The best record of the good things in 2014 is my Twitter feed, so here are some of the best moments from 2014, in Tweet-form, semi-chronologically:
January of 2014, John Stevens and I gave a training for the Mariposa County math teachers called La Cucina Matematica.
A year later, we’ve done six or seven of them (all way better than the first one), and it spawned a website and we’re both getting calls to train staff across the country. Pretty sweet.
Thank you for reminding me the fun that can be had in math…rejuvenated!! #LaCucinaMath
— Rachel (@ms_divateAcher) January 10, 2015
A few months later, I interviewed for a job in-district as Professional Development Specialist.
That meant leaving the classroom mid-year.
Tomorrow is my last day in the classroom.
Possibly ever.
Told students today.
Mixed results.Blob post forthcoming.
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) March 19, 2014
Lemme clarify: I’m taking a job as P.D. Specialist, starts after Spring Break. #CUE14 is Thursday/Friday. Tomorrow is my last day. #NotFired
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) March 19, 2014
Even though I had more time at home, the job wasn’t professionally satisfying. I enjoy doing math with students, I don’t enjoy structuring curriculum maps for integrat—Yegh. I’m bored already.
I did have more time to blog, though.
This is one of a few lessons that got my students excited enough to yell “Holy shit!” at the end. http://t.co/sJGMwtyJ3l… #mathchat #mtbos
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) May 21, 2014
So eight weeks later, I interviewed and accepted a different job. It was immediately fantastic.
First week as EdTech Coach: Trained 100 Ts on Music Cues Followed up with 15 Ts in class. Demoed a couple dozen workflow tricks #lovethisjob
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) August 16, 2014
In between all of that chaos, we had a baby on Father’s Day.
My wife looks terrified because baby Clayton didn’t cry/breathe right away. It was the longest, scariest 7 seconds of my life.
But he’s fine now.
If you’re curious, he has a hashtag on Instagram and so does his sister, which makes compiling pictures really easy with IFTTT.
Then I settled into the glorious routine of “figuring out a new job that has no job description, total autonomy, and a supportive supervisor who’s a hoot”.
Out of “the rat race”, so to speak, of day-to-day teaching, I had more mental energy to play with my kids, read books, and think about education and my future in it.
Today’s Epiphany: 2:1 that promotes student discussion is better than 1:1 that promotes student isolation. #edtechchat #edtech — Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) October 20, 2014
This new job is just as supportive as the classroom position when it comes to attending conferences and presenting. It’s notable that some of my top tweets of the year happened during CMC, CUE, and GTA.
It’s okay to fail, it’s okay to take a long time, it’s okay to suck. It’s not okay to sit there. @fawnpnguyen at #CMCS14 PREACH! — Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) October 24, 2014
When @ebb663 got me at #CMCS14: In 20 years, Ss will forget formulas. What will they take from your classroom to make them their best self? — Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) October 25, 2014
If you don’t fail often, you aren’t trying hard enough. –@edoan at #GTAATX pic.twitter.com/PtNoXmRv38 — Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) December 2, 2014
Teachers won’t be replaced by computers. Teachers will be replaced by /Teachers/ who use computers. @TechedUpTeacher #GTAATX #edtech — Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) December 12, 2014
Also, I had a little help compiling this list from My Top Tweet and some fancy Googling.
For 2015:
I turned 30 in 2014. While that meant throwing a 1997-themed birthday, it also meant looking forward.
What can I give to Education that nobody else can give?
While I may never have a good answer for that, I’m getting closer to a coherent response.
In 2013, I gave 150 students a fun place to talk about math; a safe place to take risks and trust each other.
In 2014, I taught (or attempted to) a hundred or so teachers about how to build their classes into that type of class. Also, some other like-minded individuals and I began to wonder, “Could we find a way to effect greater change in Education? How do we get there?”
In 2015, we will keep asking hard questions and dreaming. We’ll see what happens.
Question to ponder in 2015: I would move states to work at a fantastic school and send my kids there. What kind of school would it be?
— Matt Vaudrey (@MrVaudrey) January 26, 2015
~Matt “I wanna change the world, but I also want to teach” Vaudrey
Great post Matt and congrats on your son! Being out of the classroom is still a struggle for me especially since our closest school is an hour away and we have others that are as far as six hours. Good luck in 2015!