My last post was from about a week ago bragging about my Pre-Calculus students getting excited about studying exponential functions and log functions. Well last week went even better. They left me at the front board in awe of their skills. I have taught Pre-calc now for 8 years. And Trig College Math (a class between Alg 2 and Pre-calc) for the six years before that. Logs have always been difficult for the students to grasp. So this year I wanted to do something different, I needed to change how I presented the material. It was a risk that paid off huge dividends.
After the lesson on the passing the drug test problem, the students were invested on this unit. Tuesday I went in and had them graph 5 different transformations of y = 2^x. We used all our previous information on how different transformation changed the graphs. Because this was about the fourth time we talked about transformations, these five graphs were easy for them to understand and manipulate. Then we looked at all five, noticed similarities and differences, identified the domain, range, and asymptote. I tried not to get in their way. I asked the questions, they made the connections. Then we graphed 5 variations of log base 2 of x. It just so happened (deliberate on my part) that each log graph was the inverse of the exponential function they just previously graphed. They immediately realized the graphs, in fact, were inverses. Everything we just studied about inverses was still holding true within this new set of functions. Then we flip the note sheet over and fill in a chart with log form vs exponential form. NO stopping them. I threw 10 hard evaluate these log expressions by rewriting them into exponential form. Students were defending their answers to others in the group and in the class. They were more than ready for their homework assignment.
Wednesday - two questions... that was it. They only had two questions on the homework. Well on to log properties we go. In years past, it was the ol' I tell you the properties, you then immediately manipulate the properties with variables. This year, oh no we are changing it up! Evaluate these... I have them 5 or 6 examples of logs being added together immediately followed by the log of the product of the arguments. Do you see any patterns? Any special relationships showing up? And darn it, if they didn't arrive at the property themselves. The lesson continued into Thursday with a discussion on how the change of base is going to be antiquated because of new technology. But if they had an old school calculator, here you go. Throw in the variable now that they are ready for them and give them a 10 question true false quiz at the end. Lively discussion followed the grading of the quiz. Who selected true and why? Who selected false and why? Did any of you change your mind? Why? What's the correct answer we can all agree upon? Bell rings.
And here we go for Friday: Remember last Friday I asked you about passing a drug test? Who remembers the plot? What was that equation you came up with again? Remind me why you all wanted .75 instead of .25 again. Excellent. Thank you for telling me the equation again. Our task today is find out exactly when your body will have 1mg left. Oh crap, they are not listening to me anymore!!! They have whipped out their calculators and are scribbling on their papers. Within a minute I have answers from nearly every group. I stood at the board basking in the beauty of students solving exponential functions without ever being given the procedure to do it.
WAIT A SECOND!?!?!
How did you all solve that? I haven't taught it yet. And here come the explanations of what they did. I pretended not to believe they could solve such problems and gave them another. Less than a minute again, they had an answer. Well alright then. Today's topic: solving exponential and log functions. Level: apply Assessment: solve this equation (where they had to condense the log expressions before solving where there would a quadratic that would require the quadratic formula with two irrational answers one of which was extraneous). We got through about half of the examples I wanted to. I'm not in a hurry. They are understanding it like rock stars! The bell rings. Three students run to the front with their assessment question completed and want to know if their answers are correct. I didn't even finish the lesson let alone ask them to attempt the assessment question. And these three students are not my top students. In fact, one rarely speaks to me.
I left my class that day so proud of my students. They left feeling enabled and empowered about math.
Over the weekend, I reflected on why I think they are doing so well. I feel it's because I took the time to build the concept and lay the foundation of that conceptual understanding before I gave them the procedure. The procedure came from necessity, not because it was what I told them to do. I had to slow down to allow them time to discover it. But I don't feel I will need to spend 3 days of review before the unit test like I have the past 14 years. I will give them at least one day of review. But I think that is all they need at this point. Tomorrow we will finish the solving lesson. Tuesday we discuss logistic curves and their purpose in the real world. Wednesday, we will review.
