My Math 1 kids had a test today over solving equations. I had thought that we did enough practice and I was hopeful that they would at least earn 3's (out of 5) but most kids had 0s-1s-2s. I thought I had done a better job than years past of communicating the importance of showing work and I had too many kids just give answers. After working through many problems and stressing the importance of showing proper steps (adding 6 to both sides of the equation for example), I had several kids "pick" an answer and show that it works by substitution. Their overall scores "look" better because of SBG, but I don't feel their understanding is better.
I know I got through to some kids - some of them did well and some were close in their understanding and I feel they will earn those 5s with a little more practice. As I am sitting here tonight reflecting and trying to figure out my next move with them, I have at least come to the conclusion that I want to do a whole class reassessment. Truly, there are only 1 or 2 kids (out of 20ish) who earned mostly 5s and 1 or 2 4s, so this is as good of an opportunity as any to show them what reassessment (normally on their own) can do for them. As much as I want them to do the reassessments because they didn't get it and want to truly learn it, if the grade motivates them to do the reassess, I guess I'll take that.
So I am sitting here tonight with these questions floating around my head. If my dear readers would indulge me with their thoughts, I would be very appreciative.
**Obviously I am going to hand back their tests first and spend some time going back over it. Suggestions on how to best handle this? I don't want to be doing all the work - they need to do some practice and corrections on their own, but I don't feel I have enough kids to serve as "experts" on the 6 concepts to send small groups to other students to get help.
**They still need to do some practice - their understanding isn't close. How do you gauge how much more practice to give before reassessing? At this point, I am thinking they'll have some practice between tomorrow and Thursday (although my 3rd period is going to be cut short on Thursday) and reassess Friday.
**In the past, I would probably give another review sheet for them to practice. With these classes, although games can be a good diversion and fun for them, it can end up being a discipline problem and some still don't participate. I tried the Sweeney equation dance with them Friday on the first day of review to help reinforce the skills. My 3rd period didn't participate as well as they could have (although part of that could have been me in learning the whole thing) and my 5th period mostly participated (except for a couple of freshmen boys...) and I thought had learned it. At least they had fun... What other kinds of review that engage the students can I use?
And now the final thought...
**@kaminskiterry replied to my initial query on Twitter and shared how he does reassessments in class rather than outside of class. He designates a day to students and they have to let him know what skills they are reassessing. They do the reassessments in class during a work period in class when other students are working on a worksheet or homework or the like (at least that's how I understood it). I really don't want to take up class time, however, if it will get kids to do the reassessments when they wouldn't do it otherwise, it may be worth doing. Thoughts?
Thanks again for everyone's thoughts - I so appreciate it!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
One Quarter Down
Tomorrow is the end of the first nine weeks. Today was my cut off day for reassessments, except for Calculus who just had their test today on limits and continuity. Their cut off is Monday (no school Tuesday and grades are due first thing Wednesday morning).
Some random thoughts:
I like how SBG gives confidence to my Math 1 students. Students who have not passed math or passed with D's are doing better (grade-wise) than they have in the past and I think that has kept them paying attention at least. Problem is, the first nine weeks up until this week was pretty easy content-wise for them - all things they have seen before. Not doing homework (or much of it) probably didn't hurt them too much. We got into solving equations this week and now it's becoming more difficult. They need to do practice in order to be successful. My classes were fairly engaged today as we went over equations with variables on both sides - my 3rd period in particular asked some good questions which really impressed me. However, I am still struggling with the "how do I get them to do practice (i.e. homework) outside of class" issue. For that matter, it is still a struggle with some of my kids to get them to do practice in class in the last 10-15 minutes of class. It's like they have used up any restraint they have paying attention to the lesson and participating in that and they have nothing left to work through any problems in class. Anyone have any suggestions for me here? Do I go back to checking homework and recording that it's done, partially done, or not done? I like not having to walk around and check it and I don't know if that will carry any weight with them. Anyway - any and all comments and suggestions are welcome here.
Calculus is, well, the same struggle it's been all nine weeks. I have kids coming in for reassessments to "pull up grades" I'm sure - not to learn it. A couple of them have asked some really good questions as we have worked through the limit and continuity concepts, but it is obvious to me from their questions that this group is so incredibly low for a Calculus group. There are so many pieces of things they should understand that they have not understood until I explained it to them. Things they should have gotten in Algebra 2. Usually by now I have been doing derivatives for about 2 weeks and we haven't even gotten to the definition of derivative. We'll start that tomorrow.
Algebra 2 and Advanced Algebra 2 are working through systems of equations. With their quizzes this week it is becoming apparent to me that homework is an issue here, too (like in my Math 1 classes). The quiz was on graphing, substitution, and elimination methods for solving systems of equations. In my Advanced Alg 2 class, they did not do well on graphing and substitution but did fine on elimination (which we had covered last). In my regular Alg 2 classes, they didn't do well on all 3 but did especially poorly on graphing and substitution. I was especially disappointed iin my Advanced Alg 2 kids because I expect them to work to learn the concept and I feel they were not practicing my class as much as they should have since I wasn't checking the homework. Again, it's the end of the grading period and these are the kids who want to have all As (and Bs), so you know they are concentrating on making sure they have done what they need to. I think my regular Algebra 2 kids have similar problems to my Math 1 kids - they aren't using their time in class well at all.
The State of Reassessments
As far as reassessments go, my Advanced Algebra 2 kids and my Calc kids are the main ones coming in. I have some Algebra 2 kids coming in as well but as far as Math 1 kids go, very few (if any) have been in. I know I am not doing the best job of reminding them to come in for reassessments and help. This is something I am struggling with at the moment. Part of the problem is that I have been out of class 5 times in the last 3 weeks between meetings, my own personal day, and a sick day since my kids were sick. (I probably should have taken a sick day Wednesday for myself but with having kids coming in for reassessments plus with Calc having a test Thursday, I didn't want to miss yet another day). Since I've been out of class so many times, it's hard to restart teaching and remembering what all I wanted to go over. Plus, with SBG being so new to me, I'm not quite in that groove I need to be to "sell the system." (I don't know what other phrase to use - but I guess I mean the getting students to buy in to come back and get help on what they haven't mastered and then reassess.) I want students to take responsibility themselves and come in. After parent-teacher conferences, I had a couple of students ask about reassessing but then they never followed up. I'm not their mom - I don't want to have to keep haranguing them about it. But, I do want them to learn the material. So, now what?
Overlying Questions
So, here's what's floating around my head at the moment:
1) How do I deal with the homework issue? That is, how do I get my students to buy in that they need to do outside of class practice even though I am not grading it?
2) What do I need to be telling my students about reassessing and coming in for help? How often do I need to mention it? How do I get them away from playing the grading game and get them to want to do it to learn? I know I can keep saying it but at some point, they are going to shut me off. Do I just let it be?
3) In the current #sbarbook we're reading (Never Work Harder than Your Students by Robyn Jackson), she suggests having a remediation system set up with red flags. For example, if a student's grade falls below 75%, they have to do (something). If a student scores less than a 3 on 3 or more concepts on a test, they have to do (something). Etc. Has anyone tried this? What did you set up? Does anyone think this is worthwhile? What are some good interventions for students without making my life crazy (in other words, forcing them all to come see me for help)?
4) The other suggestion that is floatiing in my head from Jackson's book is about modeling. I don't think some of my Algebra 2 students and most of my Math 1 students know how to take good math notes or how to work through homework. Today, when I told my Algebra 2 kids to keep their quizzes out and write down the right way to do the problems, they actually did. When I've gone over their quizzes in the past, I don't think they've done that. I don't think they have any clue how to take notes or even how to organize homework. Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to help them take good notes and do better homework? How about sample "problems" with good examples/good non-examples of what to do? Or any other suggestions on how to help them in these areas?
An Apology
If you've made it this far, thank you. I apologize for asking so many questions and offering little suggestions of great things I'm doing in my classroom that you can use. Right now I am just at the point where I need some guidance and I know the twitter-blog-o-sphere is a great place for that. Any and all suggestions are welcome at this point and hopefully in the future, I can give you something useable. Thanks.
Some random thoughts:
I like how SBG gives confidence to my Math 1 students. Students who have not passed math or passed with D's are doing better (grade-wise) than they have in the past and I think that has kept them paying attention at least. Problem is, the first nine weeks up until this week was pretty easy content-wise for them - all things they have seen before. Not doing homework (or much of it) probably didn't hurt them too much. We got into solving equations this week and now it's becoming more difficult. They need to do practice in order to be successful. My classes were fairly engaged today as we went over equations with variables on both sides - my 3rd period in particular asked some good questions which really impressed me. However, I am still struggling with the "how do I get them to do practice (i.e. homework) outside of class" issue. For that matter, it is still a struggle with some of my kids to get them to do practice in class in the last 10-15 minutes of class. It's like they have used up any restraint they have paying attention to the lesson and participating in that and they have nothing left to work through any problems in class. Anyone have any suggestions for me here? Do I go back to checking homework and recording that it's done, partially done, or not done? I like not having to walk around and check it and I don't know if that will carry any weight with them. Anyway - any and all comments and suggestions are welcome here.
Calculus is, well, the same struggle it's been all nine weeks. I have kids coming in for reassessments to "pull up grades" I'm sure - not to learn it. A couple of them have asked some really good questions as we have worked through the limit and continuity concepts, but it is obvious to me from their questions that this group is so incredibly low for a Calculus group. There are so many pieces of things they should understand that they have not understood until I explained it to them. Things they should have gotten in Algebra 2. Usually by now I have been doing derivatives for about 2 weeks and we haven't even gotten to the definition of derivative. We'll start that tomorrow.
