Math Blogger Initiation, Week 1

At Twitter Math Camp (#TMC12) this summer, Sam Shah gave a fabulous presentation about encouraging other math teachers to blog and join Twitter.  During his presentation, we talked and brainstormed for over an hour.  We all were so encouraged by each other, and realized the importance of bringing more math teachers to Twitter and the Blogosphere.  When teachers share their amazing ideas and lessons with others, we all learn, and we all become better educators.  Shortly after coming home, the Mathtwitterblogosphere website was born, showing teachers how wonderful, and wonderfully easy, it was to Tweet and blog.  Then, Sam issued the Math Blogger Initiation, encouraging new bloggers to blog once a week for four weeks.  The response was overwhelming.  Sam was expecting 30 – 40 bloggers, but got almost 200 new and returning bloggers.  With such a response, Sam reached out for help in posting these amazing new blogs.  I feel honored to help with this endeavor, and cannot wait to read all 200 new blogs!

Below are my seven new (or returning) bloggers that I am featuring on my blog this week.  Many of these bloggers have never blogged before and started a new blog just to participate in this initiative.  Please read their blogs and then follow the links at the bottom to read the other great blogs!

Megan Morrison @mathwmorrison has a blog named **Math With Morrison**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **Before the Craziness Starts…“** and the author sums it up as follows: **I’m so excited for a new year to start, but I need to remember to take care of myself and ask for help when I need it! I have so many different things going on in my classroom from last year and can’t wait to find more resources to make math in my classroom fun and exciting.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **I also want to be able to get help from a huge virtual PLC when I’m struggling with management, or how to teach a concept!**

Mrs. S has a blog named **From Cubicle to Classroom**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **First week goal“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Although the first week of school was fun last year, I paid the penalty the rest of the year trying to reign in overly talkative, off task kids. My former students were blatantly honest about why they goofed off in my class–so this year, I’m going to attempt to fix it up front!** A memorable quotation from the post is: **Thus, this year my goal for the first week is simple: Be the mean teacher.**

Kyle Eck @kylejeck has a blog named **k-gram**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **What’s a k-gram?“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Why I named my blog after a shape. A little bit of math, and some of my aspirations for both teaching and blogging. ** A memorable quotation from the post is: **Have you ever had a lesson just rolling around in your head? **

Andrew Knauft @aknauft has a blog named **Limsoup**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **NBI Week 1 — Calculators“** and the author sums it up as follows: **I love calculators. But they shouldn’t be designed to a test or used for simply calculating.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **”Did you know the TI83 is not appropriate for Calculus?”**

Lee KT has a blog named **random expected value**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **Starting Out“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Reflections and a commitment to one new thing this year: getting students to help other students. And as part of that, arranging desks in a classroom so that they can easily interact, even if I am not comfortable with it (yet!).** A memorable quotation from the post is: **This year I’ve cut my dreams all back to one major concept: create a classroom conducive to kids helping kids.**

That Math Lady @thatmathlady has a blog named **That Math Lady’s Blog**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **Who is That Math Lady?“** and the author sums it up as follows: **My post explains why I decided to leave the classroom and dedicate my profession towards helping other teachers. I have spent the past 2 months drafting blogs and developing a math website that will hopefully become a reliable resource for thousands of other teachers out there!** A memorable quotation from the post is: **What would your significant other’s reaction be if you came home from work one day and said you were quitting your job to focus all of your energy on creating a math website (which, by the way, you have very little experience in doing) just to help out other teachers and students in math?**

Heather Simmons @hsimmons32 has a blog named **Mrs. Simmons Blog**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **The Fundamental Five – my take on this book“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Taking a look at the book “The Fundamental Five” and how I will use this information in my classroom this year. I am looking forward to improved student successes from this “Formula for Quality Instruction”.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **It’s a little scary, change always is, so all I can do is be intentional in my lessons every day and see what happens.**

Allison Krasnow has a blog named **Pi Crust**. The first post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **New Year, New Mindset“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Using Carol Dweck’s work on mindset coaching, I plan to explore ways to influence my students to have a more growth-oriented mindset. Once a week we’ll discuss quotes to allow students to explore if they believe their math intelligence is fixed or can be shaped by hard work.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **I’m especially interested if anyone has done mindset coaching with adults.**