31 July 2017

Okay, starting again.  I tried to blog a few years ago, but I found I was not consistent.  I was hesitant to use my personal or work email, and then I realized I could create a new account to use for blogging!  As it is professional but also personal, it works for me.  I thought about a blog when I started in the Twitter world.  I found wonderful resources by teachers who had passion and wanted to journal their journey.  Special thanks to #teach180 and #MTBoS for providing this connection.  Sarah Carter nee Hagan at Math=Love .  Her work lead me to more people and many materials I have used for the last two years.

I have changed subjects, sort of.  I teach Financial Math and Entreneurship now.  There are many teaching resources, but I have not found many that fit my teaching style.  I know I want to stay with interactive notebooks and I want the math practice to be more than just a worksheet or problems out of the book.  I am looking for creative ways to design my own folding handouts that are colorful and still hold a purpose for students to learn.  I hope to take what I have learned and start blogging my journey.

Financial Math - a blending of algebra 2 skills in the context of financial literacy.  We cover the following topics: budgeting, employment basics (methods for being paid and understanding what is on a pay stub), stock market, banking services (checking & savings), automobile ownership, credit & loans, independent living, saving for retirement, & funding post secondary education.  About 50% of my time must be spend in "lab" - meaning not working on worksheets or textbook problems.  I am beginning to teach spreadsheets so students have more open-ended answers.  Lots of ideas and now to start finalizing them!

My new subject is Entrepreneurship.   This class blends business and economics.  Students form teams to select a product to sell to their peers.  While they learn about small business ownership, they also learn the basic principles of economics.  This is a task and I will blog about these experiences later.

If you have ideas or resources for me to read, let me know!