I finished the iMovie that I made of the 7th grade overnight trip with Inside Out and our visit to Full Moon Farm.  It’s 37 minutes long!  I took much more video this year and another teacher on the trip brought her amazing camera and took over 200 photos!  So, it’s a bit long, but really fun.  Enjoy!

Our Math Club is going to Carowinds Theme Park this Sunday!  We have been planning this all year.   The students talked about things they would like to find out at a theme park.  They researched roller coasters and even made a fun roller coaster presentation (see below).  Our big question is, “It the ride worth the wait?”.  The students will analyze wait times, ride times, and thrill factors of the rides in the park.  They created booklets to take with them and record all of the data they collect.  They even planned out their day!  We will analyze our results at the next Math Club meeting.

I feel a change, will do you good. I say a change, will do you good.

I am moving schools and changing jobs next year. I will teach upper school at Cannon school starting in the fall. I will most likely teach Geometry and Alg 2 with trig.

I have always taught high school or college level students until my last four years at Woodlawn. Before I started, I was afraid to teach middle school students, but I found that I loved every minute of it. I really love their energy!

I am sad to leave my current school, with all of it’s wonderful students and families. But I am also excited about the opportunities at my new school. After being the lone middle school math teacher for four years, I will be in a math department of eight teachers! There are two other new teachers coming in as well. The math teachers that I met had amazing energy and wonderful camaraderie with each other. We are even going on a math curriculum retreat this summer! They are very progressive, teaching all of their math courses through discovery learning. They even use all discovery learning textbooks! They are excited to learn all about the MTBoS, and I am looking forward to soaking up everything I can about discovery learning at the high school level from them. I teach through discovery exclusively in my current middle school position, all with lessons that I have either made up or adapted from the knowledgable teachers of the MTBoS. So this position will be a great next step for me. Also, I just found out that my bestie, Sam Shah, will also be teaching Geometry next year! I cannot wait to collaborate with him! And even though change can be scary, this was another sign that I made the right choice to move!

The hardest part will be leaving. Woodlawn has become my home and I have been blessed with a wonderful family there. But I think that a change will do me good.

Woodlawn is Your Home

I am in the Great Smokey Mountains with my amazing 6th grade students this week.

They are truly an outstanding group of young people. They are kind to each other and treat each other like family. They are respectful and follow the rules. They are not afraid to try new things and have been very adventurous on this trip. They achieve whatever they set their minds on. They are a powerful group. They have a dramatic flair unlike I have ever seen in a class of 6th graders. There is a larger class of 6th graders from another school here with us at camp. My students are not afraid to be who they are even in front of them. They are still being themselves, even in front of unknown peers. They are brave.

I am at Tremont in the Great Smokey Mountains with the 6th graders this week.  I went on the trip last year and made a video of our adventure.  I plan to do the same this year.  I will be out of the land of cell service and wi-fi until Saturday.  It will be bliss.

The middle school parents did this for all of the teachers at my school.  I was blown away and had to take pictures.  The parents brought in and set up the tables and even cleaned the room until it shined.  Their hard work was so evident in every detail.  In keeping with our schools spirit, they had apples brought in from a local organic apple farm.  The food was amazing, and so appreciated right now.

I have never had a teacher appreciation day like this one.  Thank you dear parents for the most beautiful teacher appreciation feast that I have ever seen.  Your kindness meant so much to me and others.   Love is in the details.