Many of my goals for this year came from the amazing teachers at TMC (Twitter Math Camp).

Goal #1:  BLOG MORE

I was disappointed when I looked back at my blog for the past year, as I did not blog much.  Blogging is something that I love, and it is something that I do for me.  I am excited to participate in the new Sundday Funday weekly blogging initiatives. I did a 180 blog two years ago, and am going to start it up again this year!

Goal #2: Build Community in My Classroom

I would love to make students feel appreciated and valued in my classroom.  Here are some ideas I am considering.

• Greet my kids with “Hi-Fives” at the door (from Glenn).  I did this two years ago, but wasn’t as consistent this past year.  I’m back!
• I have tried “Two Nice Things” from Elissa before, but this year I am trying again!
• Sam’s Bell of Joy! Sam has his students ring a bell when they have a “gaspable math moment” I would love to do this so I can spread math joy around the my classroom!  I hope I can make it work.
• You Matter clothespins!  Please go read about this on Sam’s blog as it is long, and I love it.
• I love Sara’s method of writing down one or two students to have a conversation with each day about something they value.
• Make Groups Work!  I want to incorporate group activities and whole class activities that will help the class get to know each other and bond as a community throughout the year.

Goal #3: Rich Tasks

We are using CPM this year.  And I want to ensure that I implement it well, as many of the lessons are rich tasks.  I want to make even the most basic extra practice worksheets rich tasks from the strategies I learned in my “Rich Tasks” morning sessions at #TMC17 that was ran by Peg Cagle, Bill Thrill, and Cal Armstrong. (I plan to blog all about this soon, but you can check out the morning session materials here).

Goal #4:  Build Math Teacher Community in My Community

I have been planning a “Math Teacher Cafe” in my area since last year that will hopefully happen about once a month starting in September for Charlotte area math teachers.  And then the NC teachers attending TMC got together and talked about organizing a MTBoS NC meeting!  Jenn White, Lauren Baucom, and Anna Vance are rockstars and working hard to put that all together.  I feel that this is such an exciting time in my state and can’t wait to connect locally with more math educators!

Goal #5:  WRITE STUFF DOWN

In order to achieve all of these goals I know that I need to get organized.  I bought a tiny notebook that will fit in my purse, and plan to write down lists of things I want to get accomplished everyday.  I am also going to try to hi-light three top goals of everyday that I want to accomplish.  I bought this notebook this week and it has already been amazing.  I intended just to write down things “to do”, but have also written down idea, blog post outlines, and even an outline of my first day plans.  I love that it is small enough for my purse, as I always have it with me and can write in it whenever I have a thought I want to put down.  It also has decreased my phone screen time, which is something I need to do. I attached a pen holder and a clear vinyl pocket to front.