CAMT 2014- Debriefing Day 2 & 3

A week later, I am still going through all the info I received at CAMT. 

I have combined Days 2 & 3 to get these posts complete! 

Be sure to get to the end, there's a giveaway down there!!

DAY 2

I did something very different. I attended STEPS for middle school teachers. Secondary Teachers Enhancing Performance for Students (STEPS) was held one day for high school and one day for middle school teachers. (For elementary teachers, its called Math-O-Rama) 

It was six 25 minute sessions held in a grand ballroom. We rotated through five of the sessions. It was our choice what to go to and if we wanted to attend them all. 

I liked this idea because one, it was fast and two, because I knew I would get lessons I could use immediately in my classroom. 

All the sessions I attended were hands on and specific to a concept. 

One was for probability, another for ratios. There was one for the Pythagorean Theorem. I went to one that helped students explore the new sixth grade standards for graphing and statistics. 

The presenters were wonderful and even gave us food and incorporated food into the lesson. You know, teachers love food about as much as our students do!

I forgot to take many pictures, so sorry, it was quick and I was into the learning. Here's an example of a hands on activity for algebraic expressions. They had cubes and smarties and cups. They were good at differentiating for us and for students. I also liked how one presenter was a sixth grade teacher and one was a calculus teacher. It is good to know where kids are going and where they have been in mathematics. 

The only negative comment I could make about these sessions is that they had them too close in proximity. We were packed sardines in a large room though. We could hear the presenters next to our session. We really had to focus on the speaker we were attending. (Not a bad thing, I know) But we are distract-able, just like our students. 

There was room to spread the sessions out. 

Seriously, I am not complaining though. I am actually considering signing up to present next year with this format. I think it is so useful to teachers. 

It was a really productive day. 

I spent the afternoon roaming the exhibits and of course, spending lots of money! I also found some great products we can use this year. Since I the department chair, I am responsible for buying and securing quality products to use. Plus, I was getting grant ideas. I also just visited with people and had some fun. 

Day 2, super successful! 

Day 3

The last day. It was such a conflict for me. It was anniversary and I really wanted to get home, but I also wanted to go to more sessions. There were some really good ones still planned. 

Plus, I was not alone. I had team members who wanted more too. I was the driver of the school vehicle, so I had to take everyone into consideration. 

We kind of compromised and went to two in the morning and headed back at lunch time. I am so glad we stayed.

I went to an early one and it was worth it on its own. 

I went to see Pam Harris on Building Powerful Numeracy. She was wonderful. It was a large lecture format, but she was energized and funny and everything she said was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! 

Her mantra is that math is "figure-out-able". Which is so true and what I want to instill in my students. 

I have always said that I am not a "math person", which I am not, but I love teaching Math. My math skills have been developing, but as far as higher level math goes, I am not very good at it. She made me feel okay about that. But, she also gave me tools to build my numeracy and build my students' numeracy as well. 

This year I am teaching a few Math Strategies classes which is for our struggling students. I knew this would be powerful for them!!! 

Check out her website here. I am hoping to get our department to do a book study of hers soon! 

       And I just found this!!!

Secondly, I went to another interactive notebook session. My new BBB, Danielle from Live. Love. Math suggested it. We attended together and it was just an awesome time to actually visit her and get to know her in "real life". 

The presenter was from College Station which I always have a warm place in my heart for since I am an Aggie, but also since I taught there for three years. 

I like seeing how people use interactive notebooks. I know I can always incorporate something new. She was high energy and she had a LOT of giveaways so the room was full of energy!!! 

I am in search of these thanks to her! Composition Storage Jackets!!!!! Seriously, this is AWESOME!!!!! 

And I am also investing in 7 inch rubber bands. 

Can you see how she uses the rubber bands to keep the composition book closed! 

LOVE IT!!!! 

CAMT was wonderful. 

I loved sleeping in my own bed for a few nights. I's the little things in life that make us happy. 

I enjoyed spending time with some of my department in a different setting. 

I was overjoyed to meet some of my favorite bloggers! 

Of course, do not forget about the summer giveaway. There are tons of giveaways going on right now, be sure to enter and I hope you win!!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CAMT 2014- Session Debriefing- DAY 1 and GIVEAWAYS!!!!!

During CAMT last week, I did get into some really good sessions, even a few that weren't so good. But, I got something from everyone of them. 

My very first one, I actually walked out of. I was on the very back row of a huge lecture hall and five minutes into it, I knew I was not where I wanted to be. 

This is when I left to go meet 4mula Fun and Miss Math Dork. I had priorities people! 

My second session was a BIG one with featured speaker Glenna Tabor from Tabor Rotations. She was a good speaker and I could tell she had some good ideas, but with only an hour, instead of getting some real classroom application, I got a tease of what it is she does and how I could get more training on it through her company. 

I did leave with some good resources though. Her website is good and the one thing I will be using is a planning guide for my rotations this year. 

I also picked up a simple tool for naming groups. Instead of having students create their own and choosing something like sports teams or TV shows, they can create their own but they must use math terms. This way I can really instill more math vocabulary. See, that is useful and yes, I could have thought of it on my own, but I didn't. So happy for simple things like that to use right away with my students.

How she gives group member jobs. Again, useful! 

