Circling Forward

We returned to school from winter break on January 6, and I was resolved to do some things very differently. Before the break, we had been working on a math unit on multiplication and division, and it was going pretty poorly. Each lesson seemed to be a fit for about 4 out of 16 kids. For everyone else it was too easy or too hard. And, in hindsight, I didn't know the math well enough myself. This is my first year in fourth grade, and our curriculum doesn't clearly align with how I think about the continuum of strategies from concrete and less efficient to abstract and more efficient.  Over break, while stewing about how math felt for nearly everyone involved, I stumbled (again) on the Modern Classrooms Project . I had seen their content before, but had dismissed it because I really don't care for a lot of technology in the elementary classroom. I slowed down to learn more this time, and got excited about the idea of blended learning where teachers create their own videos. I ...

January 2025 Hi! I'm Matt, an educator looking to document my teaching journey starting now, in my twentieth year. I've taught all grades between K-4 and I've worked in elementary and middle school leadership. I'm back in the classroom now, teaching fourth grade at a small school in Boston.  These days, I'm exploring and learning more about: Project Based Learning Mindfulness in Schools Mastery Based Learning Supporting Neurodivergent Learners Why Circling Forward? It's a combination of circling back and moving forward, and I think it sounds kind of catchy!  Circling back … to the classroom after some years in school leadership to practices I learned and loved early in my career, moved on from, and want to bring back into my practice in some way to knowledge and skills to ensure that all students truly master the content Moving forward ...  learning and implementing new practices that support more effective learning and community building finding balance in the ...