I’ve been postponing my thoughts on post after post after post…

thinking…

i will find my camera soon

but

NO!

There is so much to share and tell and doing it sans pictures seems wrong, but, alas, here I am.

I’m wondering if this is the end of this blog for now.

I’ve been in a fox hole of math and work…more than I ever thought possible.

I also will be leaving Green Street for a year as I’ve taken the position of District Math Coach.

No one is more shocked than I, believe me!

We will see.  I am more than disoriented without my camera as you may have gathered.

But, this post will have to DO with an OLD picture….here we go!

The first gorgeous woman is my grandmother, Mildred.  (She’ll be 90 years young in August!)  She’s in front of my Grandpa.  His name was Albert. Behind them, her sister, Laura (yes, still kickin’) and her deceased husband, Ned.  Both men were WWII vets, great cooks, and they loved to dance and watch shows like “The Honeymooners”.

Until next post with or without my camera!

The title of this article is a real question from a real parent! These are great questions.  Do I have theories, yes.  Answers? No WAY!  I WISH! I was so happy a parent came to me and shared her concern, however.  It brought me back to the survey I disseminated at the start of the year about what parent concerns existed for their child.  The results can be found here:

http://iamzer0.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/the-parents-have-spoken-add-comments-here/

At the time of that survey parents rated their satisfaction with our attempts in math education with a 6.4 out of 10.  Not so bad, but not so good, either.

As I was saying….a parent approached me today with a worry about what her child could realistically expect to experience in math education as they grew up and moved through the grades here at Green Street.

My short answer to her question, “Shouldn’t students be able to multiply fluently and divide with the algorithm by 6th grade?” was “YES!” BUT, there is so much more to it.  It involves curriculum, teacher, family, student motivation and persistence, and, most of all, it involves a curiosity about what we are teaching in our classrooms.  Keep asking questions!

I wish there were a magic insta-answer, but there just isn’t.  Teaching and learning math is really hard work (sometimes), but worth it!

I am happy to speak with any and all who have concerns, questions, comments, praise…

If there are parents out there that have questions…let’s talk.  I just have to finish surfing this wave then I’m ALL EARS!  Maybe we can create something together to help get some questions answered.

IT’S A MIRACLE WE EVEN FIND OUR MAIL

she’s baaaaaaack!

My beautiful orchid.  It’s the 3rd year in a row this beauty has made a comeback. She was a present from my parents when I received the Noyce fellowship, so I hold her close to my heart!

I’ve been spending oodles of time indoors cleaning and deep cleaning and then cleaning even more.  I even cleaned under and behind the fridge! Squeak! Squeakity! Squeaky clean!

While I mopped, scrubbed, vacuumed, heaved, hoed, tidied, and shaped up this ship, I had fun arranging odds and ends, bits of stone, shell, and coral.
.  I took a picture of one arrangement before it got a) dusty or b) quickly un-arranged by some very playful and naughty kittehs’!

Now I know the picture below showcases a very well behaved kitty with nothing more in her mind than a good 16 hour nap, but don’t let her fool you!  She is a smart aleck, wise gal, rabble rouser of lawlessness!  When she’s not sleeping in a box, she is making t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

harumph!

Spiral Art

Multiplication games created by our guest math games creator, Taylor!

Measuring distances with Matchbox cars (Thank you Marybeth for “manning” the ramp)

and, of course, yummy, greasy, sugary, warm doughnuts…

It all made for another successful Math Games Morning!

Thanks to all those that attended, played a game, helped out, cleaned up, and loaned us a classroom.  See you next time!

Come in from the COLD!

Thursday, January 27th, from 8:00am to 8:30 am

Run up to Andrew Speno’s room and play a few rounds, leap a frog down a number line, blow some bubbles, eat a doughnut, shuffle some cards, roll the dice…

It’s Math Games Morning Time!

Yes, I got creative with some pictures! The icicles are just too scary and awesome to not include this time of year!

I had inspiration, however.  Champion knitters Madame and Julia.  There are more at Green Street.  It’s a secret society (not really).  Parents, teachers…all women…where are the knitting men? They must be out there.

Here is a wee photo essay:

I do believe she’s happiest when knitting!

A perfect day was spent with the fair Julia.  We went yarn shopping in hopes of Julia teaching me a bit o’ knitting.

• yarn purchased-check
• pattern chosen and obtained-check
• needles in hand-check
• cast on 104-check
• let the knitting begin!

Meanwhile, here is our journey in photos.  P.S. NO chickens were found in the knitting store.  Those are the much cooed over and adored chickens of George, Evy, and Julia!

Introducing…..the ladies!

and Buddy, the sweet dog, who is most polite amongst the chickens…

and then we got hungry

Today, unfortunately, I was recuperating from a sudden illness last night.  I spent the day on the couch eating crackers, drinking flat ginger ale, loving my kitty, and gazing at the blooming Christmas cactus!