Next, I went to a session that focused on one lesson and a few percent and tax standards. (We call those TEKS in Texas)

It was much smaller and more interactive. We, the audience, played the role of the students and actually completed the lesson. The presenter was the teacher and then filled us in on how we would apply this in our classroom. JACKPOT! Seriously, it was perfect. She gave us the lesson and practical ways to adapt it to meet our needs, our student needs and various ways to differentiate it. I will definitely be incorporating it in my lesson plans. 

Lastly on the first day, I went to Jennifer from 4mula Fun's session. I feel like I have been to a session of hers just because of her blog and getting to know her in the blog world. I knew there would be a long line though, so I went early. I was right, her session filled up quickly and people were turned away. I went right to the front and when she saw me, she came up and hugged me. (I had just met her earlier in the day) It was so nice to feel so welcomed. This is also when I met Danielle from Live.Love.Math. She was helping Jennifer out during her sessions. For those who don't know, Jennifer had kidney stone surgery only a few days before CAMT. I cannot believe all she did after that experience. She was quite the trooper! 

Of course, her session was fabulous. I am still shocked when I hear people and how it seems its the first time they have ever heard of foldables and interactive notebooks. I shouldn't be, but I am. 

And because we were her second session of the day, we also got these great white boards and erasers to take with us. You know how we teachers love FREE! 

Great white board with place value included and a positive and negative number line.
Seriously ordering these when school starts! 

We made a pocket and used fun washi tape to add color! 

My goodies! 

She gave us great ideas, showed a few flippables and then showed how to apply it with our kiddos. 

Again, I walked away with knowledge I could implement immediately. 

Day 1 was a HUGE success! 

Don't forget about the summer giveaway. You can enter more than once. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And... more giveaways over at Fifth in the Middle, one of my favs! 

Have you heard about this fabulous giveaway yet?

This is a multiple blogger giveaway. Click on the picture, it will take you to one of them and you can read all about it! Everyone loves a giveaway right? Plus, they have practical ideas and information to help the school year start right!

Five for Friday- CAMT 2014

I spent this week in Ft Worth at CAMT

It was awesome! 

Sunday night after checking in, we went to the Stockyards, 

ate some yummy food and saw some local sites. 

We headed back to the hotel and checked out all the sessions we had to choose from. 

 These are some of the fun ladies from my department. This picture says it all, 

WE HAD A BLAST! 

This was us walking to dinner on Monday. 

Day 1 of  CAMT: I met my favorite bloggers!!!  

Jennifer and Jaime from 4mula Fun and Miss Math Dork

Seriously, I cannot express how much I admire both of these ladies. Their blogs are awesome and 

I have used so much of their products with my students. 

Meeting them just felt right. 

Plus, I was actually the short one. That never happens when you are 5'10!! 

The same with Danielle from Live. Love. Math. 

I own her entire store, I use everything, it's amazing!!! 

She even helped my 8th grade teachers after their scores came back low. She offered, on her own, to give them resources. This is what I love about this blogging world. 

When we met, we both said, I feel like I already know you, 

She's a shorty though! HA! What I am used to!! 

I even got to attend my last session with her and actually have time to chat. It was awesome! 

I could have gone home at this moment and it would have felt completely worth while! 

I know there were more awesome bloggers there  that I missed. I wish I could have met everyone. This definitely made me want to do the next TpT conference and meet more of you wonderful bloggers! 

The one thing about CAMT is sessions are first come, first serve. This means that sometimes you do not get into a session. You learn really quickly to get there early and wait, especially if it's someone you really want to hear. 

This was the line to see Dinah Zike, day 2, an hour and a half BEFORE her session. Craziness I tell you. 

I have seen her multiple times, so I passed. 

I actually got into all but one of the sessions I wanted to go to. 

I will be blogging about the wonderful, and not so wonderful sessions I attended later in the week. 

When I wasn't in a session, I wandered the exhibits. DANGEROUS!!! 

I had a budget, but I blew it! Typical. It's a good thing my husband does NOT read this blog. 

I immediately bought the special the Math Teachers of TpT were having. 

10 AWESOME teachers on this CD!!! Can't wait to delve into it. 

I treated myself to some teacher shirts and earrings. 

Miss Math Dork made these earrings. They are soooo cute!!! 

I bought this super cute word wall cards. What a talented artist, Catnip's Word Walls.

At the last minute I bought this number line. This is not the one I bought. I bought mine for 6-8 obviously. It's still in the box though. I could have waited and let my school buy it, but I was in a shopping mood! 

These were just fun buys. I love QUIET dice and that is ALL I use in my room. 

I am excited about the self checking operation games for my students, but also my own children. I have one that starts multiplication this year. 

And that pen. I bought each of my little boys one and the great thing about little ones and they thought I brought back something magical. Best $2 spent all week! 

Yep, I went nuts and I loved it! 

I did rush home Wednesday to spend with this sweetheart. It was our wedding anniversary. I hated to be gone for a second of it, but the trip was well worth it. 

We went to dinner, with kids, to celebrate. No way were my kids letting me go out without them, they missed me too. 

I have so much to share with you about the actual conference, so I'd better get busy on that. Plus, now I am finally excited about getting prepared for this school year. It's about time, summer is ending soon!!! 

HAPPY FRIDAY ALL!