Mrvaudrey

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  • My Favorites, December 2020

    Listen, there’s a lot to hate about Education right now. I’m less effective on video-conference than I am in real-life, most of the tools that make me effective depend on in-person teaching, there’s no end in sight for distance-learning.

    But this blog has always been about sharing my process (for better or worse) and hoping that y’all feel some solidarity, encouragement, or relief knowing that you’re not the only one.

    So here are a few of my favorite ways to try and make Math Club meaningful, split up by grade level.

    Secondary folks, read along anyway. Our teammates in K-5 have much to teach us.

    Kinder

    Yeah, I have a 25 minute Math Club for 5 and 6-year-olds, once per week. It’s a hot mess of shouting, stuffed animals, and enthusiasm, and I was three weeks into it before the other Kinder teachers said, “Wait, you’re not using the Mute All button? The hell’s wrong with you?”

    Each week, we do a combination of writing numbers, saying numbers, and showing numbers on our fingers. I’ll usually go through a few of these sections, changing up which slides I do each week. This week, I had them responding on whiteboards (which required notifying parents days in advance, “Make sure your student has whiteboard, marker, and eraser for Thursday’s Math Club.”)

    First Grade

    The first grade teachers wisely told me, “We aren’t thinking of them as first graders, we are thinking of them as third trimester kindergarteners, since they missed that critical instruction when we shut down on March 13th.”

    To that end, my groups of first graders are equal parts delightful, loud, emphatic, and motivated. After teaching secondary for so long, I had forgotten that students begin attending school with a love of learning, even though many of them were squished into submission by the time they walked through my classroom door in the 8th grade.

    I have some feelings about the culture of compliance in K-12 education, if you couldn’t tell.

    More on that later.1

    First graders, like kindergartners, are super interested in showing me their dogs, stuffed animals, and injuries, but they are able to write full equations on a whiteboard and show it to me. My favorite game with them is “Mystery Dice,” where I roll two dice, cover one, and tell them the sum. Elementary teachers will recognize this as a “missing addend” problem, but it’s way more fun this way.2

    Mystery Dice! My finger covering a die, then a plus sign and a die with a 2 = 5.

    Second Grade

    Currently, the most delightful groups that I see are second graders. Maybe it’s because I have a second grader in my own house, who rolls her eyes, giggles, and is able to argue a point, but all three of those things working together make this group especially endearing.

    I had never heard of bFact Familiesb before teaching K-5, but I see how itbs a helpful concept that all Math Teachers should know about.  In my group, I roll two dice and ask the second graders to show me two different addition problems with those dice.

    4+6=10, 6+4=10, 10-6=4, and 10-4=6

    This week, Ibve also been asking for two subtraction equations using the same three numbers. So there are four equations in one fact family3.

    Okay, letbs pick up the pace a bit.

    Third Grade

    Not gonna lie, itbs been really fun to make the bridge from repeated addition to multiplication with this group. Now, theybre connecting arrays and multiplication to division, bIf I divide the 24 dots into 4 columns, how many rows will that make?b 

    Remember your first few years teaching a new content? When youbre thinking, bI betcha therebs a faster/easier/more effective way to teach this, but this is the best Ibve got for now.b? Thatbs how I feel about this unit, and Ibm certain that more effective strategies will emerge organically when I have students around my kidney table instead of on a Zoom call.

    Mystery Dice! My finger covering one die, then a multiplication symbol and a 12 showing on a second die (equal to 48)

    Fourth Grade

    Voted Most Likely To Contribute to Mr. Vaudreybs Classroom Culture by a jury of their peers, these kiddos have made it most clear the need for interpersonal relationship (which has been lacking during quarantine). I have kids in my house that are beginning to show effects of social isolation, and the 4th graders in Math Club bring so much social energy that we end up covering more content, not less. 

    If youbve got some students that are engines, donbt waste your time pumping the brakes, hitch a trailer behind them and steer.

    Long Division *sigh* is important or whatever, but I am struggling to get motivated. Partly because I know calculators exist, so the steps all feel like b&

    Like making your own whipped cream with heavy syrup and half-and-half. I mean, you could do it, and youbd feel really accomplished afterward b& but why?

