Teaching Mrs. Ryan

Every year when students are counting those days left of summer time fun, teachers are going back early.  We have to get our classrooms ready and of course training.  Tons and tons and tons of training.  In fact, I've started my training 3 weeks before students come back to school and MAN am I learning a lot!  We just got done with some fabulous STEM training done be Dacia Jones (@dacia92 if you twitter) from Durham, NC public schools.  I encourage you to check out her blog over at Discovery Education HERE   Like many STEM conferences we learned about cool projects we could try out with our students, but she also helped to facilitate and grow our little STEM program that for 5th graders is in its infancy.  She organized and helped us get lab coats, helped us with grant writing, gave us great resources and information, and did it with an energetic happy smile everyday regardless of the tech difficulties we sometimes hit (WIFI issues blah!)  That ...

Let me be honest.  I live for the summer.  I always knew teaching would be the perfect job for me because when I wasn't a teacher and spring hit... oh it was so hard to sit still in an office.  The last job I held before I taught was perfect for that!  I was able to turn off my fluorescent lights and open the blinds and let the natural light come in, and I would make excuses to visit clients so I could get out of my cubby and go!  Now, I just wait for that last school bell to ring and give my goodbyes for the year to my students and plan on a summer of organization, exercise, dieting, travel, crafting, sleeping in, and a new me.  Oh yeah, and I always intend to blog so much more. Reality is, I do a little bit of all of those things, and sometimes I even feel I've accomplished something, but partway into the summer...I get bored. There I said it!  The nerd in me gets bored and I start researching cool technology and thinking about all the new things I...

In addition to getting ready for a wild new year, it is always wise to take a look back and reflect on what you could have done better, what worked, and what didn't.  Of course you can't forget that when a new year of school arrives, there are always PLENTY of changes.  The one thing I've learned is that change is always taking place whether that is administration, teachers, students, or curriculum.  I can almost put a tick mark on everyone of those categories, but change doesn't mean bad things. This year I have a new curriculum and so far I'm having a love/hate relationship with it.  I love the differentiation, the technology inclusion, and the rigor.... I'm not loving the bugs within the program.  I feel that the textbook company should not have launched this platform if they weren't ready with the same features as the older platform, and if they weren't sure that they had all of their lessons in the correct spot!  Nothing is more frustrating than a...

I think we can all relate to that time when we finally can have some much needed rest to recharge our creative batteries.  Let's face it, teaching can drain you!  Beyond the politics, the standards, the classroom diversions, there is this need to be the most innovative teacher you can be.  I know I'm always looking for more creative ways to teach the same old boring lessons.  This week my goal is to post some of the cool things that happened in my class prior to Christmas break.  I'm going to review an app I used as a teaching aid, post some pictures about a project we did, take a walk through NearPod (which I'd like to use permanently in my classroom), and revisit Mathletics.  I'd also like to get some feedback on a project I'm working out in my head.  I want to do a project with Legos, statistics, data gathering, functions and modeling... an all in one project.  I have a couple of classes that I'd like to experiment with, just to see how they ...

It amazes me to know  we are rolling into our 4th week of school and already so much has been done!  I promise I will not complain about a school year flying by!  The first part of the year in math is always spent reviewing concepts from the previous year and adding a level of complexity to that.  For instance, my students who are reviewing decimal operations now have to work with those same operations, but they will need to round, deal with repeating numbers, or positive and negative signs with their work. One thing I've incorporated into my lessons this year is the use of Interactive Notebooks.  There are TONS of free resources on the web for doing this thanks to so many awesome educators.   I research all types of graphic organizers and foldables and incorporate them into my units so that my students are essentially creating their own study guides for quizzes and tests.  One of my new favorite finds is used to solve equations whether they are...

Everyone in my house is going about their normal business and I am preparing for the first day of school.  Don't be alarmed!  I've actually been preparing for this day all summer, now I'm running over everything in my head.  Things I hope I don't forget, things that I want to add, and things that I'm hoping will help my day be easier. This year I am incorporating new apps in my room.  First up for classroom management is Class Dojo: You can click on the Dojo icon to take you to their webpage, but in a nutshell it is a way for you to document student behavior that the students can view daily as well as the parents.  Students are rewarded with points for good behavior and negative behavior takes away points.  Students who reach a particular amount of points each nine weeks will have the chance to earn homework passes. Next up is Doceri:   Doceri is an app for my iPad that will allow me to link to my classroom computer, therefore linking me...

     I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer as much as I have.  Well aside from that silly surgery I had!  Right now I'm getting prepared to go back to work.  I only have a week and a half before teacher in-service begins and two and a half weeks before I'll be standing in my classroom in front of my students. Every teacher knows what this means; the classroom must be prepared, and the lesson plans must be ready to go!  This year I have added a new class to teach, so I can't rely on what worked great last year to supplement my new stuff, I am starting from scratch for this class.  I will be teaching 6th and 7th grade math, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra I.  I'm really excited about adding Algebra to my line up.  It was my FAVORITE class in high school.       This summer I have been revamping my lesson plans to include more activities and more student involvement.  I want them to discover and learn m...