New Bloggers Finish Line! Week Four of the Blogger Initiation

Dear “baby” bloggers,

CONGRATULATIONS!!  You have completed your four week initiation and are now on your own!  This has been an amazing experience for me and I hope for all of you as well.  I encourage you to keep blogging!  I know that it can be hard when you always have too much to do.  But blogging helps you stay connected and you will grow from it!  If you are having a hard time after the prompts end, my suggestion it to blog on one of the “theme” blogs.  My favorites are the Middle School Sunday Funday, High School Sunday Funday, Made for Math Monday, and My Favorite Friday.  One great benefit of doing theme blogs is that your blog is posted on the host website, which will increase your readership!

Without further ado, this week’s bloggers are:

Reflections from an Asymptote

Gooberspeaks has a blog named **Reflections from an Asymptote**. The fourth post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **Feeding Body and Mind“** and the author sums it up as follows: **I started off talking about my dinner plans for the week and somehow ended up recapping the past week! I had a cool opener for my first Algebra 2/Trig lesson reviewing equations of lines.** A memorable quotation from the post is: ** I especially enjoy watching the Chickadees take a bath in the dish of water on the table.**

I loved the menu planning (including page numbers for recipes) at the top.   As a teacher I think it is so important to find ways to stay sane during the school year.  She makes time to do something that she enjoys and gets to eat well in the process!  Also, I liked her first day activity in groups!

That Math Lady’s Blog

That Math Lady @thatmathlady has a blog named **That Math Lady’s Blog**. The fourth post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **What is a Meme?“** and the author sums it up as follows: **This short post defines “Internet meme” and shows an example (created by moi!) of a math-related meme.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **I was just recently (very recently) introduced to the definition of an Internet meme. (I know, I know. Where have I been, right?)**

That Math Lady talked about meme’s and even made her own starring Willy Wonka!  I love to know there are other “mean” math teachers out there making kids show all of their work.  Even though it wasn’t this week, I also enjoyed her poem on her last post. 

Algebra, Essentially

Emily Allman @allmanfiles has a blog named **Algebra, Essentially**. The fourth post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **What’s the Big Idea with Algebra 2?“** and the author sums it up as follows: **Lately, I’ve been following several conversations about the big ideas in Algebra 2. So many ideas! My two cents attempts to find some unification from the themes of others.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **The reasoning was thoughtful and grounded, but this theme did not satisfy me.**

Emily talks about the question of course content and goals that we all ask ourselves as teachers.  I’m so glad that Emily is enjoying the Global Math Department talks!  She refers to the Algebra 2 one when discussing content.  I like the questions that she poses and it’s a great reminder to keep thinking of the larger picture when planning your lessons.

It’s All Math

Steve Grossberg @5teve6rossberg has a blog named **It’s all math.**. The fourth post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **The Teacher-Student Relationship (A How-Not-To)“** and the author sums it up as follows: **This is the first in what could be a long series of posts about mistakes I made as a young teacher. In this episode, I talk about trying to be more of a friend to my students than an adult.** A memorable quotation from the post is: **The relationship I was fostering was that of equals, and that’s not what students and teachers are.**

Steve tackles the topic of the student-teacher relationship which is especially important for new teachers that are young.  It takes all teachers time to figure this out and I love his conclusion at the end about being a supportive authority figure for students.  It also took being a parent for me to be much better at this as well.

Sarah Educating

Sarah Educating @saraheducating has a blog named **Sarah Educating**. The fourth post for the Blogging Initiation is titled **First days…“** and the author sums it up as follows: **A summary/reflection on my first ever math class – a double-period of 7th grade pre-algebra :)** A memorable quotation from the post is: **The moral of the story: My first ever math class went well! **

I love that Sarah is doing problem solving with Pre-Algebra students on day 1!  What a fantastic start to the year.  I am also intrigued by her game, “Always a winner” and can’t wait to hear more about it!