Annie Forest

The end of the school year is a natural time for reflection and celebrations. Around the 8 schools in my district, I've stopped in many classrooms these past few weeks to sweaty kids just back from "Park Day" or tired teachers just back from a field trip. I've seen high fives, hugs, and dance parties. One of the classrooms I worked with the most this year even gave me a handmade card and flowers on our last day working together! Taking the time to recognize the hard work of others and letting them know the impact they had on you is important. Not only does it make someone feel good, but it's also important professionally to know that your work matters. One of the most impactful "gifts" I ever got was a card from 3 teachers I mentored where they wrote down "Annie-isms" that they called "Words of Wisdom." Just knowing that they remembered things I said to them during our work together meant so much to me. More than tha...

Like so many math teachers , I LOVE Desmos! I tell everyone who will listen that they should be using it. I used it myself when I was in the classroom teaching middle schoolers. The graphing calculator is such a fabulous tool and the Desmos created activities are so engaging and awesome. As I've learned more about activity builder and moved into a K-8 instructional coaching role, I started to think about how it could be used in younger grades. I love the power of card sorts for all levels, so having that option in Desmos really sets it apart from some other platforms that teachers might already be using like ClassKick and Formative (which I love as well!). Recently, I was asked to model a few lessons in classrooms. I started in a 5th grade classroom, and it seemed like a good fit to use Desmos as part of an activity. I included a card sort as well as some open response questions. It went well! Next, I was headed to a 1st grade classroom. They were learning ...

This is a strange time of year to be writing about seating charts... I mean, it's almost the end of the school year! No one is making seating charts right now. ...or, is it that strange ? This is the time of year that is perfect for reflection . Thinking about what went well and what you want to change for next year. This actually might be the perfect time as you are thinking about how you might want to set up your room for next year! So, what are you thinking about trying for seating next year? Are you a desks in rows kind of person? Pods? Partners? Do you have a rug where kids come for math talks? Do you want to try flexible seating ? No assigned seats? Randomly selected partners? Carefully chosen groups? There are SO MANY choices and decisions to make when it comes to classroom environment and seating arrangements. I wanted to share something I tried with my middle school students. If I had a class of my own again next year, it is what I would be doing. Now, it's ...

It's that time of year! The end of the school year! When I was a classroom teacher, it was a complicated time. I'm was feeling a little sad about ending my time with a current group of kids. I was also looking forward to quality time with my own family during the summer. But I was also using it as a time of reflection and looking forward. I would start asking myself a lot of questions: What went well this year? What do I keep, what do I change? What are my goals for next year? What new things do I want to try?  This reflection and planning is important. Of course, I fully advocate for teaching right up until the end. Keep it mathy! I blogged about some ideas to use during these last few weeks . But, as you wind down the year, while things are still fresh in your mind, write down some goals or plan for next year. Then, when it's August and you are refreshed and ready to get back to it , you have something to revisit and help you remember what changes you wanted to ...

I love the NCTM article, Never Say Anything A Kid Can Say,  by Steven Reinhart. I reread it often and it always reminds me of something to work on or try so that I can have a more student-centered math class. I have recently been sharing 3 of my favorite tips from the article at PD in my district. These three tips are small changes that you can make that have a BIG impact on your classroom. I vlogged about those three ideas. Enjoy! ;)

I'm sure we all can think of people (in education or not) that play it safe. They don't take many risks, but also don't really do anything noteworthy. Then there are the risk takers. Trying new stuff and sometimes falling on their face. But these people also sometimes succeed, and when they do they are doing amazing things. My husband might laugh if I told him that I identify more with the risk taker. That's because when it come to my personal life like finances, buying a house, buying a car, raising kids, I don't like to get too crazy. I drive a Honda CRV, for goodness sake! However, when I'm talking about trying new things in my job, I'm a lot more willing to "change it," "try it," "let's see what happens!" Does this look like the ride of a risk-taker? lol The thing about being a risk taker is you have to put yourself out there... and there have been plenty of times, some embarrassing, that haven't worked out...

I'm happy to be participating in another #D100bloggerPD book study! This time we are reading Start. Right. Now. by Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul, and Jimmy Casas. You can read more about our book study and find links to all the contributors here ! Our district's technology conference, iEngage Berwyn is coming up in a few weeks and one of our keynote speakers is one of the authors, Jimmy Casas! The portion of the book I'm reflecting on is the second part of Chapter 4: Go the Way. There are four sections in this portion of the chapter: Tell the Truth, Ask for Help, Stay the Course, and The Way We Respond.  Tell the Truth At first glance, this one seems obvious. I'm a truthful person and bad liar--although pretty good deadpan/dry sense of humor ;) But this section is also about being truthful and honest even when it's having a tough conversation. In reflecting, I can think of several difficult conversations that I just plain avoided instead of ad...