I'll Be Back...

next year in my role as CARC's Mathematics Lead Teacher/Facilitator.  Woot Woot!  I miss my students but look forward to working with K-12 Math teachers in Central Alberta again.  I had so much fun running around to different schools providing PD and modelling lessons.  However, I have a whole new respect for substitute teachers.  I had no idea how hard it would be!  I've never subbed a day in my life and this year I modelled lessons in classrooms.  The only difference was that I had to create my own lessons rather than following a predetermined one.  When I return to my classroom, I'm going to make sure to leave chocolate and let them know how much I appreciate their hardwork, especially those who have to come in to my -1 courses with little or no math background.

Summary for this year:

Favorite Session I offered:  Hands on and Virtual Manipulatives
Although this often became a contentious issue when dealing with high school -1 teachers, I really enjoyed sharing some of the ideas I have gathered over the years.  My favorite has always been "Using Algebra Tiles to teach Factoring Polynomials and Completing the Square".  You can find the information about this in my previous post. I also learned a lot from the teachers who were willing to share their ideas for using the manipulatives. Many teachers at the high school level are concerned about the lack of basic skills (such as multiplying in their heads) so I also created a lot of games for practicing basic skills at any level.


Favorite Learning:
When I started this job, I spent a day running around to schools meeting teachers, taking notes about sessions they would like, questions they had, etc.  By the end of the day, my hand was cramped and you couldn't read my handwriting.  (I wasn't hauling my laptop around and my phone was too small to take extended notes).  That weekend, I went out and bought the iPad 2 with bluetooth keyboard.  What a lifesaver!  Now, I can take notes and still read my writing.  I'm also a much faster typer than writer so I could keep up much better.

Just after I bought the iPad, I was asked by a school to come in and help with an Early Numeracy Intervention Program using iPads that they wanted to set up.  Perfect!  So, off I went to explore and download a variety of iPad apps for improving math skills.  Luckily, almost every developer I contacted was willing to give me free samples!  Woot woot!  You can find a list of my favorites on my delicious account. 

My Goal for next year:
To post more on my blog.  Not sure what happened this year.  I guess it had a lot to do with learning and becoming comfortable with my role.

I'm also going to work on posting as much as possible specifically about Alberta 30-1, 30-2 and 30-3 math curriculum. So, if you have something to share, I would love to see it! 

Well, I should probably get back to planning for Grade 12 math now.  Will see you again soon!