Annie Forest

I share this picture, not because it's particularly flattering, but because it shows my real life. My husband snapped the pic of me participating in a Twitter chat while holding my little one. I think most people that love their job struggle to find a work/life balance. That is certainly me. In fact, you could say that I suffer from FOMO, or fear of missing out. My family laughs at me because if there is ever a gathering and I can't make it (my mom and sister going shopping, for example), I always say "have fun, but not too much without ME!" Although I mean it as a joke, I'm also quite serious. I hate missing out on stuff! With work, as an educator, and personal life, as a wife/mom, I feel like I am constantly missing out on things. If you are on Twitter and have ever experienced being at home while most of your PLN attends a conference, you know the feeling (my examples: #NCTMannual, #ISTE2016, #TMC16) My FOMO is dialed up even more right now as it is t...

Yesterday I presented to some math teachers about visible student thinking ( check out the slides here ). One of the ideas I talked about posing a picture, problem, or visual and asking kids what they notice and what they wonder. I just recently learned about this and started using it with my students last school year. It's one of those things that is so simple but so powerful. If you haven't heard of this idea before, please note that I completely borrowed this idea. Annie Fetter did an Ignite about it a few years ago. When you just ask kids what they notice and what they wonder, you are really helping them to understand that they already have mathematical ideas going on in their mind. The other great thing is that every student can participate right away. No matter their skill level, students notice and wonder things. There are no "fast finishers" yelling "DONE!" and students that struggle can contribute as well without fear of being ...

Math is everywhere! As a math teacher, I feel like I'm thinking about math often. But there are some latest inspirations that keeps math on my mind ALL THE TIME. I see math in almost everything I do! My first example of inspiration is " Math Photo Challenge ," a summer photo taking challenge for math-minded Twitter peeps (not on Twitter? check out the website ). Each week there is a different theme/challenge. It's a great way to see the math in your everyday life. The collection of pictures from everyone is also great images to use in your classroom in the fall. You can show pictures and ask your students what they notice/wonder. Or you can use pictures for specific standards and ask students what problems they can come up with that match the image. I'm even thinking about how I can have my students use their iPads to take pictures with a different theme each week so they are inspired to see math everywhere just like I have been! Here are a few examp...

I woke up Tuesday morning and held my newest baby, Dean. I checked my phone, as I often do in the morning and looked at Twitter. A few people were sharing how upset they were and including the hashtag #AltonSterling. Another black man shot and killed by a white police officer . The fact that I just started that previous sentence with the word "another" speaks for itself. How are these occurrences becoming so common place? Yesterday I woke up, similar to Tuesday, and somehow there is ANOTHER story of a black man being shot and killed by police  (#PhilandoCastile). I sat staring at my phone for a while. I wanted to tweet and express my outrage. I wanted to convey how upset this made me. Here I am with a white husband that can go to work this morning with little no worry that he will be shot by police. I have a white son that, because of his skin color, is afforded a privilege that he did nothing to earn .  Today I woke up reading articles and comments in response t...

Hey, Annie, where have you been? I do have a pretty decent (in my opinion) excuse for my lack of blogging lately. I had my second kiddo, Dean, on May 22nd. For some reason my kids like to be born about two weeks earlier than their due dates. So, although I wasn't due until June 6th, I decided to start my maternity leave on May 17th because I was starting to feel uncomfortable, it was difficult to get around, and I just had a feeling that my kid was going to be born soon. And, call me crazy, but I didn't want my 6th graders remembering me as the teacher whose water broke at school! My maternity leave will continue throughout the summer and for the first 10-ish weeks of school. I'll be back in action late October. Until then, I do hope to keep up with blogging. It's been tough the past few weeks, but I do have some ideas that I want to write about. I have been able to keep up with Twitter because it's easy to scroll through on my phone during a 3AM nursing ...

Ask a teacher what skills they want their students to have before they leave them for the summer, and more often than not, the list will include more social/emotional skills than content. I've done this exercise in PD sessions before and things like responsibility, respect, citizenship, collaboration, and kindness top the list. Most teachers really just want what is best for kids . I love that about this profession! Becoming a parent has given me even more of a desire to reach every kid and help them along in their journey to becoming great people. My friend, Jackie, recently blogged about this when she wrote:  What Becoming a Mom Taught Me About Teaching . As she says, " everybody is somebody's baby ." She says sometimes it makes us softer and sometimes it helps us stand firm ground when we know we are doing something that is best. I agree! I know that my kids still have a few years before they enter school, my daughter is two and my son is a newborn! However,...

Here is my criteria for what makes good mathy activities for the end of the school year: -no/low tech (we have 1:1 devices, but the last few days of school usually mean all devices are turned in) -still incorporate math or problem solving in some way -fun and engaging video credit:  http://sci-toys.com 1. My favorite activity is one I've done every year. Kaleidocycles . When I first starting doing them, over 10 years ago, I had to figure it out on my own. Now, there are tons of online tutorials (check youtube) to explain how to color, fold, and glue. You can also check out my blog post about making these . Kid love them, trust me. It's been my go-to activity for the last two days of math class for years for a reason! :) 2. 5x5 Game. Check out Sara's blog post about the rules . She calls it "the most amazing game" and I trust her judgement. :) I haven't tried it yet, but I'm leaving it as sub plans for the last days of school becau...