Day in the Life: Expanded Version (December 2016 & January 2017)

Wednesday, 6 December 2016 & Friday, 6 January 2017
Fourth & Fifth Monthly Post/Reflection
Extended Version

I had started a post last month, saved it, and planned on completing it to post before the end of the month when I was on winter break. Unfortunately, I ended up taking the two weeks totally off from anything school related. Usually I try to grade some papers, update grades, and put together upcoming lesson plans. In the past, I can get at least two units together. In past years, I have even stayed late the day before the break to tidy up my room or catch up with other colleagues I don't see regularly who are also staying late.

This year, every one was ready to go the minute the last cadet departed the building. It was a rough couple of weeks. We didn't even have our usual Kick-off To Winter Break Pep Rally for cadets to unwind the last hour before they departed. Actually we have had no pep rallies of any kind this year and as far as I know none have been scheduled for this year. Unfortunately this is not fair to our high school cadets since I remember pep rallies being a fun part of my high school experience. Sadly, our administration feels that all events during the school day must include both the middle and high school sections.

For my two week down-time, I spent it doing the following activities:

1. Turning off my alarm and sleeping in until 8am most days. Few days I did get up at 7am because I went to the gym or I needed to run an errand.
2. Reading! I completed several books - “Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond” by Sonia Shah, “Death without Company: Walt Longmire Mystery #2″ and "Kindness Goes Unpunished: Walt Longmire Mystery #3" by Craig Johnson; and “The Adventure of the Six Napoleans” by Arthur Conan Doyle
3. TV Binge watch: This is Us (ABC), Lethal Weapon (FOX), The OA (Netflix), How to Get Away With Murder (ABC), Miranda (BBC via Hulu), Shut Eye (Hulu), Chance (Hulu), and Top Chef: Charleston (which was filmed right here in town over the summer)(Bravo)
4. Finally made it to the Gibbes Art Museum downtown to see the Guggenheim Exhibit. And it did not disappoint! It centered around Non-objective artwork from Kandinsky, Bauer, Picasso, Chagall, Seurat, Leger, Modigliani, and Delaunay. Also discovered the Gibbes has a fantastic permanent collection. Will be going back for more exhibits later this year. 
5. Saw "Star Wars: Rogue One" opening night. I'm an old school Star Wars geek (being 46 and having seen the original trilogy first run and in its original format not with the later enhancements). It was amazing and had many call-backs to the original Star Wars movie. 

We came back to school on Monday, 2 January 2017. Over the past 5 days, we've had two different schedules. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were on our normal operating schedule; each class I had was 50 minutes plus a lunch period of 35 minutes and a 45 minute planning. 

The last two days we have had an Semester 1 Exam Schedule so the high school semester classes can have extended classes for exams. I had 1st, 2nd, 3rd periods for 50 minutes then 6th period came to me for a whooping 30 minutes followed by my 50 minute planning period and an extended 7th grade lunch period of 50 minutes then my final two class periods of the day (7th and 8th period) for 50 minutes. I asked the assistant principal if she could possibly take some time off of the lunch period so that 7th graders could have a 50 minute 6th period. The cadets only take about 10 minutes to eat and use the rest of the time to play on their phones or horseplay around the cafeteria. All the other middle school grades had 50 minutes per academic class. But I was informed that while I may feel my class period is important, she (the assistant principal) had to meet the needs of the whole school first and that it just was not going to be possible to fix. So my 6th period will lose 100 minutes of instruction. Thankfully they are an adaptable group and we've been able to cover the objective in an abbreviated lesson format. So needless to say, 2017 is continuing the chaos from 2016. 

1) Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day. Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming. When you think about today, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of? What is one you are worried wasn't ideal? 

December 2016: Whenever I need to try something out on the iPads, I use my second period all boys 7th grade class. They have a mix of ability levels and I can use their feedback to tweak the activity for other class periods. We've been using Kahoot a lot and I've been looking for something different to shake things up. It was suggested by one of my Digital Learning Instructors to try the Space Race option on the Socrative app (part of Mastery Connect). I put together the quiz this morning, mixing in homework problems and vocabulary. At first, they were disappointed that it wasn't Kahoot. Once they got started, it was a different story. They LOVED it! We discussed what they liked (competing against others/not knowing who was on your team) and what needed improvement (eliminate short answer questions/stick to multiple choice and true/false). They want to do another one tomorrow.

