Monthly Archives: July 2018

Blog in August to Participate in the Virtual Conference on Mathematical Flavors!

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The amazing Sam Shah has created a virtual math conference for the month of August and he would love to feature your blog post!  To participate, write a blog post that answers the prompt below and submit it from now until August 27th.  You can read more about the details and even get blogging ideas on Sam’s Blog.  Once submitted, your blogpost will be featured with the keynote blogs of the week from Ben Orlin, Annie Perkins, Rebecka Peterson, Dan Meyer, Robert Q Berry III, Matt Enlow, Michael Pershan, Lybrya Kebab, and Tracy Zager.

The prompt that you will blog about is:

How does your class move the needle on what your kids think about the doing of math, or what counts as math, or what math feels like, or who can do math?

“Your teaching practice has an impact on how your kids think about mathematics. Our classrooms are little bubbles and while kids are sitting in them, they are picking up all kinds of signals about mathematics. You might have students leaving a year with you thinking mathematics is collaborative, or that it requires taking risks, or that it is hard but hard is okay. We all have our own unique flavor of mathematics that we are imparting to students through how we orchestrate our classes day in and day out.” – Sam J Shah

Click here to read more about the virtual conference!

Weekly Keynotes and Deadlines

  • To be featured on Week 1 with Ben Orlin and Annie Perkins, submit your blogpost by noon on July 30th
  • To be featured on Week 2 with Rebecka Peterson and Dan Meyer, submit your blogpost by noon on August 6th
  • To be featured on Week 3 with Robert Q Berry III and Matt Enlow, submit your blogpost by noon on August 13th
  • To be featured on Week 4 with Michael Pershan and Lybrya Kebreab, submit your blogpost by noon on August 20th
  • To be featured on Week 5 with Tracy Zager, submit your blogpost by noon on August 27th

Happy Blogging!  I would love to see your blog post at the conference!

Julie Reulbach

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“Teacher Leader, You Are Enough” Keynote, #TMC18

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This summer, I was fortunate enough to be asked to give a keynote to the most brilliant and innovative math educators in this county, and beyond.

Of course I started it out as a pep rally (thanks Courtney and Sam), because that is who I truly am.  My friends know me.  TMC is NOT your typical math teacher conference!  But then, I had to get serious, because I am very passionate about teaching, and I wanted to share what has been on my heart.  However, I did not expect to make teachers cry.  And I did not expect that their powerful responses to my talk would make me cry.

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To all of the teachers out there, please remember that even on your worst days, YOU ARE ENOUGH.  Also, please don’t disappear, we need you.  We all need each other.

IMG_2992I can mail you a sticker if you want one.  Or, you can print it out using the png file.

Watch the entire Teacher Leader keynote on YouTube.

Thank you to Lisa Henry for that hilarious (and surprise) bio!  Thank you to everyone who took and shared pictures!  And a special thanks to everyone who helped me prepare.  ❤

Love, Julie

 

 

YOU ARE ENOUGH Stickers!

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I taped all of the stickers to the chairs during the FIRST morning session of TMC.  Yes, they were there the entire time folks!  

 

I’ve had many requests for the stickers that I taped under the chairs for my keynote.  I will happily mail you stickers!  But my life is pretty crazy, so I will need some help from you!  To get the stickers, please send me a self-addressed stamped envelope with the number of stickers you want.  It is $1 for 2 stickers.  I also have to order more stickers, so it will be a couple of weeks before I can get them and mail them out.  

  1. You will need TWO envelopes and a stamp.
  2. Snail mail me:
    1. An envelope that is self-addressed (has your address on it).
    2. Please put a stamp on it. I have like 3 stamps in my house.
    3. Yes, you will put your stamped envelope inside the envelope you are mailing to me.
  3. Include $1.00 and I will mail you 2 stickers.  If you want more, just add more money!  $1 for every 2 stickers is what Sticker Mule charges me.  🙂
  4. I didn’t want to put my mailing address on my blog, so please Go to this form and fill it out to get my mailing address.

Or, you can print it out using the png file.

