#70Days learning from #TMC14 from a distance

51/70

I'm struggling with blogging today ... not feeling great, had a stressful weekend, and just now realizing I have only 2 weeks of summer left ... yikes!

But in an effort to stick with it ... here are five favorite things I've culled from the #TMC14 sessions this week although I am #notatTMC14!! I've been both worn out by their activity and jealous all at the same time!

First I listened to MathEdout's podcast on the recap of Day 1! Pumphrey shared his favorite game - the game of 99. I loved learning about that game and while it doesn't fit my curriculum perfectly, I can use the game for those few fill in moments - to emphasize numeracy. I also got to listen to a short interview with Steve Leinwand. Love the emphasis on knowing why ... not just how! I saw several tweets on using "convince me" in class. To follow up, this picture was posted on Twitter today ... we have to teach for understanding - not the tricks!

Second, I read Kathryn's recap of day 1. She mentioned Chris Shore (@MathProjects) using the Rodin sculpture "The Thinker" to encourage problem solving and persistence. I'm decorating a newly assigned classroom this year ... love this idea! She also mentioned, Rebecka Peterson's (@RebeckaMozdeh) "Friday letter" in which students can write her a letter in place of a warm-up on Friday. Rebecka writes back to all the students! That's an amazing opportunity to build relationships! I might adapt that idea - have students write me an email!

On that same day, someone shared an op-ed piece on coaching as a metaphor for teaching! I want to tape a reminder of this on my desk somewhere! It's easy to so caught up in the moment, that we forget to hold kids to high standards and to do it through a coaching mentality! (By the way if you like metaphors, check out this website of metaphors for teaching - very interesting!)

Kathryn blogged about her day two. I quote: "Glenn Waddell (@gwaddellnvhs) shared that an old smart phone can become a great (free) video camera for your classroom. And...bonus...notching a slit in the bottom of a cup and placing it on a table upside down makes a pretty great tripod. Genius!" I've got two old smartphones sitting around somewhere ... now I know what to do with them! Kathryn also mentioned dinner that night, and the friends with whom she ate ... and she learned that Greg (@mathtans) writes polynomial fiction! Well I tracked that down ... what fun! I'll be sharing these stories with my students. Not sure how ... but definitely on my to-do list! You have to check out G. Taylor's Polynomials!

Last for my Five Things ... I read Pam's favorites posted today (@pamjwilson ) on her blog. One of her favorites is Plickers! I just learned about Plickers at the end of the school year and I haven't tried them yet. Her post jogged my memory ... now I want to get my cards ready to use in the first weeks of school!






Those are my Five Faves from #TMC14 scoured from blogs and Twitter! Next up will be to peruse the TMC website ... and review the handouts posted!

Maybe next year I can go to the Twitter Math Camp!