The #July2014Challenge comes to an end…

…but it is only the beginning.

I am heading into my second year teaching math. During my first year, I spent it keeping my head above water while completing 10 online classes to gain my permanent teaching certificate and preaching every Sunday as an Interim Preacher at a church about an hour away. The only thing I used the web for math was to find a lesson or an idea for upcoming classes.  I figured there would be a wealth of information out there to help me, I just didn’t have time to go and find it.

This summer, I determined that I needed to find more resources to help me with the craft of teaching, and I found it through the #MTBoS.  There is a wealth of information out there, and I have gained quite of bit of information on what to do for next year, but now it is putting it into place. Here are a couple things I will implement this year:

1. Standards Based Grading:  I love this idea, and long to implement it well in the classes.
2. Wall of Remediation: With the new textbook series (Go Math from HMH), there is an included book with skill sheets that I can print off and have students complete.
3. Gradeable.com: I want to reduce the stack of papers I bring home, and think that gradeable will be able to help me with this.
4. Whiteboarding: Kelly O’Shea has a bunch of games and ideas that I think will do well for me.  I am planning on getting larger $2 white boards, but my mentor gave me 30 12″x18″ whiteboards for each student to use.
5. An Online Math PLC:  See mymathplc.wordpress.com for more info as we go on, but I wanted to collaborate with some folks who are doing similar things, so we shall see what happens!
6. Using more engaging tasks in class:  Dan Meyer’s 3 Act Math Tasks, Problem Based Tasks, etc.

A couple of thoughts on the blogging challenge:

On looking back at the blogging challenge, I knew I wouldn’t do all 31 days.  I am a procrastinator, and I knew there would be times that I just would not blog.

One of the feelings that came up, as weird as it may sound, was that I began to be fixated on how many people followed me, and how many people read my blog.  I don’t like that feeling. It feels like I am trying to impress someone, and feel vindicated when someone likes a post and follows me or my blog.  This can begin to drive my ego and sense of identity. Again this is weird because I have under 2 dozen followers and less than 100 pageview, but yet I think about it.

So as I go forward with blogging, I want to keep this in check. I have considered a 180 blog this year, just so I can have a record for myself of what I have done, but we will see what happens.  For my 2 dozen followers and 6 readers, thanks for following! And I promise I won’t let it go to my head.