    Ever seen a chef finish that and be like, “WOW WHAT A GOOD USE OF MY TIME.”

    Photo by axel grollemund from Pexels

    Fourth grade is also the spot where the gaps emerge most clearly for students whobve slipped through the cracks. When I had an eleventh-grader who couldnbt multiply 9s, I handed them a calculator and we kept solving problems about volume. When a fourth-grader canbt add within 20b& like, itbs my job to fix that gap. 

    Remotely.

    In a small group.

    When theybre actively avoiding this learning gap becoming public.

    Fifth Grade

    Itbs tempting to think of these kiddos like Middle-Schoolers (because I love Middle School so damn much), but theybre not. Sure, theybre seeing exponents and expressions for the first time, but theybre also ten years old.

    The most helpful part about fifth graders is their comfort with the technology. They can change tabs, navigate through portals, and manipulate Google Apps comfortably, since theybve been doing it for at least three years.

    b-b-b-b-b- Would teach again.

    Plenty of secondary teachers are frustrated with a system that deposits jaded students on our doorstep. When confronted with pressure to suddenly make up for ten years of learning gaps, I know I’ve been guilty of passing judgment on “last year’s teachers.” My perspective has been broadening this year, and it’s been great to peek behind the curtain into the elementary school, trying to keep students’ love and interest in math.

    I hope they keep it forever.

    ~Matt bNo, Ibm not TikTok famous, but Ibm glad your mom liked it.b Vaudrey

    1“Wait… Vaudrey, weren’t you just applying to Admin jobs a few months ago?” Yep! After that one-year contract as temporary Dean of Students, I’ve been interested in Leadership, but I’m not in hurry to get there. Also, Elementary school is adorable, and I’m learning something new every day.

    2This is a strategy from Kim Sutton of Creative Mathematics.

    3 I could see Fact Families being helpful for understanding equations. If x+y=13, then 13=x+y and y-13= -x and so on.

  • First Day of Distance Learning

    When I was in college, I was a voracious and brave eater. I would boast to my friends, “Ice cream, sushi, pizza; even when they’re bad, it’s still better than no ice cream, sushi, or pizza.”

    I was 19 and narrow-minded about a lot, not just gas-station sushi.

    a plucky, 19-year-old Matt and his equally plucky 19-year-old girlfriend

    Now I’m pushing 40 and willing to spend double the money to have excellent ice cream, sushi, or pizza. The truth I’ve found in the last half of my life is this:

    The worst version of something is not better than none of it.

    The Worst Version of School

    Teammates in Bonita USD, friends on Twitter and elsewhere, and I have spent a long time prepping to teach online. I’ve sent probably dozens of tweets about relationships first and making students feel less stressed online.

    Hell, taking a brave risk was my theme at two webinars I gave this summer.

    But here’s the thing.

    We’re all thinking it.

    This… just… sucks.*

    Getting ready for the first day of school and driving to a nearly-empty campus to sit in front of a screen and teach in an empty classroom?

    That sounds like purgatory designed to torture teachers like me. A school with no kids in it? School where the relationships are minimized and everything is delivered through a Chromebook and an 11-inch screen?

    Ugh.

    My 2nd-grader has to navigate between her Zoom window and Chrome quickly enough to track with her teacher. She’s a strong reader and a great communicator. She has two parents who value education and can be present during school. She has her own device from school, a quiet place to work, and reliable internet, and she is overwhelmed and frustrated daily. Today it was, “I hate distance learning and I wanna be back in school!”

    a boy with his head in his hands, pencil and notebook on the table.

    For most of my career as a teacher, I’ve felt like master and commander of all that happens within my four walls.

    If a kid needs water or food, go to my snack drawer.
    Squirrelly and needing a break? Take these Post-its down to Ms. Allizadeh’s class.
    You’re pissed because your friend is being mean? Come eat lunch in here; you don’t have to sit with them today and maybe we try again tomorrow.

