tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60382668950333125742024-03-12T17:24:39.886-07:00A Beginner's View of Math EducationAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-13573996969528638002013-03-17T19:00:00.001-07:002013-03-17T19:00:51.221-07:00Student for a Day<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I had the opportunity this past Thursday to spend the day observing other classes. I was told that I could observe any classes that I wanted to. The district even payed for a sub to come in and teach my classes for the day. It was a pretty sweet deal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I could have observed a bunch of math classes but instead I chose to go through a typical day as a sophomore student at my high school. Let me tell you, it was a good choice. As a teacher, I had completely lost sight of who these people (my students) were. I see them in my class and assume that if they're disinterested in my class, they must be disinterested in general. As I went from class to class, however, it dawned on me that all of my students are just normal people (DUH!) and some of them just don't enjoy geometry or its challenges. I should say that these are things that I knew academically before but things that I now have an intuitive grasp on. Let me walk you through my day:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I started the day with a lit test. It was dull and took the entire period. Then I had geometry. We had a quiz at the end of the period there and some review before that. Then it was biology, in which we were taking the OAKS test (Oregon state science test). Some of us were finished with the test, though (we'll pretend that I was one of those students), so we went back to the classroom from the computer lab and did a little review of GATTACA. We had to think about whether we'd actually want to live in the GATTACA universe. It was nice to have the opportunity to think openly and critically about something. I mean, it was nice to be able to openly express my opinion about something. Then I had social studies. We were watching a movie called Walk Out. It's about a bunch of Latino students in LA who staged a walk out in the MLK/Viet Nam era of activism in order to procure a better education for themselves. Movies are so nice. Then lunch and then my day ended with French II. French was clearly the best class of the day. It was fun, a little crazy, and kept me on my toes. We made French haikus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">One thing that really stuck with me is how much I don't like these short periods. I didn't feel like I actually had a complete lesson in any of my classes. Admittedly, I was testing in most of them. Still, even in the social studies and French classes, the lessons were a clear beginning. I think we may have gotten into the middle? But we certainly did not get to the ending. It was frustrating as a student. It was going to a class, starting a thought and then, before being able to complete that thought, going to another class to start another thought. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">How will this experience change how I will teach my class, you ask? I doubt it will have much real impact, actually. Some would say that that would make it a waste of a day, a waste of the substitute's time, and a waste of the taxpayers' money. I don't think it's a waste at all. I spent a day getting to better know the world of my students. That gives me the capacity to be more appropriately compassionate, understanding, & reliable to them. That's not a waste at all. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-71012081504101937922013-03-04T18:48:00.002-08:002013-03-04T18:48:55.138-08:00Teaching<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yeah, that's a general post title. At the time of this writing, I'm at a dance workshop. The workshop leader is a young woman who is clearly a very good dancer. Problem is, she's not a great teacher. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">She's teaching about shifting momentum from the lead to the follow. Watching her teach has renewed my respect for my profession. There have been several occasions during which I have thought of something I want to interject that could help her instruct her students. She keeps mentioning that the follow needs to use the lead's momentum. She never explains what that means though. I suppose it's supposed to be common knowledge. But it is clear that not everyone does. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Some of the dancers are not following some of her basic instructions. She's explaining what they ought to be doing but not providing specific enough feedback for her students to realize what they're doing wrong. I should say that I'm not a dancer and I would not be able to do what these dancers are trying to do. But I can see that some of the dancers are not doing what she was doing exactly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is happening in part due to not adequately assessing the dancers' performance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I just wanted to share this because its pointing out to me how much better learning is if we do our jobs well: adequately assess, provide specific feedback. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That said, the dancers are getting the moves. They're getting it through practice, specific conversations about the moves, and determination to get it right. That said, the dancers who are better listeners and observers are getting better at the moves more quickly than those who are not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That is all. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-20943400191338311942013-02-21T18:54:00.001-08:002013-02-21T18:54:28.003-08:00A night off?!?<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><u>Night off</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is the first evening all year when I haven't had grading or other work to do. On top of that, my room mate is away for a job interview in Wisconsin (good luck Melissa!). So I'm home alone with pretty much nothing to do but blog about how glorious this night is. So glorious. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><u>Quiz tomorrow</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tomorrow we're giving our first assessment for the quadrilaterals unit. I'm not totally in love with the assessment but it'll get the job done. I think some of my students will even do reasonably well on it. Actually, given data from past years (last year I witnessed it and the other geometry teachers have seen it year after year), this will probably be the lowest performance on any assessment we have given or will give this year. The unit, Properties of Quadrilaterals, requires students to memorize a lot of information about quadrilaterals. They just aren't interested in memorizing information. I have been telling them to study from their notes. I've given them pointers on how to study and what, specifically to study. You know what I haven't done, though? I haven't ever had them actually study in class. As I think about it, I bet nearly none of my students actually know how to study. And this would have been an awesome unit to teach then those skills. Maybe next time? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Maybe tomorrow. The quizzes take about half the period. The curriculum that we're using says we're supposed to finish a matching activity in which students match properties of quadrilaterals with their names, shapes, and area formulae (I'd share the whole activity here except I didn't create it and I think it would be inappropriate to post on the internet someone else's work without their permission). But maybe I'll spend the first half of the period leading the students in a study session. What do you think? </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-46175794237318868642013-02-18T13:33:00.003-08:002013-02-18T13:34:36.764-08:00Follow up on quick 1st period student & Summative evaluation<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's President's Day. Days off are so great. I have a couple updates. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The first is about my quick 1st period students. I've decided to get him some open ended things to work on in his spare time. I'm not going to grade it. It won't even really help him improve his performance on the quizzes we use in the class. It will, however, help develop his analytical thinking skills in ways that our curriculum doesn't come close to doing. I've pasted in a copy of the assignment below. I'm hoping to give him a series of them through the semester and I think I'll call them "Character Builders".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The second update I have is that I had my summative administrative evaluation on Friday. It's annoying being a new guy and having my summative assessment mid-year. I feel like I'm just getting things under control. First semester was very rough for me. I had a handful</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> of very difficult students in each class. Now my classes are a little more controlled and I'm doing a much better job of keeping them focused. We're two weeks in and things haven't completely fallen apart. Still, my evaluation reads pretty poor. My admin focused, in his comments, on my failures more than on my growth. I put a comment on it </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">describing what my admin and I have talked about and the progress I've made. Anyway, the whole thing doesn't matter too much because I was hired as a 1-year temp position on a grant that runs dry this year. My admin told me, truthfully, I'm sure, that he does not know if there will be a position for me here next year. So I'm going to start looking for new positions. Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.... Anyway, if any of you know of any openings for math teachers in Oregon, leave a comment. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Character Building Work:
Properties of Quadrilaterals<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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Make a list of your hobbies (anything you do for fun):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(e.g. biking, video games, hiking, dinner parties)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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What items/objects/artifacts are required for you to do this hobbie?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Look in your notebook (Quadrilaterals section page 5) at the quadrilaterals we
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artifacts? Draw pictures, make a list:</span></span></div>
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How would this hobbie change if a different quadrilateral was used for each of
the artifacts you listed in 4)? Be descriptive. Use the vocabulary words found
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whether you would still enjoy this hobbie. Consider whether it would change how
expensive this hobbie is. Consider EVERYTHING! Be creative!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(e.g. One of the nice things about using the basic shape of a
trapezoid for a bike frame is that it allows for the forks and seat stays to be
non-congruent lengths. This allows for a wide variety of bike frame shapes to
be made. Keeping the top tube parallel to the wheel brackets keeps the biker
balanced on the bike. If the frame were made into a kite, say, the seat post
would almost have to be on top of the handlebars. That would be very
uncomfortable to ride. It could make for a more interesting challenge though….)</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6)
Return this page (w/ any addition pages used) to Mr. Laxton as soon as it is
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-52661582902512198972013-02-12T12:31:00.000-08:002013-02-12T12:31:04.707-08:00Two New Thoughts<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It occurred to me the other day, during my 1st period class, that one of my students moves much more quickly than the others through the material. I'm trying to think about what I ought to do about that. It hasn't been too bad thus far because I've had enough put together that I can just give him the next thing to work on. I can always have him work on the homework but I'm worried that he'll finish that too quickly. I need to get something put together for students like this. Maybe I should get some geometry puzzles. Did I mention that I'm only teaching geometry this semester (I'm not counting the Academic Support course that I teach 7th period because it has always gone pretty smoothly)? Well, I am. Puzzles are good for developing 3D perspective, which will help my students when we get into volume & surface area. </span><br />
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The second thought that I've had is that I need to get a better sub binder put together. I should try to do that today at some point. This came to my attention because I needed to get a sub to come in for me today as I'm here at the hospital with my dad. I'm not going to go into the details here because that's not what I want the focus of this blog to be. Suffice to say, I'm out of my classroom today and it seems that it might be nice for my sub if I have a good folder with stuff in it. I'm thinking this is what ought to be in there:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Class seating charts</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Notes for each class on what to watch out for with specific students</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Notes about the lesson plan for the day</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">step-by-step guide for what needs to be done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">what I expect the students to get out of the class</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">what formative assessments I would like done</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Notes about my classroom rules & expectations</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Who to call if things are confusing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Who to call if things go wrong</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What I have right now is a letter written out with the lesson plan and some random notes on it about things that may or may not be useful. I've been thinking that I need a good sub plan more recently thanks to my friend's substitute blog, "<a href="http://substitutionplease.