tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86548980050162273792024-03-18T21:53:01.664-07:00MTEducatrix It's time to "get my blog on." Welcome to the world of education from my viewpoint....people often say, "I teach, what's YOUR superpower?" My bestie Tobias (of imatoy.com) designed my superhero for me as a wedding present and I thought it fitting of a blog title. So, welcome to MT (for Montana) Educatrix (that's me, a teacher always!).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-64146934016432008432014-07-21T10:11:00.001-07:002014-07-21T10:11:37.003-07:00Number Bond LearnerHad the fabulous opportunity to co-present with Kristin Hilty and Ricky Mikelman recently and learned a lot by seeing them in action. One thing, in particular, was the movement from concrete to pictorial to abstract (and the bridges between) while modeling number bonds and all their potential. The picture shows number bracelets (thanks Catherine Kuhns), then making tens, and the relationship to pace value of that number. What made me fall in love with number bonds from the onset was where they can lead with larger numbers, time, decimals, fractions, etc. The possibilities are endless when you understand the part to whole relationship. We also had SO many math talks at lunch, dinner, in our hotel room, and in the car. What has inspired your recently?<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-63109973377937073272014-07-10T17:16:00.001-07:002014-07-10T17:16:05.059-07:00Bloggin' From VegasAs promised to my participants today at the National SDE Conference on Singapore Math Strategies and Differentiated Instruction....you can go to <a href="http://www.nwmteducationalcoop.org/" target="_blank">www.nwmteducationalcoop.org </a>, then teacher resources (hover), then math support (then there'll be a handout at the bottom of the downloads with SDE in the title): the mini-directions for the games we played today are located there. It was a great way to end my twelve sessions in Vegas. Playing cards, rolling dice, laughing....and we WERE at the conference, not down in any casino. We were playing games to help students learn 10-ness. Viva Las Vegas! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-87358023244275078292014-04-10T07:28:00.001-07:002014-04-10T07:33:30.006-07:00Professional Blessings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The pictures in this blog post are to highlight an opportunity for you to attend some of the best professional development I've been a part of as a teacher, curriculum director, and now as a presenter. This has been through Staff Development for Educators. The pictures included show me with my 5th grade teacher (a person who inspired me to learn and to become a teacher--she's now a math coach and I'm now a math presenter and curriculum director--thanks Mrs. Hastings--we just happened to run into each other at the conference this summer). Another photo shows me holding a sign with an SDE colleague. Ricky has taken me under her wing and given me tips about presenting, Math content, and life....as have many others from SDE. Ricky and I have even had the chance to go to Singapore and observe classrooms and learn from teachers and administrators. Finally, there's a picture of other presenters I've befriended. They're a network I cannot begin to describe and there are folks missing from this picture, for sure because the network is so big. Whether it's an SDE conference or another one, take the time and effort to attend a national conference. They can be literally life changing and career affirming. They have been for me. If you want to attend one I'm presenting at, join me in Vegas (woot woot!)--I'll be at the Singapore Math Strategies Conference and the Differentiated Instruction Conference. You can even get a 10% discount by using the code <b>Nat10</b>. Register on sde.com. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-65693061717943899122014-03-21T11:30:00.000-07:002014-03-21T11:30:18.906-07:00Subtracting with RegroupingSubtracting with regrouping used to be the biggest headache in my primary years instruction. Now, I know it was because I wasn't teaching it conceptually the way I should and could. Since then, and with the help of my Singapore Math colleagues, I've learned a strategy that's the bee's knees. Just adding in the subtrahand as place value cards makes all the difference in the world! If you'd like to see the PowerPoint I put together to explain the teaching process, please visit <a href="http://www.nwmteducationalcoop.org/" target="_blank">www.nwmteducationalcoop.org</a> > teacher resources > math support > PowerPoint_SubtractionwithRegrouping and see if this style of instruction might help YOU and more important YOUR STUDENTS! Good luck!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-66026396717381829842014-02-06T13:56:00.002-08:002014-02-06T13:56:19.277-08:00Mathematical Magic!Thanks to a teacher from TN (Ansley), I now have ANOTHER awesome game to add to my toolbox and so will you! Here are the directions (the gist). I'm hoping this link will take you to a video of the game ( <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=719695721396432">Magic 10 Video</a> ).<br />
1) Remove the jokers. Have someone pic a "mystery card". This mystery card cannot be an ace or a facecard.<br />