    I can’t do anything to help most of the barriers facing students while they learn remotely. If the kids in my homebwho have won privilege bingo and are well-prepared to be successfulbare struggling, how in the world can I reach the kids who don’t have all these resources?

    As the master and commander of my four walls, I’m feeling ownership and responsibility for this, the worst version of school.

    But Marian said it well:

    You did not conspire to create these conditions. None of us did. While I know that you are busy looking for the right answer to your moral dilemmas, and the right platform and right tools, none exist. And that is not your fault.

    Marian Dingle (link)

    As we begin to scramble and do the best for our kids, it’s important that we remember:

    Chinabwhere COVID-19 originatedbhas been back in school since May.
    Italybthe European nation with the highest infection rate in Marchbis back to school next month.
    The countries who are still remote-learning are broadcasting educational content via TV and radio, hosting Ed/Tech resources for free on government sites, and enforcing mask mandates in public places (source).

    As a teacher, I find myself slipping into self-blame while attempting to structure the best digital environment I can. By taking responsibility for distance learning, I’m discretely inheriting the blame for the worst version of school.

    Let’s remind ourselves:

    With leadership that recognized the COVID-19 threat early and attempted to prevent the spread, this would be very different.

    So I’m pointing my frustrating toward DC, not toward myself.

    ~Matt “making Adobe Spark graphics to control my frustration” Vaudrey

    *NOTE: This idea does not discount the hard work that teachers like John are doing to make distance learning as meaningful as possible. I can’t wait to see how y’all do when you’re allowed to fully flex your muscles back in a brick-and-mortar classroom.

  • Weak Teaching Muscles

    Dear Claire,

    Thank you for being so willing to let me be your long-term sub while you’re out on Maternity leave. Of course, I’ll work closely with Adriana to keep our lessons and class culture consistent, something that you can swiftly absorb when you return in November.

    I gotta be honest. I’m equal parts thrilled and terrified.

    Thrilled

    Two and a half years ago, I left the classroom in March to become a P.D. Specialist. Since then, I’ve found ways to stay connected to classes and get student contact several times a week.

    But.

    It’s just not the same.

    Don’t get me wrong; I love my job. I have the freedom to do whatever teachers need done, to travel through the 13 schools in Bonita USD as often as needed, and to write blogs and prep workshops on the clock. I love being a tech coach and getting home before 5:00 every day with emotional energy left for my family.

    And.

    I really miss the high highs and low lows of teaching. YoubClairebhave asked me if I like coaching more than teaching. There’s no comparison; teaching is the best and hardestB job in the world.

    As a coach I have less days that are 10s, but I also have less days that are terrible.

    Black points are teaching days, orange are coaching days.
    Black points are teaching days, orange are coaching days.

    I miss those high highs a lot.

    But

    Terrified

    I’ve been out of the game for 30 months. In the time since I’ve left the classroom,

    • One Direction lost a member
    • Pokemon GO has been invented
    • The Pauly D haircut has phased out in favor of the Macklemore haircut
    • #blacklivesmatter has given voice to the oppressed around the world
    • I’ve had two more kids
    • I’ve written a book and given a few dozen workshops to teachers across the country
    • Donald Trump has become a viable candidate for President
    • #mtbos has grown to be an educational powerhouse

    Shortly after college, the captain of my college Ultimate team called me. “There’s a beach Ultimate tournament in January. Wanna play?”

    ultimatefrisbee

    The whole team was “wicked stoked.”B We got together in the early morning to warm up, high-fiving and spinning discs in the sand.

    Six minutes later, half the team was wheezing and begged the captain to slow down. “Dude, you might still be in shape,” an accountant from San Jose huffed. “But the rest of us aren’t as fit as we were in 2007.”

    I haven’t had a parent conference, offered a test retake, or debated the fairness of aB senior’s grade in years.

    Is this quarter in my class going to be a beach Ultimate tournament? How much have my teaching musclesB atrophied in the last 30 months?

    Claire, I’ll have an answer for you by September.

    ~Matt “Pulled a hammie” Vaudrey

     

  • Back In The Classroom

    One year, eight and a half months ago, I packed up my little hatchback with the last few boxes of classroom materials, hugged a few students, and left the classroom, not knowing when I’d return.

