Starting my blog!

   I have been incredibly inspired by the many amazing teacher blogs that I have come across over the last four years of my teaching career. There are so many talented teachers out there sharing a wealth of knowledge and information through social media. I am so thankful for each teacher's blog that I have come across because they have truly helped me to improve my teaching, my classroom organization, my behavior management systems, my parent communication... I could go on and on, and on, but the bottom line is that I have become a better teacher because of the information that is willingly shared through these talented and dedicated teacher's blogs. Today, as a way to continue to expand my own practice, I am joining the blogging community. There are a few topics that are at the forefront of my teacher career, which I plan to speak about regularly as themes for my posts.
   The "hot topic" going on at my school is standards based assessing/ standards based report card. I have recently been researching as much as I possibly can in order to understand this system better and to implement it to the best of my ability in my own classroom. I plan to post more information about this topic as I continue to learn more and more.
    Math has been the subject that challenges me most. I have found it to be the biggest source of contention, as I try to reach ALL learners in my class so that they are not only absorbing mathematical concepts, but also making the connection to real-life practice. As we implement Standards Based Assessing and report cards, it seems to become even more challenging to work with a given curriculum and make it work with standards based assessing. This, however, is just one reading why math has been challenging for me. I have also come to the realization that my math teaching has been in the midst of a revolution and I begin to incorporate an independent student lead centers approach, called "Math Menu", as well as whole-class and small-group teaching. It is a great hope of mine that as I blog about my experiences in Math, I will embark upon a journey of personal growth and expertise in math.
   Lastly, technology in the classroom is and has been a passion of mine. There are two reasons, in particularly. First, in my experience, technology has a stigma in the classroom. I have heard it said many times that young students are incapable of using technology in a way that will expand their learning. this could not be more wrong. Our students are born in the tech generation and my 6-year-old can handle my computer and iPads better that I can! Secondly, because of societies reliance on technology and social media, I feel that it is my duty to learn how to incorporate it into my classroom in a very natural and thoughtful way.
    All in all, it is my hope that by sharing my classroom experiences, my lessons, and my knowledge with others, I will be able to experience a new level of growth as a teacher. I also hope that by sharing my knowledge with others, I can impact their teaching in the way that so many teachers blogs have impacted my own teaching.