Author Archives: Fawn

A New Position

By Fawn | Published: August 13, 2019

I just accepted a math TOSA position (grades 5-8) with the Rio School District. I’d spent the last 30 years in the classroom – my school as my second home, my colleagues as my family, my work as my life and identity, but most of all, my students as my children, my babies, my heart. […]

Posted in Teaching | Tagged #mathcoach, coteaching, newjob, TOSA | 19 Responses

Jelly Beans or No Jelly Beans

By Fawn | Published: January 14, 2019

What’s not to love about Would You Rather; I use it with my students and always recommend it as one of the great warm-up routines. This one caught my attention last week. Each entry always includes this statement: Whichever option you choose, justify your reasoning with mathematics. This statement is important, especially the word “mathematics,” because […]

Posted in Course 1 (6th Grade Math), Course 2 (7th Grade Math), Teaching | Tagged context, Number Talks, word problems, WYR | 7 Responses

2019 Is an Odd Number

By Fawn | Published: January 4, 2019

The arrival of 2019 means I have to scroll down even farther to find my age year when I fill out an online form. Ugh… 1985… 1975… 1970… 1967… Here it is… 1965! I just came back from a short trip — via long-ass flights — to Melbourne for my niece’s wedding. I did a […]

Posted in Teaching | Tagged Geoff Krall, keynote, Necessary Conditions, workshop | 2 Responses

Mrs. Quiggle

By Fawn | Published: November 12, 2018

I didn’t know they made teachers so old, but Mrs. Quiggle was that old when she was my 8th grade Home Economics teacher. She perched on a high stool in the corner of the classroom, leaning over a wooden podium that she used as her desk. Home Ec was my favorite class, along with math — […]

Posted in General, Shallow Thoughts | Tagged gratitude, learning, patience | 2 Responses

St. Cloud, Minnesota

By Fawn | Published: July 3, 2018

I don’t remember the landing. It’s been a very long flight. Nor do I remember walking through the airport. We have no luggage anyway, like none. My first memory of America is sitting in the back seat of TuAnh’s uncle’s car — an Oldsmobile wagon with wood panel trim. I’m almost eleven and a half […]

Posted in Shallow Thoughts | Tagged going home | 44 Responses

Another Round

By Fawn | Published: June 21, 2018

Exhausted and hungry, I walk to the restaurant a hundred feet from the hotel’s lobby. The hostess greets me and asks how my day has been. I tell her it’s been a long day, that I just came in from LA on a 5-hour-plus flight. She asks about my reason for being in Philadelphia. I […]

Posted in Teaching | 15 Responses

House Cleaning and Lesson Planning

By Fawn | Published: May 27, 2018

I posted this on Facebook: There is something else that I do way better than teaching mathematics, even though teaching has been a 25-year plus career. That something is house cleaning. Then, a friend asked for advice on this, adding, “Will desperately be awaiting your response.” I responded with: Thought no one would ever ask. […]

Posted in Teaching | Tagged lesson planning, VNPS | 6 Responses

Broken Straps

By Fawn | Published: April 1, 2018

Robert Kaplinsky drops me off at the front of the district building. I make my way to the room where I’d be presenting. I set up. I go out to the hallway, walk around, long enough to get lost. I’m looking for something. I don’t know where my backpack is. Where did I leave my […]

Posted in General | Tagged #PDNightmares, PD | 3 Responses

Scoring an Ordered List

By Fawn | Published: January 31, 2018

My 7th graders have a question on their exam that asks them to put eight numbers (integers and fractions) in order of their distance from 0 on the number line, starting with the smallest distance. These types of questions are tricky for me to grade, and because there are eight numbers in this sequence, the task […]