And I would like to defend my class for a brief moment. Yes, it is an honors class. But this class has struggled the most of all my Pre-Calc classes ever. One third came from the honors track, one third from the traditional track, and the last third skipped a year of math and came from a traditional math class. These are not kids who love math and can't wait for the words to roll off my lips. But they love being in control of their learning. I have become more of a facilitator than I have ever been instead of being a straight out lecturer. And I am loving it too. This may sound like I am bragging, but how can I not? They are amazing me every day. I have to brag.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Who are you and what have you done with my students?
It has been far too long. And I really wish the blog initiative was still kicking my butt to write at least once a week. I have much to still do tonight, but I must force myself to reflect. Here I go... and before I start, I need to say my Pre-Calculus kids are still shocking me this year. Remember, they were all in their seats before the bell rang on the first day... back to the story at hand.
I had a second opportunity to see Steve Leinwand again with some more members of my department. I was reminded about the following:
I had a second opportunity to see Steve Leinwand again with some more members of my department. I was reminded about the following:
Evaluate 16(.75)^x for when x = 8 in the exponential function
versus
You take 16mg of a controlled substance at 8am. Your body metabolizes the drug at a rate of 25% per hour. If you have to pass a drug test at 4pm with less than 1mg, will you pass the test?
Steve goes on to tell the story of how the Romain gymnast lost her gold medal because her coach didn't understand this problem. Well, I just so happened to be starting the chapter on logarithms in three days from this afternoon conference. Heck yeah, I'm so stealing this activity and having the kids get down and dirty with this function.
Three days go by and it's Friday... new unit day. I pose the problem, give the students 10 minutes to come up with an answer. Oh, and they had better be prepared to defend their answer and explain how they arrived at it. They didn't even blink. Bam, 15 minutes later I have kids telling to multiply by .75 not .25 each hour. Paraphrased from students: Well Mrs. Berg, it's because it's too much work to keep subtracting the 25%. You could, but this way was easier. (HECK YEAH! - trying to keep my excitement PG here) And no this person doesn't pass the drug test at 4pm. Almost, two more hours and they would have, but not at 4pm. Formula? Sure I wrote a formula for it. 16(.75)^x. (me in my mind - HOT DAMN - sorry for the French). Oh, I said at first they would pass the drug test because I just kept subtracting 4. But then I thought that was too easy, so I tried another way.
I could not plan for my students to astound me this way. They literally took over the conversation. And I hadn't even gotten to the good part of how this was a true story. They could google it when they got home, but a gymnast from the Syndey Olympics lost her gold medal because she took some over the counter cold medicine and the coach miscalculated the length of time on the banned substance. They were eating in the palm of my hand.
Then I said I had another real life story problem that involved exponential functions. Are they ready? They were ready as long as this one wasn't a sad story. I then told them about buying our first family vehicle. We were offered two choices $12,000 at 8% interest or $18,000 at 2% interest. Which should my husband and I take? I told them how we argued over it. He wanted the lower interest rate. I wanted the lower amount. I just so happened to have my graphing calculator in my purse (just like Batman would wear his utility belt). I worked the numbers. We took the higher interest rate. And then the bell rang.
I had assigned about 8 story problems. They all groaned when I said that. However, today, they came in without questions on those problems. I asked, any questions your groups couldn't answer? They said no. The homework was actually easy and they liked doing it! Ok, who are you and what have you done with my students?
Today we tackled graphing both exponential and log graphs. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Well, I hope. Those buggars made the connections they needed to on their own. I had very little to say today other than How do you know this? Please, convince the class. Do you agree with Suzy? Who can help John out?
Tomorrow we pursue the properties of logs. My goal: Shut my mouth and let my students take over the learning. After a small pop quiz. 1 story problem and 2 graphs... know or don't... show me.
