Goodness gracious! Considering that this summer I am taking 9 hours of graduate school credit (3 classes), I can't seem to get away from book studies. I have participated in the
Guided Math blog book study which has been fantastic. I have even had the opportunity to e-mail back and forth with Laney Sammons and get her help with some things.
For my campus, I have just finished reading
Teach With Your Strengths. It was a quick read with a lot of valuable information. For those of you that are familiar and were wondering, my five signature themes are:
- Includer
- Focus
- Responsibility
- Harmony, and
- Developer
The second theme, Focus, was particularly funny for me to read about this week. Thursday, I attended a training on my district's new elementary math curriculum, Investigations. I came home completely frustrated because so many questions remained and I just couldn't "see" how this would look in the classroom. The explanation of the Focus theme says "you need a clear destination. Lacking one, your life and your work can quickly become frustrating." BINGO!!!! Needless to say, this theme of mine inspired me to go home and head to the computer to learn as much as I can about Investigations. I found their website that features some video clips showing Investigations in action. Laney Sammons has suggested that I do all of my direct instruction in small groups, and I must admit, I'm intrigued. I can't believe I'm saying this (nerd alert!), but I'm actually looking forward to staff development in August because I hope to get more answers about Investigations math and how it will look in our 75 minute math block. (We are actually split by lunch and recess so it is 30 minutes, followed by 45 minutes.) Do any of you use Investigations? How does guided math fit with that?
What's next? In addition to reading for my classes, I'd really like to get through
The CAFE Book. I've read
The Daily 5 book and implemented it most successfully. I'm curious to see how the CAFE system can enhance my small group reading instruction.
It's amazing how we teachers keep ourselves so very busy during the summers. How are you staying busy (or relaxing) this summer?
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3 comments:
I will have to pin this book, because it sounds very interesting! I'm also linking up with you tomorrow!! :)
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure
Hey Molly, I just found your blog! It's great! I joined your linky party for the first day of school and became a follower. I am also new to this blogging world- isn't it great?! I'm LOVING it! I just got the CAFE book and am really liking it, it seems super easy to implement.
Glad I found your blog. Feel free to stop by mine.
Adventures in Mrs. Martin's Room
Daily 5, CAFE and Guided Math have kept me busy :)
Your newest follower. Come and visit.
Tania
My Second Sense
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