Centering Middle School Students in Their Journey of Self-Discovery and Action

As a middle school success coach, I am always looking for resources and techniques to authentically engage my students in our coaching sessions. Therefore, I am always pushing myself to find innovative ways to center students so they can become their own Ingenious Influencers. Sometimes in these efforts, the simplest activities can lead to impactful growth and self-discovery.  

Recently, I was scrolling Twixter and happened upon a tweet by Chanea Bond, also known as The Madwoman in the Classroom. Her post resonated with my previously stated passions and goals. In her post, she shared resources that led to an activity that precipitated creativity and deep reflection within my coaching sessions. 

When embarking on the activity I intended to use her activity as she had designed it. However, I also wanted to incorporate pieces of my daily routines and embed a mini growth mindset/Ingenious Influencer component. With this in mind I added my own twist by introducing my students to an Ingenious Influencer, Nancy Randolph Davis. Ms. Davis is considered to be a pioneer in education as she broke the glass ceiling for future generations of black, brown, and historically marginalized students by becoming the first African American person to enroll at Oklahoma State University in 1949. By including Nancy’s story in the activity my students were given an inspiring backdrop to explore their passions, strengths, and immutable me qualities. 

Following this exploration students viewed the Immutable Me TikTok video by @notwildin to gain an understanding of what immutable means and how it applies to themselves. After viewing the video, students were invited to reflect on what they love about themselves, what qualities they never want to change, and what they are passionate about. The original activity was designed to be a writing experience, but to differentiate the experience, I allowed students to choose how they wanted to respond to these prompts—whether through writing, listing, talking, or drawing. I also did not impose the ten-minute time expectation and just asked students to let me know when they were ready to reflect. I did ask students to look over their work product and identify several words/ideas that stood out to them and then from that feedback I asked them to synthesize that information into: What do you love about yourself? What are you passionate about and what do you never want to change about yourself?

Once students identified these immutable parts of themselves and we talked about those I asked them to dive deeper into their reflections. I asked them to connect their immutable qualities and passions to their academic and personal goals. I challenged them to identify three simple steps they could take to leverage their strengths and passions to work toward their previously identified goals and aspirations. The results were awe-inspiring. Students embraced their authentic selves and created action plans that reflected their unique identities and goals. For instance, one student, passionate about art but struggling with note-taking, devised a plan to integrate art into their note-taking process. I was happy to share resources for Sketch Notes! Another student, who feels they are a great communicator, created a plan to use their interpersonal skills to engage in a conversation with a teacher about improving their grades. And yet another student, who reports that they love to learn, is going to create a pause in classes where they are not interested in the content to look for ways to connect their interests to that particular subject, enhancing their engagement and understanding. 

As someone dedicated to coming alongside my students to help them develop their identity and become their own Ingenious Influencer, seeing my students embrace this activity and take ownership of their goals and plans for achieving them fills me with pride and hopefulness for their futures! I am thankful to educators who share their love of teaching and resources because I know we are all better together. I am especially thankful to Chanea Bond, The Madwoman in the Classroom, and @notwildin for their inspiring suggestion, which have enriched my coaching sessions and empowered my students to embrace their authentic selves and pursue their dreams with confidence and determination. 

In the ever-changing world of education, it is paramount to adopt and adapt differentiation, empathy, and innovation so that we humanize our students’ experiences and value every person in our community. By doing so we can center self-discovery, authentic learning, and autonomy, ensuring that we are coming alongside the next generation of world leaders who will touch the future with their authenticity, resilience, and passion.

My slightly edited version of the activity.

Mid-Year Reboot: “I am I Said”

“I am”… I said

To no one there

And no one heard at all

Not even the chair

“I am”… I cried

“I am”… said I

And I am lost and I can’t

Even say why

“I am”… I said

“I am”… I cried

“I am”

~ Neil Diamond (1972)

“There is growing recognition that identity formation must become an important focus in education. Particularly in the 21st century, when modes of knowledge construction and accessibility to different types of knowledge are rapidly increasing and diversifying, academic learning cannot be divorced from students’ development of values, goals, social roles, and worldviews.” (Kaplan, 2012) Additionally, researchers have learned that when educators implicitly embed practices to connect their students’ lives and values to the curriculum being taught there is an associated “intense engagement, positive coping, openness to change, flexible cognition, and meaningful learning.” (Karabenick, 2014) With this in mind, the beginning of a new year and new semester is the perfect time to pause and engage in what I call a mid-year reboot because “I am”… I cried “I am” and I want to hear!

