Mrs. Evans Blog

On my walk a few days ago and sporadically since then I have been praying for a few specific students that were very close to failing. Two students in particularly that have really been on my mind took their final today. They both went into the final with a D-. I had prayed that God would intervene and that whatever happened, it was his plan. I always struggle with knowing if a student would be better off if they failed and potentially received additional support the following year and if they really need to retake the class, or if they would be better off if they passed so they could get their act together and not be behind for graduation or if they need that time in their schedule for some other reason that only God knows... I basically prayed that God would take control of the outcome. Well, one student actually raised his grade with his score on the final. I really feel like he deserved it. He has come in for extra help every single day for the last 3 weeks straight. The other ...

Let me start by saying not all of these are things I've come up with. My fellow teachers and I have had a lot of conversations recently, and I work with some really smart people! I've also gotten some idea from other blogs. 1. What about giving "in class" problems that students must work in groups or individually to solve in class? These problems would use the new material that we learned in class in different way. They would start with basic problems and if they do those fine in class there would be more challenging problems. This would be a natural way to differentiate. Then students would be expected to do 6-10 problems outside of class over their spiral topic. (Either spiral from a day or two before or spiraled from a previous unit.) 2. I want to go back to giving "Important Notes." I'm not sure yet if I want these to be on stapled pieces of paper on the syllabus? Maybe I could put a spot for it on the syllabus. This section would contain the big...

I found this idea on Pinterest although I can't remember where or from whom. I put the students in groups of 3. I actually typed up directions for each group which seemed more effective than me just speaking the directions. It also helped me plan better for exactly how the game was going to work. Basically each group had 15 paper-clipped sets of 3 cards, each with a similar math problem. To start they took the first set of three cards and placed one on each student's desk upside down. When I said, "Go," they each did their individual problem (individual accountability). Then they had to find the sum of their answers and send a "runner" to me to check the answer for that set of cards. If it was correct, they were instructed to put those 3 cards in their DONE pile and pick up the next set of 3 cards from their START pile. They then repeated the process. If they told me their sum and it was incorrect, they had to go back to the group and work together to fi...

First, I know I'm doing my job because I had a student say to me, "I have this hexagonal shaped coffee table at my house, and now when I see it I think, 'I can find the area!'" Second, we've spent the last 3-4 weeks studying Acts 12 at my church. It's the story where the church prays and Peter has an angel appear to him and bust him out of prison. Then Herod gets eaten by worms. Well, we've been emphasizing prayer at church and bible study lately and it struck me when I was on a walk that even though I often pray on walks, I'm not always intentional about what I pray for. I just sort of talk and think with God. While this isn't bad at all, I decided today to spend my whole walk praying for students that have needs either academically or socially or with what they're dealing with at home. Now I feel like I'm going into the last week of school as a team with God. He knows what they need (not like he didn't already, but...) and now w...

A few days ago I overheard a student say, "Oh my God, I hate that teacher..." I told him he shouldn't say things like that about his teachers. His response was, "Teachers talk about their students all the time. Don't they?" The truth is, we all vent sometimes. I am just as guilty of sharing stories about specific students that drove me crazy or did something stupid. I'm really just gossiping and causing other teachers to see a student a certain way. Sometimes we have conversations around a certain student with the purpose of learning more about the student and how we can help him or her, but all too often we're just complaining or placing blame or judging a student and that isn't what I want to be pouring out of my heart. I couldn't lie to the student I was talking to. I told him he was right, but I wish someone would hold me accountable and tell me to stop talking about students like that, just as I had asked this student not to talk abo...

My sister and mom have both inspired me in the last week to keep writing my blog! So while I don't feel like I have anything super insightful or wise that I've learned through teaching this last week, I'm going to write for the sake of writing because I think it's always a good idea to think outside my brain and see what I've learned that maybe I haven't even realized. I went for a few days without a quote of the week last week, and it really bugged some of my students. I put up a new one, and it's cool to see the kids actually want to know what they mean. Sometimes we talk about the quote for a minute or two. This week's quote was, "Every man dies. Not every mean really lives," by William Wallace. One student said, "Then why are we in school?" I said that many people say college is one of the greatest experiences of their lives and you need high school to go to college and then do all the wonderful things that you'll be able to...