Good morning friends & family (and possibly strangers who have stumbled here by accident).
I have lots of words and no pictures, so you may need to build up some reading stamina before diving in.
I didn’t mean for there to be this much time between posts. However, I have a lot in my brain to sort through. I have a post already kind of pre-written on the differences in social exchanges and culture between Montana and NC. I’m really excited about that one and hope to get it churned out this weekend. However, I have a TON of other experiences fighting to get out, too. I was putting off writing about them until I wrote the other one I just told you about. However, as you can see, that is not written yet and this is not that post. Since I wanted to post that first, I put off and put off and put off writing anything else.
Side note: In this book I’m reading on adult ADHD called The Disorganized Mind this is a very common hurdle that is hard to overcome without intentional cognitive behavior interventions. That is one thing I’ve been trying to implement to make life a little smoother for me, and that is why I decided to proceed with out of order blog posts. You should be proud. It is making me feel slightly uneasy, which logically is completely ridiculous. So, I have to eat that feeling and do it anyway and keep telling myself the world is not going to end if I write them out of order. (This is a struggle that I encounter multiple times a day. fyi, and it’s a hurdle to say the least).
So, back to today’s blogging adventure:
I LOVE TEACHING IN MONTANA.
It’s freaking amazing. First of all, they have a statewide PBIS initiative called MBI (Montana Behavioral Institute). My school won the silver award for this across the state last year and the bronze award the year before.
Secondly, observations. 1. There was not a two week turn around in my observation and post conference,which of course is a result of being in a substantially smaller district and location. I was nervous about my observation of course. It was first thing Monday morning during math, which are not always the smoothest mornings or lessons (which is part of the reason I picked Monday – so I could get feedback on how to make Monday better if it was a little rough). It wasn’t, though. Everything went exactly as planned (and if you’ve taught a day in your life, you know that NEVER happens). I tried a brand new grouping strategy that I knew might need some extra time to smooth out some kinks because I had never used it with this group before. (It was the jigsaw for all of my teacher friends). THERE WERE NO KINKS TO SMOOTH OUT.
During my observation post conference, not once did it come up that my room was askew (or, as others might say, messy). The mess, was of course, useful. It was materials we were using in other subjects on a regular basis. My superintendent seems to be on about the same organizational level as myself. I didn’t realize what a huge relief that would be. My boss was super impressed with my data notebook and my math pre & post test spreadsheets and how I used said data to inform instruction and grouping. It was one of the very best observations I’ve had. NAILED IT.
Thirdly – MEA/MFT conference.
So,I found out during the past two days that Montana has a teachers’ union and they are a big advocate for this. As a result, the state of Montana mandates that there can be no school during these conference days. The conference itself is in Billings, which is almost 5 hours west of where I live in Bainville. There was a $60 registration fee.
I got a GREAT deal on room at an Extended Stay America through hotwire (and it was a very pleasant experience).
I also got a $300 stipend from my school for going to this conference, which covered all of my expenses almost to the penny.
The sessions have actually been really useful and I have come away with a lot of practical things that I can implement in m classroom when I return. Most of them have been taught by teachers from across the state.
The one I have enjoyed the most (so far) was by a guy named Alan Sitomer. It was called using humor/poetry to make pedagogy connect. It was mind blowingly amazing. (he has a website, too – http://www.alamsitomer.com – check it out if you’re a teacher). I also get renewal credits for each session I attend.
In NC, I wanted to go to something similar (the NCCTM conference), but I would have had to pay for it all out of pocket (which I couldn’t afford really). So this whole experience has been pretty incredible.
Staying in Billings is very reminiscent of living in Charlotte and the routines I have there. I have discovered that I don’t miss city life at all – not even the convenience of Target and the Dollar Tree.
And, if you’re interested, here are the sessions I have (or will have) attended after the conference ends:
- The flipped math classroom
- Using humor/poetry to make pedagogy connect
- Become a Gooru guru and flip your class
- Creating engaging k-6 math lessons
- Differentiated instruction
- Student research: learn more about the possibilities
- Writing into the day: more than just a prompt
- Using blended learning to engage science students
- Bell ringers, exit tickets, and other good stuff
- Formative writing assessment with Google apps
- Flipping the classroom with history (digitally)
- Women’s history lesson plans
- Montessori for all
- Writing for reasoning in all content areas
twobluethumbsup 