Educators often spend time at the beginning of the school year getting to know students, building community, and establishing expectations. I feel similarly to Erikson that identity formation is a lifelong process (Erikson, 1968). Therefore, I embed daily connection times into learning experiences and occasionally facilitate full lessons dedicated to refocusing our community. I wrote about these intentional practices in Belonging Centered Teaching in Math Class (Naegele, 2022). If you are interested in learning about how self-affirmation writing or connecting the specific standards you teach to your students’ lives I invite you to check out the article on the OKCTM.org website. Dr. Jamaal Matthews contends that when teachers engage students in activities designed to develop autonomy it is more than just “getting to know” students, they are conveying to them that their prior knowledge and experiences are essential to instruction and their learning. It gives them a chance to feel seen and heard.” 

If implementing these important and powerful connections with your students is something you would like to engage in, I encourage you to check out the phenomenal resources that have been curated by the Math Teacher Blogosphere and other groups dedicated to developing student agency and identity. Here are a few that I have bookmarked and utilize often so I can be sure to hear my students when they cry, “I am”… 

• Links to Resources: Not Just White Dude Mathematicians
• Mathematician Alphabet
• Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences
• The Best (Free) Posters of STEM Women
• Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Self-Portraits
• My Ingenious Influencers Folder (I copy and paste A lot!)

Works Cited

Diamond, N. (1972). I am I Said [Recorded by N. Diamond]. US.

Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

Kaplan, A. H. (2012). Identity formation in educational settings: A critical focus for education. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 171-175.

Karabenick, S. A. (2014). Design-Based Interventions for Promoting Students’ Identity Exploration Within the School Curriculum. Vol. 18. Chicago: Emerals Group Publishing Limited.Naegele, M. (2022). Belonging Centered Teaching in Math Class. Oklahoma Journal of School Mathematics, 20-24.

Educators, Rise Up!

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

In her poem, ‘Still I Rise,’ Maya Angelou represents the black community as a collective and proclaims that she will no longer stand mutely by and allow herself and her people to be shackled by a white-dominated society. “The phrase, “I rise” is not about a singular uprising. It’s a collective revolutionary voice that consists of the raging uproar of a class, oppressed and betrayed for a long time. (Corfman, 2022).” You may be asking yourself, how does this relate to being a math educator. While the oppression of black and brown people is a battle against oppression from first breath to last, and cannot be marginalized by comparing the oppression to any other experience, I am motivated by Angelou’s challenge to rise. If you are like me, you are being bombarded with news stories about the teacher shortage. In addition, you are probably being inundated with testimonials on social media about reasons teachers are abandoning education for other professions. To say the pandemic has been difficult for our profession is a colossal understatement. Education and our profession, as usual, are being denigrated.

Since its inception in 1867, the department of education has been under attack. “The department was small, ambitious, and astonishingly short-lived. Congress abolished it and demoted its reformist chief just a year later (Kosar, 2022).” Since that time educators have realized that they are employed in a highly political career that often results in feelings of being assailed, depreciated, and out of place. It doesn’t take long to realize that educators have few choices in how we respond. We can accept our place in this political arena, or we can be like the dust and rise.

Recently, I decided that I will no longer read articles about burnout. I will no longer listen to the stories about teachers leaving in droves. This profession is my passion and I cannot afford to allow myself to be dampened by despair. Granted, this has been the most challenging teaching year of my career. Yet, this is what I know. I love my career. I love my students. I love my subject matter. I love my colleagues. I know that my voice can and does affect a difference, and if I want a change to happen my voice and my actions are what will affect transformation for my students, my colleagues, my school, my district, my state, and myself.

This may seem a bold proclamation, but I know it to be true! It is not only true for myself, but it is true for all of us! Does this mean stepping outside of my classroom and using my voice in a way that may make me feel vulnerable or uncomfortable? Possibly. The key is to start small and to let yourself grow! Start with checking out the OCTM Advocacy page on our website. From there you can learn how to send a letter to your elected officials. You can also check out the NCTM Advocacy toolkit. Another great way to start is by introducing yourself to the Oklahoma State Department of education leadership team, Gena Barnhill, Director of Elementary Mathematics, Gena.barnhill@sde.ok.gov, @GenaB_123, @GenaB_123, Director of Secondary Mathematics, brigit.minden@sde.ok.gov, @brigitm7, and Christine Koerner, Executive Director of STEM, Christine.Koerner@sde.ok.gov, @christinegoko. When you have a question or an idea, contact them. Without a doubt, they value you and your ideas and want to hear from you! And of course, we encourage you to become involved with OCTM by contacting your board members, committee members, and district representatives and letting us know how we can help you! The key is to start! Of course, if you are not in Oklahoma, these suggestions are the same for you, just with your local affiliates and contacts!