    There’s a chance b a slight chance b that I’ll be back in the classroom in some capacity next year.

    excited baby

    Here’s how:

     

    I took the four steps down the hall and propped myself against the door frame to Krisb office. bSo, five years from now, when we have nine tech coaches b b

    bHah! Right.b Kris hasnbt looked up from her computer yet, but we have these conversations on a regular basis. No primer, no warm-up, and eye contact only once both parties are engaged.

    bNine tech coaches, but only six coaching at any one time. Each year, one-third of the coaching staff is back in the classroom. Keeping their chops up, trying out new instructional strategies, and filling a blank spot for the master schedule.b Ibm still in the doorframe and I know shebll spin and I can raise my eyebrows and feel smug and proud of my great idea.

    bHm,b says Kris, looking out the window above her computer and slowly turning her chair. I raise my eyebrows, like Ibd planned, bI know, right? Itbs the best idea in a long history of my great ideas.b

    bI b& donbt know about that,b she laughs. bPrincipals wonbt like that plan; itbll make hiring a nightmare. What if we used the tech coaches to fill temporary vacancies? Pregnancy, leave of absence, illness or injury; stuff like that.b

    micdropgif

    My jaw drops. bOh, baby. Thatbs fantastic! Thatbs way better than my idea, which was already good.b

    bYeahb&b Kris taps on her phone in her left hand, absently staring at the ceiling. bTherebs something there. Letbs keep thinking about it.b She spins back to her computer and I retreat to my standing desk.

    About six months after leaving the class, I attended CMCB 2014, asB I do every year.

    Herebs the thing about leaving a conference with no classroom to return to; that feeling of bI canbt wait to try this!b remains unfulfilled. Ibm pumping up a water-bottle rocket, but never releasing it.

    In the few short months of instructional coaching, Ibd already filled my satchel with great ideas that I canbt actually implement. That feeling has only grown in the last year-and-a-half.

    Until Kris hatched this plan.

    Ibm already dreaming about how to teach differently. Here are a few benchmarks that have evolved since I left the class:

    No Homework

    If youbve taught more than a few weeks, youbve noticed something.

    Your highest-achieving students will do your homework.
    Your lowest-achieving students will not.
    Students in the middle might or might not.

    This is not a new idea, and it gets worse.

    bMr. Vaudrey, can I talk to you outside?b Roger was a 16-year-old sophomore that arrivedB late in the year to my Geometry class. He fit in quickly and earned his B+ through hard work and sharing with his table, which I appreciated.

    bI donbt have my homework today.b He shuffled his feet.

    bHm.b I folded my arms and put on my tough teacher face. bWhy not?b

    bItbs cuzb& last night, my dad came home drunk, so we hid until he passed out and we left at midnight. My math book is at the house and we canbt go back for a few days.b

    Roger wasnbt the only student with a shitty home life that year.

    The students who most needed success in their life had the most stress once they left my class. B Homework is just one more thing that they can’t control and isnbt going how they planned.

    How arrogant that I punish those students with guilt and missing points.

    Positive Language

    Our students most in need of our support also face even moreB negativity in the land of teacher crackdown:

    bNo food, no gum, no drinks in my class.b
    bIf you donbt stop bothering him, youbre not going to pass the class.b
    bStop talking!b

    yelling

    My sister is a psychologist who specializes in child development. My wife and I get to benefit from her work with kids, and we donbt even give her a copay.

    In parenting with high-needs children, naming the bpositive oppositeb is a common practice. Kids donbt automatically know the alternative to their bad behavior, so name the behavior you want.

    Instead of bDonbt hit your sister!b say bWe use nice touches.b

    Listen to what teachers are saying when they manage a class. Is it like the negative language above? Or are they naming the positive opposite?

    Make Learning Matter

    There are plenty of other class culture ideas that Ibve formulated in my time away from the front of the class, many of which, I dabbled in prior to leaving.

    Instead of describing it in depth, I should just write a book.

