Annie Forest

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...

I had the opportunity to contribute a guest post to Eric Sandberg's ( @ecsandberg11 ) blog, Your Instructional Coach . I wrote about some similarities and differences that I notice between teaching and coaching. It was fun to branch out and contribute to his coaching blog. I hope you take a moment to check it out!

Twitter: 1. Following along with the NCSM Annual Meeting (#NCSM16) and the NCTM Annual Meeting (#NCTMannual) and all of my tweeps attending (#MTBoS). Feeling super jealous that I can't be there, but making the best of learning from afar! 2. Trying out using a Twitter chat format in my classroom. As a warm-up I post three questions on the board using the format Q1, Q2, and Q3. Then I ask students to fill out our Twitter google doc with their response to a chosen question using A1, A2, or A3. They also include the hashtag: #6Amathchat. I then curate answers and post to our class Twitter account ( @6Amath ). It's a great, quick formative assessment! 3. Continuing on my journey thinking about how I can be more culturally responsive. I've been reading a lot about white privilege and white silence in education. I'm following #educolor and a few people that have really pushed my thinking: Jose Vilson ( @TheJLV ), Rusul Alrubail ( @RusulAlrubail ), and Greg Curra...

I just got my copy of the book, The Best of Math Teacher Blogs 2015. The book is a collection of blog posts by teachers involved in the online community, #MTBoS. You can read more about how the book came to be on Tina's blog . One cool thing about this project is being published alongside some teachers that I really admire! Another awesome thing is that proceeds of the sale of the book go to giving scholarships to teachers so that they can attend " Twitter Math Camp ." I've never been myself, and if it wasn't for having a newborn this summer, I would have tried to get there this year! The idea of meeting up with some of my Twitter friends and talk math sounds so fun! I do hope a TMC is in my future in the next few years!  I'm looking forward to reading all the great posts in this fab book. If you want a copy for yourself, click here ! If you want a preview of the post of mine that is in the book, check it out here . It really is one of my favorites! ...

I think to be a good teacher, you have to love teaching, love learning, love kids, and love your content area. You don't have to love them all equally and there can be parts of your job that you like better than others... but you certainly can't dislike the subject that you teach! So, I love math. My love of math has grown as I grow in my own understanding. But I do love it. I love how numbers work. Prime numbers? Fascinating! Dodecahedrons? Beautiful! Fractions? Useful!  ... and Pi? Yep, I love pi! Today happens to be Pi Day. This is my 11th year of celebrating Pi Day. I've done everything from bringing in pie, having memorizing contests, investigating the ratio itself, and circle drawing contests. I have been in my own little world, proudly wearing pi t-shirts and pi earrings! My family and friends know I like pi. My brother bought be a pi pizza cutter . My daughter wore a onesie last year that says "Cutie Pi." I myself have 30 digits memorized! ...

I haven't written about a lesson idea in a while! While talking with an 8th grade teacher today, I was reminded of a lesson I've done in the past about combining like terms. I wanted to write a quick post to share and also so that I can have it saved to refer back to. The lesson begins by showing this clip: The kids always laugh and enjoy the silliness of it. When it keeps going, I hear a lot of "You gotta be kidding me!" and "ugh, how long is this going to go on?" Perfect. I feel like I'm creating the controversy (create the controversy, Dan Meyer suggests is a first step) After the video, I talk about a simpler version of this same idea. Me: What if I ordered 5 hamburgers, 3 orders of fries, 6 hamburgers, and 2 more orders of fries. Is there a better way to order that is less confusing? Students: Yes! (they are almost frustrated with me!) Put the hamburgers together and the fries together. Me: Oh, so if I wrote ((write on the board:...

((Must wear hat, gloves, and dinosaur shirt while eating a cracker and holding Momma's book!  Future Runner for sure!)) Welcome to the last post in a series that studied the book, Move Your Bus , by Ron Clark . There have been wonderful posts by other bloggers in my district. Check out this post on Literacy Loving Gals that has links to each one! By the time you get to my post, you have learned all about the metaphor of a bus that Ron Clark uses to describe an organization. There is the driver, runners, joggers, walkers, and riders. We have learned what might motivate each person on the bus and Clark's philosophy on keeping the bus moving along. If you have a chance to read the book, I do recommend it. I think it has some great insights. It's also a pretty quick read, so it's manageable to read it in a day. This book study is coming to a close as I am writing about the last two chapters: "29 Enjoy the ride" and "30 Conclusion: Where do we go f...