While I had hoped that those in positions of authority would have used the pandemic as a wake-up call to enact changes for the better in education I realize little progress has been made. So, while the politicians continue to villainize educators and the battle to privatize education continues I declare as Maya Angelou, I will rise!

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise. (Angelou, 1978)

Works Cited
Angelou, M. (1978). And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems. Chicago: Random House.

Corfman, A. (2022, March 16). Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. Retrieved from Poem Analysis: https://poemanalysis.com/maya-angelou/still-i-rise/#Meaning

Kosar, K. (2022, March 16). Kill the Department of Ed.? It’s been done. Retrieved from Politico: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/09/department-of-education-history-000235/

#My1MathThing Student Version

As the semester came to an end I found myself contemplating how to evaluate my students’ learning via some kind of end-of-semester assessment required by my district. In my pondering, I recalled learning about #1TMCthing at Twitter Math Camp. The idea is to identify the one thing learned at the conference that resonates with you and tweet and write about it. Then others can connect with you around those ideas in the months to follow.

With this in mind, I created a #My1MathThing Project. Students completed an outline in which they identified the one thing they were proud of learning this semester. Then they wrote or identified a real-world math problem that requires the use of their “one thing,” and showed how they solved the problem. Next, they identified the skills needed to be able to do their “one thing,” and what math they will be able to do in the future because they know this “one thing.” Following that, students identified five jobs/careers that require the use of their “one thing,” along with a brief description of the job requirements. Finally, they completed this prompt, “I am a math person because… I have grown in my mathematical abilities this semester by… and added a picture of themselves.

My students had a good time recalling all that we have learned this semester and identifying jobs/careers that utilize the math that they have mastered. I LOVED reading the reflections and hearing how my students believe in themselves as math people! Some of my favorites:

“I am a math person because I notice and wonder when I solve a math problem.”
“I am a math person because I have grown in my mathematical abilities this semester by trying really hard math problems. Reading was my favorite thing in school. But now math is my favorite because it’s a challenging thing.”
“I am a math student because I don’t give up on my problems. And when I don’t give up it gets easier and more simple for me to understand.”

I plan to ask my students how this project could be improved! With their help, I will DEFINITELY be doing this project at the end of the school year!

Humanizing Math Class

I am fortunate to be a member of the EF+Math Educator Leadership Council which affords me the opportunity to collaborate with the Mathematical Thinkers Like Me R&D team on concept, design, and implementation plans to ensure that the program being developed is useful and usable in real-world classrooms especially for black, brown and historically underserved students. In this work, I am learning and growing in my understanding of executive functions in practice, developing conceptual understanding in mathematics, and fostering equity in the classroom. Furthermore, I am learning how to humanize my math class and create a community where all feel welcome, valued, and safe.

I routinely ask my students to bravely show up to occasionally get their asses kicked in the mathematics arena. Therefore I must help them develop the confidence to put themselves and their thinking on the line. To do this I engage them in activities designed to create an ‘Ubuntu’ environment of belonging and love. As a member of the Mathematical Thinkers Like Me team, I have discovered the Four Hs protocol and Life Values Writing Prompt to foster this kind of community.  

The 4H Math Interest Interview developed by Jamaal Sharif Matthews draws on the knowledge and experiences among students within your class and aids in planning for instruction that is most meaningful to them. The components of the 4Hs are as follows:

• Home refers to consistent activities engaged at home or the properties of the home space (e.g., cooking, interactions with family, the heating bill, dimensions of the living room). 
• Hobbies are personal activities engaged in at least once per week (e.g., sports teams, social media, work, smartphone apps/games). 
• Hopes are personal aspirations, interests, or goals (e.g., desired career or major, making the varsity team, making my paycheck last all week). 
• Heritage is a connection to a tradition or a people that is a source of pride (e.g., local celebrities in the community, Black female mathematicians)

