Comments on: Goals for 2013-2014

By: dawndup

dawndup — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 02:02:59 +0000

You will love the world of Rich Math Tasks. When you’ve found a good one, the students can’t resist it. Keep trying with it! It won’t go the way you want the first few times. Be patient with yourself and your students. Don’t forget to process and honor what went well with each task and build from there.

By: Goals for 2013-2014 | I Speak Math

Goals for 2013-2014 | I Speak Math — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 02:20:55 +0000

[…] Michael Fenton, mjfenton, Goals for 2013-2014 […]

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 21:15:38 +0000

Thanks Michael! I am on Twitter @swedenese, we’ll chat more on there!

By: Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 21:05:16 +0000

Eric, glad to hear I’m not alone in the land of too-many-preps! I’m excited to to hear you picked up the Five Practices book. I haven’t read all of it yet, but the sections I have read (and the discussions that followed at a workshop I led last week) were very exciting.

I first heard about the book on Twitter. There are a couple of “reading groups/book studies” that I haven’t participated in, but that I’ve observed once or twice from the sidelines. If you’re not on Twitter yet, get on Twitter. Like, now. Before your next meal. It’s that important (especially for those with small departments, lots of preps, etc.). If I recall correctly, the hashtag they used for the discussion was #fivepracs or #5pracs. I’ll ask around to confirm.

After hearing about the book (and putting it on my Amazon wishlist, and receiving it for as a Father’s Day from my wife) I saw Fawn Nguyen mention it in a couple of very powerful posts over at her (amazing) blog: http://fawnnguyen.com/

In particular, look at these two posts:
http://fawnnguyen.com/2013/07/06/20130706.aspx
http://fawnnguyen.com/2013/07/08/deconstructing-a-lesson-activity—part-2.aspx

I also heard through the grapevine that Christopher Danielson recently led a presentation on the first two practices. His blog (Overthinking My Teaching) is here: http://christopherdanielson.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the comment!

Update: Okay, nevermind about the Twitter thing. I see you’re already on. 🙂 And from what I can tell, #5pracs is the place to look.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:00:54 +0000

Hey Michael, Love reading your blog/tweets, I feel like we’re in the same boat in a lot of ways (private Christian school w/ way too many preps trying to figure everything out all at once). I picked up the Five Practices book per your recommendation. Were there any blogs that pointed you to this book? Good luck this year!

By: Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 23:01:42 +0000

I signed up for Jo Boaler’s class. Haven’t started yet, but I’m excited to dig in once the school year begins. I imagine I’ll be adding a few items to my list of goals as a result of the course.

If you’re interested in sharing, I’d love to see your goals once you’ve written them down. I imagine my department is a bit smaller than yours (two, including myself) but I’m also looking for ways to encourage department-wide growth.

Thanks for dropping by to comment!

By: mrdardy

mrdardy — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 12:20:21 +0000

Michael

With two weeks to go before I report, this post will be kept nearby as I try to hold myself to similar standards. Thanks for the Better Assessments site and I look forward to seeing it revived in the fall and thanks for an organizational model of individual goals that I’ll be modifying for myself. My big add on is that I am a department chair and I need to figure out to help my department come along for the ride. I’ve been taking Jo Boaler’s class and thinking about ways to share those ideas as well.

Here’s to an exciting fall!