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Substitution Please</a>". His posts are enlightening, I think. Anyway, substitutes. I need to be better to them. That's what I'm sayin'. </span><ol>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-92142199433478222602013-02-12T11:53:00.000-08:002013-02-12T11:53:05.071-08:00Nothing to Report<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I didn't post anything Thursday or Friday last week because there really wasn't anything to say. The behavior in my classroom has been very good. That's been my main concern this past week. I'm going to continue to worry about this next week but I'm happy that this good behavior will give me the opportunity to start focusing more on curriculum. So look for that some next week. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-57799692270148026542013-02-05T21:01:00.001-08:002013-02-05T21:01:52.990-08:00Discipline working: So Far, So Victory<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I had my first classroom expectations/behavior test today. Two students in one of my classes were not following my only rule: Learning Comes First. One of them was asleep and the other was drawing. I did just what I told them I would do when I set up my classroom expectations on day one. I gave them a warning. I went on with the lesson. Other directions were given, group work was to be done. Still sleeping, still drawing, still not putting forth any effort toward the lesson. I did as I told them I would do, I gave them a second warning. No change. I did, again, what I told them I would do. I asked them to step outside. At this point there were only a few minutes left in class. But I held my ground. I wrote both of them up for not complying with my requests on multiple occasions. They watched me write them up. I explained to them calmly and matter of factly why I was disappointed in their behavior and what I expect from them in the future. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm really liking this 2-warning thing. It gives students the opportunity to comply without my having to get into any sort of argument with them. It's very simple, it takes very little class time from me. I really like it. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-63061837348541771282013-02-04T20:52:00.000-08:002013-02-04T20:52:12.457-08:00Day 1: Victory<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Well, That was a pretty great day. Seriously, it was pretty great. There was only one error: I was anticipating only teaching Geometry today. When I got to my classroom this morning I learned that I had a 1st period class that was not geometry. Oooh, exciting, you say. I say, um, wait, what? I have nothing prepared for not Geometry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Off to the office. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Yup, I do actually have a class that is not geometry to teach in 30 minutes. I tell them that that wasn't supposed to happen. They tell me that it did happen, so teach them something. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I talk to a colleague (I have colleagues; this is weird to me) who is teaching the class that I now apparently have in 25 minutes. He gives me the prepackaged lesson for the day via e-mail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I go back to my room and check it out. It's an easy first day of the semester lesson. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Class starts and the students come in. I give them my spiel and start the lesson. Our math coach comes in and lets us all know that there's been an error and nobody should be in the class, that I should be teaching geometry. So hopefully that will be all fixed by tomorrow morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That class ended and I'm back in the day that I thought I was supposed to have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And then the day was simply excellent. I felt in control of the lesson I gave. I felt that I was fair and honest with my students. I felt that I had their respect. I felt like a successful teacher. Today was a great day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">P.S. Totally unrelated, I came home and chopped some broccoli for dinner. Thank you Dana Carvey for making broccoli like the greatest vegetable to chop. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-32711476757634995242013-02-03T08:30:00.000-08:002013-02-03T08:30:42.322-08:00My 1st 2nd Semester<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tomorrow marks the first day of semester 2. My schedule is a lot better now (I'm only teaching two courses instead of three). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm going to try to do a better job of journaling my day on this blog from here on out. The posts will hopefully be short, reflective, & meaningful. We'll see. I'll try to post relevant documents as well. I don't know how that'll go, though, so maybe they'll just be embedded and if you want a document from me you can post a comment and I'll e-mail it to you. We'll see. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cheerio!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-77831723370558751432012-11-17T22:08:00.001-08:002012-11-17T22:08:08.990-08:00Desks versus Tables<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When I first came into my class room it was full of desks. Desks for my students. This seemed reasonable to me. One of my supervisors suggested that I try tables. Truth be told, I was kind of excited by the idea. It seemed it would be nice to have all my lovely students sitting around tables, collaboratively working diligently on whatever tasks were necessary in order to engage their education. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It's been about 10 weeks now that I've been with the tables. Make no mistake, I have not been the best at managing the misbehavior of my students (the topic of a different post, yet written). That said, it occurs to me that having my students sit at tables makes it very easy for my students to be social when they ought to be listening. If I was better at keeping their attention, the tables would be great. As is, the tables make my classroom environment rather not conducive to ordered, focused learning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And that's what I have to say about that, at least for the time being. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-60073932811944932162012-09-09T11:21:00.000-07:002012-09-09T11:21:21.203-07:00I teach math; that's my job; I have no other responsibilities.... (New Blogger Initiation Post 4)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So this week, for the new blogger initiative, I'm just going to post whatever I want! Boosh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm a math teacher, this is true. I'm also a new math teacher. I'm finding that my job is about 80% teaching math and 20% things that I have no real business doing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Like announcing the freshmen and JV football games. Don't get me wrong. I volunteered for that opportunity. I think it'll be a great way to become part of the community at my school. I've done two games thus far and I'm pretty much loving it. Yes, it requires one of my nights every week. And I need those nights these first few weeks to get my feet under me. But it's fun to get up in that booth and watch my students pushing hard to get some work done. It's even exciting every once in a while. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">All that said, I've never announced any sporting event. I'm not very good at it. I'm slowly learning how to keep track of all the players on the field, forcing myself to associate names with numbers. I make jokes with the other faculty in the booth. We shoot each other puzzled looks when the officials huddle after every play. It's a good time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In short, it is turning out to be exactly what I was hoping for: a good way to inch my way into my school's community. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-77791840493643447282012-09-04T20:18:00.002-07:002012-09-04T20:18:37.634-07:00Favorite Math Quote (New Blogger Initiation Post 3)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Today on New Blogger Initiation:</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Is there a quotation about mathematics that you like? If so, what it is and why do you like it?</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My favorite math quote comes from Galileo, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">"Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I love this quote because it totally fits the way I think. Everything I see/hear/experience, I do so in the language of mathematics. The fact that math is a language (i.e. a way to communicate any idea) is something that I try to emphasize to my students. It's important that they come to understand math as a way of talking about things that would otherwise be very cumbersome and/or imprecise to talk about. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That's all for today! </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-54850346309429212822012-08-27T17:33:00.001-07:002012-08-27T17:33:39.442-07:00Generalizing (New Blogger Initiation Post 2)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As part of the New Blogger Initiation, here's my second post. This time the prompt I got was to respond to an xkcd comic. If you aren't familiar with xkcd, <a href="http://xkcd.com/" target="_blank">check it out</a>: it's one of my favorites. The particular comic I was prompted to respond to was <a href="http://xkcd.com/385/" target="_blank">this one</a> (titled, "How it Works"):</span><br />
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<a href="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/how_it_works.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/how_it_works.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I like this comic because I see it happen a lot. I think it's pretty obvious these days when this sort of thing leads to sex stereotyping (as in the comic). As a teacher, particularly of math (the language of precision), I think it is very important for me to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen in my classroom. Or in any other classroom for that matter. One person having or not having a particular ability has very little to do with anyone else's ability, even if the two share a commonality (e.g. sex, age, gender, hair color). It's important that I impress upon my students a way of thinking that encourages them to see where connections exist between two things and where they don't exist. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-26649877016471546902012-08-24T17:42:00.001-07:002012-08-24T17:42:24.306-07:00Organizing the Physical Classroom (Student Teaching Summary Post 6)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Oh finally the student teaching posts are over! Here's what I think is important where the physical classroom is concerned:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Energy source <span style="font-size: x-small;">Something for students to munch on if they're really needing it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Water</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Writing surfaces<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Students need some hard surface to write on. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Community display<span style="font-size: x-small;"> This might be a wall or a smart/white/chalk board. It's a place where all kinds of information can be easily displayed for all to see. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Teacher office space</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Movement space <span style="font-size: x-small;">I think it's important to make sure there's plenty of room for people to move around the room. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Coat rack <span style="font-size: x-small;">You know, in case there're rainy coats to be hung. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Absorbant rugs at entrances <span style="font-size: x-small;">Again, rain kind of happens every once in a while here in Oregon. If there are no rugs at the entrances and exits, the floors will be very hazardous. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Anonymous feedback system <span style="font-size: x-small;">I want my students to have a way to let me know what's working for them and what's not working for them. I'd prefer it to be anonymous (not publicly displayed) so that I'm the only one who sees the comments. This is the kind of thing that I'll introduce on day 1 and then only every refer to again to let students know that I'm getting their feedback and making adjustments as necessary. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Organizational system <span style="font-size: x-small;">Things need a place to go. And they ought to be made to exist there. In my life, there is no room for exception to this. And I intend to ensure my classroom is a clean organized space at all times. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Implication that the classroom extends beyond its physical bounds/connection between the classroom & the not classroom <span style="font-size: x-small;">Something like a plant would be nice. Just something to remind students what they're fighting for. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'm most excited about this list. I've never had my own classroom before and I'm pretty sure about 50% of this list is probably a really bad idea. I just don't know what 50% yet. Only time will tell.... </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-9838726703346670742012-08-24T17:34:00.001-07:002012-08-24T17:34:33.045-07:00Building Community in the Classroom (Student Teaching Summary Post 5)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Post 5 of 6 for my student teaching thoughts. These are my thoughts on building community in the classroom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Empathy <span style="font-size: x-small;">Care about the students and their lives. They will reciprocate. After all, community is just a bunch of people all caring about the same things. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Have students help build at least some of the classroom rules/regulations <span style="font-size: x-small;">Giving students some control over the environment ought to give them ownership of the class. Feeling responsible for something helps build a sense of commitment and caring for that thing, which is the class in this case. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Employ activity (e.g. physical movement, intellectual stimulation) that encourages students to get to know, care about, and trust one another <span style="font-size: x-small;">If you have tips or hints on how to do this well, I welcome them in the comments.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Be myself everyday <span style="font-size: x-small;">I know full well that if I try to fake it, my students will know and resent me for it. Resentful students do not care about anything. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That's all I've got there. It's not very specific. I'm going to be working on coming up with some more concrete ideas as I go along: not ideal, I know but as good as it gets for now. Please let me know if you have any input on building community in a classroom. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-57734043103832099162012-08-24T17:28:00.000-07:002012-08-24T17:28:43.529-07:00Getting (& Keeping) Students on Task (Student Teaching Summary Post 4)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here's a post detailing the thoughts I had as a student teacher concerning getting and keeping students on task. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Do it again <span style="font-size: x-small;">If students don't get a classroom behavior or expectation right the first time, show them what they did wrong, model how to do it write and have them do it again, until they get it right. This is a technique from <i>Teach Like a Champion</i>. I don't love everything in that book but this one I can get behind. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Everyday: Remind students of upcoming homework and assessments, state the day's date, provide students with a daily agenda <span style="font-size: x-small;">I think this is pretty important for keeping students focused on the task at hand. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Employing group work: </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bXos_mgd7ZE/UDgajV0qp9I/AAAAAAAAD_Q/mblGvr79e8g/s1600/groupings+graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bXos_mgd7ZE/UDgajV0qp9I/AAAAAAAAD_Q/mblGvr79e8g/s320/groupings+graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The idea behind this graphic is that each student's desk (represented by rectangles) is positioned so that the student can have an easy to get to partner (blue elipse). Students can work mostly in partners. When needed, they can work in groups of four (red boxes). The pairs in each group may rely on each other for help during pair work, if they need to. During group work, neighboring groups can offer help to one another. The teacher is then only a support when several neighboring groups are stumped (or moving at very different speeds). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Establish the purpose for the course early on (why should students care about what's happening in this course?) <span style="font-size: x-small;">This is another important point for helping students find and keep their focus in class. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Find out, at the beginning of the year/semester, what working algorithms (e.g. individual work time, group work, guided practice) work best for each class <span style="font-size: x-small;">Some classes may work better with an emphasis on different types of work. It's good to have a little bit of all of these elements but maybe you have a little more of one then another if you know your class will work better that way. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Provide specific, daily learning targets as well as unit-long learning targets <span style="font-size: x-small;">Another focusing point. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">There you have it. Some thoughts I had about time on task while student teaching. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-24544252750515750712012-08-24T16:56:00.000-07:002012-08-24T16:56:30.835-07:00Getting (& Keeping) Students' Attention (Student Teaching Summary Post 3)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Here's another short post. This one concerns things I want to implement in order to get and keep my students' attention. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Routine <span style="font-size: x-small;">(I find the routines are ways to get people to do things without them even having to think about it. Making routines routine in my classroom should help get my students' attention because they'll be expecting me to be getting their attention)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Wait/Have patience (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Waiting silently was probably the most effective way I found last year for getting my students' attention. They knew when they needed to quiet themselves down when I was just standing there waiting for them.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">These short posts are nice to write. Quick thoughts but well worth sharing, I think. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-59718453698698059382012-08-22T15:47:00.000-07:002012-08-22T15:51:08.329-07:00Grading (Student Teaching Summary Post 2)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This is going to be a pretty short post. Here's the very short list of things I want to make sure I'm doing concerning grading this coming year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Have an answer key or a very well written rubric to help make grading a mindless task</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- When employing standards-based grading, make sure that essential skills (those that aren't covered by your standards) are still part of the curriculum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Provide a rubric for feedback that is given to students (i.e. a rubric with which I can rate the quality of feedback that I'm giving students) </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">side note: This may or may not be something that I tell my students about. Mostly I just want to make sure that I'm giving my students quality feedback. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">That's it for grading. Told you it'd be short. As always, comments and feedback are super welcome. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-24214298091455549632012-08-21T15:25:00.000-07:002012-08-22T15:49:03.913-07:00Assignments, Assessments, & Evaluations (Student Teaching Summary Post 1)<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">Through the course of my student teaching experience, I had several ideas & epiphanies. Here are those that apply to assignments, assessments, & evaluations. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">- Provide homework/practice before and after giving an assessment/evaluation for any given unit/standard</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">- Use the following table to put variety in student practice and assessment:
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: black; color: white; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 5px;"> <th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Blooms</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">A)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Easy</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">B)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Medium</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">C)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Hard</span></th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><b>1)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">memorize</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(only one correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">something easily memorized</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>OR</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">recognition </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>(t/f)</i></span></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">medium to memorize </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>OR</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">recognition <i>(matching)</i>, recall <i>(fill in the blank)</i></span></td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">difficult to memorize</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">OR</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">cold recall</span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><b>2)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">apply out of context</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(likely one correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">simple practice problems</span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">mid-level practice problems</span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">high-level practice problem</span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><b>3)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">apply in context</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;">(potentially multiple correct responses)</span></i></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">simple scenario/ story problem</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i>(ala 2A)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">mid-level scenario/story problem</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i>(ala 2B)</i></span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">high-level scenario/story problem</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br />
</i></span></span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>(ala 2C)</i></span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><b>4)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">create/synthesize</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(infinite possibilities for correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">making something simple</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i>(ala 2A-2B)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">making something with moderate complexity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><i>(ala 2C-3A)</i></span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">making something with high complexity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>(ala 3B-3C)</i></span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="nobrtable">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="nobrtable">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This table probably doesn't make a lot of sense if you're not me. So below I've put in a table that has some examples of what I'm thinking about. Let me know, in the comments, how it doesn't make sense, if it doesn't make sense, and I can further clarify. Also let me know if you want examples that are more specific to your needs.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: black; color: white; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 5px;"> <th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Examples</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Easy</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Medium</span></th><th><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 14pt;">Hard</span></th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">memorize</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(only one correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">true/false, or multiple choice questions</span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j7aC9UdGaLk/UDQKnOALzOI/AAAAAAAAD_A/_iO0dsbqp2g/s1600/matching+number+to+letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j7aC9UdGaLk/UDQKnOALzOI/AAAAAAAAD_A/_iO0dsbqp2g/s1600/matching+number+to+letter.jpg" /></a></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Provide the definition for _________</span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">apply out of context</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(likely one correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">solve for x:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">5-x=2</span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">3x-2=4+5x-12</span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-3(12x-4)+7=12x+8(x+2)</span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">apply in context</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;">(potentially multiple correct responses)</span></i></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Johnny has five apples before giving some to Tammy. Afterwards, Johnny has two apples. How many apples were given to Tammy</span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">My backyard has a fence. The fence is 30 feet long and encompasses the whole yard. If my yard is a regular geometrical shape, what shape might it be if each side is > 2 feet? </span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our school website says the school grounds covers 3,000 sq. ft. Prove that this is either correct or incorrect. </span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
<tr><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">create/synthesize</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 10pt;"><i>(infinite possibilities for correct response)</i></span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">create and solve an algebra problem </span></div>
</td><td><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">create a problem that requires the distributive property to solve</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b>OR</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">write a story problem to go with the equation y=3x-2</span></div>
</td><th><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">find an example of the concepts we've been covering in class from your life; write a story problem describing what you come up with</span></span></div>
</div>