To get started, I distributed the Math Interest Survey as part of my Parent Survey at meet the teacher night. I explained to families that I wanted to get to know them and use what I learn to help students connect math to their homes, hopes, heritage, and hobbies. I asked each family to choose four of their favorite questions, discuss and answer them as a family and then return the survey to school as soon as possible.  I received several responses from families, but I really wanted all of my students’ responses. Therefore, I also conducted the survey in class. I shared this presentation with students and then distributed the survey and asked them to answer four of their favorite questions as well as the mandatory question. I followed this activity by asking students to complete the Life Values Writing Prompt.  According to Luis Rivera, self-affirmation writing helps students connect with “values associated with our personal and social identities and are important and central to individuals. Furthermore, self-affirmation writing serves to buffer threats, particularly in the domain of biases.” This in turn results in higher academic achievement. Following these activities, students were asked to reflect on their writing and use the information to create and write about three goals for themselves this school year. 

Conducting these activities was a powerful way to connect to my students. I am better able to understand what they value and how they see their culture, interests, and hopes. Therefore, I can authentically engage with and plan more effectively for them. Most importantly, “this activity gives students an opportunity to be heard and feel like they are being paid attention to.” Furthermore, this activity is “powerful because it is about more than just “getting to know” students. It is geared toward showing them that their prior knowledge and experiences are important to your instruction and their own learning. It gives them a chance to feel seen and heard.”

References

Matthews, J. S. (2018). On Mindset and Practices for Re-Integrating “Belonging” into Mathematics Instruction. Teaching Works.

Rivera, L. (2021, 10 1). Luis Rivera. Retrieved from Rutgers: https://sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/faculty-staff/luis-rivera-0

Twist It, Bop It, Turn It

Twist It, Bop It, Turn It! How fun!  We are two full weeks into the new school year and on day one I launched my Unit Zero. The purpose of Unit Zero is to create a community where students bravely show up to occasionally get their asses kicked in the mathematics arena while developing the confidence to put themselves and their thinking on the line. Additionally, I aim to create an equitable collaborative community that values mathematical growth mindset, utilizes the standards for math practices, while developing students’ executive function skills.

Throughout Unit Zero we explore low floor/high ceiling math tasks, learn about the science of growth mindset, become familiar with our daily math routines, and engage in community/team building experiences. For many years I have utilized the “Missing Puzzle Piece” activity. I start with six 24-piece puzzles and before students arrive, I remove one piece from one puzzle and hide it in my desk. I then take pieces from all but one puzzle and scramble them into the other puzzles. I tell my students that this is a competition and the first team finished will be crowned the winners. Prior to this activity we have discussed learning as a social construct and the importance and need for discussion and collaboration with others. As groups start to realize pieces are missing, they discover the need to communicate and negotiate with other teams to complete their puzzle. Following the activity, we discuss the strategies used for all teams to complete the puzzle and how the members of the team that could not complete their puzzle felt. We then talk about how these strategies can be transferred to problem solving in math and the importance and need for every member to participate. Our “puzzles” are incomplete if not all are represented and have a voice.

This year I discovered a new puzzle team building activity on TikTok (Teacher TikTok is a wealth of bite sized ideas, resources and support!).  ExcitedToEducate shared this Team Building Puzzle slide and an overview on her post. I had each group choose a team leader before I shared the activity with students. The leader was asked to choose a 24-piece puzzle for their team to complete. I instructed teams to take the puzzle out of the puzzle frame and turn all piece right side up and place the frame in front of the leader. I then shared the Team Building Puzzle slide and directions with the class. Once directions were shared, I asked, “What questions do you have?” When there were no more questions, I turned students loose to complete the task.

As students worked together I circulated and recorded snippets of exchanges and repeated conversations loud enough for others to hear if I heard great vocabulary, instructions or encouragement happening. Some of my favorite snippets are as follows:

·   This is hard, but we are getting a lot done!

·   I need more information.

·   I’m trying.

·   I can envision where we started.

·   Do you remember where the dog was?

·   Good idea!

·   Are they winning?

·   I don’t know- don’t worry about them!

·   If we do the outside edge first, would it be easier?

·   Look what you did! You did great!

The vocabulary I overheard included, rotate, slide, translate, flip, edge, and vertices. I also heard, flip it, turn it, slide it so often that I started to hear the Bop It game play over and over in my head! So much fun!

Part way through the activity I asked students if they wanted to change roles and allow others to be the leader. Some teams chose to switch, and some declared that they had a great thing going and would keep roles as they were. At one-point teams were not all finished, but I asked them to stop and debrief with me so that we would not run out of time. I was met with groans and protests because everyone wanted to finish. I reminded the students that moments ago you were complaining how difficult this was, but now they did not want to quit. I also told them that I hope to instill that same passion and perseverance for math. I then facilitated a discussion in which we examined strategies and compared and contrasted those to the problem-solving process.

