I finally stepped away from the computer, the siren call of approving “just one more” Seesaw post echoing in my brain. I grabbed my lunch from the oven (pupusas, yum!) and gratefully pulled my book open (Halfway to Harmony- if you teach grades 3-6 I heartily recommend it!). I was determined to have a 15 minute break from the screen!
The crispy outside demanded my full concentration so that lunch would end up on the floor, when what, to my horror, should happen…my school brain fired up…
Fractions, of course, it is that time of year in third grade! Do you have that happen too? Once you are teaching something you see it EVERYWHERE!?
This afternoon I was trying to explain the problem to my third graders. I said, “I was all settled down for a relaxing lunch, when I had a problem!”
I showed picture 1. “It looks yummy,” A called out.
“Yes, it was! But before I tasted it I did this…” and I showed the second picture.
“Fractions!”
” You made fractions!”
“You ate fractions!”One after another they saw my problem- fractions are taking over our lives.
“Who else ran into fractions today?” I asked and a few students described their encounters.
“Are we reading a book today?” A asked (we always do in our afternoon Zoom).
“Of course, ” I replied, ” back to our regularly scheduled programming.”
Wouldn’t you know it, but we managed to find a way to talk about fractions even in the book we read. At least I know they will encounter fractions in their life outside school. I see this all as a sign that I am ready for a brea- my teacher brain needs a rest (3 more days, not that I am counting… ).
Ms. Victor Reads 
Erika, I know exactly what you mean! Springtime in the third grade means fractions, and you’re right–suddenly fractions are everywhere! Fractions can be such a difficult concept to communicate, and having examples is so helpful. Thanks for sharing this with us. 🙂
I’ve been thinking about Joe much math I have in my life and thinking about writing about that. For me, the world is a speech topic. I see them everywhere, and now they I’m retired, I text the speech topics to speech teachers I know. This is the life of a teacher. I love the dialogue you included and want to attend your class—even if it’s math!
I literally laughed out loud when I got to the third picture! You can’t turn The Teacher off! Love this post so much.
Yay! I found your post this week. 🙂 I’m betting your students are great at finding connections to math in their read-aloud because their teacher models it in her real life. I hope you DO get to turn off the teacher brain soon!
This slice is so true and happens to the best of us. Enjoy your upcoming break and hopefully you are able to turn off your teacher brain for about 1/2 or 3/4 of your days!