This week’s #YourEduStory prompt: The above quote, followed by: “Why do you do what you do?” This is a solid question for anyone, not just educators. I believe that we should all have a defining purpose behind our life’s work.

My purpose is for wanting to make education absolutely AMAZING for my kids is this simple: I’m never completely satisfied. As much as I have no trouble finding celebrations to be had in the growth of my students (and my own growth, too) I never want to settle. I never want to stop and say, “Yeah, that’s good enough”, and then recycle that lesson for the next 30 years. I push myself to do more and I do that constantly.

This comes from one little story from my student teaching days: my school advisor told me she made a mistake in what I considered to be a flawless lesson. When I asked her what she would improve on, she replied, “I left the handouts at the back when I was instructing at the front.” WHAT? That’s it?

As a then-novice teacher, I watched more closely and realized how the little things can take something from being good to being great. It’s not always BIG things that need to change. Sometimes it’s tiny things. Like changing ONE WORD in an instruction for a student that requires differentiated support. Like actually letting my kids be in flow instead of constantly interrupting it. Like pacing how I transition students to get materials.

I digress. These are little things.

But little things can make a big difference sometimes. And I’m not satisfied with the little things yet, either.

2) Personalizing Math Tools for Each Student

My students each have their own personalized bins with manipulatives or tools that they may require for specific whole group or small group activities, games, or stations. They access them whenever they want to and are not restricted to using the same materials as their neighbour.

3) Opening Up the “Help Desk”

While stations are going on and are running smoothly, I always open up the “Help Desk”... my fancy way of saying “come to the back table where I’m hanging out so we can work through some examples together”. This allows me to see the kids who want to see me to review or extend lessons, but also is a place to call small groups who require extra support. 

4) Teaching Whole-Group Lessons in 15 Minutes OR LESS… and Getting Out of the Way! 

Ah, the mini lesson. This took some getting used to considering most of my math instruction last year was entirely whole-group (cringe). I now spend maximally 5-7 minutes modelling with manipulatives while the kids follow along. I follow up by getting the kids up front to share their strategies and solutions to open-ended problems. I see tons of kids strengthening their understandings through these small sessions because they’re: a) bite-sized; b) driven by peer strategies; and c) hands-on. I also do a lot of quick formative assessment at this time; when the kids are in the front, I can tour around, observe, take some quick mental notes on who needs to see me at the Help Desk the next day.

While Daily Five is still likely my "best thing", I am very excited that the Guided Math program I’ve been building up will soon be fit to rival it. And I’m also excited that I no longer dread teaching math in any way.

Until next time, 

Here the little things I offer that might make an impact: 

For the kids:

I have the ability to make small strides in how I support my students. I make a difference by continually encouraging them even when they’re not doing so well. I have opportunities to turn their attitudes around toward an academic concept at school, or to get them to open their views to the world in new and exciting ways. 

For teachers: 

I’ve been working on teaching little tech-tricks to teachers make them more excited about technology. Even when it’s completely about us as educators, we go crazy for new tricks that make us look tech-savvy. And that’s the thing I’m making teachers realize: playing with technology and finding ways to utilize it makes us proud to use it. That, in turn, may motivate us to use it more, to experiment more, and hopefully in new and different ways with students. 

For me:

I’m trying to take better care of myself in 2015. I’ve said NO to so, so, so many opportunities because I need to let myself have more time. I want to dedicate time to my friends and social engagements. I want to watch TV sometimes. Oh, and sleep… that, too. 

So there you have it: I’m not making the entire world a better place by creating massive human movement. But I’m making the worlds of some big people and some little people better by doing what I love and trying to do it well. And I’m glad that I’m taking time to extend that gift to myself, too.

Happy New Year everyone! Okay, so I’m 11 days late, but let’s be honest, blogging wasn’t really my thing in 2014 and I have to start somewhere, right?! 

I NEED to do more with my blog in 2015. So I signed up for  the #YourEduStory blogging challenge earlier this week thanks to the ever-wonderful Jo-Ann Fox. And while I don’t know that I’ll be able to complete the challenge (sanely) every single week, my personal challenge is to do it every two weeks at the very least.

Week 1, which I’m already posting late for, suggests that we write about our “one word” for 2015. Tia Henriksen and Tracy Cramer have also issued a similar challenge for my school district. The basic premise is to choose a word that we try to live by each day for the entirety of the year.

Initially, I began thinking that my word for the year should be “change”. Change is something that is constantly happening as I push myself, my students, and the teachers I support to try new things.

But change didn’t seem like a good enough word. After all, it was the attitude I took toward change that was the important aspect to focus on. With that thought in mind, I landed on the word flexibility for 2015. 

Flexibility works in so many ways for me: 

In the classroom: One of the best things a good teacher can do is roll with the changes and make them meaningful for the students. An authentic sidetrack can become a very powerful learning opportunity and I want to continue getting better at finding strength in this part of my flexibility. 

Mentorship: Having a student teacher means that I need to spend a lot of time mentoring which doesn’t always land at a specific meeting or collaborative time. Often, questions are at “just-in-time” moments that require flexibility and focused attention. 

Coaching: Needs of teachers are so varied across our staff. In order to reach everyone, I need to be empathetic and flexible to each and every skill level.

Personally: I have been striving for more social time as I continue to balance the myriad of professional commitments that I have taken on. When opportunities to see my friends have arisen, I’ve been taking advantage of them and letting professional work wait instead of taking rainchecks… and that feels good! That needs to keep going even when I get caught up in the midterm mess.

So there you have it: my first post of 2015, and here’s to many more! Happy New Year!