Musings from Mrs. Galvan

So tomorrow is the first day of school. I am at the point in my to do list when it is time for me to let some things go - I can't do everything  I'd like to on day 1. I did make a presentation to explain Standards Based Grading. Inspired by Bowman , This prezi gives a basic overview of what SBG is, why I use it and how it will work for my students. Apparently in my post grad school haze I completely missed the TMC15 inspired month of blogging ( Blaugust ). I also missed discussion on all the awesome things people learned at TMC15, including using my favorite read of 2014 - Make It Stick  both to structure class and as a teaching tool.  Julie R . blogged about how she plans to teach her classes strategies from the book and even shared resources for doing so (which I plan on stealing and using). I also missed several Global Math Department webinars including this one on suggestions for the first day of school . So now that I am catching up on what I missed, my...

Coming back after Thanksgiving, I decided to use the spare ten minutes of class time usually dedicated to homework review to do what my kids call "yoga". Really, we do a bit of stretching in our seats and I lead them in a brief mindful meditation . I know it is ambitious to expect 13-year-olds to refrain from giggling while also telling them things like, "just focus on breathing" or "pay attention to the rise and fall of your chest as you breath slowly," but my students are awesome. I of course have to give consistent reminders to close your eyes, but overall they are quiet, calm and engaged in the exercise. Today while finishing our meditation, I shared with them the story The Station by Robert J. Hastings: “The Station" Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision.   We are traveling by train, out the windows,   we drink in the passing scenes of children   waving at a crossing,   cattle grazing on a distant hillside,   row upon row of c...

It is summer.... finally... I am writing this sitting, in shorts and a T-shirt, in my kitchen while one kid naps and the other is on the Ipad (#motheroftheyear, #learningapps). I finally feel relaxed and have a bit of time to write about my year. I assigned my students to write reflections, so it is only fitting that I write one too. So here is the prompt I gave my students to guide their reflection. Responses varied greatly. Some did the bare minimum and some wrote detailed, insightful commentaries on their year. One kid even mentioned that he learned to value process over product. I nearly fell off the couch with joy. As for me, I feel like I have a lot to polish . I want improve my prompts, rubrics and system for grading and giving feedback. I had many a late night trying to grade every blog post and write something of value to each student. I did an okay job, but the time it took still didn't merit what I felt was mediocre feedback from me. There has a to be a better, sprea...

Today I started each of my classes with a discussion on failure. My students were immediately uncomfortable at the mention of the word. They prefer sugar coated versions like mess-ups or stumbles. We shared our typical reactions to failures. I shared that I typically get mad at myself and say something like, "Why I am so stupid?" Others shared that they cry or ignore the failure or laugh it off. Resilience is key for success in learning anything, math included . #Caedchat on Sunday reminded me of this great acronym. :) I am reading Creative Confidence at the moment so the importance of resilience in the face of failure has been on my mind. I shared with them a passage on pages 9 and 10 about "self-efficacy." If we are afraid to fail, we are afraid to take risks, afraid to try. The fear of failure can block our opportunity to Learn and Grow.

I heard two interesting reports on NPR while driving to work this morning about two issues facing high school students: they are sleep deprived and stressed out . Key Quotes: Because teenagers need eight to nine hours of sleep, waking up at 6 a.m. can lead to a pattern of sleep deprivation. And that puts them at higher risk of a whole range of potential problems, from depression to automobile accidents. "A little stress is a good thing," Alvord says. "It can motivate students to be organized. But too much stress can backfire." As educators we are always trying to create a rigorous, challenging academic environment for our students to grown and learn. I am constantly preaching the importance of grit and hard work in my math classroom . Still though I often worry about the pressures we put on our students so I was happy to hear this report this morning. Because we only see our students 40 minutes a day, it is easy to lose perspective. My algebra class isn...

Last Fall, we had an interesting speaker, Dr. Dan Siegel , come to speak at a joint faculty meeting. He spoke about mindfulness and how to embrace its tenets to enhance how the teenage brain works. One point he made that spoke to me, was the importance of spending time reflecting and relaxing. After his talk, I started leading my students in mindful meditations (breathing) before assessments. This fall, our speaker Carol Dweck , spoke to our faculty about fixed vs growth mindsets. While her research isn't directly tied into mindfulness, her focus on the importance of the process and not just the outcome, follows the spirit of mindfulness: balance is key to well being. My (naive) hope is that my students will focus on learning and growth, and not merely on outcomes and grades. I hope that they will leave middle school as good people, and not just good equation solvers. Perhaps an effort driven, balanced-well-being environment is a lofty (hippy-ish) goal, but one I (the hippy alge...