Now, on to my other things I must attend to tonight. Felt good to brag and post again. Far too long I tell you.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Brain dump
Yup, it's been way too long since I have posted. Way too long. I just needed to carve out the time to sit and thing. So let the brain dump begin. Here's what has been swirling in my mind the last 3 weeks.
First and foremost, I am concerned about my students. I am not a perfect teacher. In fact, I know of a few areas where I am weak. I am continuing to work on these areas this year. The biggest weakness is my questioning skills. I have fallen into the trap of asking whole group questions, allowing students to blurt out answers, and not allowing my students the needed wait time to process. Curses! I am working on it. I don't want to be the teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. "We call this blank economics. Anyone? Anyone? Voodoo economics. V-O-O-D-O-O economics." I do need to ask those more important thought provoking questions like: Why do you think that? How do you know? What if...? I seem to do a kick ass job when I question in small group sittings and asking those questions. Now, I just need to translate those into questions to my entire class. I brought out the ol' craft sticks with names to help me. And in my Algebra 2 class, the day I actually made a conscience effort to improve my questioning, the learning was better. I just need to do it! Dang it!!! Maybe I should hang a poster up to remind me. VOODOO with a big red slash ought to the do the trick. Task number 1: Be more effective at questioning in my classroom. Start writing these questions in my lesson plans so I don't forget.
Still on the subject of my students and my concern for them, this year has been a struggle for me to get the results I want. At progress report time, my D and F rates were god awful. If I remember correctly, I had 13 F's in my Pre-Calc class out of 39. OMG. This has never happened to my students before. Of course, this was just a snapshot. Corrective instruction took place and the students were able to demonstrate they did learn it eventually. This is why my weeks have been so busy. Now, I do have 12 students who have skipped a year of math to be in Pre-Calc. 15 that are coming from the regular track of math, 2 repeaters who are improving their grades from last year, and 10 coming in from the honors track. In years past, it was really 2/3 from honors and 1/3 from regular with maybe one or two skipping a year. All this means is that I have had to slow down. Not a big deal. I'm meeting my kids where they are and bringing them along. Translation: What I have done in the past is no longer effective this year. Let's start looking at my lesson plans and revamping them. And to be honest, they did need revamping. Task number 2: Look at my lesson plans. What worked well previously and what needs to change to ensure all my students are learning?
Which brings me to my third thought of the blog: Lesson planning. Intentionality. Deliberate. I am thinking I must have naturally just come across a good way of explaining material and creating lessons. Wow, that sounds very arrogant and I don't mean it to be. Lesson planning in the past didn't use to be a chore. What do I want them to learn? How do I get them there? Did I cover what I needed to cover for future lessons? etc. But being intentional and deliberate about the lessons is tougher than I thought. It is almost like I am a student teacher all over again with myself as the mentor. I question it all now. And of course, where I can place that good question now as well as how do I get the third of my class to see the connections they have missed by skipping a year? Task number 3: Really look at my lessons, trim the fat, clean lines all the way... and make sure to include the questioning.
And finally, coming full circle with my swirling thoughts... how do I lead my department through this same experience? Blank. My mind goes blank. Insert crickets chirping here. Task number 4: Help expose what's not working in other classrooms. Gently and with care and support. And if they don't understand the first time, give them more support and time to learn just like my students.
We have one more week left in the first quarter followed by our week long Fall Break. Besides getting ready for a garage sale and cleaning my sons closets of the thousands of toys and clutter, I will be chewing on an action plan.
