Mrs. Evans Blog

Well, it was easier to come back then I thought it would be. I'm exhausted, behind in the million things that need to be done, and haven't quite fixed my sleeping schedule, but the kids have been mostly great since returning. They came back Monday ready to jump back into learning which encouraged me to jump right back into teaching, so it's been a productive few days. We aren't learning anything new this week. I think that helps a lot. We're not overwhelming the kids with brand new difficult concepts their first day back to school. We're spending a week doing what we call an "Insert." We review 4 big topics for 4 days. Then on Friday we'll take a test for the second time over these 4 big topics. It will be a chance for many kids to learn the material a lot better and improve their scores from the first time they took a test over this same stuff. A funny story: Today I watched a kid throw a carrot over a railing and down some stairs at another k

Differentiation is the buzz word in education right now. I think the focus needs to be on EQUITY. I agree that all students do not learn in the same way. I want to do a better job to give each student what he or she needs instead of a one size fits all education. Differentiation is different in math than it is in other classes, however. There aren't different levels of accomplishment in a math problem unless you want some students to simply solve while others can expain and write in depth about why their solution and process works. The problem is, what I'm teaching now, I can't split into levels. All students need to be able to do all types of problems that I present in class. A fellow math teacher pointed out to me today that differentiation in a math classroom often results in tracking. The students that struggle with unit 1 will probably struggle with unit 2 and will probably struggle with unit 3... You get the idea. Often the same students struggle with almost everyth