Algebra 2 and Advanced Algebra 2 are working through systems of equations. With their quizzes this week it is becoming apparent to me that homework is an issue here, too (like in my Math 1 classes). The quiz was on graphing, substitution, and elimination methods for solving systems of equations. In my Advanced Alg 2 class, they did not do well on graphing and substitution but did fine on elimination (which we had covered last). In my regular Alg 2 classes, they didn't do well on all 3 but did especially poorly on graphing and substitution. I was especially disappointed iin my Advanced Alg 2 kids because I expect them to work to learn the concept and I feel they were not practicing my class as much as they should have since I wasn't checking the homework. Again, it's the end of the grading period and these are the kids who want to have all As (and Bs), so you know they are concentrating on making sure they have done what they need to. I think my regular Algebra 2 kids have similar problems to my Math 1 kids - they aren't using their time in class well at all.
The State of Reassessments
As far as reassessments go, my Advanced Algebra 2 kids and my Calc kids are the main ones coming in. I have some Algebra 2 kids coming in as well but as far as Math 1 kids go, very few (if any) have been in. I know I am not doing the best job of reminding them to come in for reassessments and help. This is something I am struggling with at the moment. Part of the problem is that I have been out of class 5 times in the last 3 weeks between meetings, my own personal day, and a sick day since my kids were sick. (I probably should have taken a sick day Wednesday for myself but with having kids coming in for reassessments plus with Calc having a test Thursday, I didn't want to miss yet another day). Since I've been out of class so many times, it's hard to restart teaching and remembering what all I wanted to go over. Plus, with SBG being so new to me, I'm not quite in that groove I need to be to "sell the system." (I don't know what other phrase to use - but I guess I mean the getting students to buy in to come back and get help on what they haven't mastered and then reassess.) I want students to take responsibility themselves and come in. After parent-teacher conferences, I had a couple of students ask about reassessing but then they never followed up. I'm not their mom - I don't want to have to keep haranguing them about it. But, I do want them to learn the material. So, now what?
Overlying Questions
So, here's what's floating around my head at the moment:
1) How do I deal with the homework issue? That is, how do I get my students to buy in that they need to do outside of class practice even though I am not grading it?
2) What do I need to be telling my students about reassessing and coming in for help? How often do I need to mention it? How do I get them away from playing the grading game and get them to want to do it to learn? I know I can keep saying it but at some point, they are going to shut me off. Do I just let it be?
3) In the current #sbarbook we're reading (Never Work Harder than Your Students by Robyn Jackson), she suggests having a remediation system set up with red flags. For example, if a student's grade falls below 75%, they have to do (something). If a student scores less than a 3 on 3 or more concepts on a test, they have to do (something). Etc. Has anyone tried this? What did you set up? Does anyone think this is worthwhile? What are some good interventions for students without making my life crazy (in other words, forcing them all to come see me for help)?
4) The other suggestion that is floatiing in my head from Jackson's book is about modeling. I don't think some of my Algebra 2 students and most of my Math 1 students know how to take good math notes or how to work through homework. Today, when I told my Algebra 2 kids to keep their quizzes out and write down the right way to do the problems, they actually did. When I've gone over their quizzes in the past, I don't think they've done that. I don't think they have any clue how to take notes or even how to organize homework. Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to help them take good notes and do better homework? How about sample "problems" with good examples/good non-examples of what to do? Or any other suggestions on how to help them in these areas?
An Apology
If you've made it this far, thank you. I apologize for asking so many questions and offering little suggestions of great things I'm doing in my classroom that you can use. Right now I am just at the point where I need some guidance and I know the twitter-blog-o-sphere is a great place for that. Any and all suggestions are welcome at this point and hopefully in the future, I can give you something useable. Thanks.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Seven Weeks In...
We are coming up on the end of the first nine weeks. Hard to believe that this school year is almost one-quarter gone. We are in the middle of conferences - I had conferences Thursday night and will have conferences again on Tuesday night. Here are some of my insights from the last few weeks.
One of my parents who came in has a son in my Math 1 class, George (not his real name). George has not passed a math class in three years. He has ADHD and is a behavior problem and doesn't do much homework. He is presently passing my class with a 73% (high D). It was so good to be able to say to this parent that her son is capable of doing math and to be able to encourage her that if he would put forth more effort that he could do 'C' work. This was the same child who earlier this week had such pride in his voice when he said he was getting a 73% and passing. I am not one who is a huge self-esteem proponent, but it is keeping him somewhat engaged in the lessons and trying at the moment. George's behavior still has a long way to go, but academically, he has made some gains. Now, if we can just get his behavior to turn around...
As far SBG goes, it is going okay. I do not have the number of reassessments that I would like, but I am trying to be patient. I will be having the discussion with my students on Monday that we have two weeks left, and giving them a cutoff date for reassessements. I am hoping that some students will be coming in for reassessments, especially after having tests this week. I am also hoping that it won't be a huge barage either - but I am guessing I am not going to get as lucky with that. I probably should have been more diligent in reminding students about reassessing and I am hoping that at least with my Algebra 2 students that whatever intervention plan I put together will get them moving in a better direction than they are currently.
Math 1 had their third test this week. I can see that although not grading their homework is having a nice effect on their grades, they are not doing it as they should be. We are starting to get into equation skills and I can tell that they didn't practice the last skill (using adding and subtracting to solve equations - one step) as they should have. This may not seem like a big deal at the moment (I know they can come up with the answers most of the time) but as the solving equations skills get more difficult, this is going to be a problem. I have not decided what I am going to do about it at this point, but I need to do something. Thoughts from the blogosphere would be welcome - do I just do a daily chart and mark complete, partially complete, or not done or something else?
Algebra 2 had their second test this week also. I knew after their quiz the week before that graphing using slope-intercept form had not sunk in and we did a quick review of it in class the day I handed their quizzes back. We used the white boards, which they loved. They, for the most part, did better on their test than they did on the quiz. Definitely affirmed for me that I am going the right route with that (giving non-graded quizzes over 3-4 learning targets). However, they did not do well on the last skill we did for this test - writing equations for lines parallel or perpendicular to a given line through a point. The skill before that was writing the equation for the line given either two points or one point and a slope of the line. They did okay with that, but not as well as I would have liked. I think if I were further along in the SBG process, I would reteach it and give a retest on just those two skills (and I may still opt to do that). But, since this is the beginning of SBG still for them and I want them to learn that they need to take some ownership for their learning, I don't think I am going to do that. With the end of the nine weeks approaching, maybe they will be a little more motivated to at least try the reassessment process since they will be more grade-conscious. It's not exactly the way I want it to start, but if that's what gets them going, I'll take it.
My Calculus group is most definitely the lowest ability wise I have ever had. As we were discussing one-sided limits and talking about the limit being where the function intends to go, I had a student ask me "then what is the single point graphed above the circle?" My answer was, of course, that it was the function value at that value of x, but I couldn't help thinking in the back of my mind "how could this student have gotten this far in math and not know that?" It's going to be a long year with them.
All in all, I am pleased with how things are going. I am really enjoying usiing the SMART Board and I am getting more anxious to get some more training so I can learn some more about the software. I am also hoping to integrate the clickers sometime during the second nine weeks now that I am getting more comfortable with the SMART Board. Generally, I am pleased with how SBG is going and I am getting closer to a rhythm with it. I still wish I wasn't doing everything at once - the SBG and SMART Board, but the planning aspects are getting better. I have been roped into our Race to the Top committee and between that and our building improvement committee, I have been out of the classroom too much. Right now I am in a stretch of being out of the classroom 4 days out of 7, which sucks. We have a RttT deadline of October 22nd so that will hopefully slow down here quickly.
I am grateful for all the support everyone has offered and the people who have answered my numerous questions. Right now, I definitely feel it all has been worth it. I just wish it wasn't all at once.
One of my parents who came in has a son in my Math 1 class, George (not his real name). George has not passed a math class in three years. He has ADHD and is a behavior problem and doesn't do much homework. He is presently passing my class with a 73% (high D). It was so good to be able to say to this parent that her son is capable of doing math and to be able to encourage her that if he would put forth more effort that he could do 'C' work. This was the same child who earlier this week had such pride in his voice when he said he was getting a 73% and passing. I am not one who is a huge self-esteem proponent, but it is keeping him somewhat engaged in the lessons and trying at the moment. George's behavior still has a long way to go, but academically, he has made some gains. Now, if we can just get his behavior to turn around...
As far SBG goes, it is going okay. I do not have the number of reassessments that I would like, but I am trying to be patient. I will be having the discussion with my students on Monday that we have two weeks left, and giving them a cutoff date for reassessements. I am hoping that some students will be coming in for reassessments, especially after having tests this week. I am also hoping that it won't be a huge barage either - but I am guessing I am not going to get as lucky with that. I probably should have been more diligent in reminding students about reassessing and I am hoping that at least with my Algebra 2 students that whatever intervention plan I put together will get them moving in a better direction than they are currently.
Math 1 had their third test this week. I can see that although not grading their homework is having a nice effect on their grades, they are not doing it as they should be. We are starting to get into equation skills and I can tell that they didn't practice the last skill (using adding and subtracting to solve equations - one step) as they should have. This may not seem like a big deal at the moment (I know they can come up with the answers most of the time) but as the solving equations skills get more difficult, this is going to be a problem. I have not decided what I am going to do about it at this point, but I need to do something. Thoughts from the blogosphere would be welcome - do I just do a daily chart and mark complete, partially complete, or not done or something else?