Today 2017: The whole day was not ideal. I spent most of the day dealing with behavior issues in every class period including those that are not normally an issue. And, yes, I did raise my voice more than normal. We even stopped class to review class rules and where to find them (on the front wall of the room) and what rewards/consequences for various actions. I even stated I'd move our test days next week from Wednesday/Thursday to Monday/Tuesday (for two periods this actually did succeed in calming them down enough to get through the material). I really do hate doing that and only use it as a last resort when all other persuasive measures fail.

2) Every person's life is full of highs and lows. Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher. What are you looking forward to? What has been a challenge for you lately?

December 2016: Based on how well cadets responded to the Socrative app, I incorporated that into unit assessment. They took a 10 multiple-choice response quiz on the iPads one day, then I gave them a paper test the next day. The paper test was a collection of nine word problems and several bonus problems. The cadets selected three word problems they felt they could complete the best for credit. The bonus problems were optional but highly encouraged. I also let them use their notebooks as a reference if they got stuck on anything. This method actually worked well for their assessment on Two-Step Equations. The cadets said they liked having a choice in what word problems to complete and that the iPad test provided them with an immediate final score. Depending on their overall scores we might use this method regularly.

Today 2017: We are going to use the above testing method next week for their Two-Step Inequae lity assessment. I did see an improvement in their test scores last time. I also saw an increase in their retention of the material from equations. It was nice to see. They were able to apply their understanding of the two-step process of equations to solve two-step inequalities. Of course, they struggled a bit with negative coefficients and reversing the inequality symbol for the solution. But most remembered how to graph inequality solution sets (when to use an open or closed circle and which way to draw the arrow from the circle on a number line). So I'm definitely looking forward to this assessment again.

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is. As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students. Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

December 2016: A few days before break one of our middle school teachers went in for minor out-patient surgery and left packets of work to be completed by his students in his absence. The teacher and I are close friends and live in the same neighborhood. He asked me to collect all the student work from the sub before I departed for break and he (or his wife) would come by my house to pick it up over break. He has done the same for me so it felt good to return the favor.

Today 2017: We have two new teachers on our team. Over the past few days I have enjoyed assisting them in a variety of ways - from assisting in technology setup to discussing behavior intervention strategies for individual cadets to sharing bits of personal/professional stories. Both are fantastic additions to our team and hope they will be with us for many years to come.

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year. What progress have you made in your goal?

Goal: Working towards a mathematical mindset. 
I feel like I am not making progress on this goal. However, that should change in a few weeks. On the 17th of January, we have a teacher workday for district professional development. I have signed up for a half day course on "Creating a Growth Mindset in Middle School Math Classrooms (7th Grade)." Next time I should have more to put here :)

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?
Already shared in the opening paragraphs before my reflections.

Day in the Life: Third Month (November) Refection #DITLife

Sunday, 6 November 2016
Third Monthly Post/Reflection
Trudging through the trenches...

Woo-hoo! It's a weekend post. It was also Daylight Savings and we gained an hour of sleep. I had to manually adjust a couple clocks this morning. Today is a day to relax mostly since Saturday was pretty busy as was Friday.

Friday was our first Cadet Promotion & First Quarter Award Ceremony. There was no morning formation; cadets were sent directly from the cafeteria or gym to their homerooms. Classes are shorten by ten minutes so I finally saw my first period for its whole 40 minutes! Here's the parade schedule:

• Homeroom (7th Grade Girls)
• 1st Period - 6th Grade Honor (boys/girls)
• 2nd Period - 7th Grade (all boys)
• 3rd Period - 7th Grade (all boys)
• Lunch
• Planning
• 6th Period - 7th Grade (boys/girls)
• 7th Period - 6th Grade (all boys)
• 8th Period - 7th Grade (all girls)
• Parade (at conclusion of parade - students will be dismissed)

First period went over distance between points and reflecting points over the x- or y-axis on a coordinate plane. Students continued using their graphs from this post activity. We also reviewed how to order rational numbers on a number line. Second, third, and sixth periods (all seventh grade math classes) were uneventful as we continued a lesson that was started on Thursday talking about simplifying algebraic expressions. Their homework was to answer the focus question of the lesson to turn in on Monday. Seventh period was okay. A few students returned from being in ISS (In School Suspension) all week. The class dynamic was a bit off as the returning students had not done their assigned work I had sent to them and opted instead to try to take the class off task by not coming with their proper materials (mainly pencils and math journal).

