One Small Change

One of my favorite things about Twitter Math Camp was when teachers would share something they do in their classrooms that has a made a difference...not a huge overhaul or system or curriculum. Just a small thing. I didn't want to go a school year without it so I asked Twitter and got a great response! I wanted to share so that everyone could follow links and such a bit better.

What is one small to medium change you have made in your teaching that had made a positive difference?

{I need a focus for the year that doesn’t make me want to redo everything I’ve ever done.}

— Elissa Miller 🦄 (@misscalcul8) July 21, 2019

Sandra Goodrich:
Student reflective writings. When I have students take the time to seriously reflect on the assignment and their understanding of the essential question, we both learn. The practice must be established at the beginning of the year, and the initial reflections have to be challenged for depth. Do you know what I mean? They have to do redo's. "Graded" in the way homework is graded - did they do it? ✅ But it does mean reading them and helping them progress in critical thinking.

Jennifer White:
I moved practice to the next day. So every period goes: -warm up -20-25 min practice previous day(s)/week’s stuff -20 min new material -closing The lagged practice feels more productive to me and kids agree. They say it helps with absences too bc they never feel out of the loop. It was such a small change that made such a huge difference!! Class periods are one hour. So it’s about half and half practice and lesson. So for instance, we’d spend 20 minutes (maybe 15 one day if hey don’t need a lot for a skill) doing question stacks or some other self checking practice and I guide/help when needed. We will see the topic again in a practice in a few days. And the. Again on the optional HW. Aside from students liking it and saying it helped (which is the main awesome part), I really enjoyed that it didn’t require me changing much. I still planned the same. Just taught one day and practiced the next (which is another awesome side effect 😂)❤️. I do this in both of my classes (geo w/9-10 & 4th level math w/11-12). Hw is suggested but not graded and lagged from previous week (@hpicciotto has blog posts about this) Ss do the hw even though it’s not graded bc we talk about how learning happens and the need for practice.
(Henri Picciotto resource)
(Alli George and Anna Vance resource)

Laurie Brewer:
I give a one or two question quick exit tickets several days a week. I stand over my trashcan in the afternoon and throw away all who show understanding. I keep those clearly struggling or lost. I pull those kids for small groups the next day.

Megan Heine:
This is somewhat in response to your "what do I do with the exit tickets?" in addition to what the other students are doing... 1. I have a final countdown in which the Ss rate themselves 1 -5 (1 - I don't get it & need re-teaching, 5 - I can teach someone else). The final countdown is a Google Form and when the song plays - they get it from Google Classroom. 2. I skim through the Google Sheet every day before I leave and make sure to note of those at a 1 or a 5...The next day's practice time is always "differentiated" or at least there are different options for students during the practice. So if I need to pull a group for re-teaching, the others are working on other types of practice....If a lot of students are at a 1 - I find a new way to explore or discuss the topic with the "whole" class... if there are some who don't need it - they are free to go straight to the practice....I use the same routine every. single. day. So once we get into the routine of the Do Now and the Final Countdown, there's definitely less time wasted. But I understand that pain very well. Next tweet on practice coming...I use @MrDeltaMath a TON for this. Each assignment has a name to identify the level of practice (BEGINNER, PROGRESSING, MEETING, ADVANCED). Those are the names of our district's level of proficiency. Then I also use the plastic dry erase pockets. I color code the practice in the dry erase pockets. So all the reds are Beginner, etc... I know what Ss are working on based on the color of their dry erase pocket. One more way I use differentiated practice is through Question Stacks and Scavenger Hunts... (one more tweet)Question Stacks are done by level as well... once students feel comfortable, the scavenger hunts are a MIX of all the levels. I usually do 2 scavenger hunts (one is in my room (Beg - Mtg) and the other in the hall way (Prog- Adv). Shoot me questions! (it's def not perfect)Lately, I've found Ss are grateful to be working on stuff at their level & not having to do stuff they're not ready for. No, Ss are not always on their CB's but I have them bookmark my Google Classroom, Delta Math, and the Google Form we use every day for quick access. I'm very deliberate about the language I use in class in regards to "your pace", "your level" and how it does not matter where you are as long as you are growing and learning. (I use a lot of my own stories to demonstrate this).

Druin: positive difference with students... high fives positive difference mathematically... number talks

Kent Haines:
Lagging homework! I like to interleave a couple of different skills starting roughly 3 days after they first saw it. So they could see it a few days in a row, but not immediately once they learned it.The last few nights of homework are effectively a study guide for the test, so it's on there but yeah, they don't get as much practice with that last concept (so I try to make it an extension of a big idea rather than a new big idea).

Ethan Weker:
Class playlists. Each student chooses their theme song. I use a random playlist for the class to choose students to share their work. Generally the song plays until they finish or the song finishes. For some interesting long problems, sometimes a second song comes on and they tag team the solution. It can be pretty dynamic Huge reward for minimum (and fun) setup. Absolutely I play it while they are working. (They often are willing to take more chances, work longer, and share more work.) I use Spotify (but I'm sure any good streaming service would work). It tends to have most things that kids request, plus I can justify having it for myself outside the classroom. I do filter explicit lyrics, and remind students to find school appropriate songs or at least radio edits. So far it hasn't been a problem, as far as I know. (Some songs are in Korean, Chinese, or Spanish, and I just can't be sure, but I trust my kids).

Jeremy Thomas:
I stopped telling students to "show their work" and instead made it "show your thinking" ...small change but huge difference! think “show your work” tells S’s to write only what they have to while they are getting the answer. But “Show your thinking” tells them to write the process their brain went through, even if they didn’t have to write it down.

Rachel Rosales:
I seat students in groups. I have had a lot of success randomly grouping each Monday (or every other Monday).

Bernard Soong:
Getting to know at least 1 thing about each person (student) I work with. Relationships. That is, not where they sit or their academic strength/weakness, but something about them, something they're interested in, etc. In secondary, that's over 200 students. As admin, it is 100's

David Wees:
Increasing wait time after asking a question and wait time after hearing a response is also a relatively small change that can be really productive, assuming you haven't worked on this already. Once a student has responded, everyone needs time to process their response, assuming the questions you ask require some thought (which they should), so increasing wait time after a response comes in is helpful. Also, if students are given a bit more time to answer, they tend to give a bit more information, so wait time after a response can also improve the quality of responses, and consequently, the quality of thinking done by students. Finally, YOU also get more processing time and are more likely to be able to hear what the student said and consider what you want to do next if you have even a bit more time. See @Trianglemancsd's talk on Listening to Students for more on this point.

Alethea Vazquez:
To add to what David said have them write their thoughts first. Gives those reluctant ones time to process and something to refer to when sharing. Ask yourself “why?” Sometimes we do or assign things just because. When I started asking “why” I did certain things it really effected my teaching. If the answer doesn’t support S learning then I tossed it!

Pam J Wilson: Wait time after the response gives everyone time to process. As well as asking other students if they agree or disagree and why to the response. When I was at my peak, questioning. In Philly @davidwees shared 3 types of Qs stop thinking, proximity and start thinking. As Ts, we should not answer the first two types. (https://t.co/jIgJnoMQVH)

annmariastat
Yes, I got that tip from a professor in teacher Ed. I just silently count to 10 in my head before I say anything else.

