Quips From 114

Identity

2011-04-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a year, to say the least. At some point, I may sit down and describe in detail aspects of it, but not right now. I've been pondering something... what kind of teacher am I? What box do I nicely fit into? Am I a traditionalist? Is my classroom problem-based? Project based? Media based? Is it test prep? Skills based? Standards based? None of the above? All of the above?

I spent this morning reading an article about Dan Meyer and then the follow-up commentary (some very positive and some negative of course). The discussion of course ended up with arguments of "traditional" teaching of math vs. what some deem ultra-modern. I am not interested in that war... it will wage on without a clear "winner" and will not end up benefitting kids. Discussion is GREAT, but standing on one side and charging bullets and cannons with no aim or direction is less than helpful.

Over the last few months, I've been trying to figure out what exactly my classroom has turned into (particularly the Accelerated Honors Geometry class where we blew up the curriculum, structure, and assessment and started from scratch). I see elements of very traditionalist views and elements of very modern thought. And the truth is, it's constantly evolving. The one very clear element and characteristic of everything I do both in the classroom and out is that above all, I want kids to learn to think critically. That has been my goal since the first day I stepped into a classroom as a teacher 8 years ago, and it has not changed.

There is a teacher in my department (Math/Science) who ends up in tears arguing that her main goal is to get kids to absolutely love science as much as she does. She argues that above all, the connection with a student is the most important because the student will then love science as much as she does since they'll see it worthy. While I'd love for all my students to adore and enjoy math as much as I do, I can't make it my main goal. I fear that if I do that, I will reduce my teaching to gimmicks and magic to entertain and please.

So here is what my classroom looks like... maybe getting it down into writing a few words will help me figure it out:

Layout: kids sit in groups - all the time with the exception of formal assessments. It's loud, chaotic, but worth it. I want them to realize the value of working in a team, of listening to each other's ideas, of learning from each other. I want them to see they need each other.

Class begins with some sort of opener. Usually it's a problem to get them thinking - never exactly like one they've seen before. It's up on the ELMO. Some kids pull out paper and work through it, other talk about it with their neighbor. Others stare at it, trying to formulate ideas.

Since we are close to standardized testing "season", lately my openers have consisted of 5 ACT type questions for practice. They respond to them by texting answers in (using polleverywhere.com) and then we analyze the problems, and talk about the distractors.

The opener leads into a "lesson" - maybe. This is the part where if there's totally out of the ballpark information they need, I give it to them. It's very very rare. Once a week, maybe. And I make sure it never lasts more than 5 minutes.

Students work on problem sets I (or sometimes others in my team) put together for a specific skill or topic. The problem sets are anything but traditional. They are broken up into three levels - Basic, Context, and Extension. The basic problems are just that - a basic skill practice. Context problems apply multiple skills into a different context. No two problems are the same. Context problems often ask students to come up with their own conclusions or use skills they already have in a situation they've never seen (A very basic example in geometry: students know what an equilateral triangle is and the Pythagorean theorem. In a context problem, they may be asked to find the area of a hexagon - not something they've ever done before). Extension problems tend to be abstract, and require multiple skills and various content knowledge to work through. They are often problems that require some sort of proof or access to outside knowledge. One problem sometimes takes days of thinking.

I don't give homework. Students know what problems they need to focus on each day. They can choose whether to do them or not (most do - they DO like learning and thinking. It gives them personal sense of accomplishment). I always very strongly encourage them to work on the problems outside of class (ie at home or at the lunch table). If you want to call that homework, fine.

I am a facilitator. I walk around and offer assistance (or of course once in a while encourage a straggler to get back on task because their group needs them), ask questions, and ask for explanations as to how students came up with solutions. If it's something I hadn't thought of, I take a back seat, give the kid the floor, and encourage them to share his/her work with the rest of us, so we can learn.

Assessments are standards based. A skill assessment will have three problems for a skill - a basic problem (the skill in isolation), a context problem (applying the skill in a totally new situation, even new from the problems they did in class), and an extension problem (see above description). They grade their own skill assessments (and yes, I collect them and record them), but I give more than one on each skill. The last score they get is the one that "counts" for a grade. The score is based on a 4-point rubric. They may re-assess on any skill they have not mastered until mastery is achieved (the goal is a 3 - applying skills in context).

Students keep assessment portfolios. They write up and maintain lists of skills, their scores on each skill assessment, and written reflections in terms of what they know, don't know, need to work on, and need to reassess on. These portfolios need some work... I'm working on ideas for next year to use electronic portfolios to make them much more meaningful and reflective.

There are no textbooks. I did hand out the regular course one, but we haven't opened it since September.

I laugh. A lot. I learn from my students - both how to be a better human and a better teacher. I also learn how to think differently - they most certainly do. And I absolutely love going to class.

Did I mention I put in a proposal for iPads for every student for next year? Yeah. So much work and thought to put into that one...

Never mind, I don't fit in a box.

Instructionally Uncomfortable

2010-10-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

I've been struggling. A colleague suggested I write. So I am.

Last year, I blew up my curriculum and started from scratch. What I was teaching wasn't working. At all. No textbook, wrote own stuff with a small team, and led by standards. As a result of looking at a completely new curriculum, I realized very very quickly instruction had to change. Direct instruction was just a mask that told teachers kids were learning just because they were staring in front and like good monkeys, copying down every word and problem. Teachers tend to sometimes miss the drool falling on desks because they think they're wrapped up in such amazing learning. We also changed assessments and turned to SBG. The triangle was complete - curriculum, instruction, assessment - all dependent on each other, all tied together.

I spent most of the last summer focused on curriculum. I created new curriculum for my other classes and spent many days trying to improve the one we'd blown up last year. I feel GREAT about the improvements. The materials are good and I'm honestly proud of them. So now it's gotten to the point where I feel the need to improve instruction. I don't want to be at a standstill where I settle down and think everything is ok. It's not in my nature. Before all of this began, I was comfortable as a teacher in terms of my instruction. Somehow, it always came naturally, I've always had good rapport with my students, and had always been praised for my methods. Now, I'm honestly uncomfortable. I blew up my former instructional self, thought I created something better (and honestly, for a while, it really worked), but now I miss my old self. The only alternative I've been informed of is a complete direct instructional model. I will never ever ever do that. I would fall asleep in the middle of my lecture. But I can't go back to what I was doing before - it simply can't work with my curriculum. I feel like students are looking at me saying "ok, you've improved the materials and curriculum so much, what comes next?" (although they're probably not - I'm a little crazy sometimes).

I've honestly never been here. In seven years, with the exception of minor adjustments, I've never had to give serious thought to changing what I do in the classroom simply for the sake of improving instruction. I was always comfortable, I always received approval and praise from administrators, other teachers, and students. Are my students learning right now? Absolutely positively yes. My standards based assessment system clearly tells me exactly what is going on. So why am I questioning my instruction? Simply for the fact that I know it can/should be better. I've just never been here ... so I'm uncomfortable, and perhaps slightly baffled.

Year 7 - The First Days of School

2010-09-11T13:38:00.000-05:00

Last year, I became too good at not blogging for long periods of time, and then blogging MASSIVE posts.

