2017 reflection: teaching

This school year marks my 20th as a classroom teacher.  That has not really sunk in - there are times when I feel like I am that fresh-out-of-college kid with a couple dozen 3rd graders staring at me waiting for me to lead, all the while I'm waiting for a supervisor to come in to observe me.

I remember my first year of teaching well.  I was hired to teach third grade in Cathedral City, California at a school called Landau Elementary.  The school had a year-round schedule where there were four blocks of students that rotated one month off.  My schedule had me starting in July, taking off August, working September through Thanksgiving then off until New Years.  From there I worked January through March, had April off, then returned to finish the year in May and June.  There was a one week "reset" at the end of June and beginning of July, then the new school year started.

This system had pros and cons - but that's for another blog.

It was a very unique system.  It enabled the school to house 25% more students without needing to expand the campus.  The downside from an educator point of view is after each break you were in a new classroom for those three months.

I still remember my principal that year, the music teacher, my co-teachers... I remember my students and my first class photo.  I remember how I arranged the classroom and where I set up my two desktop computers...

Those students - those third graders - are just about 30 years old today.

I wonder if those students or I went back to Landau how similar it would look.  What has changed?

Here is a pop-quiz.  What year was this photo taken?

You might say 2012? 2006? 1998?

What about this one?

Could've been from my first year of teaching... Could be the classroom across the hall from you today.

Let's contrast that to another hobby of mine: video games...

Here is a video game I played in 1997:

Final Fantasy VII

And here is the game in 2017:

I don't own this game system. Accepting donations.

There is no mistaking the game of yesteryear to the game of today.  The same can be said of nearly every other profession. I know that a dentist office from 20 years ago doesn't look like the one I go to currently.  Yet there are classrooms that exist today that look and feel like it is still 1998.

So this leads to my word of 2018: Evolve.

As a veteran teacher (that feels so strange to write) it is easy for me to fall back into routines and previous lessons that 'worked well.' It is easy to fall into 'old habits.'   It is easy for me to have a bunch of 'traditional' lessons with a once-a-month "lookie at what I did" lesson so that I pat myself on the back. It is harder to create lessons, set up a classroom, and develop relationships that engage all students while focus on best practices.  Now is the time to reflect on previous teachings and evolve my lessons.

It is also time for me to evolve as a leader within the education community, both locally and globally. 
And yes, evolve will also apply to my running goals in 2018 as well.  Stay tuned!

2017 Year In Review: Running

If I had one word to categorize and describe my 2017 year of running it would be "Believe." There were major accomplishments (my first 50 miler finish, new PRs in both my half and full marathon distances) as well as runs that... didn't go as planned.  However belief from my friends led to belief in myself.

Didn't plan on the flood during Tie Dye this year

Early in the year I was given a challenge (some would say I was called out by my Colorado bestie) to run 50 miles at once (well I didn't RUN all 50, but you get me.)  I signed up for Not Your Momma's Old School 50 miler and made it about 38ish miles before my mind said "no mas!"

That night while recovering this bestie did what any bestie coach would do.  She kicked my virtual mind in the virtual butt. She laid into me about my mental game, about leaving hours on the clock, and how she KNEW I could finish a 50-mile event.  She called me out because she knew I could answer the bell. It was why I went back at it a few weeks later at Highbanks Park.

-_-

On top of my accomplishments, I got to help others reach theirs as well.  This year I helped people run their first 5k, paced people to personal records (PRs) in 5k, 10k, and half marathon distances, and ..umm... ... encouraged... people to sign up for their first half and full marathons.

What does 2018 hold? I'll be at the Mohican 50k (dubbed Forget the PR) in April and will be pacing Erika at the Burning River 100 miler. No doubt I'll be signing up for at least the possum30k in March,  as well as some other events... maybe a 24-hour race? Who knows. I've learned nothing is off the table.

Nearly-Official 2017 Numbers: 

Total miles run in 2017: 1393 total miles (as of 12/27/17)
Total runs: 198 (as of 12/27/17)

Yes I'll hit nice round numbers there by the end of the year :)

Mostly-Official events: 

January: Winter Warmup Half Marathon
February: Frostbite 5 miler
March: Little Miami 10 miler, Washington DC Marathon
April: ORRRC Marathon (PR!!!), Let Me Run 5k
May: Salt Fork, Tie Dye 16 miler (DNF 32 miler due to weather) New Moon Quarter Marathon
June: Another Dam 50k
August: Beaver Chase Marathon, Emerald City Half Marathon (PR!!!), Darby Creek 10k
September: Night Glow Half Marathon, Air Force Half Marathon
October: Not Yo Momma's Old school (DNF'ed 50 miler) Spirit Sprint 5k,
November: Hot Chocolate 15k, Highbanks Park (solo 50 miler!), New Albany 4 miler, Left Over 5k, Hungry Turkey 5k
December: Run Santa Run 5k, The Boney Gnome Half Marathon

Escape the Math Classroom

This I made my first attempt at an 'escape room', but I decided to do it digital style.  Students came in and saw an on the front board with the message that said, "Escape the Math Classroom." 

We had a quick talk about "escape rooms" and I asked if anyone had experience with these. To my surprise a number of students have done these activities.  I asked what qualities escape rooms had.  Students answered with "puzzles, clues, a time limit, and teamwork."  I agreed with all of those.

I explained that today would be a little different than a traditional escape room.  Today's would be all digital.  Clues and answers would be solely on the computer.  Students would still have to figure out clues and work with a partner to solve the puzzles to move on, and they would only have until the end of class to finish the room. 

This escape room was designed around a math review for integers and the coordinate plane.  Each clue was designed on Google forms. Using the response validation option when I set it up, students had to correctly answer each question before being allowed to move on to the next response. 

Students were excited to get started and were engaged from the start.  It was fascinating to watch them work together to solve each review question - there were levels of frustration and perseverance, and absolute excitement when they finally moved on to the next clue. 

Some students finished before others and went on to other academic choices, but all groups ended up solving the room by the end of class.  For homework students had to complete a reflection survey to help me get some feedback as to how well they felt it went.  Overall they enjoyed it and were looking forward to doing it again (with more clues than just digital.)   Here is the survey they had to complete: Reflection Survey. (TTQA = turn the question around)

I plan on expanding this activity soon to include many more multi-sensory activities.  I purchased programmable combination locks and plan on storing some clues in lockers throughout the division.  Also, the next one will be multi-class and incorporate many clues from language arts as well as science and social studies.  I'm excited to team up with my teaching partner to create this game!

Here is the room for those of you that want to try it out! Escape the Math Room

Thanks for reading!