“There’s always a feeling of being excited, yet nervous; ready, yet unprepared for the unexpected; organized yet chaotic thinking of a million more things I could still do. But every time I see my why, I know I’m in the right profession.”

I wrote this quote at the beginning of the school year and it continues to holds true for how I feel each time I give professional development. I want teachers to find value and purpose in my PDs; I want our passions for education and student learning to inspire collaboration; and I want teaching to be positively impacted by any PD I give. So, after coming back from 2 weeks of winter break and having 2 back to back PDs on Wednesday and Thursday, I had all these feelings of excitement yet nervousness for how the PDs would go. On Thursday, I left fulfilled hearing and seeing the teachers so thankful for these days of enrichment and partnership. I wanted to share and house the documents and strategies I used here. Click the links provided and let me know how these go if you use them in your classroom (tag me on Twitter: @ashleyptaplin or IG: @taplinsteaching)

Algebra II (Polynomials unit, but many resources can be revised for other contents)

• Rose and Thorn opener and closure: See more explanation here

• Pass it On: Materials needed-blank copy paper and a pencil. See explanation here.

• Synthetic Division foldable: See explanation here.

• Synthetic division practice
• Quiz Quiz Trade polynomials: This Kagan strategy helps review concepts and promote student communication.

• Roll you Role game board, editable function dice, and Roll your Role key: Thank you, Scaffolded Math, for your editable dice template. *Note, synthetic division will go faster than long division. You could switch this up to have students do the same method…I like that students are comparing the two methods and checking each other, but, if you are worried about pacing between the partners that is an option.

• Roll your Role closure prompts: See explanation here.

Geometry

• Tangent Investigation: Revised from Discovering Geometry

• Orange peel investigation: Co-created with my coworker