This  activity was more successful than I could have imagined. Every student felt proud and invigorated by the experience! After we debriefed and they finished their puzzles I asked them all to stand and raise their right hand and repeat after me, “I solemnly swear that I will attack every math problem from here on the way I attacked these puzzle problems. I will persevere, communicate, collaborate, strategize and never give up because I am an mNm Math Nerd!”  I then gave them all a little box of Nerds and welcomed them to the math nerd family!

Teaching is the best dang job on earth!

Will Rogers Junior High Facebook Post

Perception Is Not Necessarily Reality

“Instructional Routines are specific and repeatable designs for learning that support both the teacher and students in the classroom.” Fostering Math Practices

If you are like me, the coming school year seems daunting. Last year the challenges and pivoting caused it to be the most difficult year of my teaching career. As we face another uncertain school year, I find myself asking how I will address the perceived learning and opportunity gaps. I have spent countless hours brainstorming how I will foster social and emotional well-being while nurturing and facilitating a safe learning environment where all feel welcome, confident to productively struggle while working to develop positive mathematical identities. 

A practice I have engaged my students with disabilities in is a rich unit zero. I start by asking myself:  How do I get to know my students and humanize my math class in a way that:

• creates opportunities for students to have interpersonal experiences with others that counters implicit biases and stereotype threats while connecting to one another and the world at large?
• inspires students to show up courageously and vulnerably to persistently become the center of their learning, productively struggle, expand the competencies that are valued while addressing issues of status in learning interactions?
• encourages and supports students in centering their ideas and thinking?
• builds student executive functions through the effort to get good at collaborative practices?
• establishes a foundation in conceptual understanding?
• develops problem solving strategies
• cultivates and reinforces identity and belonging through story-telling and reflection and sharing with other students?
• surfaces and is responsive to student interests and expertise?

What I have developed in response to these inquiries is a Unit Zero that includes relationship building, initial and ongoing learning about the science of growth and mathematical mindsets, explicitly teaching and learning how to apply the Math Action Processes, and exploring and co-creating norms and expectations. If you would like to get an overview of my Unit Zero you may check out my Community, Norms and Math Practices Oh My! presentation from the #NEOKMath Conference. Another amazing source for grade level Unit Zero ideas is the OKMath Frameworks!

What I have come to believe is that a rich unit zero is paramount to establishing a community of learners that are excited to show up in the math arena to wrestle with math. I also believe that the routines that I explicitly teach my students during this unit and then utilize throughout the school year are fundamental. Instructional math routines are designed with an anticipated flow and structure the learning experience. 

The predictability of the routines supports students by answering:

• What is it that I am supposed to be doing?  
• What question will I be asked next?
• How will things work today in the lesson?”

Furthermore, routines focus on developing critical thinking, productive struggle, supporting all learners, and are brimming with the Math Action Processes. I have discovered that routines are responsive to the students’ understanding and build deep number sense, algebraic reasoning and conceptual understanding . When students engage in quality routines, the practices and habits utilized become intrinsic and transfer to the math lesson as well as to life!  Because routines are low floor/high ceiling, student voices are centered and all input and ideas are valued providing equitable inclusion. And finally, students are developing the ability to pay attention, ignore distractions, keep track of ideas in one’s head, and think flexibly to solve problems and utilize the executive function skills needed in math class.

I firmly believe that because I engage my students with disabilities in a robust unit zero and continue integrating the practices and instructional math routines throughout the school year, my students have and will continue to be highly successful people and mathematicians. I believe, if educators give themselves permission to focus on students, relationships and instructional math routines, the perceived learning gaps will not hinder student progress and formative and summative assessments will support these practices. Special education teachers have spent years working with students that have come to them with seemingly insurmountable perceived learning gaps. I hope we take the time to talk to these experts and learn from their successes! If you would like to talk more about mathematical routines, please reach out to me! My Twitter handle is @mnmmath and my email is melyneen@gmail.com. You may also check out my bank of mathematical routines here.

Are You Ready For More?

Are you ready for more? That is the question the authors of Illustrative Mathematics and Open Up Resources ask students following engagement in problem solving routines and instructional activities.  This week my students responded with a resounding, “BRING IT ON!” Not only that, they attacked the activities and problems with such zeal this educator was left with goose bumps and happy tears!