Amy:
I really try to respond to questions with questions instead of answering them right away. Try to pull the answers out of my students.

Matt Coaty:
Giving out unit study guides at the beginning of a unit instead of right before the test. One of the issues I had last year was that some students wanted to complete the entire study guide once I passed them out. As we explored concepts I'd remind them that it'd be a good idea to work on those skills on the study guide. It was much smoother after the first unit. I don't think they forget the earlier stuff if part of the class time is dedicated to review. Spiral homework also plays a role to help reinforce and remind students. Also, not everyone completes the study guide at the same pace/time so that's factor.

Tom Hall:
Similar idea to @Mcoaty, I passed out study guides earlier. I also took the 2 study guides I normally passed out each unit and split them into 4 worksheets, so reviewing was paced throughout the unit. It might sound overkill, but there's only one complete unit each in the 1st and 3rd quarters for the curriculum in my district. Tests reflect a lot of ideas.

Brooke Tobia:
We start our math class with Board Meetings everyday. It made a huge positive impact on our class culture and collaboration skills and really can be done anywhere at anytime! 3-50 min classes and 1-2 hr block👍🏻 We have worked on the idea of collaboration a lot in our class. I taught and encouraged Ss who understood the concepts to ask thoughtful questions in order to guide others. We also try to just use one marker for each group to encourage the sharing of ideas😜

Deb Vigna:
Using Visual Thinking Strategies

ann.on.a.mouse:
My class routine: Come in. Sit down. Begin. By teaching students that THEY are responsible for starting class, we gain 5 to 7 more minutes of class time.

Shannon Sirois:
Putting a larger amount of my focus on relationships. Not thinking time building relationships in class is time wasted. Realizing that 99.5% of behavior I see isn’t a reflection on me. It shows me what they’re dealing with outside of my classroom. Studying Trauma Informed Ed. Paper Tigers documentary is great! It gives a good starting point. A lot of my learning has been through PLC

Patti Sprague:
Greet kids at the door is my simplest change that elicits a big response. I added "passwords to enter" at my door this year. Positive affirmations kids can choose or make up their own. Usually they pick what they need me to say to them that day. We worked a lot on math mindset and this helped. I also gave kids the option to use their password silently. These are what we started with:

They say them to themselves and I eavesdrop. 🤣 Usually 1 or 2 Ss aren't comfortable saying it out loud so they point or just think it. What and how they choose tells me a lot about how they're feeling each day. Then as everybody comes in I share which one I choose for the day.

Robin Matthews:
1. Play music while they are working. They pick the apple radio station. 2. Visible Random Pairings that change daily. 3. Standing & working vertically with their partner. No hiding. Can see the work of others if needed. I can easily see everyone’s work. They don’t have to agree. I ask, I play 1st one said. I make sure to not always have it be the same person. In general, they love the 00’s playlist. I set up to block explicit songs. I can’t tell you how often my classes are standing, doing math, & singing together.

Diana Kolhoff
Think - Pair - Share So simple. So impactful. Keeps Sally smarty-pants from calling out, gives everybody a chance to process and be accountable for their thinking. Literally any Q you would normally ask. It’s a subtle shift in process away from traditional hand raising or letting Ss call out.. Low level Qs: think, whisper to a partner, everyone say it together. Higher order Qs: think, turn and talk, who wants to share what they discussed.

Emily:
I do a think - ink - share too. Have Ss write the answer before sharing w/a partner or small group. I'll spot check the writing to see thought process

Briana Guzman:
I have my students rate themselves using our grading rubric and why they rated themselves that way on a sticky note. Then on their way out the door they stick it to a poster in “bar charts” so I have a quick snapshot of their perceived understanding. If confidence is low we work on some more problems the next day. I have them make goals for themselves and talk about how we can move the bars so that the level of understanding is higher.

Michael Reitemeyer:
Daily randomized groups. Both for sitting and working. It really helped create a class community rather than pockets of collaborators. And it really helped reduce status issues in the class.

Sara Tenan Gray:
I came in one hour early every Monday. Turned on my happy music and prepped to set the stage for the week. For whatever reason, that one hour made me feel so much more in control and in front of what was to come. It set a tone that I had it all under control.

Heddin Bjornsson:
Giving verbal in class fleedback on written assignments, while the other Ss are working on standard problems. It frees up a lot of time for me to make more interesting lesson plans and new assignments, and my Ss get so much more training and more useful feedback. Project rapports, word problems and theory presentations. What ever I think they will need more than a class room presentation of a solution.


Jeffrey Watson:
Read the Language chapter of “Cultures of Thinking.” It will suggest changes that are easy, and that cost nothing.

Crissy Mombela:
Before the beginning of a unit, I did a brief overview of what they were about to learn, then I had them write permissions slips to themselves about their learning. They wrote things like: I won’t be afraid to ask questions, l will participate in class, etc. They only shared them with me at first. I would read through them to know what they were excited or nervous about. As the year progressed, we had a permission slip wall so they could share w/one another. We did a reflecfion activity. They reviewed what they gave themselves permission to do/experience to see if they followed through. If they did, they wrote about what they did/felt to get there, if they didn’t, why & could they be open to it next time. They really got out of their comfort zones & so did I! I gave myself permission to try different activities during each unit. I shared my permission slips w/ the Ss. They would check in with me as well.

John Stevens:
My small change that helped me a lot was exit tickets, which I saw others mention. Mid-way through the period, students circled how comfortable they were with content, then did the same at the end. Middle space was for one problem to gauge level of understanding. I was able to get through all 175ish of them in about 5 minutes, then adjust for the next day's lesson. If a bunch of kids filled in the top/middle circle, it meant that they didn't feel comfortable with content, so I slowed down the next day. If a lot were getting the problem wrong, I adjusted based on where I thought the issue was. It was *just* enough info w/o overwhelming me. If there were some good mistakes to share, I would also use them as part of the warm-up for some lessons (with permission from the students). Worst case scenario is that it's 1/6 sheet of paper for each kid, so only 30 sheets total if the exit ticket was a bust :)

Laura Cahill:
The 2 x 10 strategy that is detailed here worked nothing less than miracles during my last two years of teaching. I can't say how much it changed our classroom for the better.

Randy Swift:
Implementing and practicing protocols of student to student discourse during math lessons. Here’s a good resource to start. My colleague and I presented on this topic at AMTNYS last fall. This fall, some new topics in Rochester #strengthinnumbers

Lorin Davies:
You mentioned exit tickets. I do those as well and ask S’s to sort them in an anchor chart with 4 slots based on their confidence/ understanding on their way out. I find how they evaluate their own learning just as enlightening as their actual answers.

Carmen Bennett:
Not teaching “bell to bell” 🙄 Highly overrated. Two minutes at the end of class or beginning is a game changer. Amazing how you can grow a relationship in that time.

Amy Kolb:
Anchor charts

Leslie Butler:
Increase choice and always start with “thank you for letting me know” when a parent has a complaint

Nathaniel Highstein:
 I also try to end with "...thank you for your partnership."