First and foremost, I am concerned about my students. I am not a perfect teacher. In fact, I know of a few areas where I am weak. I am continuing to work on these areas this year. The biggest weakness is my questioning skills. I have fallen into the trap of asking whole group questions, allowing students to blurt out answers, and not allowing my students the needed wait time to process. Curses! I am working on it. I don't want to be the teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. "We call this blank economics. Anyone? Anyone? Voodoo economics. V-O-O-D-O-O economics." I do need to ask those more important thought provoking questions like: Why do you think that? How do you know? What if...? I seem to do a kick ass job when I question in small group sittings and asking those questions. Now, I just need to translate those into questions to my entire class. I brought out the ol' craft sticks with names to help me. And in my Algebra 2 class, the day I actually made a conscience effort to improve my questioning, the learning was better. I just need to do it! Dang it!!! Maybe I should hang a poster up to remind me. VOODOO with a big red slash ought to the do the trick. Task number 1: Be more effective at questioning in my classroom. Start writing these questions in my lesson plans so I don't forget.
Still on the subject of my students and my concern for them, this year has been a struggle for me to get the results I want. At progress report time, my D and F rates were god awful. If I remember correctly, I had 13 F's in my Pre-Calc class out of 39. OMG. This has never happened to my students before. Of course, this was just a snapshot. Corrective instruction took place and the students were able to demonstrate they did learn it eventually. This is why my weeks have been so busy. Now, I do have 12 students who have skipped a year of math to be in Pre-Calc. 15 that are coming from the regular track of math, 2 repeaters who are improving their grades from last year, and 10 coming in from the honors track. In years past, it was really 2/3 from honors and 1/3 from regular with maybe one or two skipping a year. All this means is that I have had to slow down. Not a big deal. I'm meeting my kids where they are and bringing them along. Translation: What I have done in the past is no longer effective this year. Let's start looking at my lesson plans and revamping them. And to be honest, they did need revamping. Task number 2: Look at my lesson plans. What worked well previously and what needs to change to ensure all my students are learning?
Which brings me to my third thought of the blog: Lesson planning. Intentionality. Deliberate. I am thinking I must have naturally just come across a good way of explaining material and creating lessons. Wow, that sounds very arrogant and I don't mean it to be. Lesson planning in the past didn't use to be a chore. What do I want them to learn? How do I get them there? Did I cover what I needed to cover for future lessons? etc. But being intentional and deliberate about the lessons is tougher than I thought. It is almost like I am a student teacher all over again with myself as the mentor. I question it all now. And of course, where I can place that good question now as well as how do I get the third of my class to see the connections they have missed by skipping a year? Task number 3: Really look at my lessons, trim the fat, clean lines all the way... and make sure to include the questioning.
And finally, coming full circle with my swirling thoughts... how do I lead my department through this same experience? Blank. My mind goes blank. Insert crickets chirping here. Task number 4: Help expose what's not working in other classrooms. Gently and with care and support. And if they don't understand the first time, give them more support and time to learn just like my students.
We have one more week left in the first quarter followed by our week long Fall Break. Besides getting ready for a garage sale and cleaning my sons closets of the thousands of toys and clutter, I will be chewing on an action plan.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I can't even watch TV without thinking about school
My good friend Melissa is just starting her blog. In her second post, she writes about measuring time in minutes. It got me thinking a little, no a lot. Then, to give my brain a break from thinking about school stuff for a bit, I turned on my TV and tried to watch one of my recorded, hour long shows. I am watching a summer finale of one of them now. (And as a side note, the show is getting really good.) How can they manage to wrap this up in an hour? Well, actually, the show isn't an hour any more. You have commercials, etc. So, the real question is, how can they wrap this up in 45 minutes?
Then - because this is how my brain works - whoa, this is just like my classroom! I only have 52 minutes to wrap up a lesson, tie up all loose ends, and yet leave my students craving for more. Whoops, hit pause (because I love my DVR) and reflect on this some more.
Really, let's think about it. I have a story to tell. I have only an hour... well less than that because of commercial breaks (collecting homework, office pass arrives, hey you kid - you owe the library a book, etc.) I need to interest them to come back after the commercials, keep them guessing as to how the story ends, and invite them back for more. Each day. It has put a new light on what I have been doing for the past two decades. Sure, I have had my flops. But I also have had some real winners, too.