Algebra 2 had their second test this week also. I knew after their quiz the week before that graphing using slope-intercept form had not sunk in and we did a quick review of it in class the day I handed their quizzes back. We used the white boards, which they loved. They, for the most part, did better on their test than they did on the quiz. Definitely affirmed for me that I am going the right route with that (giving non-graded quizzes over 3-4 learning targets). However, they did not do well on the last skill we did for this test - writing equations for lines parallel or perpendicular to a given line through a point. The skill before that was writing the equation for the line given either two points or one point and a slope of the line. They did okay with that, but not as well as I would have liked. I think if I were further along in the SBG process, I would reteach it and give a retest on just those two skills (and I may still opt to do that). But, since this is the beginning of SBG still for them and I want them to learn that they need to take some ownership for their learning, I don't think I am going to do that. With the end of the nine weeks approaching, maybe they will be a little more motivated to at least try the reassessment process since they will be more grade-conscious. It's not exactly the way I want it to start, but if that's what gets them going, I'll take it.
My Calculus group is most definitely the lowest ability wise I have ever had. As we were discussing one-sided limits and talking about the limit being where the function intends to go, I had a student ask me "then what is the single point graphed above the circle?" My answer was, of course, that it was the function value at that value of x, but I couldn't help thinking in the back of my mind "how could this student have gotten this far in math and not know that?" It's going to be a long year with them.
All in all, I am pleased with how things are going. I am really enjoying usiing the SMART Board and I am getting more anxious to get some more training so I can learn some more about the software. I am also hoping to integrate the clickers sometime during the second nine weeks now that I am getting more comfortable with the SMART Board. Generally, I am pleased with how SBG is going and I am getting closer to a rhythm with it. I still wish I wasn't doing everything at once - the SBG and SMART Board, but the planning aspects are getting better. I have been roped into our Race to the Top committee and between that and our building improvement committee, I have been out of the classroom too much. Right now I am in a stretch of being out of the classroom 4 days out of 7, which sucks. We have a RttT deadline of October 22nd so that will hopefully slow down here quickly.
I am grateful for all the support everyone has offered and the people who have answered my numerous questions. Right now, I definitely feel it all has been worth it. I just wish it wasn't all at once.
Reflections on Chapter 4 of Never Work Harder Than Your Students
And another reason I love Twitter - we have a great book club on Monday nights! We are presently reading Never Work Harder Than Your Students by Robyn Jackson and we discuss a chapter each Monday night at 9:30 pm EST (folllow #sbarbook on Twitter). I have really enjoyed it so far. It has had practical suggestions and is well written. Also, I like how she has anticipated our common questions and where we would be resistant to some of her ideas.
The chapter we are discussing Monday is titled "Support Your Students" and it has to do with finding ways to help your students before they are failing and/or bored. There were two parts of this chapter that really spoke to me. The first was the section on setting up an intervention plan before students need it. Jackson talks about setting up a concrete intervention plan that is triggered by something specific and with definite actions for each trigger. Not all of the actions that are triggered have to involve meeting with you as the teacher - they could involve students working with online programs, for example. This is something that really appeals to me. I am specifically thinking of my (general) Algebra 2 students. This is a course that, starting with the current freshman, students will need to graduate. I want to make sure that they are successful in the course - especially since if students plan on heading to post-secondary schooling, the math that is involved in Algebra 2 is what they will need to know. I am planning at this point to develop an intervention plan to have in place for the second nine weeks (which starts in 2 weeks) and pilot it in my Algebra 2 classes. If that goes well, I may extend it to my Math 1 classes during the second half of the year.
Other thoughts as I read this chapter - I found that I am doing some good things as far as trying to uncover misconceptions. This is something that I have done with my students the last few years in my lessons and I need to continue to do this in my classes. I know I am not going a good job with questioning and I need to work on this. I would also like to pursue things for the students who master concepts easily/early but I'm not sure what I am going to do.
The other section that really spoke to me in this chapter was about demystifying the process. I think this is definitely something that is useful and I am just not sure how to do this effectly in mathematics. I loved that Jackson gave a great example from her experience teaching English classes, but I am struggling with how we would do this in math class. I'm not sure if I need to spell out directions step by step for them (which I already do to an extent) or if there is something else I need to be looking at. I am definitely looking forward to our #sbarbook discussion Monday night to see what ideas my Twitter colleagues have on this point.
If you have not read Never Work Harder Than Your Students, I highly recommend it. It has a lot of practical suggestions and is well written. I think it is a great resource for any teacher - new or old. And if you're on twitter, join us any Monday night.
The chapter we are discussing Monday is titled "Support Your Students" and it has to do with finding ways to help your students before they are failing and/or bored. There were two parts of this chapter that really spoke to me. The first was the section on setting up an intervention plan before students need it. Jackson talks about setting up a concrete intervention plan that is triggered by something specific and with definite actions for each trigger. Not all of the actions that are triggered have to involve meeting with you as the teacher - they could involve students working with online programs, for example. This is something that really appeals to me. I am specifically thinking of my (general) Algebra 2 students. This is a course that, starting with the current freshman, students will need to graduate. I want to make sure that they are successful in the course - especially since if students plan on heading to post-secondary schooling, the math that is involved in Algebra 2 is what they will need to know. I am planning at this point to develop an intervention plan to have in place for the second nine weeks (which starts in 2 weeks) and pilot it in my Algebra 2 classes. If that goes well, I may extend it to my Math 1 classes during the second half of the year.
Other thoughts as I read this chapter - I found that I am doing some good things as far as trying to uncover misconceptions. This is something that I have done with my students the last few years in my lessons and I need to continue to do this in my classes. I know I am not going a good job with questioning and I need to work on this. I would also like to pursue things for the students who master concepts easily/early but I'm not sure what I am going to do.
The other section that really spoke to me in this chapter was about demystifying the process. I think this is definitely something that is useful and I am just not sure how to do this effectly in mathematics. I loved that Jackson gave a great example from her experience teaching English classes, but I am struggling with how we would do this in math class. I'm not sure if I need to spell out directions step by step for them (which I already do to an extent) or if there is something else I need to be looking at. I am definitely looking forward to our #sbarbook discussion Monday night to see what ideas my Twitter colleagues have on this point.
If you have not read Never Work Harder Than Your Students, I highly recommend it. It has a lot of practical suggestions and is well written. I think it is a great resource for any teacher - new or old. And if you're on twitter, join us any Monday night.
Why I LOVE Twitter
This is the first of three posts that are floating around in my head. We are in Cincinnati this weekend visiting my brother-in-law and his family, so I'm not totally sure if I'll get them all out or not.
I took a personal day Friday so we could be down here - DH had a vendor symposium north of Dayton on Friday and we always take the time to come down as a family so we can visit my brother-in-law and his family. Their kids are close in age to our kids and they all enjoy playing together. Some of my fondest memories as a child are times that I spent with my cousins and I certainly want my children to have those memories too. But, I digress...
I have always enjoyed connecting with other math teachers on Twitter. When I have been explaining Twitter to other teachers, I have used the analogy of it being a huge faculty lounge with the sharing of ideas and less of the complaining (not that we don't complain - we do - but there is much less of it on Twitter). When I found out that Kristen Fouss was from the Cincinnati area - I was doubly excited - not only an Ohio math teacher, but one I could hopefully meet at some point as well. So, on my (personal) day off, I went to Anderson High School and hung out with Fouss for part of her day.
We had a wonderful visit - first of all, even though it was the first time we met in person, it was as if I was greeting an old friend. She made me feel so welcome and the staff at Anderson was welcoming too. I am really glad that we had the chance to talk and share ideas in longer than 140 characters at a time. I walked away with some thoughts to explore back at our school as far as assisting students (who knows if they'll come to fruition - but it's always good to see what other schools are doing with what resources they have). But most of all, I walked out of AHS feeling that what I am doing in the classroom is not totally off track.
I think that as we are in our classrooms teaching up a storm, if we are truly reflecting on what we're doing, we ask ourselves the question if we're going about it in the "right" way or the "best" way. As teachers, we are truly isolated from adult contact for most of the day. We look at the results we get from our students and we tweak what we're doing based on our beliefs and what we know. We teach many times the way we were taught and how we go about our craft has been shaped primarily by our teachers that we learned from, our university experiences, and the student teaching experiences we had throughout our university studies. By the time we actually begin our teaching careers, we take what our past experiences have been and use what fits us and discard the rest. When we don't like how things are going, we possibly look to other teachers in our building for help and suggestions, but again, their teaching styles and philosophies tend to be similar to ours (or we probably wouldn't have been hired there in the first place). Most of who we are as teachers is pretty solid by the time we reach the end of our fifth year of teaching. Now, granted, I am making a generalization here. There are teachers who are continually changing and do go and reinvent who they are as a teacher (which is somewhat what I am going through at the moment), but it is rare I think.
I don't know if things have dramatically changed for younger teachers, but at least as I was a starting teacher, you didn't really have the opportunity to see how other teachers in your discipline taught once you were teaching yourself. Maybe you had the chance to sit in on someone else's class on your planning period in your building, but that was about it. I can honestly say that the first time I saw another math teacher teaching was as I watched how Fouss' classes went on Friday. I am so glad that I did take the time to go. I picked up a couple of ideas to look at once I'm back home. It reaffirmed for me that I am not totally off the mark on how I teach - and that's probably the best thing for me at the moment. As I read other people's blogs and I see what other teachers are looking at doing, I have wondered if those things are what everybody does in the classroom. And I think my conclusion is that many people look at incorporating some of those ideas into their class but that not everybody is doing them solely in their classroom. I needed that affirmation at this point and I am grateful for that.
