Blessings to Count! What a Great Math Activitiy!

At Hyde Park with the Roosevelts!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Counting blessings right now! Today we had a real rainstorm!  The trees are soaking it up!  Our daughter, Halley is home from graduate school for a break!  So happy to have her home!  

What a great trip Jeff and I just finished.  Started with a great day in Albany, New York on Friday the 13th.  Super fun group of teachers spending the day exploring math fact fluency.  

Jeff and I are on a mission to accomplish visits to all the Presidential homes and libraries.  On this trip we were able to visit FDR’s home and library in Hyde Park, New York.  Loved it and learned so many details about his four terms.  What a first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was!  Also visited the Vanderbilt mansion in Hyde Park.

The next day we took a city tour of Salem, Massachusetts.  What a darling town with an amazing history!  At one time, Salem was the third richest city in U.S.  We then visited the JFK library!  The view is so beautiful.  Disappointed that the Cuban missile exhibit was closed.  Still need to learn more about that time that was my childhood.

Math Fact Fluency class in Hartford!

Monday was the Math Fact Fluency class in Boston and Tuesday in Hartford.  Loved both groups.  I have really missed being in both those cities.  Used to spend more time there and it has been hard to get them in!  Loved the professionalism that I see with the teachers!  So wanting to do right by children.

The last part of the trip was the NCTM Regional in Nashville, Tennessee.  Wow!  What a conference!  It was so fun!  Got to spend an evening with Erin who is a friend of our daughter.  She is a Acquisitions Editor for Corwin Publications.  Had such fun connecting with Catherine Beals who started as a teacher in our area and now lives and works in Boise area in Idaho.  She delivered her research from her dissertation.  It was such a helpful session!  I had so much fun with both my groups!!!

Well, time to think about what we are having for Thanksgiving!  Love being home…….

Happy holiday!

Summer is here!

Just finished the third week of summer travel!  Started in Stillwater and Moore, Oklahoma.  Then on to Burbank, California.  Just finished Sublette and Wichita, Kansas!  Every workshop has been filled with happy, wonderful teachers giving up their precious summer days for staff development!  How blessed to spend time with such dedicated professionals!

Wrapping up my new book called Bump It!  The book is filled with Bump It games for every skill in mathematics.   I am so excited because children just love these games!  So many exciting things happen when you play the games!  Children become highly motivated to play which then improves their fluency with the skill!  Look for the book in time for the new school year in August!  If you have not played Bump It with your students, you will be blown away!  If you have attended my games class taught by me or one of my amazing Kim Sutton Associates then you have met this motivating game!

What summer plans do you have?  Hope that there is lots of rest and relaxation.  Make sure you set aside a half hour to make a class concentration board for the new year!  Concentration is another powerful class activity because it works on working memory, coordinate graphing on a Cartesian Plan and whatever skill you put on the cards!

These concentration boards can be purchased at Creative Mathematics CLICK HERE!

 

Mathematically yours,

New Year! New Attitude!

Happy New Year!  How can it be another new year?  Wow, feels like another year passed in the blink of an eye….about to have a big birthday at the end of the month.  It has really caused me to think!  Jeff and I have decided that we need to start taking some of our “bucket list” trips!  Went down the Grand Canyon in a raft for 7 nights in May and just finished a trip down the Danube River visiting Germany, Austria and Hungary.  Loved both trips for very different reasons.

I was thinking before Christmas!  What if 2015 was a year of fresh starts, new beginnings and a whole new level of gratitude?  What if we found a way to enjoy and be present each moment of time with our students?  I just changed the calendar in my classroom and thought about how easy it is to wish time would fly by and how that thought keeps us from thinking about the moment that is now.  

Are you rested and refreshed and ready to face this new year?  If you are go face it.  If not, pretend you are.  Sometimes we learn to fake it and soon it becomes real!

Mathematically yours,

Let's Go! No Time to Waste!

September 14, 2014

Happy beginning of the school year!  By now, everyone is back in school and establishing positive routines in the classroom.  I have to say that I am very worried about the British Columbia teachers who are out on strike.  As of tonight, an end did not seem near.  Our thoughts are with you and your students during this difficult time!

I had amazing workshops this summer.  Enjoyed them all and all the amazing teachers that I meet.  Finished my summer in a new state for me!  Got to present in Gardiner, Montana which is right by the north end of Yellowstone.  Loved the school and all the teachers.  Every day at lunch the elk came down and joined us!  The class was a two-class and we spent the rest of the week touring Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.  Can’t wait to return.

By now you know that my new book, Dazzling Dominoes! is finished with lots of new games and activities!

This fall promises to be a wild ride….hope it is filled with great learning for all of you!

