Moving into our Mathematician Profiles

Last week students finished up graphing the results of their multiple intelligences test.  It is so interesting to see all the different learning styles we have within the classroom, and to have students reflect on how they learn best and where they may have difficulties.  Students were able to apply feedback they had received from their rough draft to create a beautiful final piece of work.  We will be placing a huge focus on beautiful work this year, and the students are off to a great start.

On Monday, students began working on their math autobiography.  The autobiography asks students to explain some of their earliest memories of doing math, their feelings about math, topics that need some work, and goals for math this year.   This autobiography is the first part of our Mathematician profile, where students will describe themselves in numbers and learn that math is everywhere.  Ask yourself, "when is the last time I used math or numbers?"  It was probably within the last few minutes.  Students are describing all aspects of their life with numbers, finding out how many miles away from school they live as well as their height and armspan in inches.  The mathematician profiles will be due at the end of the school day on Friday, so be sure to check in with your student as to their progress.

Today in class we also spent some time discussing a huge aspect of earth science, water.  We discussed that___% of our body is made up of water, as well as ____% of our Earth's surface.  Are you intrigued, as your student to help you fill in those blanks.  We will continue our quest for water knowledge this week and in many weeks to come, as one of our first science projects will tackle this amazing combination of elements.

Stay tuned for more learning information!

Our First Project

First, let me just say how much fun we all had at the beach on Tuesday.  Thank you so much to the parent drivers that made the field trip possible.  When we arrived at the beach the students had such excitement and wonder.  We had groups playing volleyball, football, boogie boarding, making sand sculptures, and looking for marine life.  Some of my favorite moments included teaching a few young girls how to throw a spiral football and just enjoying conversations with students and parents.

Yesterday we returned from our beach trip knowing more about each other and ready to embark on our first project.  This project is multidisciplinary and will include parts from both math/science and humanities.  The project poses the essential question, "Who am I?".  Students in my class will begin answering that question by taking a learning styles assessment to figure out how they learn best.  Students are currently working on graphing this information, giving and receiving feedback on their work, and creating a beautiful final draft to be displayed in class.

As this project progresses it will include a math autobiography and a timeline of important events in their life.  A full project description can be found on the Me, Numerically page on the right hand side of the blog.  I am so excited we had such a nice field trip and have begun work on our first project!

First Week

First let me just say we have had an amazing first week of school.  We have been getting to know each other and doing amazing challenges to learn new things.  Yesterday, we had the students learning karate, guitar, origami, and ballroom dancing.  This gave the students the opportunity to learn new skills, and also the opportunity to teach a classmate something amazing.  We learned we all have skills to share and skills to still gain. 

As the week progresses the class will be creating agreements in which they will follow this school year.  These agreements begin with a discussion on community and culture.  We asked the students, "What do you want your community to look and feel like?"  From that driving question the students create the framework for our year.  I can not wait to see all of their ideas.

Next week we will be having a field trip to the beach on Tuesday with the entire middle school.  On Micheal's blog will be a sign up for drivers.  If you can take a group of students, please sign up as soon as possible. Stay tuned for exact times and location.