Monday will be my first day teaching Intervention this year. I’m excited to be joining Deedee Wills for Peek at My Week for my first time. I teach 7 grade levels. I’ve had to learn to plan in a completely different way as an intervention teacher. When I was a homeroom teacher, I planned day […]
Memorize is NOT a Bad Word
“Students shouldn’t be encouraged to memorize facts. They should be using strategies.” Everytime I go to a training, someone is saying this. As an intervention teacher who has worked with 6th graders who are adding 5 +3 with their fingers still, it is frustrating. The explanaition is that as we teach students strategies for facts, […]
Using Dollar Bills to Teach Place Value
Anytime we can relate a math lesson to real life, student interest increases. My go to real life example is money. Over the years, whenever teachers dump things on the free table, I collect the play money. I’ve used it from Kinder to 6th grade and the enthusiasm never dwindles. Play Money as a Math […]
Algebraic Thinking through Fact Families
Fact families are students first introduction to algebraic thinking. Let’s take a look at some fun effective strategies for fact families. My first few years teaching was in first grade. I remember looking at the state standards and smiling when I saw algebra. Algebra? In first grade? Really? When I thought algebra, I thought of […]
LearnStorm 2015
Last Saturday, some of our students had an incredible opportunity to attend Kahn Academy’s LearnStorm 2015 on the Google Campus. Riding a Google Double Decker Bus While the bus ride was the beginning of the day, the journey began much earlier. My teammate, Jen, wanted our students to learn to code. Problem was, she didn’t […]