My #TMC18 Sticker Story

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200+ chairs is NO JOKE people, and I knew it would take me a while.  My friends offered to help me tape them to the chairs after everyone had left for the day.  But, the evening activities started up pretty soon after TMC ended each day so I was worried I would not have time.  I taped the stickers to the chairs on Thursday morning, during the first morning session.  I wasn’t able to finish them all because people kept coming in to use the ladies restroom and I didn’t want to get caught!  So, thankfully Mattie Baker helped me finish it up after lunch.  Thank you Mattie!

 

I was sad to miss my morning session however.  The morning sessions go deep and are such an amazing time to connect with new people.  This is my first time missing the morning session, and I realized that I did not connect with as many new people as I usually do. I was also a little crazy from stress at the beginning of the week, so I don’t know if I would have been able to focus in a morning session anyway as they can get pretty involved.  But I do know one thing, I will never miss another morning session if I am at TMC!

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I owe a giant thank you to Sam Shah!  After listening to my speech back in June, it was his great idea to make the stickers from my slides and then do the entire Oprah give-away!

I am so much better because of my brilliant educator friends!

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It takes a village. ❤

Julie Reulbach, @jreulbach

** I used Sticker Mule to buy my stickers and they were awesome! They texted me a preview picture of my sticker for approval before printing them, and then texted me when they were shipping.  I also got them 2 days faster than they said they would arrive! They just sent me a $10 coupon if you want to use it!

Teaching CPM? Join Our Working Group

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The first CPM meeting is September 5th, register here!

My favorite session at the #TMC18 conference was the CPM Flex session that we had at the end of the day Saturday.  (The Flex session is an open hour on the last day of the conference where anyone can propose and hold an impromptu session.)  The CPM session evolved from meeting teachers who were also using CPM in other sessions.  Once we discovered we were teaching CPM, discussions ensued, and it was obvious that we needed focused time together to brainstorm and discuss our experiences.  Our discussions were incredible, and we all decided that they must continue throughout the school year!

CPM Working Document

Our one hour flex session was incredible, and it went by too fast.  We all shared our successes, concerns, and ideas for improvements for next year on a CPM Working Google Doc.  I loved brainstorming with other educators who were using the same curriculum that I was.  The CPM Working Document is viewable to anyone.  **If you would like to collaborate with us, leave a reply to comment on the document with your email address and I will add you.

CPM Monthly Virtual Meetings

Typing on the document was great, but our conversations were even better.  We decided that we would like to meet virtually once a month, to talk with each other and update the working document together.  We will meet the first Wednesday night of the month, at 9PM EST.  Our first meeting is September 5th, sign up here!  I will update this post with more information once I know it, and then also post it on Twitter.  If you want, sign-up to receive info here:  CPM Sign-Up

I’m so excited to connect with an learn from other CPM teachers this year!

 

About CPM

I loved using CPM this year. For my entire teaching career, I have not had a good curriculum to teach with.  Sometimes I didn’t even have a textbook.  So, with the help of the #MTBoS, I created (and “borrowed”) all of my material.  This was enjoyable, as I loved creating the material for each day, but it was also exhausting, and at times, overwhelming. I’m at a larger school now, and working with other teachers across multiple subjects, so we needed a curriculum that we could all use.  I was very happy when I found CPM two years ago, as many of the activities in their Algebra 2 book were things I was already doing.  However, the CPM activities are written very well, with better scaffolding and questioning.  And, CPM included things I wanted to do, like spiraling homework.  It was also rated, scoring all greens, on EdReports.  So we decided to try it out.

Before using CPM, I never realized the importance of a cohesive, comprehensive curriculum (note: not a textbook series).   The CPM series threads together concepts from chapter to chapter, always including past material and going deeper each time.  It is really enjoyable to experience it unfold throughout the year.  Additionally, concepts are taught in a consistent way, with consistent ideas and terminology, in subsequent subjects.   No longer do I hear, “That is not the way that Mrs. X taught it last year”.  This consistency has allowed students to build on their previous learning, instead of feeling like they are learning entirely new and different math each year.