So, back to the title of the post. Why do I love Twitter? Because it connects me with other math teachers and we have a great exchange of ideas. It provides me with the opportunity to meet with other like minded teachers across the world - something I wouldn't have otherwise. It challenges my thinking about my current practice as a teacher and gives me ideas of things to try. Plus, I have a forum to question and bounce ideas off other teachers. It's the huge faculty lounge in the cloud - the way you'd like your faculty lounge to be.
I took a personal day Friday so we could be down here - DH had a vendor symposium north of Dayton on Friday and we always take the time to come down as a family so we can visit my brother-in-law and his family. Their kids are close in age to our kids and they all enjoy playing together. Some of my fondest memories as a child are times that I spent with my cousins and I certainly want my children to have those memories too. But, I digress...
I have always enjoyed connecting with other math teachers on Twitter. When I have been explaining Twitter to other teachers, I have used the analogy of it being a huge faculty lounge with the sharing of ideas and less of the complaining (not that we don't complain - we do - but there is much less of it on Twitter). When I found out that Kristen Fouss was from the Cincinnati area - I was doubly excited - not only an Ohio math teacher, but one I could hopefully meet at some point as well. So, on my (personal) day off, I went to Anderson High School and hung out with Fouss for part of her day.
We had a wonderful visit - first of all, even though it was the first time we met in person, it was as if I was greeting an old friend. She made me feel so welcome and the staff at Anderson was welcoming too. I am really glad that we had the chance to talk and share ideas in longer than 140 characters at a time. I walked away with some thoughts to explore back at our school as far as assisting students (who knows if they'll come to fruition - but it's always good to see what other schools are doing with what resources they have). But most of all, I walked out of AHS feeling that what I am doing in the classroom is not totally off track.
I think that as we are in our classrooms teaching up a storm, if we are truly reflecting on what we're doing, we ask ourselves the question if we're going about it in the "right" way or the "best" way. As teachers, we are truly isolated from adult contact for most of the day. We look at the results we get from our students and we tweak what we're doing based on our beliefs and what we know. We teach many times the way we were taught and how we go about our craft has been shaped primarily by our teachers that we learned from, our university experiences, and the student teaching experiences we had throughout our university studies. By the time we actually begin our teaching careers, we take what our past experiences have been and use what fits us and discard the rest. When we don't like how things are going, we possibly look to other teachers in our building for help and suggestions, but again, their teaching styles and philosophies tend to be similar to ours (or we probably wouldn't have been hired there in the first place). Most of who we are as teachers is pretty solid by the time we reach the end of our fifth year of teaching. Now, granted, I am making a generalization here. There are teachers who are continually changing and do go and reinvent who they are as a teacher (which is somewhat what I am going through at the moment), but it is rare I think.
I don't know if things have dramatically changed for younger teachers, but at least as I was a starting teacher, you didn't really have the opportunity to see how other teachers in your discipline taught once you were teaching yourself. Maybe you had the chance to sit in on someone else's class on your planning period in your building, but that was about it. I can honestly say that the first time I saw another math teacher teaching was as I watched how Fouss' classes went on Friday. I am so glad that I did take the time to go. I picked up a couple of ideas to look at once I'm back home. It reaffirmed for me that I am not totally off the mark on how I teach - and that's probably the best thing for me at the moment. As I read other people's blogs and I see what other teachers are looking at doing, I have wondered if those things are what everybody does in the classroom. And I think my conclusion is that many people look at incorporating some of those ideas into their class but that not everybody is doing them solely in their classroom. I needed that affirmation at this point and I am grateful for that.
So, back to the title of the post. Why do I love Twitter? Because it connects me with other math teachers and we have a great exchange of ideas. It provides me with the opportunity to meet with other like minded teachers across the world - something I wouldn't have otherwise. It challenges my thinking about my current practice as a teacher and gives me ideas of things to try. Plus, I have a forum to question and bounce ideas off other teachers. It's the huge faculty lounge in the cloud - the way you'd like your faculty lounge to be.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
There's a reason...
...first year teachers are in their 20s and not approaching 40 (like I am).
I very much feel like a first year teacher right now. I am doing pretty much everything from scratch - between SBG and putting everything on the SMART Board, there is very little I am doing this year that I have done in the past (at least planning wise). I am worn out but I also am happier with how things are going in my classroom so far.
I have put together my second set of unit plans for everyone but Calculus (but I did start them tonight - a little ahead of schedule). Everyone has had their first tests except Calc (which has it Wed and Thu this week). So, now the reassessing process begins in earnest.
So where are things at right now?
Math 1 is in the middle of their second unit. Behavior issues have been cropping up this week. I've had a chat with them and our principal sent out a memo looking for discipline problems. He and I had a chat about them Friday and he's going to stop in this week to reinforce what I had said to them. I have had 3 students either come in to reassess or get tutored, which I am somewhat happy about. There could be more students coming in, but I'm happy for a start. I need to communicate to them the importance of coming back to reassess. I need to figure out how to get that across to them.
Advanced Algebra 2 and Algebra 2 just had their first assessment on Friday. I had some students totally skip questions (Algebra 2 kids) which was a little surprising this early in the year. I definitely have a lower group than last year's Algebra 2 group. My Advanced kids did about what I expected from them, although a couple of them did worse than I thought they would. These kids will be the hardest sell on SBG I think. One of these students stopped in after school Friday and asked how he did and I told him he'd find out Monday. He is one of my most competitive kids (maybe the most competitive kid) and I know he wanted to know what percent score he got. The explanation for them on Monday will be key. This group also had some careless computation errors on their tests. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with those. At the moment if there is only one computation error and everything else is correct, I am scoring it as a 4.5. More than one error and it's a 4 (or less). Algebra 2 kids have a lot of work to do - but hopefully they will be coming back to reassess.
Calculus is coming along slowly. I lost two students this week but I gained one from the Senior Applied Math class (she probably should have been in Calc to start), so that puts me at 13. This is definitely the lowest class I have had in Calc ability wise.
So now what?
Well, I definitely need to get things under control, planning-wise. I have been working practically every spare moment to try to get ahead and feel like I have the planning under control. I'm getting closer to that - I actually got a lot done today and I am happy that I at least got a start on planning Calculus even though they don't start their next unit until Friday. I still have some quizzes to get written for this week, but at least I have an idea of how things will go this week. I need to get the next unit planned in Calculus, then Math 1 next. Math 1 has their second test Friday, so
I have to get ready for that as well.
All in all, I am pretty happy with how things are going. I feel like I am doing a better job as a teacher and I hope that my students are learning more with doing things this way.
Now if I can just get over this tiredness....
Addendum (Monday evening)
I passed back tests today. My 4th period class was cut short by a speaker, so I don't have an accurate reflection on them. However, I had several students who had 4's in both my Advanced Algebra 2 class and my 7th period Algebra 2 test already schedule reassessments. I am very encouraged by this. Hopefully, I'll see more this week.
I very much feel like a first year teacher right now. I am doing pretty much everything from scratch - between SBG and putting everything on the SMART Board, there is very little I am doing this year that I have done in the past (at least planning wise). I am worn out but I also am happier with how things are going in my classroom so far.
I have put together my second set of unit plans for everyone but Calculus (but I did start them tonight - a little ahead of schedule). Everyone has had their first tests except Calc (which has it Wed and Thu this week). So, now the reassessing process begins in earnest.
So where are things at right now?
Math 1 is in the middle of their second unit. Behavior issues have been cropping up this week. I've had a chat with them and our principal sent out a memo looking for discipline problems. He and I had a chat about them Friday and he's going to stop in this week to reinforce what I had said to them. I have had 3 students either come in to reassess or get tutored, which I am somewhat happy about. There could be more students coming in, but I'm happy for a start. I need to communicate to them the importance of coming back to reassess. I need to figure out how to get that across to them.
Advanced Algebra 2 and Algebra 2 just had their first assessment on Friday. I had some students totally skip questions (Algebra 2 kids) which was a little surprising this early in the year. I definitely have a lower group than last year's Algebra 2 group. My Advanced kids did about what I expected from them, although a couple of them did worse than I thought they would. These kids will be the hardest sell on SBG I think. One of these students stopped in after school Friday and asked how he did and I told him he'd find out Monday. He is one of my most competitive kids (maybe the most competitive kid) and I know he wanted to know what percent score he got. The explanation for them on Monday will be key. This group also had some careless computation errors on their tests. I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with those. At the moment if there is only one computation error and everything else is correct, I am scoring it as a 4.5. More than one error and it's a 4 (or less). Algebra 2 kids have a lot of work to do - but hopefully they will be coming back to reassess.
Calculus is coming along slowly. I lost two students this week but I gained one from the Senior Applied Math class (she probably should have been in Calc to start), so that puts me at 13. This is definitely the lowest class I have had in Calc ability wise.
So now what?
Well, I definitely need to get things under control, planning-wise. I have been working practically every spare moment to try to get ahead and feel like I have the planning under control. I'm getting closer to that - I actually got a lot done today and I am happy that I at least got a start on planning Calculus even though they don't start their next unit until Friday. I still have some quizzes to get written for this week, but at least I have an idea of how things will go this week. I need to get the next unit planned in Calculus, then Math 1 next. Math 1 has their second test Friday, so
I have to get ready for that as well.
All in all, I am pretty happy with how things are going. I feel like I am doing a better job as a teacher and I hope that my students are learning more with doing things this way.
Now if I can just get over this tiredness....
Addendum (Monday evening)
I passed back tests today. My 4th period class was cut short by a speaker, so I don't have an accurate reflection on them. However, I had several students who had 4's in both my Advanced Algebra 2 class and my 7th period Algebra 2 test already schedule reassessments. I am very encouraged by this. Hopefully, I'll see more this week.