This year, I think I am going to treat one unit as a mini-series. I want to have a unit like Lonesome Dove. If you miss one day of class, you will call someone to find out what happened to Sheriff Berg. Ha, too much. Now to see what happens to Annie. Don't spoil it for me, please.
Then - because this is how my brain works - whoa, this is just like my classroom! I only have 52 minutes to wrap up a lesson, tie up all loose ends, and yet leave my students craving for more. Whoops, hit pause (because I love my DVR) and reflect on this some more.
Really, let's think about it. I have a story to tell. I have only an hour... well less than that because of commercial breaks (collecting homework, office pass arrives, hey you kid - you owe the library a book, etc.) I need to interest them to come back after the commercials, keep them guessing as to how the story ends, and invite them back for more. Each day. It has put a new light on what I have been doing for the past two decades. Sure, I have had my flops. But I also have had some real winners, too.
This year, I think I am going to treat one unit as a mini-series. I want to have a unit like Lonesome Dove. If you miss one day of class, you will call someone to find out what happened to Sheriff Berg. Ha, too much. Now to see what happens to Annie. Don't spoil it for me, please.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Sharper questions
The purpose of models is not to fit the data but to sharpen the questions. Samuel Karlin
11th R A Fisher Memorial Lecture, Royal Society 20, April 1983.
Imagine a lesson where the teacher comes into the room and says to the class, "Evaluate f(80) for f(s) = 10(s - 65) + 15" without any further discussion. While students may understand by the end of the lesson to plug in whatever number is in the parenthesis into the function and spit out an answer by means of order of operations to get some number at the end, they may not understand what it really means. You might get a question of "May I go to the bathroom?" or "I need to go to the nurse" instead of questions that further the topic.
Fast forward to today in my Algebra 2 class where I wrote the following on the board. "This weekend I got a speeding ticket. The police officer told me the fine for speeding was $10 for every mile over the speed limit I was going plus $15 to the city government." Before I could even finish writing, I was barraged with questions like "Did you really get caught speeding?, How fast were you speeding? Where were you speeding?". They were actually anxious to solve this problem. I told them I was clocked going 82 miles per hour. What was my fine? I heard answers of $170, $185, and $320. I asked a student to explain how they arrived at $185 since it was the most popular answer. Then I built the formula around it. "So you subtracted 82 - 65? Why? Oh, because you wanted the amount I was over 65mph? Ok. Then what did you do? Why? Ok. Anything else? Oh yes, don't forget the city government fee."
As I talked I wrote:
82 - 67
10(82 - 67)
10(82 - 67) + 15
What if I was going a different speed? What would change? So if we were to put a variable somewhere, where would we put it and what could we use? Talk to a neighbor about it.
10(s - 65) + 15
Interesting. Let's make it a function since we have been talking about functions.
f(s) = 10(s - 65) + 15
What does this f(s) mean? Excellent. I love that you said it was the fine I paid depending on the speed I was going.
What if I wrote this f(92). What does that mean? Right! The fine of the speeding ticket for traveling 92 mph in a 65mph zone. Now, what would be my fine?
How did some of us get answers of $170 and $320?
---
And right there I went from concrete to abstract AND they had better understanding of the concept because there was meaning attached to it. Hot dog!!!! Now, function notation isn't something that is terribly hard. But every year I have a handful that seem to struggle with it. However, as I checked on their progress on a story problem they were doing on their own, they had it!
All credit by the way needs to go to Steven Leinwand. He challenged us in a professional development during the summer. Take the boring and make it real. For him, it was real. He really was pulled over in Vermont, I think. He said it was the most expensive math lesson he ever had to pay for.
I had to break the bad news to the students that I did not get a speeding a ticket, nor have I ever had a speeding ticket in my life. They were in disbelief but they did learn what function notation means. So when I threw problems at them from the Pre-calculus book about the weight of an astronaut with a more complicated formula, they had no fear of it. I'm amazed it went so well.
