Tops of 2012

Since it is the last day of 2012 and there are a few others doing the same, I thought I would add to the "Top Blog Posts of 2012." Some of these are websites, some are blog posts, but all are on my favorites list for 2012. So, without any further ado, here are my top initiatives/blog posts of 2012:

Top Three Math Twitterblogosphere Initiatives:
Best PD Ever - The single most thing that has affected me this year is Twitter Math Camp. This is my summary post on TMC and it contains links to everyone's posts about their experiences. If you are interested in attending TMC13 in Philadelphia (July 25-28, 2013 at Drexel University), visit our website.

Welcome to the Math Twitterblogosphere - A collaborative effort coordinated and put together by Sam Shah was one of many great things that came out of Twitter Math Camp 2012. If you are new to our piece of the internet, it is well worth your time checking it out if you haven't already been there.

A Day in the Life (of a Math Educator) - Put together by Sam Shah and Tina Cardone, this was a series of posts done by mostly math ed bloggers on a typical day in our lives. Personally, it helped me to see that I am not alone in my daily stresses and it was good to get a chance to blog about all I do in a day.

Top Ten Blog Posts (in no particular order):
My Favorite Friday: My Go-To Reviews - Square root negative 1 heart Amy Gruen's blog! I have borrowed/adapted several things from her over the last year or so, including her go-to reviews. Many of the things I have used from her blog are from earlier years, so since I am sticking to this year, this would probably be my most used idea from this year from Amy.  Take the time to go back through her archives - she has great stuff!

Ghosts in the Graveyard (New and Revised) - Math Tales from the Spring is another of my favorite blogs. I have also borrowed/adapted many of her activities over the last few years. Kim and I seem to be on the same wavelength at times and I have a ton of respect for her. I have adapted this one (blogged about it, too) for my own classroom.

Resources for New Teachers & A Rant - I really like what Mathy McMatherson does in his blog. He is most definitely wise beyond his teaching years. I was/am flattered to be included in his list of resources for new teachers and have been to (and rely on) many of the resources he lists. Take the time to read the post rather than just skip to the end to get to the resources.

#Made4Math August 6th - Another great thing that has come out of the Math Twitterblogosphere is #Made4Math Mondays (which is on hiatus while we are all busy, but it is compiled at the Teaching Statistics blog). Kristen Fouss is another of my favorite bloggers (I've even had the pleasure of visiting her classroom twice!). I totally stole her first day Gform from this post and liked it MUCH better than doing the paper one I have done over the years.

My #Made4Math 2: Student Center - Totally stole this one from Megan. Great way to keep everything organized and it keeps students from asking me for so many things. The only down side is that my 7th graders in particular tend to abuse it. Well, that, and I tend to run out of pencils quickly. Still thinking that one through. Otherwise, I love it!

Classroom Management - More Like Anger Management - I love Hedge! I can totally appreciate her ADD style - there are days that my mind totally bounces around like that. She has some great organization forms and ideas here that I totally need to adapt (assuming I actually sit down and do it at some point).

Picture Frames to Jazz Up Station Work - Julie does some absolutely amazing things with her middle schoolers. This is one of the things I was able to steal and adapt for my own classroom. Again, a great organizational technique for stations.

Two Things Are Better Than One - I adapted this one when I taught piecewise functions earlier this year. This post laid out how Maggie taught piecewise functions with her classes and it was very helpful for my students as well.

Made4Math Monday: The Best Formative Assessment EVER - Terrance Banks has a great video to show how to quickly do a Formative Assessment activity with your students as they walk out the door (the post was even inspired by me, bonus!). I did try this with my students, but the post-its won't stick to my board... but I still like the idea.

Use Sticky Note Templates to Get Organized - I think I found this one via pinterest, but it was very helpful in printing my own post-its with graphs on them for my students to use as Terrance showed in his Formative Assessment post above.