The class was unexpectedly shortened by five minutes as the Commandant came on the PA to announce he needed all student leaders and JROTC command staff in the gym. Band students were also told to go to homeroom to get their belongings and report to the band room in preparation for the award ceremony. As students started filling the halls, another announcement was made for all students to return to homeroom. We all thought it was a mistake because we had our eighth period on our schedule and told the students to ignore the announcement. I started my eighth period and we had class for about 10 minutes. The Commandant was back on the PA to state that the high school needed to begin moving all homerooms to the gym and that the middle school should get ready to move next. I opened my door to see other teachers coming into the hall as well. I saw our tactical officer and asked her why we weren't following the schedule. She didn't know either as she had a class and was trying to get an administrator on a radio - with no luck. Since students were switching from other classes and running around the halls, we had to end eighth period. One student was irate. She loves my class and says it's the one class she looks forward to most. A couple other girls agreed with her and I said they needed to complain to the administration as they are the ones who put together the assembly schedules.

Normally we have the ceremony outside. The students form up behind the school by grade level than march around to a side entryway. Our marching band leads the way followed by middle school grades sixth through eighth then high school seniors down to freshman. Teachers march in behind our respective grade levels. We stand behind the groups and assist our military tactical officers.

Unfortunately the decision was made to hold the ceremony in the gym. The gym was not designed for the almost 600 students we have this year. Many middle school students had to sit on the floor. The sound system had not been checked so every speaker sounded muffled. Also there was only 100 chairs set out for parents and guests. We had about 130 or so people show up! Parents were justifiably upset. Not many middle school students were given rank for this quarter due in part to behavior issues and failing grades.

After school, our boys cross country team had a pasta party in prep for the next day's state meet. They also watched the movie, "The 4-Minute Mile." I left early because I had to pick my daughter up from college then make it to the 6:30 pm showing of "Marvel's Doctor Strange." Won't spoil anything - but I feel it's the best Marvel movie to date. Absolutely loved it!!!

On Saturday, I arrived at school at 9:50 am. Only two of our seven athletes were there. My other coach arrived a little after 10 am. We had wanted to leave by 10:15 am. It takes around an hour and a half to get up to Columbia. The students had been instructed to be at the school by 9:45 am. We wanted to be up there by noon. Our division didn't run until 2 pm but we wanted to give the athletes time to warm up and stretch properly. Unfortunately, we had one athlete that didn't get to school until close to 10:45 am - he is our fastest runner so we couldn't leave him behind. We arrived at the meet at 1pm. We set up our tent, picked up our information packet, went over last minute strategy with the athletes, and made sure they were all wearing the proper uniform items. It was our best showing at a state meet. This is my fifth year as a cross country coach along with my co-coach. Every year we get better. This year we finally had a runner place in the Top 15 for our division. He placed 7th overall with a time of 19:13. We were ranked 12th as a team last year; this year we ranked 7th as a team. The athletes all gave their best perform of the season. They were a bit disappointment that they didn't finish closer to the top but they were happy with their improved times. We treated them to a nice dinner on our way home. Many of the athletes will be running track and field too so they are eager to get started. However, my co-coach and I have deemed next week an off-week as we figure out how we're going to work the schedule for conditioning activities.

REFLECTION

1) Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day. Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming. When you think about Friday, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of? What is one you are worried wasn’t ideal?

I almost took a personal day on Friday. It was tempting. And I thought a parade schedule would be easy on a substitute since classes are shorten. But I'm glad I didn't. We have several long-term subs already on our floor and it would have been chaos! Well it was a little more chaotic than usual but nothing we couldn't handle. I'm glad I had my eighth period even for 10 minutes. They were able to get the homework at least.

A decision that wasn't ideal was putting off the test for the sixth graders I have seventh period. I've delayed their test twice now. It's not their fault - many of them are ready to test on ratios, rates, and unit rates. Our classroom printers are no longer serviced by the district so we can't get ink for them. I have requested ink be ordered from our department funds but it hasn't arrived yet. So I have to print the test off at home (well, remember to print it off that is) then run off copies at school. It's a pain.