    ~Matt bNice Touchesb Vaudrey

  • Another Day In Paradise

    I pause the Glue Song and ring the tiny bell on the cart.

    “People, look over here. This pink paper is LAMIAH, that was yesterday’s homework that I forgot to pass out. Please raise your hand if you need it and Frank will pass it out. This white paper is MARSHALL. Glue MARSHALL and the Warm-up into your Math notebook, please.”


    (This is the Glue Song. It’s a sound cue, telling the students that the directions on the board involve glue.)

    I hand a pink stack to Frank and put the Glue Song back on. As soon as the music hits their pubescent ears, I am beset by questions.

    “Mr. Vaudrey, you forgot to stamp my planner.”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, do I glue them on the same page?”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, can I get a drink of water? But I’m thirsty!”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, can I do number one?”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, my dog attacked a rabbit this morning.”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, I didn’t get LAMIAH.”
    “Mr. Vaudrey, did you hear that? James said he’s gonna hurt me!”

    “You need Mark in the office? Thank God.”

    I only have 21 students in this class, but each one has specific needs on my time, and any one of them ignored will cause a cavalcade that will corrode the rest of the period.

    “Then take your planner out right away so I can see it. I don’t care how you glue them, it’s up to you. You just had lunch. Talk to Maria and Desmond to see which ones they are doing. That’s great; do the warm-up. Frank is passing it out, he’ll be here in a sec. You did the right thing by not responding to him. James, let me speak to you outside.”

    It’s possible that the homeless guy in Glendora who talks to himself–seemingly sporadically–is just replaying conversations from when he used to teach middle school.

    Typically, when non-teachers actually see my classroom, they exclaim, “Wow. I could never do that.” It makes me feel good; knowing that my six years of skills are beginning to take shape into a career.

    But my students are just a different bunch. At least nobody masturbated at their desk today. (Some students have done that in last year’s classes).

    The first part of the period is the hopeful part; the class can go either way. Either they will be motivated and hard-working…

    … or he will give up, seek distractions, lament “I don’t get it!” with her head on the desk, tuck his head in his shirt and rock back and forth, tell the new girl she’s fat, tell him he can go to hell, tell her to go eat a cheeseburger, he’ll chew gum, claim it isn’t gum, and ask to go to the nurse.

    All of which happened in the first 15 minutes of our lesson on Slope.

    I have to remind myself (in the moment, especially) that they weren’t born this way. These students are the product of low skills, bad teachers, lazy parents, low-income community, a disinterested school culture, and Hot Cheetos con Limon. Any one of those by itself would be a challenge, and in 4th period, I have a huge cocktail.

    Which, coincidentally, is what I’m craving after they leave.

    Celebrate the successes and push through the challenges.

    Come on, Vaudrey. These kids need learnin’ and you’re just the guy to do it.

  • Grow up

    Why do we push maturity on kids so much?

    Jesus himself said that we should have the faith of a child, so why do we use these phrases?

    “Act your age!”
    “Grow up!”
    “Quit acting like a child!”
    “How old are you?”

    I speak mostly from my own experience; 12-year-olds are at the pivotal point between childhood and adulthood where they know words like “fuckface”, but they also will clean every piece of trash off the classroom floor to earn a piece of chocolate. The middle-school mind is capable of much, and I have seen a fair amount of it.

    A student, after constant chatter and no productivity, was sent to the office, as per the agreement he has with the principal. Upon receipt of the hall pass and realization of what is happening, he sputters to me, “you’re expelling me right now, do you know that?”

    This particular student is on a very thin thread; the principal has told him that if he continues to get sent out of class, then there is no reason for him to be at this school. This lecture had the desired effect… for about a week. Now this student is back to his old ways and, true to the mind of a mid-adolescent, is unable to put together the actions and the consequence.

    If I refuse to spit out my gum, distract other students during the test, write nothing on my own test, and don’t follow directions right away, then there’s a good chance I will not be wanted in class.

