The Good,The Bad, and The Goals of this year

Starting back to school was bitter sweet. I had a great summer and was rested and ready to start back up. I teach 7th and 8th grade Math and Science on a two person team. We have one class of 7th graders and one class of 8th graders. It felt great to already know the 8th graders and have a personal relationship with each of them as well as know them as students. I also felt great that there was not all the initial housekeeping to go over with them. They knew my expectations and we could really hit the ground running and have a great start. I do need to keep telling myself that I will get there with the 7th graders as it took me a while to set up a routine last year as well, but it definitely paid off.

Challenges of the beginning of school:
1. Lockers
2. The heat
3. The Red Sox continually losing and being out of wild card range

This year I am really focusing on the curriculum and how I teach it. Last year was such a learning experience for me that I barely had time to reflect on what was working, what wasn't, and how I could expand and integrate the curriculum. I plan to not be so dependent on the math program we use in order to give the students a better overall understanding of mathematics, including fact fluency, computational skills, as well as connections to science. Science was my major struggle last year and I didn't always enjoy it. Over this summer I have been to professional development and participated in conferences to better my science instructions and I'm truly excited to teach it this year. We are going to start off with the Vital Signs project (sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute) looking at invasive species in our area. We will also be doing simple machines, bridge building, a large unit on snowflakes, and maybe a CSI study. I have much more freedom with teaching science than I do with math and this year I am definitely going to take advantage of it!