</th></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- Hold office hours everyday to help with assignments:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Monday = for A-level students</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Tuesday = for B-level students</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Wednesday = for C-level students</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Thursday = for D/F-level students</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Friday = Peer tutoring sessions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> + Alternatively, provide some other meaningful structure for who should come and/or what is going to happen during the office hours. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">- I really like an article by Margaret Schwan Smith and Mary Kay Stein called "Selecting and Creating Mathematical Tasks: from Research to Practice." It breaks all work that's done in a math class into four levels of demand: memorization, procedures without connections, procedures with connections, and doing mathematics. Their thoughts & ideas in this paper really guide my thinking about assignments, assessments, & evaluations. I find myself asking, 'What is the level of demand for this task? What ought to be the level of demand for this task? What level of demand are my students ready for at this point in the unit/semester/year?' </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That pretty much sums up my thoughts about assignments, assessments, & evaluations. This was a long post. If you made it all the way through, FIVE STARS for you! Yea, STARS! </span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-38370948400640416552012-08-15T18:31:00.000-07:002012-08-15T18:40:52.324-07:00Summary Thoughts From A Year of Student Teaching<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, though the summer has already come and gone, I think it's important for me to reflect on my student teaching experience in the 2011-2012 school year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I spent the whole year student teaching in a Geometry class. Actually, I'm not going to talk much about that at all. Instead I'm going to take the next few blog posts to put down the things that I came up with as a student teacher, which I want to implement going forward. I've broken these things down into several categories. Maybe you find them useful. Maybe you find them interesting. At the very least I hope that they'll serve as some reference point for what I find important and what my priorities are as a math educator. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I'll put up one new post per category, as follows:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1) Assignments, Assessments, & Evaluation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">2) Grading</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">3) Getting (& Keeping) Students' Attention</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4) Getting (& Keeping) Students On Task</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">5) Building Community in the Classroom</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">6) Organizing the Physical Classroom</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Some of these posts will probably be pretty long and some of them will probably be very short. I'm going to try to roll them all out by next Friday (8/24/2012). </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-23666225792477573692012-08-15T18:02:00.000-07:002012-08-15T18:02:29.376-07:00What is this blog about anyway? (New Blogger Initiation Post 1)<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">For those of you unaware, I am new to the blogging world. I am new to the teaching world (at least new to being a teacher). I found, in my random bumblings, </span><a href="http://samjshah.com/2012/08/06/new-blogger-initiation-pledge-by-tuesday-august-14th/" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">this great blog post</a><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"> encouraging folks who are new to the '</span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">mathtwitterblogosphere'</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"> to join together and write four blog posts to start off the new year. 'This is exactly what I need!' I thought to myself. So here I am writing my first New Blog Initiation post of 2012. I was given the following prompt to write about: </span><br />
<br />
<blockquote style="color: #222222; font-size: 14px;" type="cite">
<span style="color: #993399; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 14px;">Where does the name of your blog originate? Why did you choose that? (Bonus follow up: Why did you decide to blog?)</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">I thought this was a great way to start my blogging (yes, I know I've already posted a few things but we're starting fresh here). I wanted to title my blog something that would make it really easy to tell what my blog was all about. I wanted it to be short enough that it wouldn't look daunting to read but I wanted it meaningful enough that you could read it and go, 'oh. I know what this is about.' Since I intend this blog to cover all things math education from my own personal perspective, I thought the title <i>A Beginner's View of Math Education</i> was an apt title. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">I initially wanted to start blogging because I sometimes feel like I have good ideas (like my idea for <a href="http://mrlaxton.blogspot.com/2012/03/other-day-my-mother-and-i-were.html" target="_blank">transitioning to common core state standards</a>). And I wanted an outlet for sharing those ideas. Now that I'm getting into it, I hope that this blog turns into a place that I can post questions that I have as well. Especially if I can make some math teacher blogger friends through this new blogger initiative! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">So there you have it. Hopefully more great ideas, questions, thoughts, and experiences will follow! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-82721855737839641632012-03-01T11:32:00.000-08:002012-03-01T11:32:39.425-08:00Math Gloooooooory!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Try this math review game and let me know how it works. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are the rules:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">The game will proceed one round at a time</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">Each round will last 8–n minutes where n is the number of the round of the game (e.g. the first round will be 7 minutes, the second 6 minutes)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">Each round will consist of one problem to solve</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">The game officials walk around the room only to check answers (no help will be given, only confirmation or denial of solutions)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">Students are grouped into teams</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">As soon as everyone in a team has the solution written down in completion, all members of that group raise their hands</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">The solution will be checked by the official(s)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">Every group who gets the correct solution will be rewarded with 1 point</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: -24px;">The group who finishes first will be rewarded 2 points</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;">The team who has the most points at the end of 7 rounds wins the prize!