I don't want to do that this year. I want to document my year - more for my selfish self to look back on in March at the advice of Emily. This however, may end up a long post. Sorry!

Some highlights:

- My first day was wonderful. I smiled all day. I had my picture taken for my photo ID. I came out pale, despite being tanned. I'm perpetually fair-skinned. By the time second hour was over, I had had more kids from last year come back and visit and scream out my name than new students. The new students were confused. Third hour couldn't get in the door. Six of my honors kids from last year decided to come do a dance in the hallway in front of my door. In 4 classes, I was confident. I had a plan. I knew the end goal. Kids were excited. In one prep, I had no friggin clue. I still didn't understand fully what was going on in that class. I didn't even manage to pull together a syllabus - what would go on it?! I told stories that period. Entertainment. It's gotten better.

- I worked a LOT last summer. I did more curriculum planning and writing in two months than in the last 6 years combined. It paid off. There's a plan. Kids feel it. I have a destination - they trust me to help get them there. I'm genuinely excited.

- SBG is going WELL. Much much better than even I had hoped for. My prep classes are in the second year of a complete curriculum, grading, and instructional overhaul. These first three weeks of school were the best three weeks I've ever had in those classes - kids are focused, arguing about math, seeing success, and doing meaningful work. They are asking to re-assess, asking for extra practice, and can explain to me what they know and don't know. I could not ask for more in there, and I can't even explain the thrill I have when I see how well those classes function without me! My honors classes are also a delight, in different ways. We spent the summer writing leveled skill assessments - meaning taking a skill, and writing questions at a basic, context, and stretch level (4 point scale). I love what the assessments tell me. I have kids grade them in class and then self-assess their level on the skill. They've gotten really good at it in a short time, and yesterday told me they love the way assessment is set up in the course. Their quote, "we walk out with information about what we know and where we are. Can't beat that". Oh, and not a single one asked me for what percents each level transfer to. Yay!

- It's a ton of work this year, and I'm absolutely exhausted. Going through curriculum overhaul as a department is hard. Some of the hardships come from persons not completely on board and therefore choosing not to do much and the other part of the exhaustion is simply that there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need to. I also remain cautiously optimistic that since our admin is on board with what we're doing (and actually, a couple of the admins were the ones who began the overhaul), they will continue to support us (and me personally) in whatever professional and operational way they can. I have to say though - I'm really excited. I'm excited for what this means for our students, for our school. I know that within a couple of years, math classes will look completely different than two years ago (they already do!) and I'm excited about what that will do for our students.

Hanging on... hoping for a good (even though exhausting) year.

Emily

2010-08-02T23:31:00.002-05:00

So I have this teacher friend. We'll call her Emily (mind you, I don't know a teacher named Emily. Clearly names have been changed to protect the innocent). Emily inspires me. She challenges me to be better. She reminds me, sometimes harshly and sometimes gently, that no matter how good I think something is, it could always be better. Emily is an amazing teacher. I've never seen her teach though - I go by our numerous conversations, the amount of time I see her put in, the materials she creates for her students, the responses of student surveys she gives at the end of every year, her unparalleled passion for the profession, how angry she gets at mis-perfection in herself, her desire to be so much better than she already is (and trust me, she's great!), and the word of a trusted friend who watched her teach and talked to her students for the last three years.

She's great. That's nice. So why am I blogging about this? Because Emily thinks more about what's going on in education, her school, her classroom, and the time she takes to plan than anyone else I know. And because Emily is completely and utterly frustrated. And because she doesn't jump on bandwagons until she can muster up a system for herself that is both nearly perfect and completely do-able.

If you hang around anywhere in the twitterverse or blogosphere, you know the latest bandwagon is SBG. Emily knows it's a good bandwagon to jump onto, but she doesn't have a perfect system yet - or at least not a working one. On top of it, she's teaching new classes next year, works with a couple of teams who want to hear nothing of change (because of course, they're perfect and they're actually imposing restrictions of what she can and can't do that sometimes make it impossible to change), is earning her masters degree, and is in the midst of personal family crises. I love that we all spend time on blogs, on twitter and maybe even in some personal conversations trying to come up with good working systems. I love that we ask questions, seeks answers, continue reading, writing, re-writing, and re-vamping. We're educators, we're professionals, and yes, we care very deeply. But Emily is simply an example of an amazing teacher who continues to inspire me. I'll never be able to thank her enough for that. So, here's to Emily - may we all have one of her in our lives, and may she someday stop for a brief moment in her frustrations and realize how amazing she really is.

Learning to Live Loved

2010-07-23T23:59:00.000-05:00

This is probably as mushy and feely as I will ever get on this blog. Read no further if the word mushy scares you. I won't be offended. There's even some space to give you adequate time to close this window.

Ok then.... I've spent the summer in workshops, on twitter, talking to teacher friends, and sometimes even colleagues. I've written assessments, planned gradebooks, talked strategies, etc. I know summers are supposed to be for taking a breather, and I certainly have, but I kinda get a thrill out of reflecting on the past year and thinking about the 120 new people I will meet in the new school year. My escape come in other readings and simply daydreaming. In my "spare" time, I've managed to do a little reading that has impacted me.

So the other day, I stumbled across a passage in a book I was reading - the concept of learning to live loved. The book is amazing, the rest of it was great, and I got a lot out of it, but this concept has been on my mind for the last week or so (it's nothing new - a google search will yield books, blogs, commentaries, etc. on the concept). I've been going through a hard time in my life for the past few months. I blamed God a lot, got angry at a lot of people and have resented others (mostly for no good reason. Mostly). But in the past week, I've stopped to think about love. I thought about the people in my life who love me with no strings attached and wondered why. I've driven my husband, parents, friends, colleagues etc. crazy sometimes and not one of them has stopped loving me (uhm, at least I hope not!). My husband reminds me every day, even when I've been angry with him, that he loves me. And get this - he shows it too. So slowly, I think I'm beginning to come out of this rough time of feeling extremely alone and abandoned by God finally understanding what it means to live loved:
- knowing someone loves you no matter how much you screw up
- knowing someone will be patient with you no matter how frustrated you get
- knowing someone loves you, even if you don't much love them
- more of a mind thing than a heart thing - feelings go away as quickly as they come. It's hard to forget something once your mind absolutely knows it.
- knowing someone would give up their life if it meant you'd be happy
- understanding that even in the darkest time in your life, someone is always ready with open arms to do whatever it takes to make it better, even if that just means carrying you.
- knowing that someone really is always willing to listen to what you have to say
- knowing someone will appreciate the wonderful things you do, or simply how hard you try

That's a short list. I'm still working on it.

