Today was really weird.
So for the past 2-ish weeks, I’ve been at our brand-spanking-new high school building.
I unpacked all of my stuff and made it look presentable.
I put posters everywhere.
I did my pre-planning.
But today the students arrived and it finally became real for me.
This was my new classroom. These are my new classes. I have some pretty big changes planned.
Let’s start from the beginning. 4 years ago, I was teaching Intro to Algebra, Algebra and Geometry. I had just graduated with a Math Ed major and a Physics Ed minor.
The second year was Intro to Algebra and Geometry. I applied for grad school and moved into the dorms during the summer after my wedding.
My third year teaching, I exchanged Geometry for two sections of Physics and kept Intro to Algebra. I had a crazy amount of fun learning how to prep labs and be a science teacher, so I added the rest of the science classes to my license via the General Science Praxis test. Physics itself felt like a gigantic project-based applied math class. I had fallen in love with it, and I used this new inclination to spice up my math class with more hands-on activities. (I previously felt very stuck in the assigned textbook, but physics helped me find my confidence to try new things.) I did my action research for my thesis project and had a great year.
During my fourth year, I was on an extended contract with 2 sections of Physics, 2 sections of Algebra Support and 2 sections of Transmath. I was surprised at how much work came with teaching an extra class. I also agreed to assist in noon tutoring during lunch two days a week, and had to finish writing my thesis. Our teacher collaboration time was moved to the beginning of the contracted day instead of the end, so I couldn’t really meet with students before school as often. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but I found out that most physics students either leave after 6th hour or have clubs and activities after school. So I felt guilty about being unavailable to my students who were in a class with difficult content. It was a really busy year, and in hindsight, I had probably bitten off more than I could chew.
Now at the beginning of year five…I wonder if I’ve learned my lesson at all. I was offered the opportunity to teach a STEM class. We decided it would be called STEM: Robotics, and that it would use these nifty robots! I’m a hobbyist programmer and computer builder, so this is a chance to try something new for me. The class is multi level 9-12 with no prerequisites. We still need to order the robotics kits, but in the meantime, I will work on the programming side of things with my class. Our school went Bring-Your-Own-Device this year, so it grants me some serious tech liberties. I no longer have to check out laptop carts or reserve space in the library. I am looking forward to playing with scratch and tinkerCAD with this class.
I also have two sections of Physics, and two sections of Algebra Support again. I’ve taught these classes, so this should be easy, right?
But for better or for worse, I just can’t leave well enough alone when I get my geeky hands on technology. I have to play with it.
…so I got it in my head that I would try to do a paperless Physics class in OneNote.
I’ve been doing interactive notebooks in my classes for the past two years and they’ve mostly done very well. I loved the availability of resources, and the reassurance that someone else had done their classes this way with success. I couldn’t really find any resources showing how to take that and make it digital…so this has really been a lot of my own work and discovery with the tech.
It’s not something I would have been able to do two years ago when I first adopted the INBs, but now I think I’m seasoned enough to have the confidence to go for it and I have the technology.
To make sure my plans would work, during 10 min classes today, I confirmed that all of the Physics students have devices with either pen/touch input or the means to take a picture to submit their work.
I added a section specifically for students to request my help. This means I can digitally give them notes when it is convenient for me during the school day, and they will see them when they go home to continue working. I can also push handouts into each student’s notebook, and then they can never be lost. Like I said, Physics students tend to be in activities, so their notebooks can be updated automatically so they don’t fall behind. It’s truly nifty.
But it’s also a little bit scary and unnerving.
…and at the end of the first day of year five, I sat it my desk, and it was clean. There are no turn-in trays in my room. There are no handouts or syllabus copies in little piles on a table. There are no toolkits with markers and colored pencils and tape. (Of course I still have them, but they no longer need to come out every day.)
Oddly enough, the lack of papers makes the room feel unfinished.
It makes me feel unprepared.
I keep checking my digital notebook. Yep, the syllabus is still there…yes they can see tomorrow’s bellringer questions, and yes I can see into each and every person’s digital notebook.
I breathe another sigh of relief…it all works…I just need to show the kids how to use the system tomorrow….my system.
I was the math teacher…then I became a bit of a science teacher…now I’m a bit of a STEM teacher.
It’s gonna be a good year; I can feel it.
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