Visited Ashland Park-Robbins School on September 3rd and spent the day in wonderful classrooms doing lessons.  When I finished the day, Prinicipal Jan Martin presented me with the book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio!  It is an amazing book!  I highly recommend reading this book to your class, 3rd and up!  The message is for everyone!

I have lots of new ideas coming your way this year!  Watch for them!  Check out the free section of our website!  Lots there!

Mathematically yours,

Kim

Bucket List Trip! Happy Summer!

May 26, 2014

Happy end of the school year!  You are either relaxing or contemplating that summer vacation…..

My husband and I just finished a "bucket list" trip!  We traveled down the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River for a rafting trip.  We entered the river at Lee's Ferry, traveled 188 miles and left the river via a helicopter at the Bar 10 Ranch!  We went with the Western River Expeditions, two guides and 16 other brave souls.  It was the most amazing trip!  We camped for six days.  We had seen the Grand Canyon three other times but never experienced anything close to this!

The trip was great and it reminded us that vacations are so worth it.  This one challenged us in new and exciting ways!  So different from the kind of vacations we normally take!

The big news is my domino book is almost done after many delays.  The contest results will be announced soon.  I am so grateful for all the great title suggestions!

Mathematically yours,

Kim

Guest post by KSA Darlene Varga: Linking Past to Present

This guest post is courtesy of Darlene Varga, AIMS Trainer extraordinaire and Kim Sutton Associate.  Darlene is a veteran teacher with more than thirty-eight years of experience teaching and training under her belt, who has presented on math and science at the district, state and national levels. Darlene's passion is for helping teachers and students alike come to love and feel more comfortable with math.

Kim Sutton Associates are highly skilled trainers and coaches from around the United States and the globe who share Kim's vision of making math a more creative, meaningful experience for students and teachers of all ages.  For more information on Kim Sutton Associates, please visit our Kim Sutton Associates page.

I was thrilled to become a KSA.  I knew it was a chance to share Kim’s creative and innovative methods of teaching mathematics with other teachers.  I did not realize it would, also, give me chance to reunite with past parents and fellow teachers. 

The second KSA workshop I presented was in Austin, Texas where I taught more than 20 years ago.  The numbers for the workshop were low, so I decided to share the workshop details with some of my friends on Facebook.  One of my former parents from the 1970’s responded and said she was no longer teaching but would love to come help me out in setting up.  A retired teacher I taught with in Austin invited me to stay with her and she, also, wanted to go to the workshop to help.  Another retired teacher I worked with was subbing at a school in the Austin area and she spread the word to that school about this workshop opportunity.  With her help, the workshop filled to capacity. 

The past parent and the teacher I stayed with came early and helped me set up, insisted on staying for the entire workshop helping with sales, etc. and then helped me pack up.  The teachers that attended (after a long day of teaching) were so involved with the activities and all seemed to leave energized and ready to go back and try out some of the new ideas. 

It was such a special day being able to spend time with a group of dedicated teachers and sharing time with people who were important parts of my early teaching career.  I look forward to more enriching experiences as a KSA.  Thanks Creative Mathematics for giving me this incredible opportunity.

Darlene Varga

See you in Louisville!

In the last week, we’ve traveled from gorgeous Gatlinburg to Connecticut by way of Gettysburg, amongst other stops!  Gatlinburg was beautiful-- I love where we live, but the fall colors really pop in Tennessee in a way you don't quite get in evergreen northern California.  I even got to sample some moonshine!  Gettysburg was breathtaking-- what an amazing part of our history as a nation! 

Later this week we’ll travel to Louisville in time for the NCTM regional conference being held there.  I hope if you’re in the area you can stop by and say hello!  I’ll be presenting twice on Friday: once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  In the morning, I'll be speaking on "Teaching Fractions to Develop Proportional Reasoning."  This session will be perfect for any grades 3-5 teachers who might be looking for some new tips and tricks on how to help their students find fractions more meaningful.  

My second session on Friday will be something a little different. This year, we’ll also be trying out something we’ve never done before.  I'll be hosting an exhibitor session!  The exhibitor session is called "Walking the Number Line for Research-Based Results."  As you might have guessed from the name, this session is going to cover one of my favorite tools, my number line, and all the different ways it can be used to cover so many concepts that your students need to know.  Whether you're pre-K or grade 5, we'll absolutely be doing something that you can use in your classroom immediately.  Come play with me! 

Stop by if you can-- attendees at this special exhibitor session will get a very special treat.  (I know Halloween has passed, but I'll try to keep it alive and well in the spirit of the conference.)  Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!  For more information on the conference, go here. If you can't make it to Louisville but still want to download my handouts, they'll be available here starting next week.