2) Every person’s life is full of highs and lows. Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher. What are you looking forward to? What has been a challenge for you lately?

This sounds horrible: I'm looking forward to our week-long Thanksgiving Break (21 - 25 November). I'm counting down the days. I'm glad to have Tuesday off this week as well. It's not that I'm unprepared - I have my lesson plans done through the end of the month. I have lots of activities to do in the classroom; I can fill 45 to 50 minutes of class time. I want some time for me.

As prepared as I am, the challenge is fitting everything I want into my 45 to 50 minutes. Many times I prepare the Weekly Bell Work slides, but we never get to use them. I've been waiting for them to get themselves in order before they enter or they take too much time getting settled once they are in the room. My goal this week is to just bring them into the room, seat them quickly, and have them submit their Bell Work via an iPad app.

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is. As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students. Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

My cross country athletes. As described above, I've known many of these young men since they were sixth and seventh graders. They are now seniors and juniors in high school. It's been an amazing journey to watch. For three of them, it was their last cross country meet with our school. One is a senior and will be out for track and field (he's our star 400-meter hurdler - placing third at state last year). But for the other two, they'll be going to a different school next year. And I've contemplated not coming back next year as well, so this just might be my last time training with them.

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year. What is a goal you have for the year?

Working towards a mathematical mindset. I'm getting more work shown on assessments, during class work, and on homework assignments. Especially with the sixth grade honor students. I'm doing more visual modeling and challenging them to go above their grade level.

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?

The seventh season of Walking Dead began a few weeks ago and answered the question everyone had wondered: Who was bludgeoned by Lucille? I read the graphic novel which the show doesn't always follow but is good source for most stories. I predicted that Glen would die (like in the comics) because it offers up the most drama for the other characters. Abraham was a close second as his character in the graphic novel had died long before Negan was even introduced. Now I never predicted them to kill both in the same show - that was bold!

Speaking of shows, I finished season two of Daredevil and almost done with Luke Cage both on Netflix (and both Marvel comic related). Both were well done and looking forward to seeing them team up in The Defenders series with Iron Fist and Jessica Jones.

On the home front, we survived Hurricane Matthew with minimal damage. We still lost most of our kitchen appliances and will be out of our townhouse for a couple months, but it was nowhere near the loss we had over a year ago. The flooding was only about 14 inches this time instead of well over 48 inches last year. We do have flood insurance so that's a good thing.

Day in the Life: Second Month (October) Reflection #DITL

Thursday, 6 October 2016
Second Monthly Post/Reflection
How's it going??

Currently, my family and I are at a hotel in the Midlands area of South Carolina. We left Charleston yesterday before the evacuation orders were given to avoid the traffic. Our housing area is near a major waterway so it was advised that we leave and go to higher ground regardless. All the schools in Charleston and surrounding counties have closed due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Matthew. You should have heard the students when our principal announced mid-morning on Tuesday that schools might be closing on Wednesday. It was deafening! The official word came by Tuesday afternoon that we would close on Wednesday through Friday then take next week on a day-to-day basis. It's been a busy, overwhelming month and these few days off do give me a chance to catch up on grading papers and inputting grades. Now onward to the reflection...

1) Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day. Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming. When you think about today the past month, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of? What is one you are worried wasn’t ideal?

A pencil. It's a simple item, almost every class requires you have one. I still don't understand how you can show up to class without one and think it's okay. However, this past month, I finally decided to just accept it as a natural thing for many of my middle schoolers and worked on a way to handle it without too much disruption to my class. I read on a blog (I wish I could remember which one) that students that don't have a pencil can sign one out in a log then return it at the end of class. I modified this by writing their name on the board when I give it to them and erasing it when they bring it back. It has cut down on students forgetting pencils as many don't like to see their name written on the board. We've incorporated this procedure into the opening routine of each class - along with asking to sharpen pencils.

iPads. In an effort to find a way to motivate my large class of 23 boys to follow rules/procedures, I decided to offer up the iPads for individuals who every day came prepared and followed rules/procedures during class. Those individuals got to use the Nearpod app along with a stylus to showcase their work while the others had to use paper/pencil. It worked okay but it didn't have the effect I thought it would. My non-iPad group spent most of their time still wandering around the room and distracting others who had the iPads. One student even gave up his iPad to one of the non-iPad students in hopes that it would get the the non-iPad student to stop bothering him. Again too much time was spent policing the disruptive students instead of focusing on the lesson of complex fractions and unit rates. What I don't like doing but does work to bring the class to order is to send these three (and it is only three) students to another classroom to work on the assignments. Unfortunately they are not doing any of the assignments I send them either. I know that one of the students is being sent to an alternative school next week and another one of the students I have asked for a list of interventions to try with him so this might help.

