Summer is coming to an end

I took a bit of a hiatus from blogging to focus on some things that seemed to be spiraling out of my control this summer and decided to focus my time and energy into my time with my kids.  What a great break it was.  The time for reflection on where the upcoming year will lead along with a much needed refreshed version of myself.  What breaks did you take to get yourself mentally ready for another yer? 

This year, I can officially announce that I will be teaching drafting and math!  I am thrilled at the chance to teach and integrate both worlds for STEM based lessons.  Algebra will come with more fun activities to blog about along with a new statistics course next semester.  I look forward to sharing many new resources and giving a glimpse into the world of drafting (with a heavy emphasis on architecture).  I get to push the limits of my drafting kids making them think with mathematical reasoning and an artistic twist.  So let's buckle up and get prepared together for a great new year!

Also, side note.  I have picked up baking cupcakes on the side and man is it a blast.  I may post a few recipes every now and then when my math juices are running low.

It's almost testing time

How do you get ready for the End of course test?  I use online questions and a review book with the most important elements from the EOC. 

Spring Break: Busy not relaxing

Oh my goodness, I love learning. But my brain hurts from taking in so much in just one week. My son's ear infection returned, so we drive an hour there and an hour back for his appointments.  It cut into my renovation time for our upcoming move. Plus, it was my little girl's birthday. 

Elsa was time consuming, below is the crumb layer. 

I finally iced the cake on Sunday for her class party on Monday. 

First renovation was to change my avacado green kitchen from 1978 to the present I will post that tutorial later in my home blog. I changed all the green even the table. Here I learned how to paint Formica and use Rustomleum's countertop paint. 

First, painted grey, but I felt like it needed a boost. 

So I painted it. This week I worked on my bathroom. Sorry my education blogs are lagging, but raising 3 little ones and getting my house in shape is wearing me out. 

Excited about tomorrow

Tomorrow we will be graphing quadratics. First, they will factor to find the x-intercepts. Next, we will be practice finding the vertex. The final round will require students to graph the vertex and 2 points to the left and right of the vertex.   This one may be tricky, but the goal is to simultaneously have students graph out 2 different equations causing the relay to become interesting. I may go back to the fly swatter if it becomes too hectic. Also, I am keeping this short because I have been baking for them post parent teacher conferences. Good night. 

Factoring: The magic method

I typically teach the box method when factoring. You can find the link for the box resource here. But this year, I was introduced to what I call the magic method. First, I would like to state how peeved I am that I did not documents this method when I discovered it in high school. 

Follow this steps on the side and the scary, a does not equal 1, becomes simple again!  It is magic!  (At least that is what I tell my students).  Some still prefer the box, others prefer the gcf method using parentheses, but for most, this method stole the cake.