Mrs. Evans Blog

I went to Las Vegas for the weekend to attend SOE Live (Sony Online Entertainment). One of the coolest parts of the trip was getting to chat with some of the game developers. I got to ask the people that actually do the itemization, coding, programming, and really all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on to make a video game. I asked them if they use math in their job, and their immediate response was, "Every day!" They gave me some specifics that were actually things my Geometry and Algebra 2 students are learning or will learn this year. I was so excited to share our conversations with my students. It's awesome to be able to give them examples of people that have cool jobs that use math and that aren't rocket scientists or work for NASA. These are just normal people doing pretty common jobs when you think about all the video games there are out there. They use math every day. They have to! They use simple Algebra on a regular basis too. There was a guy I talked ...

PD - Professional Development. Today's wasn't the most enlightening thing I've ever experienced. We got to hear from a great teacher, but her situation is quite a bit different than ours. I could complain about all the negatives (there are quite a few), but instead I'm just going to comment on my three big takeaways from today. 1. I want to do a better job of teaching the kids how to read a math textbook. I'm going to pick one day a week to do at least an example or a small section of the book as a read/think aloud/model for the kids. I'm going to actually read the book with them and insert my expert thoughts and techniques and strategies as I go. 2. I's... Because... It makes sense that modeling my thinking (using "I" statements so the kids can hear what's going on inside an expert's brain) will help them learn the material. I need to remember to explain the why and answer the because of my thinking instead of just saying "I...

Life is so unfair. It breaks my heart to see what some students face every day--a sibling or parent in jail, homelessness, parents that are drug addicts, parents that just don't care, parents that hurt their kids physically or by what they say to them, boyfriends that are jerks, friends that are jerks... I know kids can make choices to have good or bad friends, but when you see a kid who is put into a terrible situation with parents that shouldn't be parents, I hate that I feel helpless... I want to help, but I don't feel equipped to know what to say or how to treat certain students based on their situations... Is it okay to make exceptions for a student who would shut down completely if I didn't? Is that fair for the students who have great parents and who don't get exceptions made for them since they're expected to be perfect? Maybe I need to focus more on equity. Maybe the expectations and how I handle certain situations and talk to certain students (even...

Today I found out a student of mine told another teacher how she liked how excited I get about proofs.The math is why I wanted to be a teacher to begin with. I get to do math all day! The math is my favorite thing about my job. It's encouraging to know that some students appreciate how much I love the math. It really is the language of the universe, and every day the math I know (even the easy high school stuff) enriches my life! Even today, I was reading Romans 5 where it talks about how suffering produces perseverance which leads to character which leads to hope. By the Law of Syllogism, when I persevere in suffering, I can rest in the hope that I'll have hope! It's amazing that I am assured of having hope of hope! Seeing the logic that if the suffering takes place, then there will be hope... this is all more meaningful to me when I think about the logic behind it and how the hope that I have in God is unarguable truth.

Today I felt really good about the differentiation I did so I thought I would blog about it. After going over new material, I gave all the students 2 problems to do individually. I had two options so kids sitting next to each other had to try different problems. They handed their problems in when finished and worked on homework. As I collected the problems from students, I put them in the back of the pile if they were correct and the front of the pile if they were incorrect. I thew away all the correct papers so I could just focus on the students who needed my help. I split the incorrect papers into a few piles. This only took a minute, and they were working on homework while I did this. I made one pile for students who made one very common simple mistake. I made another pile for kids who missed both problems. Then I made a pile for kids who didn't know how to do problem 1 and a pile for kids who didn't know how to do problem 2. I called up the kids by their groups, and it felt...

Today I'm frustrated by how the system that we have in place doesn't always help students. In fact, right now I feel like because of some restrictions we have in place, I have students that aren't getting the same help and support that other students are receiving when they would benefit from some of those resources as much or more than some of the students currently receiving help. I have a girl who was in math lab last year. That meant she had math 2 periods a day. They focused on preteaching what the students would see in their math class as well as ITED prep during that 2nd math class. This student passed her math classes last year. She was proficient on her Iowa Assessments. (Although, had she scored one point lower she would not have been, and would have been automatically eligible for lab this year.) Since she was proficient by one point, the only way she would be put in lab this year was if her interim test scores last year were below an average of 50%. She was ju...

On Monday night, I sponsored a team of 12 students for "Under the Lights." More than 900 kids took part in the homecoming fun! It was basically grown up field day. So much fun!! It was a great way to bond with the kids and get the whole school involved!!