Since I am a teacher, and naturally tie everything back to teaching, this week was no exception. There are some teachers who teach only students that come from 2-parent homes where they are loved, cared for, and have everything they need. There aren't many of these kinds of teachers. Most of us teach at least a few kids who come from broken homes, whose parents are either absent or present only when they physically & emotionally abuse them, kids who have yet to find a home, kids who consider school the highlight of their day but don't admit it, kids who oddly hang around after school because going home terrifies them, kids who cut themselves as a reminder that they can still possibly feel something, kids that are searching to know that someone cares for them and loves them. Kids are what make this job so much more than just a regular job. So beyond trying to decide what curriculum to teach, what standards to cover, what grading system to use, or what to decorate the bulletin boards with, I think we need to sometimes stop and think about how we can teach kids to live loved in a world that is/will often be cruel to them. I think every teacher should try to answer these questions about themselves & their students:

- Do your students think yours is just a job or something more?
- When they get a problem wrong, how do they feel? What do you have to do with it?
- When they've done something behaviorally wrong, what do you do?
- When they just "don't get it", what comes next?
- Does your love for them depend on whether they're a good student or not?
- Do you act like a human being and reveal parts of your life, or do you remind them that you're authority and it's none of their business?
- Do you trust them like you expect to be trusted?
- How honest are you with your students?
- If they have a personal problem, are you the 1st or the last person they go to?
- Is your door open at lunch? After school? Ever?
- How do you react to their jokes?
- Do you allow your students to be weird? Nerdy? anti-social? dark? princess-y? sad? thrilled?
- Do you treat them as little drone robots that need to perfect and carry out algorithmic behaviors and patters, or are they individual people you try to get to know and treat according to their needs? (yes, this borders on teaching strategy as well)
- When they've screwed up, do they have to re-earn your love and respect?
- Are you teaching THEM to live loved? Is your demeanor in the classroom and outside of it reminding them someone on earth cares?

Up next: hugs in math class.
Kidding! Kidding! Thanx for indulging me thus far.

A Mini-Rant: Chased by the S in SBG

2010-07-07T14:57:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't pick it up from my previous posts about SBG, I am troubled. Nope, not about the validity of SBG. I'm 110% sure that is better for the kids for a myriad of reasons (none of which I will list right now, because I already have in the past as have plenty of other bloggers).
I am troubled by the S in SBG - Standards. I spent the last year arguing with my boss about what to teach. And just when I think we have it down, I read something, hear something, talk to kids about something, or simply have a nightmare with a standard chasing me in a dark forest - only I can't see the standard. Crazy, I know.

So here's my issue -
We live in an educational system with high stakes testing. I'd love to say I teach at a private or charter school and am standardized test free, but I'm not (don't get me wrong- I LOVE where I teach). With a lot of teachers looking into doing SBG next year, the first issue that comes up with many is WHAT to teach. They're trying to make lists of learning targets (a GREAT place to start!) I get asked then all the time, "where do I start? What should I use to make my list?" Great question. So where do you start? A book?(laughable) A state list? (eh, depends on the state) The new common core? (yikes. Where's the assessment to that one and who's writing it?) The CRS? (That's where I currently am) Your brain? (uh...) The teacher before you? ("now listen dear, it's ALL absolutely neccessary!")

I've seen/heard a couple of people say something to the effect of "you know what your kids need to learn. Ignore all those state standards and such. Just teach. They'll be fine on the state tests and if they're not, screw the tests - they're flawed anyways!" That sounds GREAT and oh so dangerous! What do you do with the 1st or 2nd year teacher that does NOT yet know what her kids need? What do you do with the teacher who is not part of a vertical team and has no idea what his kids need for the next class? Do you teach them what they need for the next class or just essentials for life? Do we try to focus on what our students will be assessed by? And if you really just want to tell teachers to just teach what they think kids will need, what happens to individual pet curriculum? Last year, World War 3 nearly broke out because two teachers insisted that all students need to know properties of secants and tangents while 3 others wanted to spend more time on surface area and volume. Let them do what they want in their classrooms? Really? So it's fair for a student in the same school to have two very different experiences and be exposed to different curriculum depending on which teacher was listed on their schedule? Let me guess... let the book decide. Oh ok, so a 1300 page high school textbook that definitely wants you to focus on a wide curriculum rather than deep understanding should be the deciding factor. After all, book companies definitely have the best interest of students in mind.

I'm sure by now I sound like a crazy ranter (heck, maybe I am). But here's my point. Before you jump on an SBG bandwagon and preach to all others to come see the light, please really take some time to decide what you will teach. Please don't let a textbook written by a for-profit company decide what you should do in your classroom just because "they must've thought about it". Please don't immediately say "screw the standards" when at the end of the year your kids will be assessed on them and their scores sent to colleges. Please don't say you're just focusing on content when your students will need skills to make it in the world. Please don't just take the SBG train without thinking about why you're getting on and what you're taking with you. It's a nice train, I think most should get on and take a ride, but not without considering what your travel companion students will get out of the journey.

I'm sorry if this post didn't help you much. At some point, I realized I was talking to myself in case in a couple of months when school starts I'm tempted to go backwards.

SBG Part 3 (The Design & Plans)

2010-06-27T15:06:00.000-05:00

My last two posts largely focused on what I did last year with SBG. For the prep course that I described, I will keep a lot of things the same, with only slight modifications, at least in terms of grading – the materials and some of the class setup will definitely have some major changes.
In trying to implement SBG into my honors classes, I realized that a lot of changes would need to be made. So I once again started from scratch, keeping the following tenets of SBG in mind:
- Know my targets
- Identify where I want students to end up
- Clearly identify standards (including both content & skills)
- Write assessments
- Grade by standards only

Step 1: Outline of standards & content.
My div head made an outline of what band on the CRS each class and level should be in. Ours was 24-27 (600 level skills). As a team, we looked at all the skills in the band, and split them into 5 major Geometry Units (the 5 essentials that kids should walk out of the class with). Based on the skills assigned to each unit, I split them into 3 “chapters” per unit (NOT out of a book, just a breaking point) and assigned content to each chapter. Here is what quarter 1 looks like:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Step 2: Assessment Plan
There were a couple of things we wanted out of written assessments:
- constant feedback on skills and content
- extremely targeted
- assessments should show progress, not be a punishment
- accountability from the students (constantly showing that they are making progress towards mastery as well as displaying retention of the skills & application in content)
- ability to re-assess and replace grades as students showed progress

The chart above shows the basic list of assessments for the first unit. Here is what they are and how we plan to use them:

• 3-4 Skill Assessments per CRS skill
Given approximately every other day. These will be short, 3 question assessments. The first question will be one that isolates the CRS skill – basic math computation problem. The second question is one that applies the skill to geometry content. The geometry content does NOT have to be tied into the skill – but it should use the skill in some way within the context the of the problem. The third question is an extension question – one that combines the skill, some geometry content and either other more advanced skills or an interdisciplinary topic.

• “Chapter” Tests (3 of them) that include MC, FR (Calc and No Calc parts)
Multiple Choice Part: Will include the basic, the context, and the extension questions in a ratio of 1:2:1.
Free Response Part: 2 “big” questions, written with multiple parts (AP format). One question will be calculator and the other Non-calculator.
The parts will also be in the format of basic, context, and extension.

• Unit Exam (MC, FR, Calc and NC part)
Same format as the chapter tests, given approximately once a quarter (at the end of the unit), encompassing all skills & content in the unit.

• Benchmark Exam 24-27
The department spent time this summer writing several exams with questions for each skill in each strand. Since our target CRS strand is 24-27, we will give one of these exams each quarter.