Meredith Webster:
Weekly quizzes with a retake from the previous week on the back. My students felt like their grade wasn't permanent and that they could always improve. Not many of my students in that class were A students, most struggled with feeling success in Math and I wanted a way for them to see growth.

Gabe Kramer:
Giving students a few minutes to talk through exams before attempting them.

Allegra Reiber:
Before tests, I tell my students that what happens on the test does not define them, that their value has been demonstrated every day to me & that I already know how much math they own & can muster. The test just shows what happened on one day & is not a measure of who they are.

Leeanne Branham:
Check out this idea from @pejorgens

MrS_devon:
Throw in a random question in the middle of the lesson, one that has nothing to do with the topic we are on.

duane habecker:
A couple of simple(ish) ideas: 1. Number Talks 2. Five Practices/Bansho

Shahzad Hanif:
By making sure the all below average Ss occupy the front rows during my lessons so I give them more attention.

Amy Ellen Zimmer:
Stand and talks! @saravdwerf

Lorin Davies:
Used to intro skills whole group and then practice/ dive deeper in small group. Switched to teaching new skills in small group. I can monitor notes, they feel more comfortable asking questions, I can catch misconceptions more easily, etc. (5th grade math)

John Delle:
Ask students for feedback. Implement their ideas, try to give them what they want

Patricia Baltzley:
Number Talks!

Kate Ariemma Marin:
Moving seats around more regularly. Giving kids choice in seating with some parameters (e.g., sit anywhere you like with at least 2 people you haven’t sat with before). It totally changed the community in the class (in a positive way)

Doug Lane:
Others are saying this, but greeting every student at the door by name pays amazing dividends. I saw a noticeable improvement in engagement and it opened the door to relationship building with even the most hard to reach! ❤️

Maureen OConnell:
Start your lesson with a thinking routine like #wodb or #howmany. Or begin with a problem to solve rather than a lesson?

Math in the Middle Grades:
Mastery-based grading

Jamie Hall:
Reminding myself every morning to keep my focus on my STUDENTS! It’s so easy to get caught up in the “stuff” of teaching, that this simple reminder makes ALL the difference in the world. 😊

Randy Swift:
Formulating good questions. Let students fill the silence. They will. Truly embracing wait time. Time yourself one day. 5-10 seconds feels like an eternity.
crystal frommert: I try to put relationships first. The rest will fall into place.

Ralph Pantozzi:
See. And this.

Lisa Mellecker:
Also banning “it”! I don’t remember if this came from @TracyZager or @joboaler but having students use the actual vocabulary made ideas more detailed and revealed more misconceptions

There's wealth of knowledge here and I hope there is something for everyone! Each name is linked to their twitter account so please tweet them with any questions you have.

Click here to see all the tweets in one place.

#MTBoS30: Study Guide Day

If you're like me, you love anything that is not direct instruction. I have been trying to get away from it as much as possible. I just hate talking so much and knowing I am losing them and boring them and doing the learning for them.

But I do love me some study guide day.

It's the one day I totally give up my control and talking. I hand out the study guide and then I work on something else (I think it's important to stay standing because sitting at my desk gives off the sense that I'm not engaged) or clean something or whatever. I'm present but I don't hover.

This is where I see what students really don't understand. This is where I see students get up and go across the room to help others. This is where I see students move to work with people and actually work. This is where I here a lot of discussion and questioning among students where I am not involved.

This is where it gets serious. I feel like students are more engaged because obviously there is a test the next day and they need to know what they don't know.

When I walk around and hover, I think it makes some students more clingy and want my help for every little thing. When it appears I am busy, students work together better and more and then they only come to me when they are needing some serious help.

I post answer keys on a back cabinet for students to check their work and I monitor to make sure no one is just copying them.

I don't know if students notice any of these subtleties but it makes me proud to hear them work, talk, mess up, fix mistakes, use their INBs, and just do math.

Without me.

Teaching Tips

I know my title isn't very descriptive but they are are so random that 'tips' is the best I can think of. These are basically things I've just discovered this school year; I'm just excited that I have new tips that I haven't already blogged about.

For the last several years, whenever I make a handout, I also make a matching powerpoint so that students see the same thing on the board as on their paper. And every now and then making these show up and disappear and slide around when necessary. This year I've had trouble with my SMART board letting me write on powerpoints. My tech person found that you can click print on the powerpoint file and select the SMART Notebook Writer (which apparently automatically installs when you install the SMART software) it will copy all of your slides to a notebook file (one slide per page) automatically. I've been using that for the first month or so until I realized, why create a powerpoint at all? I can just print the handout directly to a notebook file and cut out creating a powerpoint file that I can't even use? Duh Ms. Miller.

As much as I love being organized, I've need been able to keep up with a planner. I have a really good memory and it'll be real bad when it starts to fail me. But of course as a teacher, I always have a million things to keep track of. I'm a big fan of post-it notes but they flutter away pretttty easily. My solution thus far (although I am VERY intrigued by bullet journaling) has been email. I start a new email to myself at the beginning of the day basically making notes of things I need to do and also a note of what I plan to do and need to make for each class period. My plan is seventh hour so I accomplish some of the to-do things and sum up what must be done for the next day. Then I just e-mail it to myself so it's on my phone and laptop when I get home. Then I can use the e-mail to start the next day or else I write myself a new one so I know what I need to print and copy.

Another thing that I can't believe I just thought of is my Excel file of curriculum notes. I created a tab for each course (color coded obvi) I have and then headings for each unit. Then as I notice or think of things while teaching, I add them to my notes. These are things I want to change or redo or add to- not really things like grammar or spelling because I try to fix those asap. Since this is the first time I've done this (duh) my plan is to use that this summer to actually be productive in a specific way. And maybe for the first time, not reinvent the wheel. And if I can't get right to the Excel file, I just type it in my email so I remember to do it later.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that I LOVE SORTING. What I've finally realized this year is that when you notice students struggling with something, especially something that seems simple to you, a need has just been created for a sort. One example for me has to do with functions. Students could not seem to tell the difference between f(10) and f(x) = 10, knowing when to plug in and knowing when to solve. Just like that, I knew that next year I needed a sort to keep this confusion from happening. And I just add that to my cute little Excel file.

Consider yourself tipped off.

Even More Classroom Routines

Somehow this idea turned into three posts...

Make Up Quiz/Test: If students are absent on the day of a quiz/test, I write their name on the board under the heading Quiz/Test. Then I check the attendance to see if their absence if excused or unexcused. If unexcused, I erase their name and give them a 0 (school policy). If excused, I take their quiz/test and write their name on it and hang it on a clipboard. I remind them the next day to come in and make it up. If they don't come in that day, I put a 0 in the grade book. If they never come in, then the 0 stays and I don't have to worry about a missing grade. Some students see it and then it reminds them that they have something to make up.

Hot Dog Style: I only grade quizzes and tests and I have a green basket that all papers are turned in to. The papers are folded vertically with the white side showing and their name written on the outside. Then I can grade it and write their score on the inside. A student can pass out papers to the class while respecting everyone's privacy.