</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">BONUS:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Let students pick team names</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Offer one get out of homework free token as the prize</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Try different timing schemes for different complexity of units to review</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6038266895033312574.post-40771658229853850682012-03-01T10:41:00.001-08:002012-03-01T11:36:18.578-08:00Adapting to Common Core State Standards<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other day, my mother and I were discussing how to get ready for the coming Common Core State Standards (CCSS). She's a middle school math teacher in Oregon and part of her district's committee for transitioning from the Oregon State Standards (OSS) to the CCSS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting ready for the CCSS is a daunting task. As compared to the OSS, the Common Core standards are written using different language, contain different amounts of detail and instruction, are organized differently, and necessitate a different approach to assessment. It's no wonder educators all over the state are feeling overwhelmed. We've gotten used to the OSS and now we have to start again, from the ground up, with these new standards. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like it or not, the CCSS are coming and we need to be ready. That's where the committee that my mom is on comes in. She and her comrades are responsible for reconstructing their curriculum as necessary to accomodate these new standards. Which brings us back to the point of this post, which is to write about what my mom and I discussed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As an engineer, my first inclination is to identify the goal, identify the context, plan a solution, execute that solution, and then check to make sure the solution actually accomplishes the goal (in that order). So that's what I did with my mom. The goal of our conversation was to figure out how her district could make sure their students were meeting proficiency for the new standards. Here's the plan we came up with:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) Divide the standards up among the grade level teachers <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(e.g., there are 29 CCSS 6th grade standards for math and 5 6th grade math teachers at my mom's school, so each teacher gets 6 standards)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Each teacher fills out the table below for their standard <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(seen below with examples and italicized explanations)</span></i></span><br />
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<table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white;"><tbody>
<tr style="background-color: black; color: white; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 5px;"> <th><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Standard Text</span></th> <th><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Knowledge</span></th> <th><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reasoning</span></th> <th><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Demonstration</span></th> <th><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Product</span></th> </tr>
<tr> <td><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6.NS.2: Fluently divide multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(This is verbatim the text of the standard)</i></span></span></td> <td><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the algorithm for division <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(this is all the rote knowledge that students need to be proficient at the standard)</i></span></span></td> <td><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">methodical step-by-step reasoning skills <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(these are all the reasoning skills that students need to be successful at this standard)</i></span></span></td> <th><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">perform the standard algorithm for division <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(this is a list of everything the students need to demonstrate in order to be successful at this standard)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">N/A <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(This is a list of all the things that students need to produce or create in order to be successful at this standard)</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6.RP.3: Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole-number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plate. Use tables to compare ratios</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">b. Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then at that rate, how many lawns could be mowe in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">d. Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vocabulary: rate, ratio</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) Compare rates and ratios </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) Reason connections between rates/ratios and real-world situations</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">1) Plot values on coordinate plane</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">2) Solve unit rate problems</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">3) Convert percentages to fractions & decimals</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">4) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Table of equivalent ratios</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) Each teacher devises several example assessments appropriate for the type of task (i.e., knowledge, reasoning, demonstration, product) required for each standard <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(devised via Marzano's thing)</span></i> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) All the teachers for the grade level get together and develop a full set of assessments for all the standards for that grade <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(e.g., the 6th grade teachers get together and develop a full list of assessments for the 6th grade standards)</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) Create a timeline dictated by the assessments </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(e.g., determine when each assessment needs to be given to the students so that every assessment created in step 3 is given within the full school year)</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6) Teachers develop lesson plans as part of a professional learning community that will provide each student the opportunity to pass each assessment</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we were coming up with this plan we were thinking that each teacher could be responsible for creating a set of example assessments for each standard. Filling in the table should help guide exactly what kind of assessments would really show that students are proficient at each standard. Then, when all the teachers get together, they can share out what they have and work together to make a rigorous battery of assessments for each standard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, this would take a lot of work. But what's worse, spending the time now to set things up right in the first place or slapping something together now and spending the next ten years picking up the pieces? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just a thought. </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14000927289273630744noreply@blogger.com0Oregon, USA43.8041334 -120.554201240.8712409 -125.60791219999999 46.7370259 -115.5004902