Friday, September 17, 2010
First Test With SBG
I had hoped to have a clever title or some catchy way to start this, but I don't. I guess that's not really me. Today I gave my first test to my Math 1 students and my first test since starting SBG. The test covered 8 skills and I had given 2 non-graded quizzes over 7 of the learning targets prior to the tests. I only gave written feedback and tried to give some other feedback to the students when I could individually. As I have previously mentioned, I have not collected or graded homework at all, which is also a pretty big switch for me. I have given answers with every assignment; yet another change for me All in all, lots of changes for me in how I assess and give homework.
I was pretty anxious to grade the tests and see how they did as well as how their grades would look in my version of SBG. After hearing about how @druinok really struggled with grading her first set of papers, I was a little nervous about how long it would take. Since this was Math 1, it wasn't horrendously difficult to grade and I was actually surprised how much easier it was than I thought it would be. That's not to say that there weren't some scores that I struggled with. I did end up giving a couple of 4.5's but it made the most sense to me for how those students did. I can see where a four-point scale may make it a little easier (harder to find middle ground between scores) and I may revise to that for next year, but given that I have only graded one set of tests, it's probably a little premature to say that. And, to be honest, there were really only a couple of students on a couple of skills where I really waffled on where to rate them. We'll have to see how that plays out as the grading goes on.
After I put the grades in the grade book, I was pleasantly surprised to see where they fell. I suspected that there would be much fewer failing grades (and to be honest, that should be the case at the moment even if I had used the old system) and there were. Actually, there were quite a few B's and C's and I am pleased with that. I felt that their grades accurately reflect their understanding. My lowest students actually did some things rather well and I am hoping that maybe they will have some motivation to try to re-assess and improve their grade (and ultimately their understanding).
I have to say that once I finished grading their papers tonight (yes, I actually came home and finished grading papers on a Friday afternoon/evening!), I felt pretty good. I felt pretty good about how they did. I felt pretty good about the grading piece of it. I wasn't ticked off as I have been in the past at how they did and I didn't feel exhausted by the grading process. It was different and unfamiliar to me. I like it. :-)
All in all, I am pretty happy with how things have worked out with my Math 1 class so far. I was nervous about how they would take to SBG. I am still a little nervous about it with them - mainly with two issues: first, the not grading homework bit. I am hopeful they will continue to work at the assignments and practice whether it be in class (if time) or out of class. Second, I am nervous about the reassessments with them. I am afraid that they will see their grades, see that they are passing and be satisified with that (or even thrilled). I don't want them to be satisfied with it. I want them to want to improve their understanding (and actually do it). I want them to continue to be motivated to do the homework problems and practice and continue to make sure they understand what I am asking them to learn. So, how do I do that? In all our SBG discussions, we talked about setting it up but I can't seem to recall discussing how to get them to buy into the reassessment part all that much. My other classess will want to reassess, if only to improve their grades. These kids, I'm not sure if there will be that motivation. So how do I get them to buy into that?
I'm looking forward to reading your responses in the comments. Happy weekend everyone!
I was pretty anxious to grade the tests and see how they did as well as how their grades would look in my version of SBG. After hearing about how @druinok really struggled with grading her first set of papers, I was a little nervous about how long it would take. Since this was Math 1, it wasn't horrendously difficult to grade and I was actually surprised how much easier it was than I thought it would be. That's not to say that there weren't some scores that I struggled with. I did end up giving a couple of 4.5's but it made the most sense to me for how those students did. I can see where a four-point scale may make it a little easier (harder to find middle ground between scores) and I may revise to that for next year, but given that I have only graded one set of tests, it's probably a little premature to say that. And, to be honest, there were really only a couple of students on a couple of skills where I really waffled on where to rate them. We'll have to see how that plays out as the grading goes on.
After I put the grades in the grade book, I was pleasantly surprised to see where they fell. I suspected that there would be much fewer failing grades (and to be honest, that should be the case at the moment even if I had used the old system) and there were. Actually, there were quite a few B's and C's and I am pleased with that. I felt that their grades accurately reflect their understanding. My lowest students actually did some things rather well and I am hoping that maybe they will have some motivation to try to re-assess and improve their grade (and ultimately their understanding).
I have to say that once I finished grading their papers tonight (yes, I actually came home and finished grading papers on a Friday afternoon/evening!), I felt pretty good. I felt pretty good about how they did. I felt pretty good about the grading piece of it. I wasn't ticked off as I have been in the past at how they did and I didn't feel exhausted by the grading process. It was different and unfamiliar to me. I like it. :-)
All in all, I am pretty happy with how things have worked out with my Math 1 class so far. I was nervous about how they would take to SBG. I am still a little nervous about it with them - mainly with two issues: first, the not grading homework bit. I am hopeful they will continue to work at the assignments and practice whether it be in class (if time) or out of class. Second, I am nervous about the reassessments with them. I am afraid that they will see their grades, see that they are passing and be satisified with that (or even thrilled). I don't want them to be satisfied with it. I want them to want to improve their understanding (and actually do it). I want them to continue to be motivated to do the homework problems and practice and continue to make sure they understand what I am asking them to learn. So, how do I do that? In all our SBG discussions, we talked about setting it up but I can't seem to recall discussing how to get them to buy into the reassessment part all that much. My other classess will want to reassess, if only to improve their grades. These kids, I'm not sure if there will be that motivation. So how do I get them to buy into that?
I'm looking forward to reading your responses in the comments. Happy weekend everyone!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Trying Desperately to Get My Feet Under My Rear
What a week and it's only Wednesday! I am taking a much needed breather this evening. I have been working a bunch - last two nights I haven't gotten to bed until midnight (and I get up at 5:30 am). I have decided that tonight I must get to bed before 11.
So What's Been Going On?
Since I last blogged almost two weeks ago, I have a few more weeks under my belt. I feel like I am just starting to settle into my groove. I guess I'll start with the SMART Board. I've only been teaching three weeks with it but I definitely do love it. I still have so much to learn with it, but spending some time with our representative earlier this week has addressed most of my questions, although I am certainly finding more questions as I work with it. I am getting ready to do my next set of lessons and I feel much more confident in using the software than I did when I did my first set of lessons. In addition to learning some things from our rep, having actually used the board now for almost three weeks has really helped me to get a better grasp on how to set up my lessons. Hopefully this next series of lessons I put together will come out much better.
All of my classes have now had their first set of quizzes. My Math 1 students have actually had two quizzes and will have their first test Friday (when their grades will count). More on them later. I'll start at the top group and work my way down.
The Best We Have?
I am a bit concened about my top group. If they are supposed to be our best and brightest seniors, this is not a really bright group. They had their first quiz Monday over 5 review concepts (writing equations, functions, domain and range, and even and odd functions). The writing equations problems (which, granted, we didn't spend much time on), they did not do well on and I feel they should have done better since it is a skill they've been doing since they were in Algebra 1. The errors they made were dumb errors you would expect from an Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 student, not a Calculus student. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. After the first quiz, I had 2 students ask about dropping the course. One wants to be a physical therapist, the other wants to do something in the medical field. They are both sticking with it for now. The student who wants to be in the medical field has already missed 2 days of school and I don't think he's made this class a priority. I suspect he'll end up dropping anyway. Of the remaining students, about 3 or 4 of the 14 seem to be about where I would expect and another 3-4 will get there once they get their acts together. I think it will end up being okay, but it will be an uphill battle with them. I miss last year's group.
I have had most of my Advanced Algebra 2 students before as 7th graders (and a couple as 8th graders). I have pretty high expectations of this group. These kids are on the track to take Calculus as seniors and my top students in this group are strong. I did Mathcounts with these kids the last two years, so I know what they're capable of. Their first quiz was Tuesday. I was really disappointed with their results. For the most part, they did what I expected. However, they struggled in two areas - solving literal equations and the equations that involved fractions. I somewhat expected the difficulty with solving the literal equations for a variable - historically, that is a skill that gives students trouble. However, I did not expect them to do so poorly with fractions. As I said, I have taught most of them before and I know they have been taught the fraction skills and they can do it. I had to be out today (Thursday), so I left them a worksheet on solving equations where about half involved fractions. I'll be interested to see how much beter they did with that.
Some things don't seem to change
With my Algebra 2 groups, things seem to be about the same as last year. This year's group seems to be about the same skill-wise as last year's group. These kids certainly aren't going to set the world on fire, but I think they'll be okay. There are a few that are above others and some that are going to need some serious work, but for the most part, these two classes are the most homogenous of my classes. I am still trying to figure out exactly how much more they will need practice-wise on some skills (an issue I had last year), however, with teaching both the Advanced group as well as the regular group, I think I am setting up the curriculum much better this year. Of course, having set up my Learning Target lists over the summer is also helping immensely with this class. I definitely feel that I will have covered the material they need much better than I did last year flying by the seat of my pants with the new book.
Also on the not changing much list is the behavior of my Math 1 kids at times. At least this year, my more challenging group behavior-wise is not the lunch period. Thank goodness for small favors! I can see already I am going to have to knuckle down with this group early. I am going to try to make some in-roads with the kids who are the biggest discipline problems because they don't have the math skills. I really wanted to work on writing these kids notes this year but my learning curve with the SMART Board has been so big that this has been put on the back burner for now. Hopefully soon I can start with this.
And for the surprise...
If you had asked me who I thought would struggle with keeping up with the non-graded homework idea when beginning this school year, I would have told you my (lower-level) Math 1 kids. Although some are still not doing it, surprisingly, they have been working on the homework problems. I have been calling them practice problems instead of homework problems, but nevertheless, they have been doing them. They come to class with questions, and in the two quizzes I have given them so far, they have done a great job with showing their work (a historically difficult battle in this class as well) and have done in some cases, better than I expected on their quizzes. Their first test is tomorrow (Friday) and I am anxious and eager to see how they do. I am hopeful they will do well - or at least better than previous years' groups have done.
