Hi all! For those of you that don't know, my name is Brandon. I'm about to start student teaching. I have four classes of Algebra I and one class of Algebra II. First day of classes is tomorrow. I could not be more terrified.
Before we get started, I should introduce a few of the major characters in this upcoming semester. First, we have Nate, my mentor teacher. I've only spent a couple days working with him before, but he seems pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to working with him. Next, the ever-fabulous Hannah. She's basically my best friend here in town, and as luck would have it, she's gonna be student teaching right down the hall from me this semester. Her mentor teacher is Paulette, whom I don't know very much about, but Hannah and I are conspiring to potentially team-teach a few lessons, since we have different planning periods, so she'll probably end up being relevant.
So what's this blog about? Not completely sure yet. My goal is to blog through the experience of student teaching. Whether that ends up being interesting teaching ideas that I pick up, advice for others considering a similar path, general musings on what's happening at the school, or several posts of "ARGGGHHHHH, I QUIT." remains to be seen.
With that, I leave you with the letter I'm handing out to the students tomorrow (sans formatting):
January 6, 2014
Dear Students and Parents,
Hi! I hope you all had a great winter break. My name is Brandon Kerr, and I’m about to graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from the Secondary Mathematics Education Program at the University of Arizona. I’m originally from Northern Virginia, and I’ve been living in Tucson for almost four years now. Prior to this semester, I have worked in several schools throughout Tucson as a part of the program, totaling over 100 hours of class time working directly with students and teaching several lessons.
This is my final semester at the University, and I am student teaching in Mr. Adams’ Algebra I and Algebra II classes. Over the course of the semester, I will gradually take over the instruction in Mr. Adams’ classes. I will work with him every step of the way to ensure that the students are getting the best mathematics education possible. Mr. Adams will continue teaching for the beginning of the semester, and after the first week or two, I will begin to take over responsibility for classes one at a time. The exact phase-in schedule will vary for each class, and will be announced in class and on the class website as soon as possible.
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with you all, and I hope to lead the students through a highly successful semester in their math class. For those of you that would like to keep up with what’s going on in class (assignments, quizzes, and tests), I have several forms of communication setup:
1) Text message updates using remind101. Text the appropriate class code to 520-867-9238 to subscribe for updates.
a. Period 3 - @kerr03
b. Period 4 - @kerr04
c. Period 5/6 -@kerr05
d. Period 7 - @kerr07
2) Twitter updates. Follow @kerrmath on Twitter. Note that I will post assignments and upcoming assessments for ALL classes here—be sure to check which class each tweet is directed at.
3) Class website. I will keep an assignment calendar, along with links to any handouts or notes, at https://sites.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/kerrmath/home. This site can also be accessed using the QR code to the right.
If you have any questions about student progress or the class in general, I can be reached by email at bdkerr@email.arizona.edu. I will do my best to reply to all emails as quickly as possible. I will be available to help students as needed after school a few days per week; exact days will be announced as soon as possible.
Parents: I would greatly appreciate it if you could go to the class website, click the Contact Registration link, and fill out the form as soon as possible. This will help me to better be able to communicate specific information regarding your child’s progress.
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, and I look forward to a great semester here at Pueblo!
Sincerely,
Brandon Kerr
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