All in a Day's Work

So . ..  here's how my day went:

Helped some students (and their substitute) across the hall & got them oriented to the right task and off to the races. Re-designed my last block Astro class lesson so that it would feature more student-centered activities than I had first planned for. Introduced three students in my first block class to the wonders of spreadsheets and learned, from a fourth, a simple way to add a trendline in Google sheets. Facilitated two presentations in my engineering classes where students pitched their novel ideas to their classmates. Got three students moving on a small-scale wind project while counseling another to head off in a new direction with her project. Taught one student how to use a photogate while asking another to help a third master the care & feeding of our 3D printer. Provided a safe haven for three students in an advisory session while they shared some hard feelings about changing friendships.

Lunch.

Got my Astro students to really understand how to use stellar magnitudes - apparent and absolute - to rank order stellar distances. Had three students make some of their first contributions of the year during that mini-lesson. Demonstrated the use of a virtual experiment, then facilitated its use around the room in groups of two and three. EVERY student working MOST of the time. MOST students working ALL of the time. Some flop, then rebound. One calls me over to share an Astro event - the discovery of an Earth-like planet by Kepler - that she found on social media. By the end of class, she sends me the link: my opener for next class! Virtual lab success: students "discover," like William Herschel in 1800, that the Sun produces energy outside of the visible part of the spectrum. Today, they find "infrared."

Bell rings at 2:45. I taught three 80-minute classes today and spent about 50 of those minutes in the archetypal teacher spot - at the front of the class. The rest of the time? Moving. Listening. Probing. Supporting. It looks like this a lot. And I like it . . .

So . . .  how was your day?

Reasons to #LoveTeaching

How many reasons are there to #LoveTeaching? Let me count five ways . . .

1. Students who make you laugh. Every day. And occasionally cry. But mostly laugh.

2. Students who can't convert centimeters to meters but who can have an in-depth conversation about particle physics. No lie; this happened to me just last week when a young lady from my physics class hung around during our FLEX/lunch time and, with her questions, recreated the history of particle physics!

3. Agile-minded colleagues who believe in and promote possibility thinking. You know who you are and how you sustain me. Thank you!

4. Agile-minded colleagues who believe in and promote a growth mindset. If we don't believe students can grow, what is our purpose, then?

5. The chance to create a classroom culture that values learning in all its facets. What a fantastic opportunity we have every year, in every section, to create an environment which fosters a love of learning, an authentic desire to understand, and a sense of community.

There are, no doubt, hundreds of other reasons but one of my resolutions this year was to not just write more but to publish more and an obsession for thoroughness (in writing if in no other place in my life!) has often prevented me from hitting that "publish" button. So, here I go . . .  add comments if you'd like . . .  why do you #LoveTeaching?