I teach 6^th – 8^th grade middle school students with disabilities and have the honor of looping with them throughout their junior high years.  My current eighth grade students were my first sixth grade group. From day one I have incorporated Dr. Jo Boaler’s Growth Mindset research, teaching students the tenants as we have explored the Weeks of Inspirational Math. We have embraced the belief that with struggle, mistakes, problem solving and a growth mindset everyone can learn maths to high levels.  In addition, my pedagogy has included constructivist ideals with heavy doses of productive discourse, collaboration, and joint construction of knowledge. I have consistently utilized the routines of Notice/Wonder, Estimation 180, Which One Doesn’t Belong, Visual Patterns, Empty Number Lines and Grayson Wheatley’s Quick Draw as tools to teach students the problem-solving process, and  have been utilizing curriculum that is inquiry based and student centered.  To this end my students have become familiar with self-talk and working through the problem-solving process in a way that makes sense to them. We have developed the following anchor chart as a guide if we get stuck.

We have also created an anchor chart to remind us what we expect from each other when working in groups and collaborating.

When I discovered Open Up Math Resources, a beautiful curriculum grounded in routines for reasoning, research-based practices, student centered, world connected, inquiry based instructional practices that resonate with so many of the constructivist philosophers I have come to passionately embrace, I became an instant zealot for the curriculum!

Following is my attempt to capture a moment in time that happened this week in one of my classes. For this educator this is evidence that the paradigm shift educators are being asked to make concerning their pedagogy is vital and life altering!

Are You Ready For More?

When students completed the exploration of the instructional activities in lesson 6.1 Tiling the Plane they were given the following prompt:

On graph paper, create a tiling pattern so that:

• The pattern has at least two different shapes.
• The same amount of the plane is covered by each type of shape.

My students have disabilities and they have learned that there are many tools available in our classroom to aid them in the removal of barriers to their access to the mathematics we are exploring. Many of my students have dysgraphia, dyslexia, fine and gross motor challenges as well as a plethora of other disabilities that require supports. For my students with gross and fine motor barriers, drawing with conventional paper and pencil as well as on a computer is too restrictive.

With that in mind one of my students went straight to the pattern blocks to tackle this problem. The student expressed the desire to create a tessellation that would satisfy the prompt.

The tiles chosen by the student were hexagons and trapezoids.  After a little while working with the chosen tiles the student created the following pattern.

While I was circulating among the students to monitor understanding, strategies and misconceptions I found this student working diligently. They asked me what I thought of their creation.  I find I always channel my mom in these situations and turn the tables by saying, “It doesn’t matter what I think of it, what do you think of it?”  Who knew mom was a constructivist?  The student said they really liked their design, but was not sure if it was correct.  I reread the prompt and asked, so what do you think?  Are your shapes covering the same amount of the plane as the question asks?  The student counted the trapezoids and said they know it takes two trapezoids to make a hexagon so there were too many trapezoids.  They then decided to try an easier problem to help them break down the design. To do so they pulled out a portion of the pattern to critique (solve an easier problem).

The student then said, “I notice that for every one hexagon there are two trapezoids. So, in this pattern there is a two to six ratio.” I asked, what relationships do you notice or wonder about that information?” The student said, “Well, I will need to think about common multiples and maybe factors.”  They thought for a while and then said, “I know I can multiply 2×3 to get six, so I wonder if I start with six hexagons and 12 trapezoids, will I be able to create a hexagon pattern with them where the yellow and red cover the same amount of the plane?”  With that I left the student to explore on their own for a while.  When I returned, the student was experimenting with several patterns, and was starting to create a straight-line pattern like the following using six hexagons and twelve trapezoids.

At this point I was happy to see that the student was showing understanding of decomposing a shape into different shapes, and that the new decomposed shapes still cover the same area.  My student on the other hand was not happy.  They did not like the design and expressed the desire to create a hexagon, and a more elaborate pattern.  They rotated, translated and wondered aloud about orientation and were quickly on to something! After a short period of time the student created the following beautiful piece of mathematical artistry that met the requirements of covering the plane!

The student was disappointed that they could not physically draw their design, but was thrilled when I suggested they take a picture of their work and upload it to our Google Classroom with their assignment.  They were also not happy with the gap in the middle and said they were going to work on this more at home!

