Living By Some New Rules...

So... I ranted last Friday night... I removed the rant Sunday morning because I felt that I needed to do that... If you were one of the 7 unfortunate souls to read it before I took it down, I apologize for my sudden lapse in rationality... While I can say that it helped to rant and I am feeling better now, there is still frustration and anxiety... I will get through it and everything will be fine... I just need to take a chill pill and stick my nose to the grindstone...

As I was reflecting about that rant, I remembered seeing a picture on the internet about the 7 rules of life... So I did what any sane and rational person would do and got on Pinterest to find it... Lol... I found it in different forms, but I like this presentation the best... It has just a little bit of sassy to it and it makes me smile...

I am usually really bad at following the first 6 rules and pretty good at number 7... However, my friend, Mrs Bestie (she knows who she is), has commented to me that I have been slacking on number 7, too... This is what good friends do and I am glad she said something... So I am going to make the effort to get back on the horse and start keeping these rules the best I can...

Number 7 is easy to start with... Numbers 3 & 4, too... My difficulties lie in #1, #2, #5, and #6... Those things are soooooooo hard for me to do...

I dwell too much on past mistakes. I just do...

I think that everyone either doesn't like me or thinks I am arrogant or thinks I am only good enough for specific tasks.

I think everyone else is way better at life than I am because I do dwell too much on my mistakes.

I ALWAYS overthink things. It comes from being a mathematician...

I know it's not going to change overnight, but I am going to try my best... I'll get my AWESOME out again... Just wait and see...

Good night all you AWESOME peeps...

 

MTBoS (MathTwitterBlogosphere) is AWESOME...

So... This week is Mission #3 for my exploration of MTBoS. I got to look through a whole bunch of AWESOME websites that have a whole lot of AWESOME things on them. So I'll tell you about a couple that I really liked.

First... Dailydesmos.com... I didn't actually solve any of the challenges, but I got to play around with a really great free online graphing calculator... I even got the free app for my ipad. It is the best online graphing calculator that I have seen so far... I am sharing the website/app with my students tomorrow so that they have a good resource. Many of them can't afford a real graphing Calc and this will give them access to an AWESOME tool...

Second... www.visualpatterns.org... Pattern recognition, sequences, and series never got better for me... The patterns are challenging, but accessible to kids. It is also fun for me. I like puzzles a lot, so this site gave me some brain stretches to keep me sharp. Can't wait to try some of them when we get to that part of the curriculum. It'll be so fun...

Third (and last review)... onegoodthingteach.wordpress.com... A site where some teachers share the good things that happen every day amongst the chaos and frustration that exist in this profession. It is always good to find the good things amongst the bad so that we don't give up completely on the crazy, wonderful madness that is the teaching profession.

So... Here is my one good thing for today... (With a little background...)

Friday was an emotionally bad day for me for various reasons... That night I wrote a rant on my blog about it all... (If you were one of the 7 unfortunate souls that read that, I am sorry...) Anyways, Sunday morning came around and I felt that I needed to take it down, so I did. In the wee hours of Sunday morning I had some inspiration to reorganize my classroom and give the kids a new seating chart. So after church I sat down at my laptop and reorganized everyone in my Algebra 2 classes... They now sit in groups of four with an A student or B student at each table group... I didn't know how it would work out, but I had to try something...

Fast forward to this morning... My Math Analysis and AVID students took it in stride and made no complaint... There was some resistance from my Algebra 2 students, but most of them accepted their fate and got to work... I had them working together on Factoring because the quiz last Friday was very top and bottom heavy... A lot of kids got it, a lot of kids don't... My one good thing was that I was able to relinquish control (which is really hard for me) for three whole periods and the kids ACTUALLY worked together and helped each other. It was AWESOME... Was it 100%? No..., but it was in the high 80s at least... Did some of those kids that didn't understand gain some understanding? Absolutely... I think it was a step in the right direction... We'll see how this journey continues...

Stay AWESOME...

There is AWESOME stuff on the Internet...

I recently found this AWESOME, AMAZING, WONDERFUL thing...

It's called the Math Twitter Blogosphere (MTBoS) and they are doing an AWESOME thing for math teachers that want to get connected. They have cool missions each week to help those of us that aren't connected to get connected. Teaching math is hard sometimes and can be overwhelming if you do it alone. Connecting with people that share your passion can make it so much easier.

I missed the first mission last week because I missed the tweet that announced it. Oh well... I just jumped in this week instead. (Kind if like D&D when someone is late to the group and the DM has to insert them into the game somehow...) It was AWESOME sauce...

This week's mission was all about using Twitter... If you don't know what Twitter is, look to the right and you will see my feed... It's fun, and really useful, and fun... I haven't used twitter to its full potential even though I have had it for over a year. This MTBoS has opened my eyes and helped a lot... Just after one night of working on a mission...

Part of my mission this week is to talk about something Twitter... So here goes...

I participated in my first ever Twitter chat tonight... It was AWESOME... It was an Algebra 2 chat. (So, boring for all you non-math people, but exciting for me.) A few things were talked about and I even added some comments here and there. I actually got a couple of amazing teaching strategies that I will actually be able to use and share at work... Seriously, my mind was blown... It was so cool... It was so neat to see how other people do things and how they teach different concepts. I think that this whole experience will help me to become a better teacher and I am so excited to do that. There is so much out there in the Twitterverse that I don't think I will ever get all the good stuff, but MTBoS has given me an opportunity to find some of it... Thanks guys...

Stay AWESOME sauce...