Seating Arrangements: This year I'm attempting survivor games, which is a year long competition among groups of students. I picked the groups at the beginning of the year and they have stayed together all year. Not my best idea I suppose. Each quarter I rotate the students to a new group of desks. Within those four desks, they get to choose where they sit.

Questioning: I feel like this is one of my best teaching strategies. My most used are: "How do you know?" "Because why?" "Are you sure?" "Can you explain?" "Can you be more specific? "Can you give me an example?" "What would happen if..." "What is the easiest part of...?" "What is the hardest part of...?" "What do you think?"

Some questions that I need to use more often: "Can you explain that in another way?" "Can you draw a diagram that explains this idea?" "What is a common error a student might make on this concept?"

What are some of your favorite classroom routines?

More Classroom Routines

I thought of some more routines and decided to write a new post instead of adding to the last one.

End of Day Routine: It probably seems strange to start with the end of day but I am not a morning person so I don't do as much in the morning. At the end of each day, I clean off my desk so it's clutter free and organized. Random papers on hung on these clipboards so that they all are in a safe place that is NOT my desk.

I copy bell ringers and have them in their page protector and laid out on each desk for the next morning. I set up my powerpoint or notebook file on the computer/SMART board and turn the monitor only off so that it's ready for the next day. I change the date, turn off my digital clock, and erase all boards. I make any copies I need and they go into the correct bin for each class period.

 If there are any activities I need, I have them set out and organized to start right away. Before I leave, I check my school mail box and put away accordingly.

Beginning of Day Routine: I get to school right on time so that means I walk in, turn on the monitor, turn on the Smart board, get my copies for each day, and start my laptop up to take attendance and check my e-mail. I turn the clock on and I'm ready to go, standing at the door to greet my students.

Plan Period: My plan period is second period which means I struggle through first hour and then use second hour to get prepared for the rest of the day/week. But since I make copies after school, I can better use my time to plan. First of all, I take this time to use the bathroom and check my school mailbox as well as email. On Monday plan, I print out the bell ringers I need for the week and have them ready to go. I email my lesson plans to my principal and use that as a guide to see what I need to copy, create, or put together. It's very common for me to internal sub for an absent teacher. That means I bring their students to my room and give them their assignment and I sit and work at my desk. Sucks when I need to leave my room, nice when I get my paycheck. :) I've already wrote about how I plan a lesson, but basically, I look and see what I have, what the book has, and what I've saved online, and do a mash-up of whatever seems easy to understand. Always work out an answer key before copying ANYTHING. I don't know how many times I've had to learn this lesson. Almost every time, I find something I need to fix or want to change. It's always better to be prepared.

Saving My Work: I carry a Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive back and forth  to school where I have everything I've ever done in my five years of teaching. I've tried box.com and Sugar Sync and other programs but if the Internet or server goes down at school, I can't access any of those. So this works best for me. I save things by school year, 2013-2014, then create a folder for each prep that I have. Within those, I create a folder for each unit. Everything I use in a unit is labeled with the prep, the unit, the day within the unit, and the concept.

For example, A2 3 D0 Glossary means Algebra II, Unit 3, Day 0, Glossary. Next comes A2 3 D1 Polynomial Graph Investigation- Algebra II Unit 3, Day 1, concept.

This way I know the difference between what I actually used and stuff I just saved.

I like to know exactly where things are.

Desks: Last year my biggest class was 28 and this year my biggest was 14. The first thing I did over the summer was remove a bunch of desks! I kept 16 and grouped them into fours in a way that no one's back is to the SMART board. This is the best picture I have but I no longer use the bags zip tied to the desk. This is easy to walk around and between, to monitor students, to pass out papers, and to give students nearby resources.

Kleenex: As a high school student, all my teachers only had toilet paper and I was so embarrassed at how red and raw my nose would get. I swore I would always have Kleenex in my classroom. I keep one on my desks that mostly for me and one for students to use. I probably don't even go through 10-12 boxes a year so it's not a big deal for me to buy them myself. I also only use an electric pencil sharpener.

Birthday Candy: At the beginning of the year I give students a calendar that they pass around and write their name, birthday, and favorite candy. I give it to them on their birthday and summer birthday's get theirs on the last day of school. This is something I have always done and will continue to do. I really feel that some students get no presents or specialness on their birthday so I do what I can to show them they are noticed and their birthday matters to me. It costs me $50-60 a year since I only have 50ish students so it's not bad.

Survivor Games: If you noticed in my last post, I mentioned this game a lot. This is the tracking sheet I use. The students picked their own team names and at the top are the categories I'm recoding. I shaded the rows so I can easily see the changes between class periods. I just mark check marks if they did it and x's if they didn't. MMM is Mental Math Monday and I write down their table total. For bell ringers, I record how many they get right through the week. At the end of the week, I put a smiley face next to the group that won that category and over to the left, I write down the number of game pieces they receive. I write the week's date in the top left white corner.



And that's all I have to say about that!

Classroom Routines

Being the slightly OCD, analytical teacher person that I am, I LOVE a good routine. Here's some I've developed so far.

Bell Ringers: 2-5 middle school problems printed on paper inside a page protector. One per group of students. Students used dry erase markers to work problems. I give 2-4 minutes with my timer and collect. I set all four on the board and we compare answers. Students explain what they did. I record how many each group gets correct and the team with the most at the end of the week wins a survivor game piece. I do bell ringers Tuesday-Thursday.

Mental Math Monday: 10 middle school problems that I read out loud to students one a time. They use their dry erase markers to work on the desk and write their answers on a laminated card. At the end we trade and grade. Each group gives me their table totals and I record them. The team with the highest total wins a survivor game piece. If the class has an all time best, we celebrate with a funny youtube video.

Bell to Bell Teaching: I teach all hour, every day. I do not give free time or free days. Students start with a bell ringer and then move on to whatever I have planned. If we finish early and I have nothing else prepared, we get out dry erase markers and either work on the desks or at the board. I make up problems based on whatever we're currently doing or something I think they need to remember. This year I've been better about having the next activity ready in case I need it but I always have the whiteboard as back up. I have found that my discipline problems dropped dramatically and the class environment became a lot more focused on math.

Two Nice Things: Once a student says an insult or rude comment, they have to say two nice things. It doesn't matter if it's about themselves, their mom, a celebrity, a person not in the room, etc. Now the two things are usually made up or insincere, but it's the consistency of making them do it that gets them. It's hard for them to publicly say nice things (sadly) so it slows down some of the verbal diarrhea.

Binders: I gave all of my students three ring binders, sticky labels to put their name on the spine, colored card stock and sticky tabs to create dividers, an empty page protector to hold things, and a concept list of everything I plan to teach during the year.  Tabs are labeled notes, quizzes, and tests. Binders stay in my room at all times except the night before a test. I have a bookshelf with one shelf per period for students to store their binders. Except they normally look like this. How hard is it to stand your binder up?

Miniature Trash Cans: I use these anytime students are cutting. It collects scraps, prevents 80 million people getting up 80 million times, and keeps the floors much cleaner. I leave them there all day if everyone is cutting or if it's just for one hour, I return them to the cart and dump them at the end of the day. Sometimes students will dump them on their own. I got these at the Dollar Tree and they are even our school colors. Love.

