I've had the wonderful privilege of attending the first ever Math for America Summer Think conference and had such a great time learning and connecting with other professionals over the past three days. I collaborated with numerous other teachers who all have the same issues that I'm having in order to improve our own practice. Specifically, we took a look at how to scaffold assignments to make sure that they are accessible to a wide range of students. The key questions we asked were:

• How do we scaffold without giving away answers?
• How do we meet the needs of struggling and excelling students?

I found both of these questions really interesting because I hope that whatever I am doing is meeting my students where they are in order to bring them to where I want them to be. Unfortunately, sometimes there is not enough time during the school year to consider this fully and I am glad to have taken some time over the summer to do so.

One of the bigger questions for myself was the idea of transparency of the scaffolds. If you think about real scaffolding it is easily seen from nearby and afar. In the case of our classrooms that would mean students know who is getting what assistance, which can lead to a stigma problem. I wondered if there was a way to emphasize growth mindset deeply enough that it wouldn't matter in the end and students would cheer each other on for making choices right for them. That is obviously a longer question to answer.

Nevertheless, I came away with some great ideas and specific modifications to make for my assignment I brought as well as how I can prepare augmentations to give to specific students in need.

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. 

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. 

Today marked the day when almost all of our seniors declared which college or university they will be attending next year. Called "Decision Day," it was celebrated with a drum-led march through our back yard, cafeteria, and into our auditorium for a group photo and pizza party. It was enjoyable although a bit haphazard in planning and our students still loved it. We are glad to see them grow up and move on and hope they come back to share their futures with us.

On Friday I got a chance to visit Urban Academy Lab School, a transfer school located on the Upper East Side, and a partner of Brooklyn Collaborative as part of the Performance Assessment Consortium. While there I visited their computer programming and Arduino classes and loved to see the students actively working the way that they did. Additionally, I spent time in their math department and learned of their graduation requirement: the Calculations Prerequisite. In order to leave their school all students must master 80% of the test pictured below without a calculator. As you can see it is not the most high-level mathematics but there are many topics that often stump our teenagers. This is definitely something I appreciate and would love to see happen in my own school (or some version thereof). 

Today we had a meeting of the senior class of BCS in order to talk to them about upcoming events, requirements, and general tone​ of the class. Apparently, this is the least-spirited class in years and they are having difficulty getting enough of them to go on things like the senior trip and prom. As the iconic ideas of senior year almost slip by these kids may regret some of the decisions they make. The guilt was put on pretty think - I hope it works!

The vast majority of our seniors have applied to and been accepted to college so the next step is to look at their course catalogs and start signing up to fulfill requirements. We had a small activity for the kids to research courses they might want to take and start to see what is required therein. There were some surprises in what could "count" as an English or Math credit, and some excitement at the prospect of taking these courses!

Sometimes days get really packed with additions to the regular schedule. As UFT chapter leader I am privy to meetings and other events that need to happen over the course of the day. As you can see, on Wednesday, 4/26 I have a pretty packed schedule and even had to go to a meeting outside the building, only to return 5 minutes after it was over for another meeting back at school. It's a regular occurrence and I don't lament it - but it can be a heavy lift at times.

I post office hours at the beginning of every month so students know exactly when and where I will be if they want assistance outside of class. It always happens at the end of a unit that many students come asking for help, begging for extra time, and the like. This time around there were a few people who came earlier on and I got a chance to work with them in a smaller group. I love these kinds of interactions because I get to really talk with kids about the math and see what they know and how I can help them learn better. I hope to continue doing this for the near future!

It was recently my birthday so on the Friday I returned from Spring Break I had a few folks over for a Shabbat dinner and birthday cake. My wife gets a delicious cake for me yearly from a place called the Chocolate Room. It is such a large cake and I have difficulty finding people who are going to eat all of it. That being said, I also like when they don't. So, I am glad that I just finished the last slice today!