Step 3: Grading Design & Gradebook Setup

The entire grade will be based on assessments:
Skill Assessments: 20%
Chapter Tests: 60%
Unit Exam & Benchmark Exam: 20%

I am going to grade each skill based on level- namely, asking "is the student at a basic, context, or extension level (as described above)?" Here is the grading rubric:

Example skill assessment here.

Each skill assessment will be graded this way and the level recorded in a 0% weighted category. When as a class we are done assessing a skill, I will transfer only one level grade per skill into the Skills Assessment weighted category. The record of a students' progress on a skill will remain in the gradebook. This allows for multiple chances for assessment - depending on the skill, I will assess 2-4 times, or as much as I deem necessary based on reaction from students.

The tests & benchmark exam will be graded according to the same rubric, but in a more holistic way to allow one grade per assessment (right now, thinking to add up total correct for each of the three categories- basic, context, extension - and use rubric to assign appropriate level)
One important note on this: the multiple choice parts on each test will be mapped to standards. My district has a program called Mastery Manager with which we grade all things multiple choice. We enter a test with standards in it and then get back individualized data with skills mastery levels for each student, for each standard. This information about each standard gives another opportunity for me to go back and replace grades for standards - again, I want the student to learn and master a standard, I don't necessarily care when it happens.

Here is where I am (and where my team of four is):
- We have a plan and outline for grading
- We have a scope and sequence for skills & content standards
- We have started writing skills assessments, chapter tests & unit tests. By the end of the summer, we will have all of the assessments for Quarter 1 written, and a plan for writing Quarter 2.
- The vertical team (the freshman Alg 2 class and junior Pre-calc class) is not doing this next year. I'm honestly not quite sure what they're each doing, but it is still fairly early in the summer. Right now, I think the freshman class is re-sequencing and the pre-calc class... I think will continue as it has until now.

So, I am open to questions, comments, feedback, high-fives, and stone-casting. I have yet so much to learn, adjust, and re-do. Any help is always greatly appreciated.

How I Graded (SBG Part 2, among other things) - The Regrets & Reflections

2010-06-27T01:48:00.001-05:00

This post is more for me... it's a reflection on one aspect of the last school year. At some point, I want to look at last year from a student perspective and share some of their thoughts, comments, insults, and praises. Soon.

Last year was my first attempt at SBG.
In August my then new boss proposed an idea for a curriculum change. I immediately said yes because our system was completely broken, and there was no use pretending otherwise (although some still pretend that it's ok when kids walk away having earned a million points, but having learned nothing).
During the 1st week of school, I realized a grade change was needed. I didn't have time to think. I didn't have time to consult with too many people (I wasn't on twitter at that time!). On Thursday we needed a new system for Friday assessment. I sat down with a team member and came up with the rubric I mentioned in my last post. To me, it seemed natural to grade the way we taught - standards based. We presented the rubric to two other team members and said "this is how you will grade your quiz tomorrow".

Reflections & Regrets:

- No time to think, to perfect a system
Some members of my department said I was "thrown" into this. I wasn't. I chose to do it. I knew that I really could not screw up my kids any more than they already were. I wish I had a summer to think, a PLN to work with, twitter to ask questions on, and even a blog to reflect on. I wish I had @JackieB to drive crazy with questions (I do that now) and bounce ideas off of. But instead I had an extremely supportive division head (looking back on the number of times I walked into his office and threatened to quit, he's a saint) and at least a couple of members on my team willing to put up with my endless questions, insecurities, and ideas. In retrospect, did I do the right thing? Absolutely. Did I do it perfectly? No way.

- No real plan for remediation; just kind of made it up as we went along.
Last year, we created all of our materials from scratch. I didn't have materials for the next week until the Sunday night before. It made it REALLY hard to provide kids with extra examples, another resource, or even a chance to re-assess. Next year: need a system where we have all of our old materials available, can easily use gradebook to look up assessments (both formative and summative) that indicate a need for remediation, and immediately provide students with the materials, resources, time, and help they need.

- Extremely skills focused. Content suffered as a result.
This issue was a splinter in my spine all year. I am at peace with it today, might be angry at it again tomorrow. First goal last yr: "No assumptive teaching. Assume they know nothing." (and they did know nothing - we gave them a pre-assessment and saw they knew bits and pieces, but had mastery of nearly nothing ). So we started with the lowest band on CRS. Materials were created with the following in mind:
- no algorithms, no formulas, no memorizing, no rote learning
- problem solving and extracting information from word problems (1st 4 weeks of the course were ONLY word problems - they had no choice but to read!)
- purposeful: build on what they know to help them attain mastery of the focus skill. Allow those who "get it" opportunity to extend their skills.
- no worksheets of 20 of the same problems
- mastery is not achieved until skill can be used in various situations, problems, contexts, and modalities.

Yes, we taught the CRS. No, it wasn't test prep (I still get angry when people accuse me of that). No, we didn't use a book. Yes, content suffered.

So this is where I am now: kids in prep level courses that have spent years in math classes where teachers taught above their heads need a couple of courses where they start fresh and build their skills. These skills should be applied in both basic math problems and real life application problem. Teachers need to help them then take these skills and make the decisions of when to use what. Eventually, it needs to get to the point where when presented with a situation, kids need to be able to identify the questions and access the skills needed to answer them. Basically, teach them where they're at, have a goal where you want to get them, and work your way up. A book doesn't know your kids, can't ask them a question, can't formatively assess their skills, and therefore can't decide (and should NOT decide) what to teach them. That's why we have teachers.

The content and deeper problem solving becomes an issue as I look at my honors classes. I can't just teach the CRS. I can't just assess the CRS. I can't ignore deeper problem solving and AP-style questions. For now, I am somewhat OK with what my div. head proposed - chose the skills they should have, and make sure they have them. Apply them to content and deeper problems solving. Incorporate AP-style questions and hold them responsible for all three. This is where the grading issue will pick up. My honors class is the reason I tried to come up with another system of SBG that would incorporate rich content, assess skills, and make grades meaningful.

How I Graded (SBG Part 1)

2010-06-25T23:46:00.001-05:00

Last school year was my first real attempt at SBG.
It didn't begin with grading- it began with a change in curriculum (if you're looking for a cure to your insomnia and would like to understand why, read this).

The need for a new grading system arose the 1st week of school. I had spent the week teaching standards based, and now I realized I certainly had to assess standards based. The assessment was created, each question tied to a standard, and a rubric was needed.

Here is an example assessment (NOT necessarily a good one - more on regrets from this year later - but it's one that is aligned to standards).

In this post I included the rubric, gradebook example, and explanation of how I graded.

Basics of what we did:
- gave students a pre-assessment with each question aligned to standards. Questions included what they "should" have learned, what they will learn this year, and a bit beyond.
- Used information from pre-assessment to decide what we would teach (in our case for a prep-level class, a specific band from the CRS )
- list standards/targets and sequence them
- created assessments tied to standards (in our case, each assessment contained Review skills that were pre-requisites for our Focus skill and a secondary (or extension skill) for those students who could handle more - yay differentiation!!)
- Created materials that catered to what we wanted students to know and what we'd assess them on.
- Created a rubric with which to grade assessments
- Set up gradebook (gradebook setup is shown in previously mentioned post).

There were certainly things that I wish I had done differently. That's the next post =)

For another reading on assessment and how it completely changed my class and my students' way of thinking, I wrote this back in November.