Command Center: This hanging file has clothes pin with stickers on them labeling each class period. When a student is absent, I write their name on the paper we did in class and stick it here. The next day, they are responsible for getting it and copying the notes. The hanging file also has a pocket for my dry erase markers which is conveniently right next to my white board.The date is my magnetic numbers that I change at the end of each day. The blue magnetic container below contains the extra numbers. The blue digital clock also acts as timer, random student selector, and thermometer. I use it frequently so that when I say, "I'll give you four more minutes" that I don't waste extra time. The cart below is my supply cart on wheels and each drawer is labeled with a laminated card. Scissors, glue sticks, markers, erasers, paper, protractors, measuring tapes, highlighters, and mini staplers.

Mini Whiteboard: This miniature whiteboard is attached on the outside of my classroom door with sticky strips. I use it to remind students of quizzes and tests, if I take my class to the computer lab etc, and I write bus times for sports on there as well.

Table Tubs: Each table has a tub with fourish calculators, four mini dry erasers, and the mental math Monday cards. At the end of each hour, I record which groups left theirs clean and they earn a survivor game piece. Again, got these from the Dollar Tree.

Unit Tubs: I have a tub for each unit for all three of my preps. I keep all my originals for the unit, any unit manipulatives or activities, and the pacing guide for that unit.

Dry Erase Marker Storage: One member of each group in every period is in charge of holding the markers and the survivor game pieces. I give them a zip up pencil pouch with three rings that stays in their binders. This has severely cut down how quickly I go through markers because they aren't so quick to waste their own. Before, I kept them in tub and every class used the same markers. Wasteful. When their marker runs out, they have to turn in a survivor game piece to get a new one.

Weekend Stories: EVERY Monday I ask students about their weekends. I find it's a pretty good way to get them talking and start the week off on a positive note.

Homework: I don't. The end.

Cheat Sheets vs. Formula Sheet vs. Nothing

What are your opinions on letting students use cheat sheets (of any form) or a formula sheet on a test?

I can see two sides. One, if a student uses a formula sheet (especially one used on an state exam or whatever) then it helps them get used to using it and it only gives them a formula. Using a cheat sheet can give students an example to look at it, which means they are possibly just changing numbers and plugging in without any true understanding of the concept. But then again, you could ask harder questions, such as application so that the formula is only a small part of what you want students to do.

The other side, giving students nothing, means you are assessing both memorization and application of the formula or skill.

Which do you prefer? Does it help or hurt students to use a cheat sheet or formula sheet?

Again, I can see two sides. One, if you're thinking about college, it probably hurts them because not many professors allow that but then again, some do. Two, if you're thinking about real life, if I'm being assessed on the job, I'm going to look up whatever information I need. It seems that in real life, performance matters more than memorization. That's why we have Google, right?

In addition, I seem to remember a lot of standardized tests that give the formula in the problem...again supporting the idea that application and performance are most important.

I guess it's just hard when you think about giving a test that requires several different formulas. If a student can't remember the formula, they have no chance at applying it. If they at least have a formula, they can attempt to apply it.

If using a cheat sheet, is there any merit to the idea that writing out worked examples helps with retention?

Spring Fever: When Doing Problems Gets Boring

Earlier last week, I started to feel incredibly bored with my teaching. Especially in Algebra I. We are working on systems of equations by elimination so one day we did problems where you just add or subtract. Next where you have to multiply one equation. Then where you have to multiply both equations. Even though I disguise it by playing games or whatever, basically day after day is just doing problems all hour long.

On one hand, this could be considered a good thing because at least it means I'm not lecturing the entire hour. It could also mean that I am the only one actually bored because I'm just walking around and checking their work.

I'm also at that point in my curriculum where I feel like I have pretty solid lessons that I can reuse. So maybe I'm bored because I'm not creating anything. Which means...maybe my students are bored because they aren't creating anything.

Of course I realized this at the last second so I thought of a simple idea that's just a little bit different than working problems. I cut a worksheet into strips and asked each student to work the problem incorrectly. I asked them to be sneaky and not do something obvious. Then I would tape the strips down, make a copy, and give that as a quiz. Each student has to write a sentence explaining why the problem is wrong.

As I started class, the students asked me if they could finish the game from the day before. We were playing ZAP! with all kinds of elimination problems. They all really wanted to finish? I figured they were bored with that and so I came up with the error analysis idea. I'm sure they were more interested in playing the game than doing the problems but if my whole point in playing games is motivation for doing math then...I guess...it kind of...worked.

Weird.

I guess my whole point is that I can't go by my feelings but by the student reactions (and data of course) to decide if something is successful or not.

My other point is that I need to provide more opportunities for the students to create and be creative.

Let's make a list!

Error Analysis/Mistake Game - Have students or groups work a problem incorrectly or look at an incorrect problem and find/fix the error.

Story Time- Give students a math problem and ask them to create a word problem/scenario that goes with it. Could even include pictures, skit, etc.

Sorting- Give students problems of different types on index cards or small strips of paper. Have the students sort them into piles based on what they think to create problem 'families'. Have them draw/decorate/label a 'house' for that problem family to live in that explains what they have in common.

Relay- Sit students in rows with different color markers/pencils/crayons. The first person works the first step of the problem and passes it back. The next student works the next line, etc. First row with the correct work and solution wins. (Rotate who starts the problem each time so that they aren't constantly do the same step in every problem.)

Strip Search- Work the problem out on construction paper or card stock and cut into strips. Put in a ziplock baggie. Have students put the strips in the correct order and take a picture. Mess the strips up and rotate desks so that they have a new problem and take a new picture. Make a collage of the pictures and turn in for an 'alternative' assessment or make a poster.

Fill in the Blank- Work problems out and then white out or delete parts of it so that students have to fill in the blank without doing the entire problem.

Line Up- Give each student a card/strip with part of a worked out problem on it. Students have to line themselves up in the correct order of how to solve the problem but without talking.


I just made a bunch of those up but now I'm out of ideas...

Hope that helps cool someone's spring fever too. =)

Made 4 Math #22 Unit Plans

I posted about some of my summer plans which include creating unit plans and writing essential questions. I looked at some backward design ideas and various unit plans and I created a template of my own based on what I've read and what I think might actually be useful.




Not sure how well this would work but it seems like a principal would really like it. If I describe the lessons within a unit then it wouldn't matter if my timing was off as much. Theoretically, I think that means I could create this ahead of time (or actually after the fact since I could write them after I teach this year) and turn it in as my lesson plans? I'm not sure yet.

Ideas?

Warm Ups and Exit Slips Revisited

Almost 4 months ago I wrote about my plans for warm ups and exit slips. I received a nice comment tonight asking me to revisit the topic. Of course that means I first have to re-read my post to see what the heck I was talking about.

Ok I'm back. I have alluded to different ideas in posts throughout the summer of more solid plans but this seems like a good time to explain.

Basically I used the feedback from that post and formed a new idea.