This one moment in time is what every educator lives for.  It is a moment when all that is learned before, and what is being learned come together cohesively and flawlessly. This moment would not have been possible if this student did not feel safe to take risks, make mistakes, make conjectures, develop strategies, reason abstractly, and problem solve.  This child that has been identified as having significant learning disabilities has a beautiful mathematical mindset and disposition as well as a growth mindset! This child is a critical thinker, a problem solver, a risk taker, and a world change maker! This child proves that everyone can learn maths to their highest level and if educators will make the shift to teaching students to think critically, problem solve, collaborate, communicate, take risks and have a growth mindset, the possibilities for learning are limitless!

So again, I ask, Are you ready for more?  I know I am!  I can’t wait to provide routines for reasoning and instructional activities for my students so they may become amazing mathematicians and thinkers! As a bonus, I will have the opportunity to stand as witness to their mind-blowing awesomeness this school year!

 

First Week in Review

A new school year always makes me a little nervous because there are so many unknowns. Who will my students be? What are my class sizes going to be? Who won’t return this school year, and why? What triumphs and tragedies will my students have experienced over summer break, and what will that mean for their school and life experiences? After so many years teaching these, and so many more worries, run through my mind for weeks before our first day of class.

Now that the first week is in the books I am breathing a little easier while at the same time feeling stress from other worries! This profession that I, and so many others have chosen, is a 24/7 way of life!

The first week also has me celebrating a plethora of successes!  I always spend the first several weeks establishing norms, teaching the problem solving process, and building a safe learning community.  First experiences indicate that this year’s community is going to be amazeballs!

Here are a few of the activities the MNM Math Nerds have engaged in thus far:

Kid President’s Letter To A Person On Their First Day Here

Time to put away FORTNITE// “I Gotta Feeling” The Black Eyed Peas Parody

Name Tents thanks to Sara Van Der Werf!

Me…By the Numbers, Math Activity by Donna Boucher

MINDSET ASSESSMENT PROFILE TOOL

Math is….. snowball fight ala Sara Carter

Go Ahead Break the Ice from Twitter Math Camp 2016

You Are an Important Piece of Our Puzzle

Give Us Your Champion adapted by me from a game I played at a workshop this summer

 

All of these activities were not originally mine, but they are gems in helping establish community! I am so grateful for a wonderful Math Twitter Blogosphere, #MTBoS,  community that so readily shares and collaborates!  In addition to these activities MNM Math Nerds also learned the process of problem solving though www.estimation180 activities as well as developed a class set of expectations for one another while working in groups.

These are the ideas we brainstormed for our group work expectations:

And here is our final product:

The final activity for the week was to jointly create a class creed. From these collaborations  I realized that I am going to have the honor to learn with some dedicated and serious mathematicians this school year!

Our final product:

 

We start every class period with a Take Five because we are a Great Expectations school,  and this  routine sets the stage for our learning. I am excited that my MNM Math Nerds already have Great Expectations for themselves and one another!  It is going to be a great year to be a Zebra! #GoZebras

I Am An Open Book: Take From My Pages What You Need

I recently had a frank conversation with a friend that has caused me to reflect on my teaching practices outside of the classroom and my personality. From those reflections I feel compelled to write a disclaimer blog concerning me.  I am fully aware of my idiosyncrasies and short comings because I am the analytical, problem solving, giving, surviving me that I apparently was created to be.  Readers, the things that annoy you about me, also annoy me about me.  I am a fixer, and believe me, if I could fix me, I would have been “fixed” decades ago!  I am a work in progress, and I am constantly trying to be a better me. Hopefully the following insights will help those around me tolerate, and maybe even embrace me, with open arms.

First of all, I am the oldest child in my family, and I display the typical organized, reliable, achieving, and tightly wound characteristics as such. This was not a choice I made or embraced. It is hard to believe, even for me, that I was once a quiet and shy child that wished to disappear into the paint on the wall. My childhood circumstances caused these characteristics to surface as I came from a dysfunctional family, and in order to survive I had to adopt these traits in order to help my family members.  I will not share gory details, but the surface story goes like this:

My parents got separated/divorced seven times from each other. I have attended sixteen different institutions for learning. My mother had bi polar disease, my brother had schizophrenia, and my father was a recovering alcoholic.  When my parents finally divorced when I was sixteen, my mother chose to live with an alcoholic drunk and my father moved in with a woman who had six children of her own.