The conversations in class have gone okay. All my classes still seem to be a little afraid to speak up about some of this it seems. When I ask them some of the questions that Matt Townsley suggested I throw out to them, it's almost as if they have no idea how to think. This is a completely new paradigm for them. I think they're a little scared. We'll see how they feel about it after the first test. Math 1 is tomorrow, Algebra 2 and Advanced Algebra 2 next Friday, and Calculus will have a two-day "review" test the week after (probably Tuesday-Wednesday).
A Closing Note
In our district planning meeting today that I attended (think continuous improvement committee for lack of a better explanation), as we were reporting out at the end what we wanted to do at a building level to work toward our goals, our elementary school said they want to look at doing a Standards-Based Report Card. If they follow through with that - that's really exciting. I didn't have a chance to talk with them after the meeting but I already need to talk to one of the elementary teachers about something else, so I am looking forward to that conversation. So, maybe some more in my district will be jumping aboard the SBG Express here next year? We shall see.
So What's Been Going On?
Since I last blogged almost two weeks ago, I have a few more weeks under my belt. I feel like I am just starting to settle into my groove. I guess I'll start with the SMART Board. I've only been teaching three weeks with it but I definitely do love it. I still have so much to learn with it, but spending some time with our representative earlier this week has addressed most of my questions, although I am certainly finding more questions as I work with it. I am getting ready to do my next set of lessons and I feel much more confident in using the software than I did when I did my first set of lessons. In addition to learning some things from our rep, having actually used the board now for almost three weeks has really helped me to get a better grasp on how to set up my lessons. Hopefully this next series of lessons I put together will come out much better.
All of my classes have now had their first set of quizzes. My Math 1 students have actually had two quizzes and will have their first test Friday (when their grades will count). More on them later. I'll start at the top group and work my way down.
The Best We Have?
I am a bit concened about my top group. If they are supposed to be our best and brightest seniors, this is not a really bright group. They had their first quiz Monday over 5 review concepts (writing equations, functions, domain and range, and even and odd functions). The writing equations problems (which, granted, we didn't spend much time on), they did not do well on and I feel they should have done better since it is a skill they've been doing since they were in Algebra 1. The errors they made were dumb errors you would expect from an Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 student, not a Calculus student. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. After the first quiz, I had 2 students ask about dropping the course. One wants to be a physical therapist, the other wants to do something in the medical field. They are both sticking with it for now. The student who wants to be in the medical field has already missed 2 days of school and I don't think he's made this class a priority. I suspect he'll end up dropping anyway. Of the remaining students, about 3 or 4 of the 14 seem to be about where I would expect and another 3-4 will get there once they get their acts together. I think it will end up being okay, but it will be an uphill battle with them. I miss last year's group.
I have had most of my Advanced Algebra 2 students before as 7th graders (and a couple as 8th graders). I have pretty high expectations of this group. These kids are on the track to take Calculus as seniors and my top students in this group are strong. I did Mathcounts with these kids the last two years, so I know what they're capable of. Their first quiz was Tuesday. I was really disappointed with their results. For the most part, they did what I expected. However, they struggled in two areas - solving literal equations and the equations that involved fractions. I somewhat expected the difficulty with solving the literal equations for a variable - historically, that is a skill that gives students trouble. However, I did not expect them to do so poorly with fractions. As I said, I have taught most of them before and I know they have been taught the fraction skills and they can do it. I had to be out today (Thursday), so I left them a worksheet on solving equations where about half involved fractions. I'll be interested to see how much beter they did with that.
Some things don't seem to change
With my Algebra 2 groups, things seem to be about the same as last year. This year's group seems to be about the same skill-wise as last year's group. These kids certainly aren't going to set the world on fire, but I think they'll be okay. There are a few that are above others and some that are going to need some serious work, but for the most part, these two classes are the most homogenous of my classes. I am still trying to figure out exactly how much more they will need practice-wise on some skills (an issue I had last year), however, with teaching both the Advanced group as well as the regular group, I think I am setting up the curriculum much better this year. Of course, having set up my Learning Target lists over the summer is also helping immensely with this class. I definitely feel that I will have covered the material they need much better than I did last year flying by the seat of my pants with the new book.
Also on the not changing much list is the behavior of my Math 1 kids at times. At least this year, my more challenging group behavior-wise is not the lunch period. Thank goodness for small favors! I can see already I am going to have to knuckle down with this group early. I am going to try to make some in-roads with the kids who are the biggest discipline problems because they don't have the math skills. I really wanted to work on writing these kids notes this year but my learning curve with the SMART Board has been so big that this has been put on the back burner for now. Hopefully soon I can start with this.
And for the surprise...
If you had asked me who I thought would struggle with keeping up with the non-graded homework idea when beginning this school year, I would have told you my (lower-level) Math 1 kids. Although some are still not doing it, surprisingly, they have been working on the homework problems. I have been calling them practice problems instead of homework problems, but nevertheless, they have been doing them. They come to class with questions, and in the two quizzes I have given them so far, they have done a great job with showing their work (a historically difficult battle in this class as well) and have done in some cases, better than I expected on their quizzes. Their first test is tomorrow (Friday) and I am anxious and eager to see how they do. I am hopeful they will do well - or at least better than previous years' groups have done.
The conversations in class have gone okay. All my classes still seem to be a little afraid to speak up about some of this it seems. When I ask them some of the questions that Matt Townsley suggested I throw out to them, it's almost as if they have no idea how to think. This is a completely new paradigm for them. I think they're a little scared. We'll see how they feel about it after the first test. Math 1 is tomorrow, Algebra 2 and Advanced Algebra 2 next Friday, and Calculus will have a two-day "review" test the week after (probably Tuesday-Wednesday).
A Closing Note
In our district planning meeting today that I attended (think continuous improvement committee for lack of a better explanation), as we were reporting out at the end what we wanted to do at a building level to work toward our goals, our elementary school said they want to look at doing a Standards-Based Report Card. If they follow through with that - that's really exciting. I didn't have a chance to talk with them after the meeting but I already need to talk to one of the elementary teachers about something else, so I am looking forward to that conversation. So, maybe some more in my district will be jumping aboard the SBG Express here next year? We shall see.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Week 1 (Mostly) Done
Week 1 is effectively done for me. I have tomorrow off (personal day). Family is all in for the weekend (Canfield Fair + family gathering on Saturday). I am pretty exhausted tonight - between working this week, 90 degree heat every day in a building with no air conditioning, trying to get my act together with both SBG and the SMARTBoard, getting a Girl Scout display and staffing ready for the fair, and walking around the fair for 2 nights so far, I have had an absolutely FULL week. I honestly don't think I could have squeezed anything else into this week. Having said that, I should be in bed (I am tired) but I need to do something reflection/sharing about this week before I lose it all in my head.
Extreme Frustration
It has been a very different beginning for me this year. I walked in on my flex day ready to go and was excited to be back. However, I also got stuck for a couple of days at the worst possible time. I did eventually get past it, but by the time I did, I found that it was an incredibly slow process. I have worked with Power Point before and expected to find some sort of templates to make the setting up process way easier. I left school incredibly frustrated at the end of my flex day because it took me so long to get one lesson into SMART Norebook. I scheduled my kids at day care an extra day and went into work, hoping to get somewhere with the software. I found the Lesson Toolkit and some very basic templates. It got me through planning the lessons for 3 of my 4 classes. I spent a good part of last week working every spare moment I could find to get things set up, including breaking my (unwritten) rule not to work on Saturdays for the first time in my (now) 19 years teaching.
So with Calculus left, I discovered that there are Power Point slides for each chapter - YAY! Could not import the slides into SMART Notebook - BOO! I have been exchanging emails with the SMART Notebook software people since Sunday night trying to get it to work. As it stands right now, I sent three Power Points for them to look at and try to figure out what the issue is. That was yesterday afternoon and I started teaching Chapter One in Calculus yesterday. Fail. Still hoping they have an answer for me soon.
I do have to say our tech guy has been wonderful. He really has been trying to help me as best he can and has been patient in answering questions and getting answers to questions. After my discussion with him after last Tuesday (extreme frustration day), he has arranged a one-on-one session with the lady from Smart Ed (our supplier) for September 13th (first date she had available). He has gotten Math Tools and made sure I got the code asap. Clickers got ordered and are here - although I am not even close to being ready to deal with them. He is working on getting wireless for me (since I am using my notebook) that will work better than the not-so-great wireless that we have at the moment on a trial basis. I am the guinea pig for our school - next year we will have a new school and I will be the only person on staff with any experience. It is allowing him to figure out what our staff will need next year (and before). In the long run, this will help make things easier next year and I am glad I can help.
A New Beginning
So I walked in Tuesday excited and pumped up, yet nervous about the whole SMART Board thing. Day One went pretty well. First period I didn't get to everything I wanted to - forgot about having to get them lockers and that took more time than I anticpated, so in that class I didn't get through the presentation, but in all my other classes (except last period when the principal started 5 minutes early into announcements) I did get through what I thought I would. The kids were a little nervous about the quiz, but by 5th period, some of them had heard the quiz was about me. I had to laugh - my first period (Advanced Algebra kids - top freshmen primarily) didn't read the directions quite right and they thought at first the quiz was about each one of them. So, I had to sound like a 3 year old in my intro of the quiz the rest of the day - "It's about me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" - to make my point. I think the kids liked my prezi and the day went pretty fast. Every other year, I have always had time for the kids to start on their interest inventory/about me page and this year I think that may have happened once. Generally I was happy about Day One.
