A SHOUT OUT to Duluth 12!

It's all coming to a close and I can't believe it.  This has been the most amazing journey I have taken in my education.  All 20 years of schooling I've had and this is, by far, been the most growth of all of it.  My students have gained so much from all of our hard work.  I did the readings and I wrote the papers, but the true learning was when I was at class with my fellow Duluth 12'ers.  We always had fun.  One second we were deep in thought, the next we were laughing with one another.  It was always an environment that I felt safe to make mistakes and grow.  I always left there wanting my students to feel the same way when they left my class.  I can't believe it's almost done.  Congratulations everyone!  Let's enjoy this last full weekend together!

Reflecting in Math

My students have started one of the most exciting parts of the year in math.  We have started the five minute addition tests.  The students have a sheet of paper that has 100 addition problems on them and they have five minutes to do as many as possible.  This is great practice and we do it every single day.  My favorite part is that they keep track of their scores on a little chart they have in their pencil box.  They put their score under what day we took the test and then they talk with their neighbor about if they have improved or not.  Then we take a few minutes to discuss strategies that have worked for individuals.  Eventually they will start writing what their goal is for that day on the test.  Then they will have a certain number in their head.  I love doing this because it teaches the kids how to set their own goals and to not compare to others.