hitting my stride

today was a very good day, if only you could see the smile on my face today. i was done early, had some time to wind down before my graduate reading class, and watched some disney channel! i haven't had time to just reboot and relax for the past two weeks, and i am happy to say that i did not touch anything school related since i left the school.

geometry was great. only managed get through half my flipchart, so there's tomorrow lesson plan! need to get some calling sticks to exhibit equity in the classroom. i plan to piggyback off what one of the teachers at orientation does; on one side, write the student's name, and on the other side write down what they want to be when they grow up. this teacher puts it in a cup with a cool quote/saying and i'm thinking that one of my UMD cups might be nice. it'll be great for me to read through my student information forms and their inventories this weekend so that i really respond to their likes and needs.

my university supervisor came in to observe me today, which was an interesting lesson. all credit goes to my RT on the students collecting their own data (goldfish crackers and M&Ms) to make the lesson more meaningful and engaging them in the activity (we're in Unit 1: Data Analysis). i created a worksheet that looks official, just like one of the worksheets Math 7 students would work on for stem and leaf plots as well as box and whisker plots, but this one happens to have their information on it. cool beans.

i am learning that with my sixth graders, this week is all about setting classroom routines. once the students know what is expected of them, this preparation gives them the opportunity to succeed in future tasks and lessons =) my munchkins come into my classroom right after lunch, and i had to send them all out of the classroom to practice entering it the way i expect them too. i'll get my opening procedures down soon. first week is an adjustment period for everyone, including veteran teachers.

mini highlights:

• i got lots of compliments on the dress that i wore today to school from both students and teachers! woot woot!
• visited my martial arts studio to see familiar faces and catch up with everyone; my students are getting so tall and advancing in their belt rankings!
• found out that my friend at a local middle school who is teaching algebra has one of the students that i taught at the dojang (korean for martial arts studio)! i giggled inside.