Jason comments:
I'd suggest that the warm up should be something that all kids can do with minimal guidance from the you. There should be (virtually) no (mathematical) barrier to entry. The last thing you want to have to do is to reteach/tutor while you are trying to take role, get kids settled in, etc. Think of it as time to build procedural fluency and automaticity.

Excellent thinking.

DKlemme comments:
At the Minnesota Math Conf. I saw some warm ups that interested me. 2 week cycles of questions, 3 review type questions of past material or skills needed for next concept. Use of vocab in directions, as the cycle gets into week two you take out the key vocab and Ss fill it in.

Also excellent thinking.

I combined those two ideas together and made a PowerPoint of pre-algebra skills, mostly three questions a piece, for three days a week of the entire school year (the fourth day is a practice quiz and the fifth day is a school thing). In the first half the questions go through a 2 week cycle where the first week contains hints and the second week does not. I use this PowerPoint for all my classes Alg I - Alg II because they all need refreshers and hopefully can at least start on the problems without me.

Creating that PowerPoint was a godsend although it took me hours and hours and I temporarily hated my life while doing it. But I always have a way to start class smoothly and it gives me a couple of minutes to get my stuff together. Oh, and I've been using blank quarter sheets of copy paper by the door that kids just grab on their way in. I told them at the beginning that I may or may not collect them and some students choose to keep them even when I tell them to throw them away. Truthfully, I've only collected them once. I've had a few issues with students not wanting to do them, especially since I don't grade them, but it's pretty hard for them to refuse when I stand beside their desk and ask them if they will do these problems for me. Overall I've had a very positive reaction.

As for exit slips....they died on the table. In a later post I briefly mentioned exit slips in my new beginnings and then proceeded to talk way more about summarizing. I've been using that more as a way of summarizing the lesson and getting feedback rather than an exit slip. I built this right in to the guided notes- after almost every example I force students to stop and write in words what we just did. I think it's been a really good idea and I hope that it has started to build the habit of frequently stopping and thinking about what we're doing as well as putting it into words. I don't really have any hard facts to support my thinking but I know that in review games and on assessments I have been asking students to explain, tell the difference, write examples, write analogies, etc and they haven't balked yet. I would say that's an improvement.

I had mentioned unit summaries which morphed into my PEEL graphic organizer but that just took way too much time and has since fell by the wayside.

The quarter ends this week so I'm thinking of trying something new. Since we made a summaries tab in our math binders, I've got to use that for something. I'd like to try Nora Oswald's Learning Log Prompts Poster. I could modify my original unit summary sheet to work for this where students write the date, the concept taught, and then answer one of the prompts. Actually, the more I think about that, the more I really like the idea.

That will be another good habit to get into and something I could use after the bell ringer to promote some discussion: turn to your partner and share what you wrote at the end of class yesterday. I don't know, that will probably take up too much time but you never know when you will need a time filler.

All in all, I'm satisfied with my bell ringer and I'm happy with how often we are summarizing- I guess if I can get this exit slip idea nailed down then I'll be all good.

Thanks mrsaitoromath for motivating me to write this blog post- you've reminded me of something I could be doing better.

Patterns and Predictions

My last lesson before really delving into the curriculum was about patterns and predictions. I tweeted about this a few times looking for ideas. I really just wanted something that the students could explore and make some meaning of while building the habit of always looking for patterns, relationships, and connections.

I started the first class by giving them my handout with an unfinished Pascal's triangle and asking them to write down as many patterns as they could find.

This went over like a lead balloon. First, they just couldn't resist filling in the boxes, ignoring my directions completely. Then when they finally did get around to writing any patterns, they didn't know how to put them into words. This was what I wanted the whole point of this lesson to be but I didn't set them up for success at all. I realized later that I could have patterns written out in various colors and then they would have to find the pattern in the triangle and color in that same color. I should have done some kind of modeling rather than just throwing it out there. But in the middle of the lesson, you just have to push forward.

The next hour I set it up differently. I didn't give them the handout. I showed them the picture on the SMART board and asked them to tell me anything they noticed/wondered (Thanks Max!). Hands were going up like crazy. I called on everyone and just said thank you after whatever their response was. Then I passed out the handout and asked them to write down three of the patterns we just said out all. This went over much better. Then I gave them free reign to start filling in the rest of the pattern. You have never seen students so engaged! I truly believe it is basic human nature to want to solve puzzles. Then we started to color odd numbers one color and even numbers another color, in order to bring out Sierpinski's triangle. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

The second part of the lesson was thanks to @aanthonya. Apparently, bees reproduce according to the Fibonacci sequence! Math is everywhere. Check out the notebook presentation and pdf handout.

I will end the lesson by reinforcing the previous concepts we learned- summarizing. I'm asking students to write a metaphor- how is finding patterns like going on a treasure hunt? Finally, I asked students to name the three patterns discussed in this lesson- Pascal's Triangle, Sierpinski's Triangle, and the Fibonacci Sequence.

We'll finish up the lesson on Monday- excited to hear their answers!

P.S. One student noticed a pattern I hadn't seen before. The sum of each row equals 2^n-1.  Hooray!

Comparing and Contrasting

In my writing across the curriculum class last spring, we read through Dean's Classroom Instruction That Works, 2nd Edition. Chapter 8 talks about the importance of identifying similarities and differences through comparing/contrasting, classifying, analogies, and metaphors. I do classifying through my sorting activities throughout the year so I skipped that one for today.

I started class by asking students to get in groups of 3 and then choose 3 objects. I meant to take a picture of my objects but I forgot. I used all my 3d solids, a sock, a penny, dice, eraser, screw, chalk, ruler, bean bag, etc. Just random things I found around the classroom.


Then I projected a 3-way Venn diagram and asked students to name 3 random celebrities. We went through the process of comparing each pair and then all three. I used that as a model before then asking them to do the same things with their random objects and no switching!

Also, don't forget to have students write one unique trait of each object as well.

Next I asked each group to trade with another group and check their responses for accuracy. Anyone could disagree but each group had to defend their answers.

From there, students went on to complete the analogies and metaphors section of the worksheet.

First they had to fill in the analogies based on the relationship and we discussed the relationships as well. Then they had to finish the analogy on their own that had the same relationship. Most missed was prince is to princess as hero is to heroine.

After that, students answered common metaphors and wrote the meaning behind them. This was interesting to hear everyone's different versions. Most missed was a rose between two thorns. Not the meaning, just literally students hadn't heard that metaphor although I tried to pick the most common ones I could find.

Finally, the worksheets end by asking students to develop a relationship between two seemingly unrelated objects. Definitely take the time to hear a variety of responses- it's so interesting to see how different people think. I read the first one, comparing a garden to a rainbow in the book, but the rest I made up on my own. It wasn't as easy as I thought!

I brought them back again to the question, what does this have to do with math? A few people remember my spiel from yesterday on dendrites but for the most part they seemed clueless again. I emphasized that we are always looking for way to build connections and find relationships in order to think more deeply about mathematical concepts. Again, this is a precursory introduction to a skill that will be used throughout the year. (I even made a washed out watermark of a dendrite on the worksheet!)

