Friday, April 04, 2008
Inspiration for a Rainy Day
I have been cleaning out my office and working to reduce the clutter in my life. I ran across a piece of paper I saved months ago that has some quotes I want to keep. I couldn't decide where to file them, and then I decided to post them instead of filing them. I believe I can find them here if I need them again! These are from the room of the Reading Coach at Horizon Elementary School in Madison, Alabama.
Meeting Parameters
Meeting Parameters
- Time is our most valuable resource.
- We are all active participants.
- What we plan, we implement.
- We talk about things we can control.
- Anything said here, stays here.
- Turn off anything that rings, dings, or sings.
- Take care of yourself
- Never lose sight of our goal!
~ Julie Morganstern
"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia."
~ Jack Canfield
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Engineering or Music?
My older son is planning his schedule for next year. He will be a sophomore in high school, and he surprised me today with his plans. I thought he was going to take Engineering Drawing or Engineering Design, and I was prepared to investigate the difference in the opportunities those two classes provide. He had an exploratory technology class this year, and the Technical Drawing portion of the year was his favorite. He has expressed interest in becoming an engineer, an occupation that I have always thought would suit him.
This afternoon he told me that he doesn't want to take Engineering this year because he wants to take an extra music class. He is already in the marching band, and he is enjoying it much more than he expected. He wants to take Instrumental Music as well so he can improve his skills on his instrument (percussion). After I asked lots of questions, he told me he would like to stay involved in music in college, and then he said that he is considering a career in music! I don't know how I feel about this.
I think my main concern is that he keep his options open for later. He can take private music lessons after school and continue with the engineering classes. I would be okay with him being a music major if he pursued a career that would provide a steady income (like band director), but I don't want him to be a starving artist! However, he is only 14 years old, and I am sure that he will changed his mind about what he wants to do for a living many times in the next few years. His father is 42, and he still hasn't made up his mind!
On the other hand, I think it is really cool that my child is interested in music! I took piano lessons for 10 years, including one year in college. My college teachers kept forgetting that I was not a music major, and I stopped taking lessons because I had reached a level that wasn't relaxing and fun. I also excelled in band in middle school and high school, and I love to sing. It is gratifying to see my child inheriting my strengths instead of my weaknesses for a change!
This afternoon he told me that he doesn't want to take Engineering this year because he wants to take an extra music class. He is already in the marching band, and he is enjoying it much more than he expected. He wants to take Instrumental Music as well so he can improve his skills on his instrument (percussion). After I asked lots of questions, he told me he would like to stay involved in music in college, and then he said that he is considering a career in music! I don't know how I feel about this.
I think my main concern is that he keep his options open for later. He can take private music lessons after school and continue with the engineering classes. I would be okay with him being a music major if he pursued a career that would provide a steady income (like band director), but I don't want him to be a starving artist! However, he is only 14 years old, and I am sure that he will changed his mind about what he wants to do for a living many times in the next few years. His father is 42, and he still hasn't made up his mind!
On the other hand, I think it is really cool that my child is interested in music! I took piano lessons for 10 years, including one year in college. My college teachers kept forgetting that I was not a music major, and I stopped taking lessons because I had reached a level that wasn't relaxing and fun. I also excelled in band in middle school and high school, and I love to sing. It is gratifying to see my child inheriting my strengths instead of my weaknesses for a change!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Valentine's Day Math Activities
Are you searching for last-minute ideas for Valentine's Day? Here are some suggestions!
Lessons using Conversation Hearts
- Fractions
- Ratios, graphing
- Pie chart, other ideas
- Bar graphs (detailed lesson plan with handouts)
- Coordinate graphing (Battleship)
- Graphing, making predictions
- More graphing (detailed lesson plan)
- Estimating area
- Count the number of M&M's in a cookie. Extend to find mean, median, and mode.
Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Visual Literacy
I am reading a great book for a class I am taking. The book is Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn, by Lynell Burmark. I highly recommend it to anyone (including teachers) who is giving presentations. The book contains many practical suggestions about visually enhancing presentations to make them more effective.
What I was reading tonight concerned charts, graphs, and diagrams. She gives some ideas for incorporating graphs and charts into the content areas. These would be great ideas for interdisciplinary lessons!
Literature
When teaching Macbeth, divide the class into groups and ask each group to decide the percentage of blame for killing Duncan. Create a pie graph and make an oral presentation to the class defending the graph.
History
Graph the factors that might account for South's success in the early part of the Civil War despite having only 30% of all troops.
Math
Students can take a photograph and overlay it with a transparent grid. Transfer to grid paper, copying square by square. Enlarge the drawing to cover a larger surface.
Labels: graphing, history, interdisciplinary, literature, similarity
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Colors of Autumn
I love the beautiful colors of autumn! It seems that this year the leaves have been especially gorgeous. Maybe it just seems that way because I have been traveling more with my new job. I have wanted too stop and take pictures, so thank you to the Decatur Daily for doing it for me!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Help Wanted: Creative Thinkers!
It is time to unleash your imagination and create the ultimate math classroom! Riverton Middle School, in Huntsville, Alabama, wants to develop a state-of-the-art math lab, and they want your ideas. They are creating a lab for teachers to take their classes for large-group, small-group, and individualized instruction. They want to remediate, challenge, and enrich their students. In the planning phase, the sky is the limit! Once they have a plan in place, they will begin the search for funding through grants, fund-raising, and donations.
The room is large enough to divide into four areas:
They are looking for recommendations for the best software, manipulatives, and other materials for sixth through eighth graders. What would you include in The Ultimate Math Classroom?
The room is large enough to divide into four areas:
- Presentation area - smart board, projector, narrow tables, responders
- Small group tables
- Large tables for whole-class group work
- Fifteen computers
They are looking for recommendations for the best software, manipulatives, and other materials for sixth through eighth graders. What would you include in The Ultimate Math Classroom?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Turkey Talk
While I was visiting Chapman Middle School today, Nancy Gregson shared with me a neat activity that she will be doing with her 7th graders for Thanksgiving. She took an idea from Summer Institute and made it her own. Her students are going to trace the outline of their hand onto graph paper. They will then identify coordinates of points that are on the outline of their hand. Those points can be graphed in graphing calculators using the LIST feature. Finally, Nancy will upload the graphs to her computer and print the screenshots from the student calculators. They will color their printed graph to look like a turkey. I plan to share pictures when they are finished.
