July Currently

I can't believe that July is already here.  Where did my June go??  I'm linking up with Farley for the July Currently, but will also try to do some more posts this month and get back into the blogging world!

Listening:  I'm up this morning working on some homework and my husband is digging up the pump to the bubbler in our backyard.  Little one (not so little anymore… she just turned 11!) also got up and is acting as "assistant"!  I love how patient he is with her and I love that she enjoys spending time with him, even if the job isn't playing with American Girl dolls :).  Oh… and of course the World Cup is also on!

Loving:  Summer time!  I love having time to just sit back and relax.  We just did a big vacation, seeing my brother-in-law get married in northern Idaho, visiting my sister in Seattle, and visiting my parents and in-laws in Sacramento.  Even though I had more homework to do, there weren't a lot of other responsibilities besides spending time with family.  It was so much fun and I still have about six weeks left to enjoy.  Oh… and my oldest got to do a bunch of driving on the trip.  That was also… exciting?? (Seriously, she did a great job - nine different states and various road conditions; not many fifteen year olds can say they've done that!)

Thinking:  I've got three weeks left in this second master's degree that I've been working on.  These two classes (Statistics for Teachers and Number Structures) are super intense, but I'm actually learning things.  They're both online, but I'm spending hours a day working on discussions and homework.  Three more weeks and I'm DONE!!  If anyone is looking for a great master's program for teachers of Mathematics, check out this program through Montana State University.

Wanting:  Just a day to read…. Usually I have time to read 10 - 15 books over the summer.  Up to now I've only read one :(.  Once these classes end I'll get to it, but some days I just want to take a break and get out a new novel.

Needing:   Nothing.  I'm feeling really blessed right now and everything seems to be going well.  There are things I would like (like a few more weeks of summer), but nothing that I really need.  I'm learning to be grateful for that!

4th Plans:  Since we just returned from vacation (after two days driving from California to Colorado) we don't have a ton of plans for the Fourth.  We're going to hang out with neighbors, maybe catch a movie, and enjoy some good food.

June 2014 Currently

Oh man… it's June!!  More to come on how quickly that happened, but for now, I'm linking up with Farley for the June Currently.

Listening - I love spring.  I love to hear the birds in the morning that let me know that the school year is soon coming to an end.  I especially love it because it means that I get some quiet time for breakfast and then play time with the kiddos.

Loving - Did I say 2 days?  Now it's just 1!!  So excited to be done, but already planning for the next year…

Thinking - I need to stop for a bit and just enjoy being me and a mom.  It's too easy to jump into all of the "what if I..." and "why don't we try's…".  I know it will get done, but I need to pull away and just take some time to relax, recuperate, and do some fun summertime things with my own kids.

Wanting - More time!  Already my summer looks packed.  I just want about 4 more weeks to play!

Needing - I need to go to the store.  We're out of cereal and the end of the year is soooooooo busy.  No one's going to starve, but I may have some rebellious family members if I don't get some key items soon :).

Summer Bucket List:

1. Sometimes I think I get mired down in a lot of little details.  I need to take some time and focus on me and my family for a bit this summer.  One of my priorities is to make time for exercise, which will probably have to be early morning to allow for the "enjoy my kids" part.  During summertime my kiddos tend to sleep late, so I can make that exercise/clean/plan time.  Then, I want to make doing fun things with them a priority, rather than the exception.  I can handle a messy room….., I can!
2. This year marks my husband's 20th and final year in the Air Force.  He's retiring in July, which means I have to plan a party!  This will be both stressful and fun, but after that, he's totally ours for a bit (before figuring out what he really wants to do when he grows up).  We are going to make the most of it with trips to the amusement park, hiking, swimming, etc, before the rest of us have to go back to school.
3. Math Workshop - I did a lot of reading about this last summer, but never really got my feet off the ground.  I know it takes a lot of pre-planning and so I pitched it to all of the 8th grade math department and everyone is on board.  So…. that means there's no way out and we have to get going.  Although this takes a lot of time, I'm going to try to balance this with #1 and #2 on the list.  Makes for a full summer!!!

Minds on Mathematics: Chapter 3 (Tasks)

So I'm back from a fantabulous trip to Alaska and am feeling quite refreshed!  The bad thing about coming back from vacation is you have no excuse to not think about work-related things.  That being said… time to catch up on the Minds on Mathematics book study!!

My favorite line in this chapter is, "Struggle is central to growth; when we wrestle to make sense, our hard-won comprehension will not easily be lost or forgotten."  This is SO true and is something I struggle with daily in my classrooms.  It is easy, as a teacher, to stand up and lecture, especially when we "get it".  Why don't they all get it??  We think we have great ways to present things, we give meaningful examples, and we ask students to practice.  Yet many of them still leave our classrooms wondering what they've learned.  I liked this chapter because it addresses this issue that I think many of us want to deal with but may not know how.

(Note: Hoffer mentions Understanding by Design (1998) by Wiggins and McTighe.  I've read this and used it in a graduate class and it has become my main resource for backwards planning.  It's an easy read and a great book to have in your own teaching library.  I highly recommend taking a look.)

Hoffer discusses our need as a teacher to cover all of the material, which I can certainly relate to.  I do feel pressure from the direction of the state tests to get everything completed before March, simply so my students have seen everything.  However, I'd really like to work deeper rather than give a one-day overview.  I think that to do this, we need to get away from students getting it "right" to students working through longer and more complicated tasks - "higher cognitive demand"!

I think there will end up being a lot of front-loading with developing these types of tasks, but it will be worth it.  I appreciate all of the graphics the author includes with examples of questions and different cognitive levels.  Now I guess I'll need to get back to work… vacation is over!

Whale watching was awesome!

Holding a 29-day old sled dog at the Seavey's - this year's Iditarod winner. 

"Booty Bear" - gave us a great show in Denali National Park.