2) Deal out 11 cards face up.<br />
3) Begin making bonds of 10 by covering two cards at a time. 10s and facecards are an exception and get covered as 10s without a pair.<br />
4) When all cards have been used, pick up piles that make a bond of ten. There should be one pile left. It will bond with the mystery card--you'll know the mystery card by seeing the last pile and how it bonds with 10.<br />
Wow! It's Math magic!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-77723081553738457002014-01-16T11:37:00.001-08:002014-01-16T11:37:19.315-08:00Budding Organization<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many ways to stay organized, but this one caught my eye yesterday in my buddy classroom (4th grade). When using earbuds, each student can bring their own so there's no ear wax sharing and you can store them by their class number in a plastic organizer of your choosing. Then, if you really want to go crazy with organization. You can have your students learn to wrap their earbuds using their pointer finger and thumb. There are numerous versions of wrapping available on the internet. This might be a way to keep sanitary and sane all in one swoop of the earbud!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-48827288716457677012013-12-19T13:48:00.000-08:002013-12-19T13:48:48.741-08:00Success Breeds Success<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wow! When a student feels success, don't you too!? Yesterday, in my buddy classroom, a formerly reluctant Math student was overjoyed to say she was the first one to memorize all of her Math facts AND to receive a 3 in Math (proficient). Previously, she was a student who'd been pulled out for remedial Math and who said on the first day I was in her class "I'm not very good at Math." Her classroom teachers works diligently to build her confidence by doling out successful opportunities one at a time and this young Math cherub is taking it ALL in. She writes about Math during her Writing Block, she takes Math home with her, she willingly shares her work (even if it's not quite right, but her thinking is good), and she's thrilled to reach goals she sets for herself (like mastering those multiplication facts). What are you doing to provide a Math environment where "success breeds success?"</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-69463692648359218012013-12-17T08:52:00.004-08:002014-01-16T11:37:50.724-08:00The Nerdy NotebookOver the years, I have fine tuned a system for tracking my lesson plans (from when I was teaching) to do lists, my notes from meetings and conferences, phone calls, and upcoming/parking lot type of thoughts. Friends and colleagues fondly refer to (and now so do I) as the <b>"Nerdy Notebook."</b> Every year, I spend time decorating the cover to remind me why I work so hard (good quotes, pictures of loved ones, etc.) and then I begin to add content. This is a place I "noodle" (notetake + doodle = noodle) and think on paper. I tab important information by using two sticky dots on either side of the paper to create a cheap and easy tab and I refer back to these notes often! You won't see me very many places without this essential documentation and organizational tool.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-91666263172038507282013-12-14T10:46:00.003-08:002013-12-14T10:46:58.177-08:00Keep it Simple Silly (KISS)How do you keep it simple in these frantic educational times? I ask this question of myself daily and have come up with some strategies. 1) Does it matter to kids--will they learn something academically, socially, or emotionally, as result of your spending time and energy on it? If so, then get on it right away. 2) Is it a realistic expectation? If so, add it to the to do list and work on it. 3) If it's not realistic, can you ask for help? Asking for help is so hard, but we can't do it alone, especially with all that's on our educational plates (not to mention the other parts of our life). 4) What's a timeframe that makes sense? You can't get it all done TODAY. There are, as we know, only 24 hours in any given day. What CAN you do today, and what COULD be carried over to tomorrow. I keep what I refer to as my "nerdy notebook" (pictures later). This one tool helps me keep my life in order (educationally and personally). One place shopping for all I need to do and be. Consider online forms of this like my friend and principal Natalie uses (like Evernote). Whatever you use, make it a system that KISS and uses some gut level questions to determine what goes into that system so that stuff actually can come out in the form of "I did it" and it's "off my list." Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654898005016227379.post-16080097150355249222013-12-13T11:18:00.001-08:002013-12-13T12:10:23.969-08:00Long Ago AdviceLet's get this party started....<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my best pieces of advice in my teaching career, was "don't do for students what they can do for themselves." (1995ish by Carol Cooper) I've held on to that over the years and have had to remind myself of what students are capable of and what I can stop doing so they can start doing. What are you doing that students could and should be doing?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705536202104422671noreply@blogger.com0