The activity ended with a few minutes left over so I challenged students to think of two objects that they thought had absolutely nothing in common. They tried but someone always had a quick response. Finally someone said that you could find a relationship between any two things- I definitely pounced on that remark! I said they now have no excuses during the year when we are trying to compare mathematical concepts. Classwide groan ensues.

By the end of the day, the winning two objects were whip cream and a school bus. It remains to be seen if anyone can figure out a relationship...

How to Summarize

As I've posted before, I really want to work on summarizing concepts and actually closing each lesson. I decided to start school by teaching some skills in isolation and today I taught how to summarize. I taught this lesson in every subject and I thought it went really well. My timing was amazing, down to the last minute of class. The principal even walked in my Geometry class of 28 and told me later that he didn't know what I was doing but every eye was on me. I've had a really positive day today so of course I couldn't wait to share it with you!

Here is the handout. I'll just make a list of how everything went down.

I started by asking students to do #1 and #2 and then stop.

#1 asks students to look at  a car accident and write down what they would say when they called 911.

#2 asked students to write the storyline of a Disney movie.

I asked volunteers to read their 911 calls out loud and we talked about what was important to share: the location, how bad the accident is, how many people are involved and what was not important to share: color of the car, etc. I asked volunteers to read their Disney story and then asked why #2 was longer than #1. Here is where we really started to separate explaining and summarizing.

#3 asks students to summarize their Disney story in 25 words or less. We made that a competition to see who could do it in the least amount of words. Then we discussed how a summary is the "911" version of the storyline.

Right about this time I asked the class if the thought had crossed anyone's mind "What does this have to do with math?" and it was almost an audible sigh of relief for everyone to realize they were thinking the same thing. So I threw out my 'cup of water' analogy about summarizing being a skill that helps seal knowledge into your brain. I also talked about how difficult it is to ask someone for directions who doesn't really know how to get there and the idea that if you can't explain something then you don't have a really good grasp on the concept itself.  And we continue on.

#4 asks students to compare explaining and summarizing using a Venn diagram (which will flow nicely into tomorrow's compare and contrast lesson) that fortunately, most students were familiar with.

 #5 asks students to list the steps of how to explain and how to summarize with the main difference being that an explanation describes step-by-step and a summary describes the main idea.

 #6 asks students to apply these skills to math. We explain step-by-step how to solve the problem and then write a summary of how to solve any problem like it. What we are really doing is generalizing, which is a difficult skill for students, but I felt like by separating these two skills that students really got a clear picture of how and why to do both skills.

#7 introduces a new (to me) method for summarizing, PEEL, which applies really well to math. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to @malynmawby for sharing this with me- just since reading this last night it's started to shape the way I want to teach this year.

#8 asks the students to apply this method to a problem on the board (I didn't want to put a problem on the back of the sheet so I just wrote it on the board). I used an area of a rectangle problem where the width is missing because I needed something basic that could apply to all classes. We went through each step of PEEL in the table. When we got to L for link, I explained how the brain creates new dendrites off of old ones so we are always looking for a connection to something we already know.

And that was the end. I'm sure it got boring toward the end but the first three problems really hooked them and got class off to a good start. There are skills I want students to do and do well throughout the year so I think it will greatly pay off to invest this time now in relating it to what they do in English and showing how it applies in math. Of course I will continue to model these strategies as we start digging into the math but I'm feeling really confident that the strategies I'm focusing on will pay big dividends in student learning.

Here is the accompanying PowerPoint presentation. (Does anyone else have to spell check PowerPoint so the stupid red squiggly goes away? Ugh.)

Bottom line is that I felt like I did a really solid job of teaching a useful skill, explaining the purpose behind it, and applying it. That's what every day should feel like.

Explaining Purpose

I've tried tons of new things over these first three years of teaching but I wonder how many times I've actually explained why I do them.

I'm going to try really hard to give explanations for things this year. I want students to see how much work and effort goes intro creating opportunities to learn. I want them to know that I am knowledgeable about learning and that they can be too.

For example, I wrote earlier about closing my lessons with exit slips or a summarizing question. Here is the analogy I came up with to explain the purpose: Imagine an empty cup sitting at your desk. I spend the entire class period filling it with water. I keep talking until the bell rings and you rush out of here to your next class, spilling water along the way. What a waste of my time spent carefully filling it up. Now imagine that I stop at the end of class to put a lid on the cup. When the bell rings, all of the water is sealed inside. No leaking! Summarizing your learning helps you to really seal the new information in your brain. (This will be handy to use during the lesson I plan to teach on analogies as well. Double threat.)

My IC told me an interesting fact about the way the brain works- new dendrites are built by making connections with dendrites that already exist. That is why it is so important to build on prior knowledge and stay within the zone of proximal development.

I always analyze things to get down to the why- it helps me process and remember things so much better. Even more than letting my students know that I know and do things on purpose, I might reach the students who are like me and really just need to know why.

As I start this week with teaching procedures and building routines, I plan to focus really hard on purposeful explanations.

2012-2013 New Beginnings

I met with my instructional coach yesterday and we came up with a lot of good ideas that I'm ready to try and hoping will work.

Bell Ringers: I will no longer cut and print these. I will have half sheets of blank paper on the shelf (along with golf pencils) for students to grab as they come in. Bell ringer problems will be projected on the screen. They will be a review of the previous grade, concepts students should know and be able to do without my assistance. I plan on trying to do 3 questions per day and a different concept on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The first week the problems will have hints and formulas. The second week I  will take those away and the students will do the same type of problems. So the students will see 3 new concepts every two weeks. Hopefully, this will build in some retention of the earlier concepts as well as start every class off with each student experiencing some kind of success. I also plan to try Amy Gruen's green pen idea (except with purple probably) where I star a students bell ringer (when it is correct) and then give them a purple pen to coach/star someone else and so on.

Homework: I am giving up on grading homework. Even though I've only graded it for completion so far anyway, it still is just...bleh. I am going to quit calling it homework and call it a practice sheet. Every day I will post the answers to the practice sheet and answer questions. Next, I am going to give a practice quiz every Thursday by picking a few of the most important homework problems from the week. These will be the exact same questions from the homework, same numbers and everything. Students who did the homework and asked questions will do well and students who didn't really need to do the homework can still do well. The people who won't do well are those who needed to do the homework but didn't. Hopefully that will teach them that practice does have a purpose. Should I let them use their homework or will that just encourage asking me how to do every single problem in class and writing it down to use for the quiz?

Exit Slips: Students will use the back side of their half sheet from the bell-ringer to answer a question projected on the SMART board. When they leave, they will stick their paper in a green, yellow, or red folder attached to the door, based on how well they understood the day's lesson. I can judge based on how they feel as well as the worked out problems what to do next.

Summarizing: Earlier I posted my math portfolio idea. Now I've decided that it's entirely too much. I want to have students write skill descriptions but I just don't know how practical it is. One piece I do plan to use is my unit summary sheet. At the end of each section we will do summary bingo. I [left this blog post and took about three hours to say that I] created a summary bingo powerpoint with 25 different summarizing questions. I actually have a bingo game where you spin the wheel and a chip pops out. I will take all the bingo chips out that aren't an option so that every day we can spin the wheel, a chip pops out, and we choose that summary question for the day. Students write their answer to the question and keep the sheet in their binder. Then do exit slip, drop in folder on the way out, the end. I am concerned on how long it will take to do a summary question and exit slip. I probably won't do both every day so I guess we will just see how it goes.

