Adventures Amongst Npr

So, life has been a fleck busier than normal for me of late. And, it's totally the mistake of the MTBoS. And NPR.

It all started dorsum inwards November. I received a notification that I had been mentioned inwards a tweet.

If you lot haven't heard, the NPR Ed squad is doing a year-long focus on what effective educational activity looks similar IN the classroom. They're calling the initiatory "50 Great Teachers." You should every bit good banking concern gibe out their education blog for inspiring together with relevant stories.

Cory Turner, a reporter together with editor for the NPR Ed Team, sent out a tweet to tell he was looking for a rural instructor to hit a story about. Without hesitation, Nancy Swank, a long-time weblog reader, recommended that he banking concern gibe out me. I've never met Nancy, but I experience similar I know her well. A search for "Nancy inwards Indiana" inwards my email trouble concern human relationship brings upward 37 results from weblog comments she has left. Nancy is a sometime math instructor who is currently teaching German. She's fifty-fifty started her ain blog about creative teaching techniques which you lot should definitely banking concern gibe out! (I know absolutely cypher most German, but I know that I would dear to study whatever unusual linguistic communication inwards Nancy's class. She is incredibly inspiring to me!)

I was flattered to intend that someone who has never genuinely met me would recommend me to an NPR reporter! It turns out the reporter didn't know Nancy, either. But, for some reason, he felt compelled to follow the link to my twitter profile which led him to my blog. This led him to shipping me an e-mail. That email led to a telephone phone band to me. And, a telephone phone band to my principal. After that, some other telephone phone band to me led to flights beingness booked together with go plans beingness made. Finally, Cory Turner together with his producer, Elissa Nadworny, showed upward at my solid ane Dec morn at seven inwards the morn to follow me around for an entire day. Isn't that crazy?!?

Later, I did learn, that ane of the things that made me stand upward out over the hundreds of other people who were nominated every bit a outcome of this tweet was my twitter username: @mathequalslove. It turns out that non everybody thinks that math together with dear are equivalent. Who knew? ;) This but goes to demo that picking out a clever request your math teaching weblog is super important. I kinda wishing I had done ane of those posts when I started blogging most why I named my weblog "." Because, years later, I don't genuinely think how I came most choosing that name. I hit think spending days trying to intend of a perfect, clever name. I gauge that difficult go paid off... And, I genuinely hit believe that math equals love.

When I saw that I had been mentioned on twitter, I thought it was a cool honor, but I *knew* cypher would always come upward of it. But, lo together with behold, something did come upward of it. Something genuinely awesome! When I agreed to permit NPR into my classroom, I realized that it was a big deal. I don't intend I realized but how big of a bargain it was, though.

I'll seat it this way: lots of people hear to NPR's All Things Considered. Lots of people heard my story. Lots of people saw my story on facebook. Lots of people shared my story on facebook. Lots of people commented on my story on facebook. Lots of people left me comments together with sent me e-mails after hearing/reading my story. Honestly, the answer has been to a greater extent than than a fleck overwhelming.

The posting of my story on NPR's facebook page, alone, received over 900 comments, over 12,000 shares, together with over 29,000 likes. Oh. My. Goodness. People I know inwards existent life but happened to hear the story on the radio without knowing anything most it inwards advance. That was pretty cool. My coworkers started getting calls from friends together with household unit of measurement across the province maxim that Drumright HS had made the news. I don't intend I've genuinely wrapped my hear around but how many people have got been impacted yesteryear my story. I didn't give-up the ghost into teaching to brand money. I didn't give-up the ghost into teaching to acquire famous. I became a instructor because I wanted to alter the lives of my students. I wanted to demo them that math was something that they could do, fifty-fifty if they had never been successful at it before. I wanted to demo them that math didn't have got to survive boring. It didn't have got to survive scary. Math could survive fun. Math shape could survive enjoyable. Yes, math could fifty-fifty survive something they learned to love. I rapidly realized, though, that I don't desire my behavior upon on the footing to halt alongside my students. I have got been inspired yesteryear then many teachers inwards the MTBoS, together with I desire to inspire other teachers. My weblog has allowed me to hit that. And, this NPR slice is letting me accept that to the adjacent level.

It every bit good had to a greater extent than than a picayune behavior upon on my weblog traffic. I bet you lot tin move figure out just what twenty-four hours the NPR story aired.

I definitely wonder how I ended upward here. There are then many other teachers who are agency to a greater extent than deserving of an NPR story than me. Because I can't claim credit for whatever of this. I learned most speed dating from Kate Nowak. I learned the quadratic formula vocal from my high schoolhouse Algebra two teacher. My A/B/Not Yet grading scale is but SBG inwards disguise. I learned most SBG from the MTBoS. I learned most INBs from Jonathan Claydon. I bag ideas from others. I modify them to go for my kids. I weblog most the results. I'm non an peculiarly creative person. I'm but dedicated to giving my students the best educational activity I can.

I every bit good have got to acknowledge that I was a tad fleck scared to read/listen to the NPR story. You see, my kids had told me that they were going to tell the reporters a ton of crazy things. And, they carried through alongside that threat to a sure as shooting extent. They definitely told the reporter most my beingness a crazy truthful cat lady. Naturally, he had to inquire them but how many cats their math instructor owned. The expect of confusion on his confront when they replied that I owned null cats was kinda priceless. Then, at that topographic point was the conversation where the students said I should acquire a pet rabbit then I could percentage all of my vegetarian nutrient alongside it... I every bit good knew that they had interviewed students when I was out of the room, then there's no telling what they said when I wasn't around to defend myself. It all turned out well, though. :)

In the end, I experience similar the story genuinely did capture a twenty-four hours inwards my classroom. It was a mixture of trying novel lessons together with refining old lessons. We speed dated to exercise naming polynomials. We sang the quadratic formula to the melody of Pop! Goes The Weasel. My trig students used circles together with spaghetti to laid out constructing a sine curve.

It was a ton of fun.

If you lot haven't heard or read the story, you lot tin move banking concern gibe it out here. The good version is slightly dissimilar than the weblog version. And, I'd definitely recommend checking out the good version of the story. If you lot were wondering, the good of the creaking floorboards was genuinely recorded inwards my classroom. This made my kids laugh. A lot. We listened to the good version of the story inwards class, together with they had a ton of fun trying to figure out who each vocalisation belonged to inwards the recordings. They were every bit good eager to come across who ended upward inwards the pictures posted alongside the spider web version of the story. Of course, all my students had to complain most what bad pilus days they were having inwards the pictures.

The pictures definitely led to some interesting conversations inwards class. My students claim that the concluding film inwards the story where I'm sitting on my bed could double every bit an advertizement for anti-depressants. Oh, the things teenagers say... It was pretty cool to realize that my students approved of my selection of bed spread, though. And, for the record, I bought it at Wal-Mart of all places a few months ago. Though, the fact that at that topographic point is straight off a film of my bed on the cyberspace for the residual of the footing to come across is a tad fleck creepy when you lot intend most it...

I ended upward mailing my interactive notebooks off to the NPR people. Elissa Nadworny made this awesome GIF every bit a result. I could sit down together with stare at this affair for hours!

life has been a fleck busier than normal for me of belatedly Adventures alongside NPR

GIF yesteryear Elissa Nadworny (NPR)
Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/03/09/376596585/the-teacher-who-believes-math-equals-love

The NPR story, of course, is only the kickoff of some novel adventures. But, those volition have got to hold off for some other weblog post!