Coming up:

Part 2 - What I need to change for next year in this particualar class to make it more targeted, more meaningful, and a better experience for my students (and yes, even myself).

Part 3 - "Another" SBG system. I am working on creating a system for my honors geometry classes that is much more content and "big-picture" based but that still incorporates skills. This one is based on ideas from Marzano's book

Thank you to several tweeps who helped me iron out ideas, asked me a lot of awesome questions that I learned from, and encouraged me to "update" this blog a bit.

Cell Phones lead to Questions

2010-03-22T13:23:00.002-05:00

Anyone who lives in Illinois knows ACT is big. This post is not about ACT.
In my Hnrs Geo class, I’ve added ACT problems to nearly every test and quiz. I wanted to be a little bit more focused and give students more exposure to ACT problems for right triangle trig. So on a daily basis, I put up three ACT problems as a warm-up. I walked around and checked answers and then asked, “who got A, who got B, etc”. They lied, all the time. They just looked around for the most popular answer. And then the ones who initially got it wrong would ask no questions for fear of embarrassment. I forced conversations once in a while, but they were just that - forced.
So last weekend I got the idea to use cell phones to poll. The results are instant, anonymous, and it forces the kids to truly answer what they think. Hence, more accuracy. Ironically, when I checked twitter on Monday, @mackrellr used cell phones to poll as well. He said it worked well with his kids.
My kids are sophomores and most have a cell phone. The ones that didn’t were told to have a friend text in their answer (because of this, I allowed multiple answers from the same cell). I used www.polleverywhere.com .
Here is what results look like:

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What’s really nice here is that I got much more info than just walking around and so did the kids. Actually, it led to a great question – “While most got the correct answer (A), what made 9 students (32%) chose C?” In this way, we were able to talk about distracters, what part of the problem led to this, completely tear apart the problem, and even address where those who had chosen B or E get straightened out WITHOUT asking them one by one who got it wrong. I think it provided a safer way for a student to be either right or wrong and then get an appropriate follow-up. I’m not 100% sure why, but the students were more willing to talk about the problems after addressing it this way than previously.

Did they learn something directly from the cell phone? No. I was however able to assess formatively, appropriately, and then give necessary feedback. We used it for the rest of the week. I will definitely keep doing this (although not quite every day) – the kids LOVED it. The only strange part… the sign on my door in the morning that said “bring your cell phone to class

The Law of Sines and Cosines

2010-03-22T12:19:00.005-05:00

My honors geo students this year have been amazing. They’ve challenged me in multiple ways and have let me get away with nothing. I love that they simply just want to KNOW. They like learning. It’s rare that I get a group like this and through the year they’ve developed marvelously into a class that works really well cooperatively in groups and asks excellent questions.

Last week, we learned the Laws of Sines and Cosines. Last year when I taught this class, I just gave them the formulas. Big mistake- I should’ve known better. This year I decided to take a much different approach.
I had taught trig ratios the week before. The students really good with it, but eventually, they asked the question – “how do we find sides and angles if it’s not a right triangle? Are trig ratios any use then?” So on Tuesday, I took them outside to the main road (thank you weather, for giving us 65° despite snow this weekend). In groups of three, they each picked a spot on one side of the road (landmarks – a tree, fire hydrant, bush, street sign, etc). Then I showed them a huge tree across the street and called it our “target”. I asked them how far they were from the tree. No crossing of street allowed. I had them partner up with another group and gave them large protractors and tape measures. Eventually, they created triangles by finding distance between groups and the angle between themselves and the “target”.

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Once all measurements were taken, we came inside and drew triangles. I then had them start from here

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and gave them the hint to begin with finding Sines. They found the sin of A and C, solved for k, set them equal to each other and “simplified”. Then we drew an altitude from A to a and used angles B and C. Once we had the LOS, they solved their triangles. Very very smooth. The practice problems we tried after that were a piece of cake for them. Yay!
On Wednesday, we approached the LOC in a similar way, but the LOC is much harder to derive using only basic trig functions (no identities- they don’t know them yet!), so I gave them a bit more direction.
After they got the LOC, one kid had the audacity to ask “why didn’t you give us the formula in the first place?” I said nothing- the rest of the class began shouting at him, “hey doofus, the first question out of your mouth would’ve been, ‘where does it come from and why does it work’. We just answered that for ourselves without having to listen to a 40 minute lecture”. I smiled. We moved on.

How I grade....

2010-03-13T17:06:00.002-06:00

Grading in the class I've modified this year has gone through various changes.
This year we've been skill-based in this class- meaning we took the CRS (from ACT), and literally taught skills. We constantly spiraled (our Review skills), focused usually on one skill a week (Focus), and allowed those who "got it" to stretch their skills (our secondary skills). Mon-Thurs were teaching days as well as self-assessment days with plenty of formative built in. Fridays are our assessment (usually in the form of a quiz) days. We include review, focus, and secondary questions. We grade them as follows:

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I do record what each student got on each standard or concept as well. The problem is that I'm trying to do SBG in the context of a traditional gradebook (district mandated). So the Friday assessments count for 77% of a student's grade (20% = final, 3% = just checking in classwork). So, standards based assessment determines a student's grade. This translates to a student's grading summary looking something like this:

(the three letter names are strands from the CRS. Kids and parents have copies, and I write out the standards on a daily basis for them)

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The kids know what 0-5 means. My low-level kids generally aim for the 3 (they WANT to get the focus skills!). It's not perfect, but it's so much more meaningful. I am wanting to modify some aspects for next year, while still keeping the main goal of making grades meaningful. The curriculum will change too though - I want overriding concepts (and big problems) to be the umbrella for sets of skills. We shall see - it's a lot to think about and play with.

Some materials on graphing in y=mx+b form... standards based.

2010-01-16T00:57:00.004-06:00

So in case anyone is interested, this is what we did last week. We had already talked about the concept of slope extensively, and focused on graphing in slope-intercept form this week as well as fortifying the concept of slope.
The order we went is 503-intro, 503-1, 503-4, quiz. There were in-between fillers, practice, and a bit of instruction. Feedback welcome :)

GRE 503-INTRO
GRE 503-1
GRE 503- 4
GRE 503- quiz

Guilt.... we're cheating.

2010-01-16T00:33:00.003-06:00

So at the beginning of this school year, several teachers (including myself) admitted that a certain low- level of classes in our school were simply broken. Tweaking here and there would be like trying to put a band aid on a stab wound. It simply wouldn’t do. So we threw it all out and went full force into something radically different- standards based instruction and assessment, constant collaborative group work, no giving of “points” simply for doing behaviors or completing an assignment, very little direct instruction, no book (oh yeah, that’s right, NO book), little to no homework, very little formal grading, and well, you get the gist. After we dove in and I finally began to read blogs, I realized it was many of the ideas read in various blogs all thrown together.
Examples:
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=1263 (we care that a kid knows it, not WHEN he knows it)
http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=811
http://mctownsley.blogspot.com/search/label/standards-based%20grading (little bit on standards based grading, homework, etc)

Anyways, we went full force and radical. We wrote our own standards-based curriculum, created assessments that were standards-based, completely changed out teaching styles to the point where it was HARD to let a kid continue struggling with a problem and not give them the answer, completely changed our grading practices, and hoped for the best. Oh, and we dove into this a month before school started and have been running the show since. I’m not going to lie, it’s HARD. It a ton of work, it’s constant questioning of whether what we’re doing is really the right thing to do, and it’s a desperate need to see some kind of results. Our students were mostly enraged, many demanding points for bringing their paper to class and a stamp for numbering their paper from 1-20 and putting an answer next to each number as their previous, much “better”, teacher used to do. They came around…. And we gained victories. Few, but they were still victories. We’re still desperate to see some hard core data that says “yes, this works. The work is worth it, press on”. Patience.