On Day Two, my Algebra 2 classes did a diagnostic test. My Algebra 2 kids pretty much did what I expected - not a whole lot of work, didn't remember a lot. They did surprise me a little. Many of them knew what I meant about giving the inverse. Most of them did not do the inequalities at all. My Advanced Algebra 2 kids surprised me - mainly in a not good way. Many of them did not show work when directed. All but one kid had no idea what I meant about the inverse. And most of them had no idea on inequalities. A little more start up work with them than I anticipated. In Calculus, we spent the period going back over how to get the correct answers from their Calculus Readiness Test I gave them at Open House to turn in Day One. This group will need a lot of work. I had been warned by their Pre-Calc teacher that they had low skills and I can see he was not exaggerating. This group is going to have a lot of uphill climbing to do.
A Pleasant Surprise
My biggest surprise so far has come from my lower-level freshmen students (Math 1). We started into the lessons on Day Two. We talked a little about SBG and how I was going to assess them on Learning Targets and give them the answers to all the homework problems and only count their scores from tests. I think they thought I was crazy. This is the group I had as 7th graders two years ago. As seventh graders, they were pretty undisciplined and did not do as well as I thought they should have. I had several discipline issues to deal with in this class. Now, granted, there are a few kids who are not in this class now that could change the nature of these classes, but for the most part, the kids I have are not only low, but several are in the troublemaker group from two years ago. So, I wasn't totally sure what to expect from this group. I was really hoping that they had maturedsome a lot from when I saw them last. There are still some potential discipline issues in these two classes, but what occured yesterday and today was not what I expected.
So we had a little chat about grading. That went okay, but when I reflected last night about it, I don't feel like I did a great job of introducing it. I was nervous about how today was going to go. But the lesson went okay. Most everyone was engaged. Theyliked loved the SMARTBoard. It is very much a novelty to them right now, which is actually in my favor. I am definitely going to have to work on using it to the fullest with them whenever possible. I provided them with three handouts yesterday - my learning targets page that has the practice problems and answers on it, the important terms sheet for the chapter with some words left out of some definitions, and an examples page because I didn't want them spending a ton of time copying stuff down. The lesson went okay. It went longer than I anticipated and I was not able to give them time to work on the practice problems at all. In fact, I was barely able to give them the practice problems. This made me really nervous about whether or not they would work on the problems outside of class.
So when they came back today and had it done (almost all of them), I was really impressed. Shocked almost, actually. I was dealing with other things and did not go around and check homework at all. I did not record whether or not they did it. Totallky forgot about it, in fact, because I was still focused in my mind on a) trying to get everything to work right and b) trying to figure out how I was explaining SBG to my other 4 classes and I still had the "not checking homework" bit in my head. Oops. I had wanted to at least note who had done it. The few kids who hadn't done it were apologetic since they didn't quite get where to find the assignment (this was mostly in my 3rd period class where I was giving them the problems as the bell rang). Even more shocking to me was that one of the students who hardly did any homework in 7th grade (and when he did, you were never sure if he really did it or copied it) had not only done the assignment for today, he had done the next assignment listed as well. Granted, he didn't have all the work I wanted (it was order of operations) and we talked today about what he needed to show and why, but it was a huge improvement for him in my eyes. He was helping two other students who were working on the assignment today in class.
The students came back with questions, which I was happy with. Some of the kids I expected to have questions asked them, some were ones I had not thought would have them. We had another good lesson today on Order of Operations and had about 15-20 minutes for them to work on the practice problems. They were mostly working and really following through with showing their work, which I was very pleased with. They asked questions. (Sorry Dan Meyer, I was not less helpful - one thing at a time!) They were talking about math and finding some success. I felt pretty darn good about how my Math I classes went today.
And Everyone Else?
Everyone else got the SBG talk today. After not feeling really great about how it went yesterday with my Math I kids, I reminded myself that I had written some notes of discussion points from Matt Townsley, so I started with the question "What is an A?" as my springboard. Again, still seeing many skeptical faces from my students, but I think as we work through this, they will come around. Lessons went pretty well today with the exception of Calculus where I am still having SMART Notebook issues. The Power Point worked okay, but I was having trouble saving any notes I made on the slides. Fortunately, we were talking about lines and writing equations which are topics they should basically know. When we get to functions, I am going to need to have something a little better. I would say I have the whole long weekend to straighten that out, but if the rest of the weekend goes like last night and tonight, I don't have much time to count on. Hopefully Tuesday I'll have some more time. Oh wait - maybe not since I should be giving quizzes next week already. It doesn't stop....
What About the Other Goals?
Well, I wanted to write notes to my kids in Math 1. I really wanted to have notes on their desks Day One. Didn't happen. Not even close. I started and got 2 notes done. Just didn't have enough time. This may have to get delayed for a while. We'll see. Right now I have to get the SMARTBoard situtation under control as well as SBG. Still really excited about the SBG thing. We'll see how I feel after the first quizzes this week.
Tomorrow, I take my kids to the Canfield Fair to do our annual ride day with their cousins, second cousins, and whatever other kids tag along (long story). Should be about 10 kids in total and a lot of fun for them. I'm going to enjoy the day with my brother and my kids as well as my in-laws. Maybe I'll be able to sneak in a little work tomorrow afternoon. More Fair tomorrow night. Hootenanny on Saturday. More Fair Sunday and Monday. I'm going to enjoy the whole long weekend. Maybe I'll sneak some work in here and there. If you made it this far - I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend, too.
Extreme Frustration
It has been a very different beginning for me this year. I walked in on my flex day ready to go and was excited to be back. However, I also got stuck for a couple of days at the worst possible time. I did eventually get past it, but by the time I did, I found that it was an incredibly slow process. I have worked with Power Point before and expected to find some sort of templates to make the setting up process way easier. I left school incredibly frustrated at the end of my flex day because it took me so long to get one lesson into SMART Norebook. I scheduled my kids at day care an extra day and went into work, hoping to get somewhere with the software. I found the Lesson Toolkit and some very basic templates. It got me through planning the lessons for 3 of my 4 classes. I spent a good part of last week working every spare moment I could find to get things set up, including breaking my (unwritten) rule not to work on Saturdays for the first time in my (now) 19 years teaching.
So with Calculus left, I discovered that there are Power Point slides for each chapter - YAY! Could not import the slides into SMART Notebook - BOO! I have been exchanging emails with the SMART Notebook software people since Sunday night trying to get it to work. As it stands right now, I sent three Power Points for them to look at and try to figure out what the issue is. That was yesterday afternoon and I started teaching Chapter One in Calculus yesterday. Fail. Still hoping they have an answer for me soon.
I do have to say our tech guy has been wonderful. He really has been trying to help me as best he can and has been patient in answering questions and getting answers to questions. After my discussion with him after last Tuesday (extreme frustration day), he has arranged a one-on-one session with the lady from Smart Ed (our supplier) for September 13th (first date she had available). He has gotten Math Tools and made sure I got the code asap. Clickers got ordered and are here - although I am not even close to being ready to deal with them. He is working on getting wireless for me (since I am using my notebook) that will work better than the not-so-great wireless that we have at the moment on a trial basis. I am the guinea pig for our school - next year we will have a new school and I will be the only person on staff with any experience. It is allowing him to figure out what our staff will need next year (and before). In the long run, this will help make things easier next year and I am glad I can help.
A New Beginning
So I walked in Tuesday excited and pumped up, yet nervous about the whole SMART Board thing. Day One went pretty well. First period I didn't get to everything I wanted to - forgot about having to get them lockers and that took more time than I anticpated, so in that class I didn't get through the presentation, but in all my other classes (except last period when the principal started 5 minutes early into announcements) I did get through what I thought I would. The kids were a little nervous about the quiz, but by 5th period, some of them had heard the quiz was about me. I had to laugh - my first period (Advanced Algebra kids - top freshmen primarily) didn't read the directions quite right and they thought at first the quiz was about each one of them. So, I had to sound like a 3 year old in my intro of the quiz the rest of the day - "It's about me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" - to make my point. I think the kids liked my prezi and the day went pretty fast. Every other year, I have always had time for the kids to start on their interest inventory/about me page and this year I think that may have happened once. Generally I was happy about Day One.
On Day Two, my Algebra 2 classes did a diagnostic test. My Algebra 2 kids pretty much did what I expected - not a whole lot of work, didn't remember a lot. They did surprise me a little. Many of them knew what I meant about giving the inverse. Most of them did not do the inequalities at all. My Advanced Algebra 2 kids surprised me - mainly in a not good way. Many of them did not show work when directed. All but one kid had no idea what I meant about the inverse. And most of them had no idea on inequalities. A little more start up work with them than I anticipated. In Calculus, we spent the period going back over how to get the correct answers from their Calculus Readiness Test I gave them at Open House to turn in Day One. This group will need a lot of work. I had been warned by their Pre-Calc teacher that they had low skills and I can see he was not exaggerating. This group is going to have a lot of uphill climbing to do.
