Leveraging Learning

In my first year as a teacher I had a friend who was in her last year of teaching. "The last mile is always the longest," she told me. I am pretty sure that Mrs. Marilyn Stoner was not talking about the last week before break, and yet her words kept coming to me last week as we all - adults and kids alike - waited for winter break to arrive. A few years ago I discovered the wisdom of assigning a project that last week before break. It keeps us all focused on learning and productivity. But it also adds an element of stress that I sometimes question. That said, it was gratifying to look around and see how our community of mathematicians (and other supporting adults) came together to get the work done. Among the lovely things I witnessed were kids teaching eachother how to make geometric art in Google Sheets, students asking to spend their lunch working on projects, adults checking in on kids who might need some extra support and kids who had never been to Math Lab before...

This was a week. Coming down from writing narratives for each of the 90 Pathfinders in my classes and having conferences for each of the kids and their families in Advisory, I was hoping for some light days of playful learning. Alas. We had some hard meetings, there was some crazy weather and students were finding it hard to focus after so many half days and a long weekend off. On Wednesday, I was sitting at a table with some gents from my Advisory. We challenged one of them to say only positive things about any topic we presented for five whole minutes. It was hard, but in the end, Taaj prevailed.  The next day, students wanted to play the "Positive Game" on a broader scale. The rules are simple. A person brings up a topic that some might have negative feelings about and the group must find the silver lining. All topics are fair game, except other humans.  A wide range of topics were introduced - some silly and some serious - and kids did a great job finding posi...

Irv - Educator, Unionist, Reader + Friend The first thing I noticed about Irv was his tan. It was impressive. He sat at the pool each day reading the New York Times in the sunshine. On really hot days, he would get in the water. Irv had an economy of language that made him seem gruff. It was difficult to know how he felt about things. This included people. It was a while before I knew I was ok in his book. Because I was friendly with Irv's wife, I knew that he was supposed to wear a hearing aid, but he often didn't at the pool. She also told me he was big with the Teachers' Union. One day I was sitting at the side of pool reading and Irv floated over on a noodle. "I hear you're a teacher," he said. We chatted for a while. He asked a lot of questions and then swam away. Our chats eventually fell into a pattern - we'd do our own thing at the pool, chat and then go back to our own thing. When his wife would show up after work at the end of the ...

Our Essential Questions this year revolve around the idea of community. My favorite of the questions is How do we accomplish things together? As I ponder this today, my oldest son turns 19. In addition to feeling sentimental and somewhat old, I feel really proud of the way he builds community. Last night, we celebrated at our pool with the broad community that he has built. Throwing a party is work, and in the weeks leading up yesterday, I tried to cover my alarm when he would invite more and more people. It is his event, I reminded myself. He should have who he wants. Yesterday, I woke up and did all the party prep, kept my fingers crossed the weather would hold and went to the pool. Looking around at the people assembled and the fun that was being had, I realized that I was looking at some answers to the question How do we accomplish things together? Build a diverse group of people. My son is friends with everyone. At the party last night were people from all walks of life,...

I took a test this week - a thing I had not done in a long while. I wanted to extend my teaching certification and the state of Pennsylvania insisted that passing this test was the way to accomplish that. My experiences with tests have generally been positive. I have a good memory and can reason my way out of many problems. Ironsides are generally gifted with the fine art of BS, which helps when all else fails. But this test was different. I completed several practice tests a the pool and asked my 17 year old son to grade them for me. The amount to head shaking and face making was alarming. Why had I done so poorly? What is wrong with me? I like math and I teach kids math every day, so why is it that I can't pass this test? Why did I admit my failure to anyone? The situation became more grave when I purchased a practice test on-line. My score was so low, I was afraid the state would take away my existing certification.  Problem solving is what I do in life and what ...

It's summer. I made a To Do List. It is pretty long. There are math units to plan, papers to sort, things that need to be fixed, weeds to be pulled, recipes to try, closets to purge and laundry I should fold. Thus far, I have been off for 5 days. In that time, I have only folded the mountain of wash. It took a while but was highly satisfying. I've begun some work on the first unit for Pathfinder Math - thinking and brainstorming mostly, but not a lot of actual writing. Unlike the laundry, it is not complete, but similar to the wash, it is highly satisfying work. Instead of my Official To Do List, I have engaged in some really important tasks, the likes of which only the slow pace of summer can provide. Thus far I have: Finished 1 novel. Hosted 2 dinners at the pool and attended 1 that someone else hosted. Practiced driving with my son (he practices, I give feedback and enjoy the ride). Taken 5 leisurely walks. Watched countless YouTube videos with my other son. Spen...

One of my goals for the year was to build confidence in and appreciation of math . As a high school and college student of math, I was able to build confidence, but not appreciation for, math. I understood the procedures, but not really the why. I was able to use algorithms, but lacked an appreciation for the beauty of math. It wasn't until my own children shared their love of math with me that I began to appreciate the allure and artistry of math. They loved patterns from an early age, taught themselves how to multiply and one even threw himself a math themed party. When my younger son reached high school, he complained that the humanities were required for all four years, whereas math was only required for three. I wanted math to be an experience that kids enjoyed and helped them appreciate the beauty of math. Most of what we did in Pathfinder Math this year was to focus on process . Kids were praised for effort, for trying strategies and for using what they knew to help u...

I had always assumed I’d have an amicable divorce. My wasband and I maintained a friendship of sorts throughout our protracted separation. He’s not a bad guy and he was fighting some bad demons. We remained connected and chatted about the kids, work, families and life in general on a regular basis, even after I asked him to move out. Some of the ways in which I continued to support his career were to remain the primary caregiver of the kids, only asking for help when I really needed it. This worked. He pulled some weight when he could and I was ok with what he offered. Other ways I offered support were more personal, more unique to him. Battling depression isn’t easy, so I cut him lots of slack and helped when I could. This was more awkward, for both of us, I’m sure. But he was a decent guy, the father of my kids and a friend of nearly two decades. I was unprepared for what would eventually become a hideous divorce. My sister always said, “if you want to know what someone is rea...

This academic year has been busy. Thanks to a colleague and time spent over the summer, we've worked through five units of math. That means 5 sets of essential questions, 5 sets of enduring understandings, 5 projects, 5 rubrics, 5 opportunities to hit the sweet spot of content and project design. Each unit was far from a home run, but I was particularly proud of the way kids started to evidence their math in each of the projects. It was work and it took encouragement, but it was there. Then, a convergence of events created the conditions that it made it impossible to begin Unit 6. The quarter ended, EduCon happened and Unit 5 ended before Unit 6 was ready to go. I was once the kind of teacher who would stay up all night and solve that, but I'm too old to pull all nighters and they don't generate good results, either. Instead, I planned a Gap Week. We had just covered operations with fractions and multiplication of mixed numbers was particularly weak. Likewise, we n...

This year's essential questions revolve around Bravery. It's hard to tell which came first - the question or the manifestation of so much bravery. Certainly, bravery in school is a thing. I think about my brother with dyslexia who had to show up at school every day when he couldn't read to get yelled at by his teachers. That took bravery. Or my mom who went back to school at night to become a nurse while raising seven kids. More bravery. Or my older son who started a new school in 11th grade - joined the teams, made friends and volunteered. Or my younger son who will stay up until 2:30 to finish a paper, go to school the next day and stay after for theater rehearsal. You guessed it, bravery. These overtly brave actions are typically easy to spot. They are experiences that shape us and help define our experience, but they are not the only manifestations of bravery. Not by a long shot. School was closed for two days this week. Philadelphia is in the grip of extreme c...