the day I have to report back for school! Yikes!!
I Can Not Even stand to think of it.
However, I have gotten some "stuff" done.
First, some background. Angela Watson at Cornerstone for Teachers is my go-to lady when I need some encouragement and positive words. She also does a podcast that I download and listen to when I'm driving the many miles to visit College Girl.
On one of her podcasts {and I can't immediately find it after looking for 15 minutes}, she talks about spending time on the subject that you feel is lacking. {Obviously this is a great paraphrase since I can't find it.}
Oh, wait... here's the quote!
So.... I'm trying to spend some time on math. Actually, I don't dislike math -- I'm just having trouble making it kid friendly.
Our district is using Engage NY. Quite frankly, I didn't do much with it last year, because I thought it would be a "one and done" type of deal. But for some reason, administration didn't get that message - lol. So I'm putting a little more effort into it this year. I've been working on some Smartboard stuff {for lack of a better term} -- and I realized what the problem is....
Engage NY is soooooo scripted --
T: Watch my hand to know whether to count up or down. A closed hand means stop. (Show signals as you explain.)
T: Let’s count by ones starting at zero. Ready? (Rhythmically points up until a change is desired. Show a closed hand then point down. Continue, mixing it up.)
S: 0, 1, 2, 3, (stop) 2, 1, 0, (stop) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, (stop) 4, 3, 2, 1, 0
I'm having trouble getting past the script. Argh! What to do??? Any suggestions for getting the Engage NY script out of my head??? I concentrate on it so much, it's not really me.
Well, another blogger, Tammy at Forever in First has a list of book suggestions. I was going to call her a teacher nerd, but, well, I'm right there with her on loving to read teacher books.
So, next step -- ordering some math books, making some notes, be determined to make math better this year!
