I live in a economically and racially diverse community in North Central Massachusetts. My teaching career in the US began just as the Department of Education, now DESE, began to take over schools in the Commonwealth. As I have moved districts, grade levels, content, and setting, MCAS has remained a constant, a lurking boogeyman. I… Continue reading “Lessons Learned”
Category: Eureka and Middle School Math
On my (many!) bookshelves…
Reimagining Special Education: Using Inclusion as a Framework to Build Equity and Support All Students by Jenna Mancini Rufo and Julie Causton Brain Injury Survival Kit by Cheryle Sullivan Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for all by the National Council of Teachers… Continue reading On my (many!) bookshelves…
Mathematics for Human Flourishing
I've been making my way through the text, Mathematics for Human Flourishing by Frances Su and Christopher Jackson. At first, as I read his claims and poked a bit at the math, my response was my usual: I like algebra because it is neat and tidy and, best of all, you can check your own… Continue reading Mathematics for Human Flourishing
a thousand words…
I think we are all familiar with the expression about how a picture is worth a thousand words. I recently came face-to-face with the power of this axiom with a math/science twist, looking not at pictures, but at graphs. I was stunned to see the power of graphs drawn from my failing chemotherapy blood counts… Continue reading a thousand words…
Being Mortal
I have been blessed to find The Healing Garden, a non-profit center for cancer patients in Central Massachusetts. Of course, in our COVID world, distance matters less than it used to, as all offerings are available virtually at this time, but various staff members at the Healing Garden have supported me in this crazy reality… Continue reading Being Mortal
The next generation of ASSISTments
In 2019, I spent summer vacation plowing through the Eureka math curriculum, grades 6-8, making videos of every problem, followed by returning to the start and creating text versions of the hints I had first recorded. As I wrote at the time, it was amazing professional development, as I had to get inside every single… Continue reading The next generation of ASSISTments
Exoskeleton for my 6th graders
Exoskeleton: a rigid external covering for the body in some invertebrate animals, especially arthropods, providing both support and protection We are a few weeks into the school year, which means that we’ve reached a point where some of my students have settled into a good rhythm and are doing well...and some of my students have… Continue reading Exoskeleton for my 6th graders
Jamboard Start Reflection
As with so many of my posts from the past year, the inspiration and content of this post comes from my colleague and thought partner, Jack Czajkowski, 8th grade science teacher at GCVS. He reached out in our chat to ask if I had "protocols" I use with my students when I do Jamboards, since… Continue reading Jamboard Start Reflection
Starting Jamboards Again
As we plan for our third full week of instruction, I've started implementing two Do Now's a week, Tuesday and Thursday at the start of math class. Heading into week three, I'm ready to begin Jamboards...finally! I started by going back through lots of the past Jamboards, trying to think about which style and which… Continue reading Starting Jamboards Again
Happy New Year, August 2021
When I sat down to write this blog post, I thought to myself, "I should go check my other Happy New (School) Year blog posts"....imagine my surprise when I couldn't find any! I was pretty sure that I've written posts about coming back around at the start of a new year, but maybe I've written… Continue reading Happy New Year, August 2021
Universal Design for Learning 