So now, a week before the end of the semester, we’ve taken a step back. It got to the point where very little was motivating our kids. They’d achieved grades in math they’ve never had before…. So they collectively decided that a few weeks of slacking off would not hurt them. They’d just sit there…. And be ok with it (NOT what they used to be in the beginning of the semester). So what to do? Humbly, ashamed, and feeling honestly kind of “icky”, we began “checking in” work and recording it somewhere in the gradebook, making it count for a measly 2 - 5%. It didn’t change anyone’s grade (although some didn’t even notice that), but it made us feel like we were cheating on the system we created. A year ago, this would have been perfectly natural. This year, there was guilt instead. Second semester is fast approaching. I have NO idea what I will do with that…. None.

What's been on my mind....

2009-11-20T00:08:00.003-06:00

I realize I don’t have super-awesome topics for my posts, but my hope is that the rants I go on will lead to some good feedback and constructive criticism.

So here is what is on my mind……

1.    I teach two different preps. In one of them, I’ve completely changed the curriculum, the way I teach, and the way I assess. I’ve made sure those three things are intimately tied together. In my head, they are. In practice, they sometimes get ripped apart by circumstances, emotions, the need for comfort, and really bad advice.
2.    My curriculum is now completely standards-based (the CRS). Who and what’s to say that this will work? Every time I try to defend what I do, I’m bombarded with this question. The truth…. No one has proof. I chose (and I should add agreed) to do this because the system was BROKEN. I figured there is no way I can possibly make it worse. But with the time, the energy, the brain power, the man power, and the resources thrown in, what IF it really isn’t the magic bullet? And how will I measure if this did work?
Possibilities for measurement:
-    their ACT scores (well, I won’t get those until the following year, why am I choosing one test as a measure, and what happens if their scores drop? If they go up, is it just this class, or the sum of three years? What if April rolls around and they bomb and feel really bad about it?)
-    the small victories: my low-level kids are no longer afraid of word problems. I gave them no choice. EVERYTHING was in context. There was never a 30 problem worksheet on the same skill. Ever. The last time I heard “there are too many words in this problem to read it” was the third week of September. (is this enough to say a whole new system of curriculum, instruction, and assessment is justified?)
-    victories in ownership: There are pockets of kids among my 80 in these three classes that say they way I teach this class sucks and that I “should” be giving them points for effort, homework, and showing up. I refuse to. Kids that do well know it was they that learn, not me who showed them how to emulate examples. Kids who don’t understand something no longer say “I need help with math”. Instead, they say “I need help with BOA 303- combining like terms”.
-    motivation: kids aim higher. Last year, half the class had the goal to “pass this class with a D”. This year, they get angry if they don’t get a 3 on a quiz (that means mastery of all focus skills, an 80%). HOWEVER, it’s 10 times easier for kids to make the choice to not do anything. The worst consequence is a bad grade and me knowing about it. Some kids chose to sit there for 50 minutes and find every possible thing to do except try at math. At least before they were forced to take notes and were given points for doing so (totally pointless, but…. It got [some] of the kids more productive in class). They are very few (5 out of 80). But those 5 stand out like a sore thumb whereas before they went mostly unnoticed. How the heck do I help them?
3.    What if they get a teacher next year who refuses to implement any of the changes I’ve implemented and they’re sent back to what it was before?
4.    Ok, they do skills activities on a daily basis (curriculum), I walk around and work with them and encourage them to work with each other, we explain problems together (instruction), and on Fridays, they get a quiz based exactly on the standards from the week (standards- based assessment). The quiz is graded according to mastery of concepts. Then my gradebook is only quiz scores with breakdown of mastery on individual skills? This doesn’t exactly seem right….. I don’t give any other grades! I know how well they’re understanding individually, but how can I judge that objectively? There is nearly daily formative assessment (stickies), but that’s formative… not for a grade. HMMMMM…. Can I accept this?
5.    I’ve read blogs where people have a standards-based grading system in their school that is very clearly defined and with the curriculum to back it up. I’m sure it took years of work. What do I do RIGHT NOW?
6.    Yesterday, my principal had a two hour meeting with us. She called us the pioneer team in this. What if we absolutely FAIL?! This is the first time we’re trying to write and come up with curriculum, instructional, and assessment pieces as we’re teaching! We barely stay a day ahead!
7.    Enough negative. Some positive- teaching this class this year is like coming out of a dark hole compared to last year. 20 time better but with 52 times the stress and extra thinking. I have students who absolutely, positively adore the class, and they make sure to tell me at least three times a week. There are students who failed at math every year and are now seeing and owning success. The boy who told me on the second week of school that “this class is pathetic, and you are a terrible teacher” came up to me yesterday and said “you’ve made me a believer. I don’t even know how to say I’m sorry” after seeing personal growth and success in himself. Two kids have put their heads down this year. One had 102 fever and the other….. well yeah, he was bored. But that’s only 2 times in 13 weeks of school in 80 kids. Not bad. ☺

Enough ranting for now…. I’m sure by next week there will be a whole new set of issues!

Goals...

2009-11-04T15:06:00.003-06:00

I am setting goals for second quarter. They are as follows:

- now that we have the kids used to the new structure of the class, I want to implement more activities. I feel like even though it's a new topic and somewhat new way of doing things every day, it's still a little... monotone. I want to keep in line with the basic tenets but include some different activities. I'm gonna need so much help an support... .

- try to apply some of these ideas to my honors geo kids. I don't want to spoon feed them, even though they eat everything up. I want to see them even more excited than they are. I need to give them interesting problems and continue challenging them

- more concrete formative assessment and KEEP TRACK OF IT (not only in my brain, but on paper somewhere). I keep stickies now, but they're.... multiplying. we're in the hundreds :(

- get more people to pay attention to what we're doing and get them vested in this. Maybe we'll get more help this way :)

- stop complaining about the Kevins of my world. figure out what makes 'em tick instead and oil the squeak!

- seek out and share more ideas on the internet. There are people out there who are waaaay smarter than me.

- speak up!

- tell people just how much I appreciate them

- make my chess kids stop referring to me as mommy (this might be hardest of all!)

An example Skill Activity for Lower - Level Algebra class

2009-11-03T20:11:00.002-06:00

Ok, this is my first attempt at posting a file... we'll see how well I do on it :-/
This is a typical skill sheet in my lower-level class. I interrupt to make sure they've done the review, then only if the entire class seems to need help with a particular problem. Otherwise, I keep my mouth shut and circulate about the room.
I'd love some feedback! :)

Skill Activity on Slope

Assessment...whoa!

