Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

Awards for the well-deserved

6/17/2017

0 Comments

 
Last night I helped to host an awards ceremony and dinner for our senior students. I have worked with them for four years as a Crew advisor and have gotten to know many more through teaching them in Algebra and Geometry classes. It was a pleasure to finally see their faces as they came up to the stage to take well-deserved awards home with them.

My grade team spent a good amount of time deliberating who should earn what. There were many awards that we found deeply meaningful and some that weren't. In the end, we found that all the awards we got to choose went to students who earned them with their own powerful work. Some were fancier titles than others, but all made sense. It was really nice to be there and see families and friends cheer on each student who got an award last night. 
0 Comments

The end of the year got hectic, and there are still positive things happening

6/15/2017

0 Comments

 
As I'm sure you can tell I did not achieve my goal of posting a photo from each day of my teaching this year. Maybe it was too much to focus on that as well as the pedagogy of my daily schedule. Or perhaps I wasn't motivated enough. Or maybe it was all the things that happened in my life over the past month and a half but I won't be able to complete the project. Instead, I'll just write about my personal experiences again without the proxy of photos. 

Today I sat on two presentation panels for students to complete their requirements for graduation. One was good - persistent, effortful, and detailed in his work. The other was outstanding - methodical, detail-oriented, making connections with outside-of-school items in a way that impressed me immensely. These two students demonstrate how you can put in a lot of effort as a teacher and see the wonderful outcomes over the years. While I have never had either of these students in my own classes, I am privileged to be a small part of their lives today.

​After these presentations I sat in my classroom with a coworker just chatting with two other students about their end-of-school experience, graduation, classes, ice cream, travel, and more. It was an honest 40 minutes talking with kids who are becoming young adults and moving on in their lives to college next year. I really appreciated the time they spent with me, indulging my puns and being earnest and honest in their responses to questions about their future. I wish them both well.

I'm hoping next school year I'll have a project of a similar ilk as the photo-a-day idea but perhaps involved less intense effort so I can complete it everyday. 
0 Comments

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.