So for this particular speeding story problem, I created the model around the data as we progressed in class. But it wasn't to just mold numbers into some formula, we actually got deeper into what function notation meant. The students weren't just told to plug and chug. They had meaning behind it. I sharpened the questions I asked them and they had better questions to ask. They weren't bored with rote, lame math. They were involved and invested. After all, they did think their math teacher was a bad ass for speeding at 82mph in a 65mph zone.
11th R A Fisher Memorial Lecture, Royal Society 20, April 1983.
Imagine a lesson where the teacher comes into the room and says to the class, "Evaluate f(80) for f(s) = 10(s - 65) + 15" without any further discussion. While students may understand by the end of the lesson to plug in whatever number is in the parenthesis into the function and spit out an answer by means of order of operations to get some number at the end, they may not understand what it really means. You might get a question of "May I go to the bathroom?" or "I need to go to the nurse" instead of questions that further the topic.
Fast forward to today in my Algebra 2 class where I wrote the following on the board. "This weekend I got a speeding ticket. The police officer told me the fine for speeding was $10 for every mile over the speed limit I was going plus $15 to the city government." Before I could even finish writing, I was barraged with questions like "Did you really get caught speeding?, How fast were you speeding? Where were you speeding?". They were actually anxious to solve this problem. I told them I was clocked going 82 miles per hour. What was my fine? I heard answers of $170, $185, and $320. I asked a student to explain how they arrived at $185 since it was the most popular answer. Then I built the formula around it. "So you subtracted 82 - 65? Why? Oh, because you wanted the amount I was over 65mph? Ok. Then what did you do? Why? Ok. Anything else? Oh yes, don't forget the city government fee."
As I talked I wrote:
82 - 67
10(82 - 67)
10(82 - 67) + 15
What if I was going a different speed? What would change? So if we were to put a variable somewhere, where would we put it and what could we use? Talk to a neighbor about it.
10(s - 65) + 15
Interesting. Let's make it a function since we have been talking about functions.
f(s) = 10(s - 65) + 15
What does this f(s) mean? Excellent. I love that you said it was the fine I paid depending on the speed I was going.
What if I wrote this f(92). What does that mean? Right! The fine of the speeding ticket for traveling 92 mph in a 65mph zone. Now, what would be my fine?
How did some of us get answers of $170 and $320?
---
And right there I went from concrete to abstract AND they had better understanding of the concept because there was meaning attached to it. Hot dog!!!! Now, function notation isn't something that is terribly hard. But every year I have a handful that seem to struggle with it. However, as I checked on their progress on a story problem they were doing on their own, they had it!
All credit by the way needs to go to Steven Leinwand. He challenged us in a professional development during the summer. Take the boring and make it real. For him, it was real. He really was pulled over in Vermont, I think. He said it was the most expensive math lesson he ever had to pay for.
I had to break the bad news to the students that I did not get a speeding a ticket, nor have I ever had a speeding ticket in my life. They were in disbelief but they did learn what function notation means. So when I threw problems at them from the Pre-calculus book about the weight of an astronaut with a more complicated formula, they had no fear of it. I'm amazed it went so well.
So for this particular speeding story problem, I created the model around the data as we progressed in class. But it wasn't to just mold numbers into some formula, we actually got deeper into what function notation meant. The students weren't just told to plug and chug. They had meaning behind it. I sharpened the questions I asked them and they had better questions to ask. They weren't bored with rote, lame math. They were involved and invested. After all, they did think their math teacher was a bad ass for speeding at 82mph in a 65mph zone.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Hitting All Eight
Lesson Planning... about that. Yeah, it's gotta be different, too. With all the change that needs to take place in the classroom this year, that means the ol' lesson plans need to be adjusted as well. Knowing I will be asking others how the 8 Mathematical Practices from the Common Core Standards (from here on out will be henceforth abbreviated 8MP) are demonstrated in each lesson, I am making it a point to make sure I can point out where the 8MP show up in my lesson. Here's the thing, not all 8 are in every lesson. Nor, do I think I can always achieve all 8 into every lesson. Or can I? Sigh. The more I study the 8MP the more I think I can incorporate them all to some degree. I just have to get out my own way. I need to revise lesson plans from previous years to allow the students to reach my goal. Far too often, I was comfortable spouting off info and happy if some of it stuck. Now, I can't be satisfied with that anymore. It's not what is good for kids. It's NOT what's right for kids.