2009-11-03T01:10:00.002-06:00

So on the last week of the quarter, the other teachers on my team and I were literally shaking in our pants. We created a quarter assessment that included all the standards that were focus skills for the quarter as well as secondary standards, or extensions. All week, we kept saying "what happens if this fails? How in the world will we handle that?"
So here's what happened.

Previous assessments: I went in thinking my kids should know everything I taught them, although I knew they probably knew very little, but wasn't sure what that little was.
This one: I went in knowing my kids would struggle on BOA 202 and 302. I was right. Way to know my kids!

Previous assessments: created generally using the book as a guide, including both easy problems and "tricky" problems.
This one: Topics on it were determined before we started teaching. They included only the standards which we taught, no tricks, and 12 questions that were supposed to be extensions

Previous: students were given a study guide that mirrored the test. Teachers generally taught the study guide and students were allowed to use the study guide on the test.
This one: Review was given, with one question from each standard. It was up to the students to review, with the reminder that if they don't know how to do a certain question, the standard next to it would lead them to helpful material.

Previous: class averages in the high 50%'s or low 60%'s (despite the use of notes on the test)
This one: class averages (not that they mattered!) in the high 60%'s. Averages on "focus skills" (what the test was actually on) were in the high 70's. Averages on the extensions were in the 60%'s.

Previous: HUGE curves... generally to get the average to around 75%.
This one: no curve needed. We graded it on our 0-5 scale- individual for each learner. Here is our scale:
0- blank test, or absolutely nothing right
1- some of the review questions correct, not much of the focus
2- all review questions correct, some of the focus correct
3- all review correct, all focus correct
4- all review correct, all focus correct, and some secondary correct
5- all review, focus, and secondary completely correct.

We graded assessment like this the entire quarter, so students were used to it and new exactly what each score meant and as a result what they new and didn't know.
Here's the crazy part, where before our student would strive for a D, they now get angry with themselves when they earn a 2 (the equivalent of a 70%!). That means they actually strive to learn the focus skills! I never thought I'd see that kind of shift in attitude and motivation among low-level math students. Yay!

So, while still scared about "what if this doesn't work and I've completely screwed up my kids", I think I need to learn to accept the small victories- my students are no longer afraid of word problems, they are much more motivated, and I actually know what they know and what they don't know.

Beginnings and Explanations

2009-11-03T00:45:00.003-06:00

So I definitely know I should have started keeping written reflections of what I was doing this year a long time ago. Ten weeks in, so much has happened, in seemingly so little time.
I will back track just a little: I've been teaching for 6 years. The last three years, I've hated every moment I taught my lower-level classes. I went along with what the rest of the teachers were doing, clearly knowing it wasn't working. I questioned it, but received very little help and answers. My former division head said I should be covering more material. My co-workers said the kids aren't motivated. Another co-worker said to just "go with the flow, these kids aren't going anywhere anyways" (he angered me the most). Others wanted a change and some answers just as much as I did and were willing to work for it.
In my mind, a complete overhaul of the system was needed. But in order to do that, support is needed- support that I didn't have. I wanted to teach something different. I thought whole-heartedly that what the book was teaching and what the course description said we should teach was completely irrelevant to my students and completely over their heads! In addition, it seemed like all they cared about was getting enough points from doing as little as possible to pass the class. What a great situation, huh?!
With the help of an amazing new division head, we spent the second half of last summer re-writing the curriculum, re-examining our teaching styles and committing to something completely different, and agreeing to assess completely different.
Below is part of a paper I actually wrote as a reflection for a grad class I just finished. It is RIDICULOUSLY LONG for a blog post, but I think it explains my experiences this year a bit...

In my school there are five levels in math, or 5 tracks. They are the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s; the 90’s are accelerated honors and the 50’s are basic. Students are placed into a track based on their incoming 8th grade EXPLORE score in math. With the understanding that the EXPLORE scores are not necessarily the perfect indicator of where a student belongs, within the first month of school there is massive movement and a lot of level changes. Some level changes do take place later in the high school experience, but most students stay in their track. The students who start in 60’s have a double-period math class their freshman year. The original goal was to get through Algebra I freshman year, Geometry sophomore year, and access Algebra II concepts their junior year in time for the ACT. For the last three years, I’ve taught the 466 class - composed mainly of juniors and some seniors. The original curriculum used a college level textbook with the title Intermediate Algebra. We “covered” about three quarters of the book. About half of what was included in our curriculum were concepts and skills that students had seen before. I am confident they walked away having learned less than a tenth of what we taught. The taught curriculum and the learned curriculum were completely different. There were many problems with these classes. Students were completely uninterested in learning the concepts and skills being taught, many said the class was way too hard, follow-up research showed that many of our students ended up in non-credit remedial courses in community colleges, and the behavior problems were often overwhelming. Last March, I went in to my division head’s office with some of these concerns. His response was that I should teach logarithms so students will be exposed to it in time for the ACT. I was mortified. My students barely knew how to solve an equation; logarithms were the last thing they needed to see.

When I met with my new division head this summer, I shared with him many of these concerns and asked for advice from him. He said he had some ideas to implement into the curriculum and suggestions for instruction. I listened to him and asked if we could go all out. He said he’d support us and offer us any help he could. In addition to the other person teaching the same course with me, I teamed up with another course-alike team that taught 464 (the sophomore Geometry class) and agreed that we’d be teaching the same course, titled Math I. We began meeting at the end of July and agreed to a complete overhaul of the entire course. There were several key pieces that we approached our work with. The first was that our students seemed to be so radically diverse in terms of their current skill levels and their learning styles. The old curriculum was very rigid and structured to the point that it left very little room for differentiation. We needed to meet the students where they were and provide an ideal environment for them to learn. This involved creating a curriculum that met students where they were in terms of skills and creating an instructional environment that would force students to struggle themselves with problems and take ownership of their learning. Finally, we needed to make assessment much more meaningful. We realized that a percentage on a quiz really meant very little to both the teacher and the student. Our final goal was to somehow tie curriculum, instruction, and assessment together to create a student-centered classroom from which students would walk away having learned something and we would know exactly what that something was.

The first part was the creation of a new curriculum. My division head showed us a curriculum he was in the process of crating that used the college readiness standards as the guide for curriculum for a few main reasons- they seem to go in increasing order of difficulty, they are very well stated, and they are the measure by which our students are tested. The first task was to create a pre-test to determine what level the students were cognitively able to perform. We used incoming IACT math scores as a general guide to predict about where we’d have to start and would rely on the results of the pre-test to determine how much time to spend on each skill and the level of need each student had. Based on a model the division head created, we began to create what looked like worksheets that we referred to as skill activities. They weren’t really worksheets though- they were our curriculum. Each one had a review skill, a focus skill, and a secondary skill on it. The review skills had two-fold purpose. They were to first show every student that yes, they can do math and there are skills and concepts that they do know and understand. Secondly, the review was meant to be just that- a review that led into the main concept for the day. The focus skills problems were designed to lead a student from basic understanding to conceptualized learning. Many problems were ACT questions and there were very few straightforward “solve this” problems. The skills sheets were filled with word problems and real-life examples to work through. The biggest fear of a math student has always been word problems and we basically created a curriculum that revolved around problem solving to the point where students would have no choice but to sit down and read the problems. Many of our students confessed in the first weeks of implementing the new curriculum that they had never done a word problem in high school- that they just skipped over that part of the homework. They were now forced to try them and often found that they weren’t as scary or difficult as they previously thought. The curriculum met students where they were and helped them work their way up. We did not skip skills, or jump around to simply say we “covered” something. Exposure and lecture is NOT the same as learning. Our goal continues to be student learning and mastery of skills through a viable curriculum.

