Final Week of TEEM!

The week kicked off talking about misconceptions about the equal sign. I can tell you for certain, my 6th graders have answered this kind of question with d. They see that equal sign as "oh, that's where the answer goes!" and don't seem to give it a second thought. Usually when that happens I don't know how to make them see and understand why that's not the right answer, but we watched a video where the teacher didn't correct the misconception right away, instead she wrote the incorrect answer on the board and then showed the students other equations such as 7 = 3+4, and 6 = 6+0, then 5 = 4+1, and revisited the original problem. It was very well done and made me really rethink how I handle misconceptions in the classroom. My instinct is to try to correct it, but the definite theme in TEEM this year is, it's okay to let a problem "marinate."

We did work with the hundreds chart, too, which to be honest, I didn't think I'd be able to use in 6th grade. I was definitely proven wrong! We used them to examine expressions and equations, and even asked if they could be used for any number, and then they showed us the hundreds chart with negative numbers. My mind was honestly blown, because I'd never seen one like that. There are so many possibilities I had never thought of that I can use in my classroom to help students understand big concepts with the use of something that should be familiar to them.

My favorite part of the week, though, was during a 3 reads problem solving strategy.

We focused on the 2nd read: what quantities are in the problem, what relationships are in the problem? We were left to our own devices to solve for a while and everyone struggled, even though there is no actual question. How do we even set up this problem? I think there was a huge win in sense-making, though, for almost everyone in the room. Especially since this was followed up after using tables for organized Guess and Check strategies. It really clicked with me how I can help my students understand expressions and equations.

I used my new glitter highlighters to add some color to my original strategy

I realized this week that this was be the last summer of TEEM, which means next summer will be my first summer as a teacher without it. I have truly enjoyed my time with TEEM. I've learned and grown a LOT as a math teacher thanks to the resources and support they've provided, and I'm a little sad that it has come to an end. I am so grateful that I have been part of this research study.

Comments

PD Bonanza

Shown here: something I actually got from TPT and the pattern block blackline The past 3 weeks have been busy, busy. I had TEEM (Teaching Early Mathematics to English Learners) for 8 days. We focused on fractions, and I got some really good info about teaching fractions to my students. Pattern blocks, fraction strips, and number lines forever! I made my kids at home do some of the activities too. Then I went to the AVID Summer Institute. It was a good reminder why I need to do notes in my class, in addition to the fun, hands on stuff. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to include the summary & questions in the composition book I get for TEEM, but I've seen a few examples online I'll try to replicate & modify as needed. I've heard a lot of good quotes, but my favorite has been one I heard at AVID: "You can't do everything, so do 1 or 2 things well." It often feels like I am expected, either by others or myself, ...

How I Plan & Reflect

I've tried a lot of different methods for planning & reflecting on my plans over the years, and I'm still trying to figure it out. Last year I used the Happy Planner for Teachers , and I loved it because there are a lot of stickers and I could add my own pages, basically customize it however I wanted. But, it was very large and I ended up not using it a few months into the school year. So Pretty So Unused I'm still very tempted by the new packages they have for teacher planners but am holding firm in not buying it because it will cause guilt and shame when it falls out of use. I did get a Passion Planner to keep track of time sensitive things, and am going to give myself a bit more grace about not filling it out. It'll be more personal/to do listy than lesson planning. So shiny! Mostly blank the week before school starts. There's things I need to add but shh let's ignore that right now I'm ALSO going to be using Common Curricul...

Planning for Back to School August 2020

Me in my laundry room/office This year has been so different from any other years. SO much uncertainty. I wanted to be super prepared so I read many, many books and articles and Twitter lists over the summer. I participated in webinars and Zoom meetings and tried to put what I found in one place but my brain doesn't really work that way, so I have some stuff in Google Keep, some stuff in Wakelet, some stuff written down. In the end I still felt unprepared for the first day of school. I have had so much anxiety in the last few days. I did set up assignments for my students before the first day of school. I used Howie Hua's Math Autobiography slides, and some of my students started working on them immediately. It's already creating amazing discussions and bonding between my students. The first day of school went well for me. I didn't plan much, I just shared a couple of slides about myself and then had my students do a community circle . It worked out well because it l...

Logical Poetry

Search This Blog