I was doubting myself that I couldn't include all eight. I had this fear that the only way to achieve this would be to have some problem for the kids to work through, struggle through, and reason through to come out on the other end with a nice formula and complete understanding of it. I am beginning to rethink that. Sure it is a great model to use at least once a unit. But I need to hit it everyday and I don't have a nicely packaged fabricated story problem for every day. I am stressing about this. However, I am going to type up my plans with the goal in mind of hitting all 8 tonight. Pre-calculus will be studying functions this week, specifically what is a function tomorrow. And Algebra 2 needs to learn how determine domain and range from a graph and write it in interval notation. I've got an 80's marathon of music playing on the radio. I'm going to bang out these lesson plans and measure it against the 8MP.
Ya know, sometimes just getting my thoughts together on a topic is therapeutic. It's just the self-motivation I need to get me through it. Rock on fellow bloggers.
I was doubting myself that I couldn't include all eight. I had this fear that the only way to achieve this would be to have some problem for the kids to work through, struggle through, and reason through to come out on the other end with a nice formula and complete understanding of it. I am beginning to rethink that. Sure it is a great model to use at least once a unit. But I need to hit it everyday and I don't have a nicely packaged fabricated story problem for every day. I am stressing about this. However, I am going to type up my plans with the goal in mind of hitting all 8 tonight. Pre-calculus will be studying functions this week, specifically what is a function tomorrow. And Algebra 2 needs to learn how determine domain and range from a graph and write it in interval notation. I've got an 80's marathon of music playing on the radio. I'm going to bang out these lesson plans and measure it against the 8MP.
Ya know, sometimes just getting my thoughts together on a topic is therapeutic. It's just the self-motivation I need to get me through it. Rock on fellow bloggers.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Battle with Homework. Victory!
Traditional math class:
Bell rings. Students might take out their homework and half listen to the teacher read off answers. They may even hurriedly write down an answer in hopes of getting credit for scribbles resembling answers. Any questions? Great. Here. You do this, then this, and then this. Here's your answer. What else do you need help with? Then, they pass in the homework to be graded by the teacher. Usually very little feedback is given. The homework will be placed in a stack for the teacher to place a check mark on after briefly looking to see if the work is complete. Ten out of ten. Good job. Next paper. Five out of ten. When will this kid learn he needs to finish his assignments? Enter the grades into the computer. Fill in zeros for the kids who didn't turn in a paper. WASH. RINSE. REPEAT.
Does this sound familiar? Have you been in classrooms like this? Aren't you tired of this endless cycle. Are you the teacher in this scenario? I was. I was only because I didn't know any better. Now I do.
And here is what my homework time looked like this morning:
"Hey, take out your homework from last night on solving inequalities. You should have checked your answers last night in the back of the book. Now, I want you to check with your group mates. Do you all have the same answers? Oh, and hey, if you have questions.... ask your group peeps. Lisa, get off of Facebook, your homework answers aren't there." I then took attendance, attended to other minor details, then walked the room. I checked in with each group. I asked several students where their homework was. When they responded they didn't do it. I then asked, "Well, how can you help your peers if you don't do the work or how are they going to help you if you don't bring it?" I walked around several times and soaked in the rich language the kids were using to help each other. One final lap, this time with a pad of paper and pen in hand. "What questions couldn't you and your group answer?"