A Pleasant Surprise
My biggest surprise so far has come from my lower-level freshmen students (Math 1). We started into the lessons on Day Two. We talked a little about SBG and how I was going to assess them on Learning Targets and give them the answers to all the homework problems and only count their scores from tests. I think they thought I was crazy. This is the group I had as 7th graders two years ago. As seventh graders, they were pretty undisciplined and did not do as well as I thought they should have. I had several discipline issues to deal with in this class. Now, granted, there are a few kids who are not in this class now that could change the nature of these classes, but for the most part, the kids I have are not only low, but several are in the troublemaker group from two years ago. So, I wasn't totally sure what to expect from this group. I was really hoping that they had matured
So we had a little chat about grading. That went okay, but when I reflected last night about it, I don't feel like I did a great job of introducing it. I was nervous about how today was going to go. But the lesson went okay. Most everyone was engaged. They
So when they came back today and had it done (almost all of them), I was really impressed. Shocked almost, actually. I was dealing with other things and did not go around and check homework at all. I did not record whether or not they did it. Totallky forgot about it, in fact, because I was still focused in my mind on a) trying to get everything to work right and b) trying to figure out how I was explaining SBG to my other 4 classes and I still had the "not checking homework" bit in my head. Oops. I had wanted to at least note who had done it. The few kids who hadn't done it were apologetic since they didn't quite get where to find the assignment (this was mostly in my 3rd period class where I was giving them the problems as the bell rang). Even more shocking to me was that one of the students who hardly did any homework in 7th grade (and when he did, you were never sure if he really did it or copied it) had not only done the assignment for today, he had done the next assignment listed as well. Granted, he didn't have all the work I wanted (it was order of operations) and we talked today about what he needed to show and why, but it was a huge improvement for him in my eyes. He was helping two other students who were working on the assignment today in class.
The students came back with questions, which I was happy with. Some of the kids I expected to have questions asked them, some were ones I had not thought would have them. We had another good lesson today on Order of Operations and had about 15-20 minutes for them to work on the practice problems. They were mostly working and really following through with showing their work, which I was very pleased with. They asked questions. (Sorry Dan Meyer, I was not less helpful - one thing at a time!) They were talking about math and finding some success. I felt pretty darn good about how my Math I classes went today.
And Everyone Else?
Everyone else got the SBG talk today. After not feeling really great about how it went yesterday with my Math I kids, I reminded myself that I had written some notes of discussion points from Matt Townsley, so I started with the question "What is an A?" as my springboard. Again, still seeing many skeptical faces from my students, but I think as we work through this, they will come around. Lessons went pretty well today with the exception of Calculus where I am still having SMART Notebook issues. The Power Point worked okay, but I was having trouble saving any notes I made on the slides. Fortunately, we were talking about lines and writing equations which are topics they should basically know. When we get to functions, I am going to need to have something a little better. I would say I have the whole long weekend to straighten that out, but if the rest of the weekend goes like last night and tonight, I don't have much time to count on. Hopefully Tuesday I'll have some more time. Oh wait - maybe not since I should be giving quizzes next week already. It doesn't stop....
What About the Other Goals?
Well, I wanted to write notes to my kids in Math 1. I really wanted to have notes on their desks Day One. Didn't happen. Not even close. I started and got 2 notes done. Just didn't have enough time. This may have to get delayed for a while. We'll see. Right now I have to get the SMARTBoard situtation under control as well as SBG. Still really excited about the SBG thing. We'll see how I feel after the first quizzes this week.
Tomorrow, I take my kids to the Canfield Fair to do our annual ride day with their cousins, second cousins, and whatever other kids tag along (long story). Should be about 10 kids in total and a lot of fun for them. I'm going to enjoy the day with my brother and my kids as well as my in-laws. Maybe I'll be able to sneak in a little work tomorrow afternoon. More Fair tomorrow night. Hootenanny on Saturday. More Fair Sunday and Monday. I'm going to enjoy the whole long weekend. Maybe I'll sneak some work in here and there. If you made it this far - I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend, too.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Paralyzed
It has been a crazy week. I picked up a class at the last minute for this week. It was offered by The University of Akron and The Akron Chamber of Commerce and it was titled "Opening Doors to STEM in the Workplace." We are supposed to get a nice stipend, 2 hours of graduate credit (paid for!), and they fed us lunch every day (good eats all week!). It was WELL worth it in spite of the timing. I got a much better understanding of what businesses are looking for in employees. Oh - and at some point, there is a great WCYDWT about CFL and why they are designed in a spiral vs. the original design of 2 upside-down u-shaped tubes. No time to think that through right now (not teaching Geom now) - more about that later.
What troubles me now from this workshop is that the last couple of years I have gotten away from doing the application problems in the textbook because a) students don't tend to do them anyway and b) there has been such an emphasis on getting the content taught for state testing/getting them ready for the next course or college. After talking to several business people, I now understand that application is key for people to be successful in the business world as well as problem solving. So, now what? The obvious answer is that I need to incorporate application problems into every concept or as much as possible. I am thinking that when I have my practice problems list for my students that there will be 2 parts to each assignment - problems where they practice the concept, and 1 or 2 application problems.
The reason for the title of this blog...
Which brings me to issue #2 on my mind at the moment - school. It is now 10 days until I have students in my classroom. I have no planning done other than Day One. I got the SMART Notebook file done for it and that's it. I have done nothing this week. Granted, it's been a busy week for me. I had Girl Scout meetings three of the five weeknights this week and DH had a meeting on one of the other nights. We are winding down in summer and the kids are realizing that they will be getting less time with Mommy, so they have wanted more of my attention this week. But in addition to all of that, I think I'm just stuck. Paralyzed with fear and nervousness about setting up my lessons using the SMART Board.
For my 18 years of teaching, I have taught using a chalkboard or overhead projector. Put up all the notes by hand. No big deal. I have my own notes on what example problems I want to use and definitions that I want students to know and other important notes that I want to make sure I pass along to students. But how do I set up these slides to put up on the screen for them? Do I put everything up on the screen and use the cool shade to pull down as I go along? Do I just put the basic notes (definitions, procedural explanations) in and the example problems up and write on the SMART Board to show the solution process? Do I go through the SMART Gallery and the Internet and see what I can find that someone else has done and modify it or just start from scratch? Do I go find "creative" stuff on the internet from You Tube and Teacher Tube to integrate in? And on, and on, and on go the questions in my head.
I can't put it off any longer.
That's the bottom line. I am stuck in my head but I cannot wait any more. I have to start tomorrow or Monday. I have four sets of slides to create. I know that I hate when the presentation slides have everything on them and the presenter reads them to you pretty much verbatim and maybe adds a comment or two. I don't think that's what I want to do. But given the visual nature of mathematics when explaining processes, I know I have to have stuff up there (either already on it or a start of it).
The dumb thing is, I have really looked forward to having the SMART Board. I couldn't wait until I had it. Now that I have it, I'm paralyzed as far as what to do with it. But I need to figure it out and fast. Next year at our new school, everyone will have them and people will be looking to me for some help and advice since I will have had one for a year and I want to be able to give them good advice. At least I'll understand their inital fears of it due to what I am going through at the moment. But now I have to get past it. I don't ever remember having these kind of feelings about using technology before. I have always just jumped in and figured it out. Not sure why I am at this point at the moment. Regardless, it is now time to move forward. Any advice and swift kicks in the rear are welcome... :-)
What troubles me now from this workshop is that the last couple of years I have gotten away from doing the application problems in the textbook because a) students don't tend to do them anyway and b) there has been such an emphasis on getting the content taught for state testing/getting them ready for the next course or college. After talking to several business people, I now understand that application is key for people to be successful in the business world as well as problem solving. So, now what? The obvious answer is that I need to incorporate application problems into every concept or as much as possible. I am thinking that when I have my practice problems list for my students that there will be 2 parts to each assignment - problems where they practice the concept, and 1 or 2 application problems.
The reason for the title of this blog...
Which brings me to issue #2 on my mind at the moment - school. It is now 10 days until I have students in my classroom. I have no planning done other than Day One. I got the SMART Notebook file done for it and that's it. I have done nothing this week. Granted, it's been a busy week for me. I had Girl Scout meetings three of the five weeknights this week and DH had a meeting on one of the other nights. We are winding down in summer and the kids are realizing that they will be getting less time with Mommy, so they have wanted more of my attention this week. But in addition to all of that, I think I'm just stuck. Paralyzed with fear and nervousness about setting up my lessons using the SMART Board.
For my 18 years of teaching, I have taught using a chalkboard or overhead projector. Put up all the notes by hand. No big deal. I have my own notes on what example problems I want to use and definitions that I want students to know and other important notes that I want to make sure I pass along to students. But how do I set up these slides to put up on the screen for them? Do I put everything up on the screen and use the cool shade to pull down as I go along? Do I just put the basic notes (definitions, procedural explanations) in and the example problems up and write on the SMART Board to show the solution process? Do I go through the SMART Gallery and the Internet and see what I can find that someone else has done and modify it or just start from scratch? Do I go find "creative" stuff on the internet from You Tube and Teacher Tube to integrate in? And on, and on, and on go the questions in my head.
I can't put it off any longer.
That's the bottom line. I am stuck in my head but I cannot wait any more. I have to start tomorrow or Monday. I have four sets of slides to create. I know that I hate when the presentation slides have everything on them and the presenter reads them to you pretty much verbatim and maybe adds a comment or two. I don't think that's what I want to do. But given the visual nature of mathematics when explaining processes, I know I have to have stuff up there (either already on it or a start of it).
The dumb thing is, I have really looked forward to having the SMART Board. I couldn't wait until I had it. Now that I have it, I'm paralyzed as far as what to do with it. But I need to figure it out and fast. Next year at our new school, everyone will have them and people will be looking to me for some help and advice since I will have had one for a year and I want to be able to give them good advice. At least I'll understand their inital fears of it due to what I am going through at the moment. But now I have to get past it. I don't ever remember having these kind of feelings about using technology before. I have always just jumped in and figured it out. Not sure why I am at this point at the moment. Regardless, it is now time to move forward. Any advice and swift kicks in the rear are welcome... :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)