So, I think one of my biggest takeaways from year three of teaching is that my students and I thrive on routines. I haven't done the best job of implementing routines, and this is something I definitely want to come up with ways to work on over the summer. But, this year I did have a routine for how to start class each day. Monday Good Things. Tuesday Trivia. Witzzle Wednesday. Teaser Thursday. Friday Funnies. My kids knew what to expect every single day, and they held me to it! If we forgot Witzzle Wednesday, it was pretty much the end of the world. Having a specific focus for each day helped me a lot. Now I just need to apply this more to my actual teaching...
I've noticed the same in my blogging. When life got super crazy earlier this school year, the only regular blogging I did was Things Teenagers Say. Why? I knew what was expected of me in those posts. I knew I could deliver that kind of content. In the past, I've loved participating in Made 4 Math Mondays. For these posts, it didn't even really matter if I posted it on a Monday. All I had to do was post something I had made for my classroom. Easy. Peasy. Lemon Squeezy.
When I go a while between blog posts, I start to feel like my next blog post has to be amazing/comprehensive/inspiring/life-changing. This just makes me put off blogging even longer which exacerbates the situation. Usually, I end up writing blog posts about my lack of blog posts instead of actually sharing something useful.
So, I'm excited to announce two new series that I will be posting ideas under. I'm excited to see what short and sweet and hopefully useful posts come out of these!
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First, I want to take some time over the next few months to reflect on all of the new ideas I tried in my classroom this year. At the start of the new year, I do a really good job of posting about all my new, spiffy, totally untested ideas. I do a much worse job of updating my blog with whether it actually worked or not. That's what this series is going to set out to do. Spoiler Alert: Lots of stuff didn't work...
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Then, I also want a spot on my blog where I can share the awesome resources I've found across the internet. Sometimes I assume that just because I know about a blog or website that the rest of the world knows about it, too. I know that's not true. The worst thing that could happen is that I tell you about a resource that everybody already knows about. And, I guess that isn't really that bad of a thing at all. I know that sometimes I know about an awesome resource, but I forget that I know about it. So, I guess jogging my blog reader's memories isn't that bad of a thing either. I'm calling this Stuff Worth Sharing. Original, I know.
I've noticed the same in my blogging. When life got super crazy earlier this school year, the only regular blogging I did was Things Teenagers Say. Why? I knew what was expected of me in those posts. I knew I could deliver that kind of content. In the past, I've loved participating in Made 4 Math Mondays. For these posts, it didn't even really matter if I posted it on a Monday. All I had to do was post something I had made for my classroom. Easy. Peasy. Lemon Squeezy.
When I go a while between blog posts, I start to feel like my next blog post has to be amazing/comprehensive/inspiring/life-changing. This just makes me put off blogging even longer which exacerbates the situation. Usually, I end up writing blog posts about my lack of blog posts instead of actually sharing something useful.
So, I'm excited to announce two new series that I will be posting ideas under. I'm excited to see what short and sweet and hopefully useful posts come out of these!
First, I want to take some time over the next few months to reflect on all of the new ideas I tried in my classroom this year. At the start of the new year, I do a really good job of posting about all my new, spiffy, totally untested ideas. I do a much worse job of updating my blog with whether it actually worked or not. That's what this series is going to set out to do. Spoiler Alert: Lots of stuff didn't work...
Then, I also want a spot on my blog where I can share the awesome resources I've found across the internet. Sometimes I assume that just because I know about a blog or website that the rest of the world knows about it, too. I know that's not true. The worst thing that could happen is that I tell you about a resource that everybody already knows about. And, I guess that isn't really that bad of a thing at all. I know that sometimes I know about an awesome resource, but I forget that I know about it. So, I guess jogging my blog reader's memories isn't that bad of a thing either. I'm calling this Stuff Worth Sharing. Original, I know.