43, 55, and 59. Three questions. That's all I could get from them. They were so excited that they could answer most of the questions and they could explain it to each other! By the final few groups, I just held up the pad of paper... Any others? Nope. Great! Then I walked them through those three problems, but not all the way. I got them to the spot where they could finish it on their own. And I gave them 2 minutes to finish it up, check with their groups, and check the answer.
18 minutes into class and we were done with homework. Some students still needed more time to finish up what they didn't complete. However, they were going to leave class with the ability to do it on their own.
Today during lunch I wrote some feedback on their papers I collected. But my writing feedback to them is not nearly as powerful as the feedback they gave each other. BOOYAH!
The best thing I heard today in response to "How can you help your group if you didn't do your work?" "Oh, but I still can. I really understood this. I just didn't have time to complete the homework. Anna, get your homework. Which one did you need help with? See Mrs. Berg, I will still help. And I promise to have my homework tomorrow."
The worst thing I did today: I did the three problems. I should have asked for volunteers to bring their work up on the doc camera and explain how they were able to figure it out. There is always tomorrow!
How much more involved were my kids today? Heck ya! I'm doing this again!!!
Bell rings. Students might take out their homework and half listen to the teacher read off answers. They may even hurriedly write down an answer in hopes of getting credit for scribbles resembling answers. Any questions? Great. Here. You do this, then this, and then this. Here's your answer. What else do you need help with? Then, they pass in the homework to be graded by the teacher. Usually very little feedback is given. The homework will be placed in a stack for the teacher to place a check mark on after briefly looking to see if the work is complete. Ten out of ten. Good job. Next paper. Five out of ten. When will this kid learn he needs to finish his assignments? Enter the grades into the computer. Fill in zeros for the kids who didn't turn in a paper. WASH. RINSE. REPEAT.
Does this sound familiar? Have you been in classrooms like this? Aren't you tired of this endless cycle. Are you the teacher in this scenario? I was. I was only because I didn't know any better. Now I do.
And here is what my homework time looked like this morning:
"Hey, take out your homework from last night on solving inequalities. You should have checked your answers last night in the back of the book. Now, I want you to check with your group mates. Do you all have the same answers? Oh, and hey, if you have questions.... ask your group peeps. Lisa, get off of Facebook, your homework answers aren't there." I then took attendance, attended to other minor details, then walked the room. I checked in with each group. I asked several students where their homework was. When they responded they didn't do it. I then asked, "Well, how can you help your peers if you don't do the work or how are they going to help you if you don't bring it?" I walked around several times and soaked in the rich language the kids were using to help each other. One final lap, this time with a pad of paper and pen in hand. "What questions couldn't you and your group answer?"
43, 55, and 59. Three questions. That's all I could get from them. They were so excited that they could answer most of the questions and they could explain it to each other! By the final few groups, I just held up the pad of paper... Any others? Nope. Great! Then I walked them through those three problems, but not all the way. I got them to the spot where they could finish it on their own. And I gave them 2 minutes to finish it up, check with their groups, and check the answer.
18 minutes into class and we were done with homework. Some students still needed more time to finish up what they didn't complete. However, they were going to leave class with the ability to do it on their own.
Today during lunch I wrote some feedback on their papers I collected. But my writing feedback to them is not nearly as powerful as the feedback they gave each other. BOOYAH!
The best thing I heard today in response to "How can you help your group if you didn't do your work?" "Oh, but I still can. I really understood this. I just didn't have time to complete the homework. Anna, get your homework. Which one did you need help with? See Mrs. Berg, I will still help. And I promise to have my homework tomorrow."
The worst thing I did today: I did the three problems. I should have asked for volunteers to bring their work up on the doc camera and explain how they were able to figure it out. There is always tomorrow!
How much more involved were my kids today? Heck ya! I'm doing this again!!!
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