    Another student:

    bMr. V, are we playing a game today?b

    [Looking toward the Agenda section of the whiteboard] bIf only there were a place in the room where I could write down what we are doing today, that would be great.bStudent: [pause] bTherebs room on the whiteboard right there.b

    Mr. V:bAnd look next to it, where it says AGENDA, it says exactly what we are doing today! Hot Dog!b

    Student: [longer pause] bWebre playing Hot Dog today?b

    I am currently interviewing for a job teaching Geometry to high school students. Geometry is my favorite subject and I love students, plus, this job feels like a youth group in that it monitors the holistic growth of the student, not just academic.

    Confident as I may be that this new job will require less time with my wearing my “Hard-Ass” hat and requiring an orderly classroom, I am unsure how to start this job. I have never had a “first day of school” where I am captain of a greasy-faced and baggily-dressed ship. I can only hope that I will handle my classroom with the dignity and grace that the post requires,

    and not punch the mouthy kid in the nose.

  • Why canbt I get paid to do what I really like?


    This week, I tried several lessons that sucked. If I finish the day without any kids talking about how bored they are, then I consider it a good day. Tomorrow, I plan to finish a lesson that I started on Thursday, which could either do very well or suck like a b& well, it will suck a lot.

    Ibm not really looking forward to this next week of lessons; I have never taught math before, never been a disciplinarian before, and definitely never had my workday depend on how much I can be a hard-ass before.

    This weekend, the wife and I went to Las Vegas to see family for Easter. We went to the strip, gambled, and got free drinks for the first time. The wife, of course, found a game without cards or any gambling terms and loved it.

    Picture the Wheel of Fortune spinner on its side with different numbers. In a great idea, the number appears fewer times than its payout, but the numbers correlate to their payout. For example, betting on a 5 will pay 5 to 1, betting on a 20 will pay 20 to 1, but the 20bs appear 1 in 50 on the wheel, the 5bs appear 1 in 8 times on the wheel. If you follow that, you can see that if you play long enough, you will lose money.

    Unfortunately for us, the wife won $10 right away and, squealing, continued to bet until her $20 limit was depleted. I played penny video poker for the most part (because it costs me only 4 cents while Ibm waiting for a free drink), though I did venture to a blackjack table to lose one $15 hand in about 6 seconds. The dealer showed a 2 and I had 13, the odds were in my favor that she wouldnbt get 19. We left without winning anything, but losing less than we budgeted. Yes, we budgeted before going into the casino.

    Why canbt I get paid to make smart decisions in the casino?

    Today, we went to a Lutheran church with piss-poor drums and a cheap Merlot used as the blood of Christ. I was (in my head and to the wife) critical and condescending about the whimsical, muddled theology and stand-up, sit-down aerobics service, but even as I made fun of the way that this community experienced God, I was kicking myself in the ass for thinking that way. It is much easier to be cynical than to make my faith my own.

    Why canbt I get paid to constantly critique everything?

    After church, we went home and had a light lunch where I showed my father-in-law how to fix is iPod. He couldnbt get iTunes to sync and had deleted a bunch of stuff. When he first got his computer, I went through it and changed defaults so that it would be easier to use. When his wife, my mother-in-law, got a digital camera, she took it out of the box to look at, then sealed it back up until I could come over. bI donbt want to touch it until he can show me what to do.b

    Why canbt I get paid to be a technology consultant?

    About an hour ago, I went back out to the garage to put the tubes back into Gramma (in-law)bs old McIntosh stereo system. The plan was to get the tubes checked out and fix the ones that need it, then I realized that we didnbt try to even turn it on first. Turns out that Grandpa had some trouble with the record player and declared the whole thing broken. Since he passed away, we were free to see if it works. (He was a bit stubborn and insisted that it was broken.)

    Gramma was nearly moved to tears when we talked about giving me the old stereo. When I got it working, she was so excited. It felt good to power up the old tubes and play big band swing in the garage. Gramma told me about how she used to make canolis for Tony Bennett and she used to go see the big band shows in Vegas.

    Why canbt I get paid to fix stuff for old ladies?

    My job is out there, and Ibm probably 20 years away from finding it. If anybody knows where I can find a job fixing stuff for people who donbt know much about it, let me know.

    Especially if it provides healthcare.

    ~