2) Every person’s life is full of highs and lows. Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher. What are you looking forward to? What has been a challenge for you lately?

Looking forward: In a previous post, I criticized the new curriculum guides from my district. Well...I am now on the new math curriculum writing team for our district. We discussed the feedback from the August meetings, but it was a very broad range of feedback. Some absolutely loved the guides and were thrilled with them. Others had issues with the sequence of units or standards. Some didn't care for them at all and stated they were going to follow the curriculum guide from the South Carolina Department of Education. I had a chance to talk with our district math head about mathematical/growth mindset. She's read Jo Boaler's book too; she said that when they wrote the curriculum guides this summer they wanted to stay away from instructional strategies, that those were up to individual teachers. So it was good to get insight into how the district views the guides and I look forward to having input into later units of the curriculum.

Challenges: This has been a tough year and we're not even through the first quarter. We had another teacher quit (that's 4 since August) and at least two more have expressed a desire to be elsewhere by the end of December. Morale is the lowest I've ever seen (and I've been here for over 6 years). Each day I remind myself that I need to stay positive for my own sanity and so I don't spread any of my negativity to the students.

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is. As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students. Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

To get my all-boys class through MAP testing, I had to take five students back to my room. Instead of doing a lesson, we arrange the desks and discussed their behavior. One student who was highly agitated had just come from a verbal exchange with another teacher. The exchange as the student claimed began when the teacher stated his parents had not raised him properly. The student's mother had died several years ago, his dad was not in his life due to drugs, and he currently lived with his grandmother. He said that his grandmother was doing her best with him and his siblings and that it hurt him when people brought up his mom in the way the teacher supposedly did. I thanked him for sharing and offered him a pass to guidance if he needed. He said he'd be okay. Another student shared that his dad wasn't around a lot either - it was mainly his mom and aunts. He stated his mom was better good in math and tried to help him at home as much as she could. A week later, his mom and aunts did shadow him for a few class periods (including math).

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year. What is a goal you have for the year?

Working towards a mathematical/growth mindset. My students are coming around. I'm seeing more work when I spot check homework and on the last assessment. When doing Bell Work, they are writing down their justifications without being reminded. I've had several students say they understand math better now that they have to explain it (a few even went as far as to say they are enjoying math for the first time).

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?

A big initiative for this year from the South Carolina Department of Education is Read to Succeed (Literacy in All Content Areas). I was selected to be part of our school's Literacy Team. One of the main reasons was the math journals my students did last year. I also have a Word Wall that is growing weekly and refer often to it during instruction. Additionally I weave in the SAT Word of the Day whenever possible and write them down on my front white board. This Friday (had we not closed for the hurricane) was supposed to be my first attempt this year at weaving informational text (excerpts from "The Grapes of Math" by Alex Bellos) into the instruction. We were going to use the Jigsaw method - assigning each group a page to read and summarize than present their summary to the class for discussion.

For the first time in years, I have student work to put outside in the hallway. My 6th grade Honor students did a performance task where they had to show (visually as well as in words) how to solve a candy bar problem involving fractions. Many students did a wonderful job of drawing bar diagrams to represent the candy bars then dividing them up in 3/4 pieces. They even wrote down their answers in sentences.

Day in the Life: First Month Reflection #DITL

Tuesday, 6 September 2016
First Monthly Post/Reflection (6th day of the month)
How's it going??

Can't believe it's already the FOURTH week of school for us! Administratively, our school is still trying to find its balance. But I can't worry about that - I feel for our office staff as they have been working late nights and on the weekend to process all the new students and their paperwork.

I received my textbooks last week but Tropical Storm Hermine cancelled school on Friday (2 September) so they are still sitting in the back of the classroom. I'm not in a big hurry to get them out. My students use interactive notebooks to record their notes/discussions and any homework.

1) Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day. Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming. When you think about today the past month, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of? What is one you are worried wasn’t ideal?

