5:30
Ohhh I don’t want to get out of bed. I’m thinking about the day ahead. There’ll be fewer 6th graders in each class– they’re on an orchestra field trip. I walk the dog while listening to the Planet Money segment on NPR. Did you know that for 70 years Coke only cost only a nickel?
7:30
First period. Language Arts- We’re reviewing word choice by focusing on dialogue tags. How many ways can you say said or asked?
8:11
Advanced Math. My B day block is off to the computer lab to take an online survey. It’s to measure student involvement in sports and clubs, their stress levels, bullying, etc. When we get back to the classroom the students share where they’re at with their group video project. We review fraction multiplication and cross canceling.
9:37
Math lab. Quiet period. Two students come in for help.
10:10
Lunch. I ran out of lunch meat so I had to buy a lousy slice of pepperoni pizza. I don’t think our district wellness plan has been communicated to our food service provider. Cookies and giant Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are well positioned—the calories are easily within reach of an 11 year old’s hands.
10:45
Standard Math. Another class gets to take the survey. I find myself defining more vocabulary such as “curfew” and “family obligations”. We return to class and I hand back their formative assessments. We review the problems and focus more on trapezoids.
12:08
Plan time begins. Meet with a colleague to plan tomorrow’s Science Olympiad meeting.
1:00
I head to the copier to run off copies of an NCTM fractions, percents, and unit rate activity based on Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”. You can find it in the October 2012 issue of Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. (I’ll write about it in a future post.) It’s back to the classroom to create another formative assessment on trapezoids.
2:00
“Mary!” It’s one of my teammates. This quarter she is using weighted grades and has a few questions.
2:20
End of the school day for the kids. No one comes in for after school help.
2:50
Officially it’s the end of the day. I check my email one last time. Our team leader sent notes from the monthly meeting. Nothing earth shattering. My plans for tomorrow and next week are set. I pack up to go home.
3:15
Head out the building.
3:45
Stop at the pharmacy for a Rx.
4:00
Home. Take the dog for a walk and pick up after her. Thank goodness we still get our daily newspaper delivered in plastic bags.
4:30
Reading the paper while listening to NPR. I’m a public media fan. At 6:00 I’ll watch the PBS NewsHour and wait for my husband to get home from work. Leftover meatloaf will be reheated.
Curiouser and Curiouser 
What is this Lorax activity that you mentioned? It seems cool, but I can’t find it 😦
You can find it in the October 2012 issue of NCTM’s Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School.
http://www.nctm.org/publications/article.aspx?id=34495
I’m looking forward to introducing it to the kids!
Thanks for participating! I had no idea that Coke cost a nickel for 70 years- interesting math problem to match that with inflation rates.
That Coca-cola story is a task I want to develop. It could turn into an inter-disciplinary lesson tying social studies and la with argument writing. How would a company present an argument to the federal government to invent a 7 1/2 cent coin? Coke didn’t want to double the price to a dime–customers would be outraged, but vending machines at the time only accepted one coin. Thanks, Tina for coordinating this blog post initiative.