New Beginnings

Yesterday marked the beginning of my 16th year of teaching.  At the beginning of each year there is anxiety, hope, fear, joy, and anticipation.  All of those emotions are shared by teacher and student alike.  My first interactions with the 130+ students (many of which were college freshmen) I will have this semester have all been encouraging as I set out to influence each of these students to be better mathematicians and (for the majority) future educators.  

As I consider my personal and professional intentions for this semester, I feel a deeper passion for meeting these goals than ever before.  I can't exactly put my finger on why I am feel this increased passion, but it is there for a reason (whatever it may be).  In simple terms, here are my goals for my classroom practice. 

1. Increase student-to-student discourse to the point that it is the predominant form of communication in the classroom.

2. Make use of intentionally designed heterogeneous groupings to further promote discourse and productive struggle.

3. Make the work of students (in many and various forms) visible to the class so that work is collectively analyzed. 

4. Promote a growth mindset.

5. Provide qualitative feedback to student work on assessments of all kinds. 

6. Smile and show students that teaching is an amazingly rewarding profession.