Math Mondays with Tanner

January 8, 2024

Build Math Minds

With the exception of working on some district slides (I promise they're a work in progress y'all... keep checking the district pacing guides), typing out this newsletter at 7:30 pm on Sunday, January 7 is the only bit of school work I managed to complete over break. Our bodies all needed rest and needed to unplug from school - mine inlcluded. There's no food for thought, encouragement, or tips from Christina and the Build Math Minds community this week. We'll be back next week!

Check Your Classroom - Math Closet Items

Over the last two years, we have invested many thousands of dollars in math manipulatives. We are fortunate to be in a place where if you ask "Do we have...?" I can typically say "Yes! I can bring it to your classroom." Now is a great time to check your classroom for any materials that you have borrowed from the Math Closet that you are no longer actively using. These items were purchased with Title I funds, so they must be inventoried periodically. Please take a few minutes and return all borrowed materials from previous units. You can check them out again next year. I promise!

LOGISTICS: Materials can be dropped off near my desk in B-133. I will be completing an inventory and reorganizing the Math Closet so it is refreshed and ready to go for second semester.

Q2 Math Benchmarks

All of our third, fourth, and fifth grade students will take their Quarter 2 math benchmark on Tuesday. These benchmarks are district-wide and will only assess a student's knowledge of essential standards. These benchmarks will be loaded into your Mastery Connect trackers by Ashley and Nijjall. Let me know if you need any help accessing them. Because they are online, I would encourage you to require your students to show their work just like they do on the common summative assessments. I will send an email with a "pep talk" to show your students on Tuesday.

New Year, Even Better You?

As we head into 2024, you may find yourself setting a professional resolution. If any of these resolutions involves math, let me know how I can help! If you would like to work together to plan, look through resources, try out a new instructional strategy, or completely revamp your math block - that's my job. Whether it's through tiny check-ins or a full-blown coaching cycle, I'd love to help!

Tanner's Schedule for the Week

As a coach, my schedule is flexible. Please realize that my schedule will change based on what is included below. This gives you a rough idea of when I will be out of the building, in coaching cycles with teachers, or in meetings. If you need anything, reach out and let me know how I can help!