One day, when I was in second grade in California, my mother came to school with two suit cases and checked my brother and I out of school. We went to the Greyhound bus station and for the next three days we were on a cross-country journey to Oklahoma. Unbeknownst to my father, my mother had sold everything in the house that she could, and gave the rest to charity. My father came home from work and had no idea where his family had vanished to. As a second grader I thought this was just one big adventure, but as the years went on I learned how crisis and change devastate lives and families. Amongst all of this I became the parent, the caregiver, the rescuer and fixer of my birth family.

Fortunately, among all of this dysfunction and upheaval I had teachers that chose to see past the dirty little transient kid sitting in the corner of their classroom. They looked past my terrified eyes, my dirty second-hand clothes and saw me. They saw my potential, they saw my talent, they saw a future that I dared not dream for! They taught me to see me, to believe in me, and to dream for me. I believed and I became.

The becoming was no joy ride as I still lived in a dysfunctional family embroiled in poverty. I still had emotional scars that needed healing. I still was living in a situation that is typically statistically impossible to overcome. If you have ever read the books “Running With Scissors”   or “ The Glass Castle: A Memoir” you have had a glimpse into my childhood. Despite these barriers, educators stepped up and helped me with the bureaucracy and paperwork that comes with getting an education. Unfortunately, no teacher EVER did this for my brother, and the differences in our adult lives are staggering!

I am the lone survivor from my birth family. My mother passed away fifteen years ago due to a complication with her mental health. My father passed away ten years ago as a complication of smoking, and my brother died from lung cancer in a mental hospital five years ago. In contrast, my husband and I have been wonderfully married for 33 years. We have not been without heartache as our first-born child died from congenital heart defects.  We are blessed that God sustained us and nurtured us through our loss.  We have two hugely successful college educated children that are living their dreams. On the surface it would appear I live a fairy tale life. I feel truly blessed and grateful to be living this life and do believe God has granted all of my dreams come true. The reality is, on the inside, I am still that little dirty transient kid in the classroom corner just trying to make a better world for myself and others.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a True Colors® personality exploration as part of a professional development conference.  I discovered that I am considered to be a Green/Gold. The following table shows how Green/Golds see themselves as well as how others see them.  This was reaffirming while at the same time disheartening.  While I see myself as someone who is exuberant, passionate and sharing, others see me as a know it all, uptight, snob. Nothing like a slap in the face to wake you up!

See Self	Others See
Tough-minded Efficient, powerful Original and unique Rational Great planner Calm not emotional Precise not repetitive Under control Able to find flaws objectively Holding firm to policy Stable Providing security Dependable Firm Always have a view Efficient Realistic Decisive Executive type Good planner Orderly, neat Punctual, expect same	Intellectual snob Arrogant Afraid to open up Unappreciative, Stingy with praise Doesn’t consider people in plans Critical, fault-finding Cool, aloof, unfeeling Eccentric, weird  Rigid Controlling, bossy Dull, boring Stubborn, pig-headed Opinionated System-bound Unimaginative Limiting flexibility Uptight Sets own agenda Rigid idea of time

My favorite quote sums me up in a nutshell. “I am part of all that I have met” Tennyson.

I am me because of everything and everyone that I have encountered in life.  I would not change anything that has happened to me because I would not be me. So many people have given of themselves to help me through this life, and now it is my turn to give of my time, talents and resources to help others. I work hard not to be an over sharer. I am contentious about how much I talk and share. I try desperately not to dominate a conversation or situation. If you have been a “victim” of my over zealousness, and are turned off by it, I truly apologize! Please know that my enthusiasm comes from a place of authenticity and passion for humanity and the teaching profession. So many opportunities, so much help, so much love and acceptance were withheld from my brother, mother and father that I cannot fathom holding back ANYTHING that I have that may help you be a better teacher or person.  I have no other agenda, no other motivation, no other egotistical reason for sharing, other than I care deeply, love wholly and am passionately on fire to make the world a better place like so many educators did for me.

So, to state again, I am an open book: Take from my pages what you need.  The only thing that I would ask is, please, don’t judge this book by it’s cover. I am so much more than the hard and loud exterior that you see on first glance.

Now that you now know that I am an over sharer, I hope some of my favorite things will be of benefit to you and that you are not offended or turned off that I want to share with you.

MNM Math Resources

#NoticeWonder

Open Up Resources

Mindset

Great Expectations

True Colors

Co-Teaching

DESMOS Activities

My Growth Mindset Channel

Team Building Channel

12 Things You May or May Not Know About Mrs. Naegele