate and degrade me.  Seeking out ways to make me feel stupid, not ways to make me feel empowered.

Glad I switched.  As an educated professional dealing with thirty different youngsters, it's nice to be treated with respect.  It's nice to hear what a positive difference I'm making and that I'm appreciated.

While scary at times, I'm glad I took the risk and changed schools.

October, where did you come from?

I had to change my classroom calendar.

It's October. Monday starts week 8 of school.  I don't know where the days have gone!

Oh wait, yes I do.  Devoted to learning.  Devoted to place value, powers of ten, rounding, and comparing decimals.  Devoted to reading the Lightning Thief.  Devoted to their Native American Indian research projects and writing extension projects.  Devoted to maintaining a positive classroom culture and celebrating successes.  

It's been a busy start to the year!

While B is out having a boys night, I'm enjoying a lazy evening with the DRV, playing with the kittens, crafting, and a tiny bit of grading.  I'm such a list maker, so let's make some October goals!

Professionally:

-Implementing another game day for my students to allow them to play with decimals and multiplication, allowing me time to reteach in a smaller group setting.

-Continue to have students be excited about The Lightning Thief. They are so invested in the story and keep trying to sneak the sequel, The Sea of Monsters off the shelf.  Sneaky wanna-be half-bloods!

-Continue to build positive relationships with my coworkers, admin, and parents.  

My assistant principal popped in today to share that a third grade teacher was struggling with math games and that she recommended he come see me.  She wanted to make sure that her suggestion was okay, and obviously it's fine! I'm excited that she sees me as a go-to person on making the classroom environment fun while still standards-based.

I've had some really positive conversations with parents lately and I hope it continues.  I had one mom come in after school to learn about the math organizer we're using in math.  We had a 20 minute conversation and afterward, both mom and daughter felt better. I sent them home with math games (because that's a way that the student will actually want to practice) and she had her retest today.  Guess what? She got a B. Progress!

-Stay ahead of my grading and math planning!  

-Add a few more products on TpT.  I have a few students that are finishing up novels that I've read, but haven't made chronological order sorts for.  When they skip  the sort, they tend to get around 80% on their AR tests...which doesn't count for badges.  However, when they do the sort, they earn 100%.  For me, it's worth a few extra hours to help them be successful.

-Continue to network for Jamberry.  I just got my business cards and am excited to pass out pretty samples to friends and family.  I love having pretty nails :)

Personally: 

-Finish the wreath I started for our front door.  Right now it's a styrafoam circle wrapped in burlap. I want to add some embellishments, but I'm not quite sure what.  Our door is navy, so perhaps something white or maroon.  

-Continue to organize books to take into my classroom...and get a handle on the guest bedroom.

-Finish Christmas shopping.  I've got my brother's girlfriend totally done and my mom mostly done...so baby steps!

-Be better at blogging!

-Finish The House of Hades.

What are your October goals?