One of the hardest parts of creating this new curriculum was the time it required and the complete lack of something to tell us for sure that it would work. We began working in a team of five plus my division head at the end of July. By the time school started in late August, we had mapped out the first quarter, written the pre-test, created instructional materials for one quarter, and made a plan of how we would fill in the gaps in terms of resources. Ten weeks in, this continues to be one of the toughest years in terms of time and work. We are not using a book at all- we are basically writing our own. We continue meeting to create new materials and revise what we’ve created based on experiences thus far. We create daily formative assessments and weekly quizzes. We meet to discuss what works and what doesn’t. And of course, we continue to wonder if this curriculum will make a difference in students’ learning.

The second aspect of our new course was the instructional piece. The first decision we made was to keep all students in groups, all the time. The goal was to encourage students to work with each other, to teach each other, and to rely on each other for help when needed. The second decision we made was to limit our talking time. We decided that there was too little in what we said in 45 minutes that students would actually be interested in and most students would end up daydreaming if we continued talking TO them. High school students are for the most part social beings and like connecting with each other. In addition, they like it when they know something someone else doesn’t and they have the opportunity to show or teach the other student. The general structure of the class is set up such that students come in and are immediately given the skill activity for the day. Objectives are listed on the board and the teacher makes a quick reference to it. Students are given a period of time in which to complete the review portion of the activity. In this time, the teacher walks around and helps minimally, while letting groups that seem “ahead” go on to the focus skill portion. The teacher asks students to put up the problems and explain them. Students are then asked to work on the focus questions. The teacher breaks the work session only a couple of times for brief explanations and to give a general direction. Students are constantly asked to explain problems to the class as the teacher walks around and uses leading questioning to guide students. The end of class usually entails a formative assessment piece that will help the students and teacher know if students understood the lesson.

Even with the time and energy that the curriculum aspect required, the instructional aspect has actually been the hardest for us to implement. It is hard giving up control of the classroom. Even though the teacher remains the general guide and tells students what to do next and in how much time, the students essentially run the class. They chose whether or not to work. They chose whether or not to pay attention for the brief moments when the teacher speaks. They chose whether or not to struggle through problems that lead to understanding or copy all the answers from a friend. As a teacher, I end up biting my tongue a lot. It’s hard watching students struggle through a problem and not tell them the answer. When a student doesn’t understand a basic concept, it is very hard for me not to run to the board, tell the class to be quiet and offer my own explanation and algorithm. But I feel that as soon as I do that, it invalidates the student’s thought process and tells them once again, as they’ve thought many times before, that they are incapable of doing math themselves. After 10 weeks though, we’ve learned to accept that it is for their own good. One of my collegues said "the worst is seeing students that do not even trust their ability to think. More than anything, I want so badly to help my students to think, and to trust that their thinking is valid.” I feel like perhaps we’ve found a way to do just that- help students trust their thinking is valid- and while we still have a long way to go, I don’t want to take steps backwards just because sometimes I am uncomfortable.

The third major aspect is the assessment piece. We are essentially teaching a curriculum that is standards-based so our assessment should be as well. The formative assessment pieces take place daily in the classroom. Teachers have a lot of interaction with kids and can accurately assess whether or not students are learning and mastering. The exit slips as we call them also come in very handy as they focus on the particular skill for that day and measure whether or not the students got it. We quiz on the week’s skills and concepts every Friday. The quizzes look exactly like the skills activities. They have review, focus, and secondary problems on them. When we grade, we go through each problem and look for understanding and mastery of the skill. For example, if a student sets up a linear equation correctly based on a word problem, then completes the correct steps to solve it but makes an arithmetic error in the end, we consider that the student has mastered the skill of “write and solve linear equations based on real-life problems” (although perhaps needs some arithmetic work). We tally up the total correct for each skill, record it on a rubric on the front page, and assign a score of 0-5. The score is much more meaningful to the teacher and the student. Students keep track of scores earned on a separate checklist for skills and when they subsequently come in for extra help, they can pinpoint exactly the skill they need help with rather than say, “I need help with math”.

We have certainly faced challenges with the assessment piece as well. Students are used to using notes on quizzes- now they can’t. They’ve complained endlessly, but conversations that followed those complaints included the assertion that whatever grade the student earned was a result of what he or she did and knew, not what they were able to copy from the teacher’s notes. Many understand the importance of this type of ownership of learning and slowly begin to appreciate it and appreciate themselves for being able to acquire the knowledge. Another obstacle is that our grade book system is set up to work with traditional grading. We have to make enormous adjustments to reflect grades and progress on particular skills. In all this however, we have to acknowledge that we are able to answer four basic questions that all teachers should be asking- “What do they know? How do we know they know it? What happens when they don’t know it? What happens when they do know it?” These answers have given us powerful insight into student learning and will continue to provide us opportunities to both validate what we are doing as well as change instructional practices to meet the needs of our students.

As I stated earlier, this school year has been one of the most challenging ones I’ve ever faced. It is very difficult choosing curriculum, making the decisions about what the objectives should be, making decisions about instructional and assessment practices and implementing while still in the process of developing and writing the curriculum. It has also been difficult because despite how strongly we believe in it, there are others who are vehemently opposed to what we are doing. We have been accused of “not teaching, just handing out busywork worksheets”, "losing control of our classrooms" and “doing a great disservice to our students by not exposing them to high level math”. In addition, while some students completely embrace this approach and share their private successes and victories, there have also been others who stared us in the face and called the whole thing “stupid and pathetic” while telling us their previous teachers were so much better. Comments like that are much more rare than the good ones, but they are painful to hear nonetheless. However, I’ve learned from this experience how much working with a great team can mean. I have teammates who are absolutely wonderful and we have learned to lean on each other and be completely honest about both the successes and failures of what we do. In addition, I am so glad and thankful that I have a division head who not only gave us a very clear direction, but has supported us every step of the way, shared his frustrations in trying to implement something similar in his previous school, and assured us that there is no way we will get 100% support from everyone when we undergo a change as large as this. He has gone out of his way to defend us to other administrators and teachers and provided us every resource possible. It’s hard to believe sometimes that we’ve come this far in literally two months, but it’s also exciting to be reminded how far we’ll be by June and how much of an impact we will have had on students.

Math in Transit

2009-10-23T23:55:00.005-05:00

I teach high school math in the Chicago "burbs".
It's my 6th year teaching and this year has been so radically different, that I somehow feel the need to document it. I already feel like I'm missed so much because I didn't write down the last two months.
The ideas presented to me, and the practices and curriculum I've implemented are so radically different than anything I've ever done or experienced. Hence, the need for a blog.