I'm most proud of getting a parent welcome letter out within the first week of school. In past years, it has not been as timely as it should have been (and one year my classes were reorganized so many times I forgot to send one out at all). This year I just printed it off and handed it out regardless of whether the student stayed in my class or not. Luckily, only a few were switched out to another class.

Another teacher move I'm proud of is the Bell Work Schedule. Students have enjoyed the routine; a few hold outs still don't like the Which One Doesn't Belong? and are confused that there is no right or wrong answer as long as you can logically state your reason. Students are starting to ask questions during instruction that relate to the content but are not yes-no type questions. They are beginning to question how the content relates to the world around them. Like absolute value - they were curious about what the lowest temperature in South Carolina was and where the lowest temperature on Earth was. The lowest temperature in South Carolina was -22-degrees Fahrenheit on 21 January 1985 at Hogback Mountain. I'm originally from Wisconsin so we have South Carolina beat with the lowest temperature being -55-degrees Fahrenheit on 4 February 1996 at Couderay. I can recall it getting down around -30-degrees when I was in high school in the mid-1980s. The students asked what it felt like and I said no one really went outside to check. There was no school those days and people were advised to stay indoors.

A decision I worry about is the behavior intervention I am currently using with one of my all male classes. It is a class of 23 boys, the majority of whom are African-American and developmentally are below grade level in mathematics. The intervention centers around a achieving a goal for the week. The class started with zero points and points are added every 5 minutes they are compliant with the rules: 40 minutes of class = 8 points. They can also earn additional points for asking a relevant question or answering another student's question or coming to the board to work a problem. However, if they begin to break from the rules, they can lose a point for each 5 minutes they are off task. This worked for about a week and they got close to their goal but didn't quite make it. I have tried rearranging seat assignment. I have tried having students write a discipline essay about their behavior and ways to correct it. I have called or texted parents; I have submitted teacher-managed incident referrals to the office. It's only a few that are causing the disruptions every day; and it's not just my class - it's every class. Usually this point system has worked at least for a few months and a few rewards. I'm seeing with this group - I'm probably going to have to go with individual points/rewards or split the group into two and offer a competition between groups. I might eliminate the taking away of points so to focus more on the positive and less on the negative. Any suggestions??

2) Every person’s life is full of highs and lows. Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher. What are you looking forward to? What has been a challenge for you lately?

Looking forward: Using iPads for MAP testing, which means we don't have to waste time walking down to the computer lab. The iPads will be locked by the district so the only app accessible to students will be the MAP testing app. Students are excited about it as well. Also looking forward to our first Cross Country Meet is tomorrow (Wednesday, 7 September). We have several veteran runners (high school juniors) who are looking to run under 20 minutes and a high school freshman who could potential run under 17 minutes.

Challenges: See above question about behavior interventions. That's the big challenge - how can I get these three to four students back on track? When these individuals are not in the room, the rest are fine.

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is. As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students. Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

The three parents who called me back to discuss their student's behavior in class. Two of the calls were just acknowledging the voicemail and that the students would face consequences at home for their actions. The third was more than I expected emotionally. The student in question was not a behavior issue but rather the opposite - he/she has not been participating at all (notebook is barely written in, appears withdrawn, attempted to engage him/her in conversation unsuccessfully, etc). I talked to the student's sibling at first before the father called back. The student's home life has been upended lately. The student is being bullied by other students. I consulted our guidance counselor who stated the home situation was rough but did not know about the bullying - stated it was something we did need to watch and sent an email to the assistant principal about it.

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year. What is a goal you have for the year?

My main goal is to use the growth/mathematical mindset more in class. This was the stated goal in my first post. It's rough getting students to think more independently - that there sometimes is more than one logical way to solve a problem and my way is not always the only way. That still blows their minds. They still want me to tell them how to do each concept instead of trying to work through problems themselves first and active prior knowledge. Although I am seeing more progress with my Honor 6th graders - many have embraced the multiple method approach and look for creative ways to approach different problems. As for Google Classroom - I have had to drop that for the moment. I have ordered 30 styluses from Amazon (a coworker told me about them) so that they can use those to write with instead of their fingers or trying to type out math solutions.

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?

I discovered "Narcos" on Netflix, binged on season 1 over our extended holiday weekend and working slowly on season 2. I really need to stay off of Netflix. And, of course, "Halt and Catch Fire" is back for it's third season on AMC!