Unit Review: I'm not sure how this will work since I am attempting sbg this year [again!] and not having unit tests. I guess if I quiz more than one concept at a time, maybe? Not sure. We are going to go back through our notes and highlight the main ideas of each section. This, combined with the unit summary sheet, is going to be a good way to summarize and review the unit while hopefully teaching a study skill. I'm also going to try to build in a summary space throughout our notes instead of leaving it all to the end. Summarize, summarize, summarize!

Classroom Management: Thanks to @approx_normal my official classroom management mentor, and my instructional coach, I hope I have a better handle on how to deal with issues in the classroom. At some point in the beginning of school, I'm going to discuss two things with my classes: an atmosphere of respect and an environment for learning. We are going to split the board in half and brainstorm what both of these things should look like and sound like. From there, the first time something happens that [minorly] disrupts either of those, I'm going to quietly ask the student to see me after class. I'm going to remind them that their behavior is disrupting my teaching/interrupting other students' learning and ask what they can do to remember not to do that again. Then tell them the next time it happens I will have to write a referral. The next time it happens, I will again tell them to see me after class. I will apologize that I now have to write a referral. My IC advised me to keep it from seeming like these things bother me personally and keep the focus on the class and interrupting learning. She told me I stick my head in the sand and ignore things when they happen. Similar to Hedge telling me I'm not committed to changing anything. Hmm...She also said that when I get in a bad mood, I tend to turn away from the kids and ignore them which makes them feel like I don't really care how they act anyway. I know this approach isn't as B.A. as @approx_normal is, but hey, what is?

The important thing is I think it fits me. I think I might actually be able to do this.


See Me After Class Cards: This is a brainstorm I just came up with. I'm thinking of creating a little See Me After Class card that I can quietly drop on a student's desk as I walk by. If there is a discipline problem, I can drop the card and leave the kid squirming, wondering if they will get written up. If a student does something good, I can also drop the card and later reward/praise them for their behavior with one of my cute new cards. Although the good kid will then be squirming too, possibly thinking they did something wrong. Maybe I should just drop the cute new card on the students desk instead of asking them to stay after. But I kind of like the idea that a student doesn't know exactly why I'm asking them to stay after. What do you think?

10 Ways to Compare and Contrast

So I am totally copying and pasting this entire article from another site. I really like it and want to remember it and so this is the easiest way to find it. Who's blog am I more obsessed about that my own? Exactly.

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Comparing and contrasting is a higher level thinking skill important across the curriculum. We compare and contrast characters in a story, word choice in writing, equations in math (think < > =, not to mention word problems ), different hypothesis in science, how holidays are celebrated in different cultures, etc. That is probably why comparing and contrasting shows up multiple times in the Common Core Standards. Here are some ideas for comparing and contrasting in your class.

1. Venn Diagrams. In addition to using them on paper, you can make big ones on the floor with hula hoops and have kids use labeled index cards or Post Its to fill in the variables. 
2. Analogies are great because you can use different criteria and then talk about which criteria was used. For example the analogy:  Mountain: Hill : : River : Stream is defined by size while:  December : Christmas : : February : Valentine's Day is defined by time. Here is a free Analogy Worksheet.
3. Similes and Metaphors Like Analogies, students can identify what the criteria is for the comparison. Similes may be easier for younger students because the words "like" and "as" pretty much tell you what the criteria is, while you often have to work a little harder with a metaphor. 
4. Would You Rather Questions present a forced choice between two more or less equal options, which can lead to some terrific discussions. Read more about using Would You Rather Questions with your students here.
5. Class Polls, Bar Graphs, and Glyphs  Good way compare and contrast student's experiences, opinions, traits etc.
6. Foldables can be used in so many ways for comparing and contrasting! Here are instructions on how to make some of the most common foldables.
7. Rating and Ranking There are so many ways to use this. Students can use numbers to rank brainstormed ideas. They can use a rating scale to evaluate their own work, peer presentations, the usefulness of a particular lesson etc. 
8. Comparisons over Time Everyone loves to see improvement. Having students complete a variety of tasks at the start of the year and then doing the same ones at the end is a wonderful way to compare then and now. Do this on a smaller scale with a pretest and post test for any unit of study.
9. T Charts Simple, basic, effective and applicable to so many things. You can put a variable on each side of the chart (eg "Conductor" and "Insulator") or you could put the words "Same" and "Different" on each side and put a the things to be compared at the top (eg: "Mammals" and "Reptiles").
10. Written Essay No one should leave school without being able to write a solid, well-organized compare and contrast essay, complete with examples from life or literature. They will need these skills for the essay portion of the SAT. 

Do you have a tool that has been particularly valuable? Please share!

Quiet Mouse Experiment

I've had a lot of problems with students constantly talking in my Geometry class. I have 25 students and it's just not a good combination. I've tried lecturing and guilt tripping them about respect. I've tried holding them late after class. My most recent strategy was to add a homework problem every time they get loud. For example, if I wanted them to do 8 problems, I'd make a worksheet of 16 and write an 8 on the board. If they get loud, I walk over to the board, cross out the 8, and write a 9. I like it because it's nonverbal and doesn't interrupt the class. Also, they can't argue with it. If I start walking near the board, they try to quiet everyone down. It's helped some but it hasn't changed the fact that they don't respect me and ignore what I say.

So I decided to experiment. I've wanted to do this since my first year of teaching but was never sure I could pull it off. I did not talk. I went through the entire class without speaking. It was so fun!

I stood at the door and talked to students as they came in. When class started, I started the timer for 4 minutes to signal students to work on the bell ringer. When students called me over to ask questions, I spoke to them individually. From then on, I didn't speak. When the timer went off, I worked out the problems on the board so students could check their work. Normally I would explain the problem and call on students to tell me what to write. This time I wrote in silence and they magically did the same.

Our lesson was on the midpoint formula. I had a worksheet and corresponding PowerPoint but in a tragic turn of events, the worksheet pictures were different from the PowerPoint. Oh no! So instead of the worksheet, I held up a blank piece of paper. They got the hint and got out paper. I showed a horizontal line on the coordinate plane and the PowerPoint asked, How could we find the midpoint? A couple students figured out that we could just count the squares and then take half of that. The next picture showed a slanted line so that their method no longer worked. I pointed at the endpoints of the line and they gave me the coordinates.  Then I showed them the formula and they told me what to write. We went through several problems that way. I pointed to students when they needed to write. When they asked questions, I redirected it back to the class and other students explained. I walked around to monitor their progress.

I was amazed at my own ability to communicate without speaking.

Some students were really angry at me. Which I still haven't figured out. Some were very helpful interpreters. There were two students who I don't think have truly understood anything we've done all year that were completely engaged, did their homework, and actually enjoyed class.

I asked them three questions at the end of class as an exit slip.

1. Did you learn better or worse?
2. What was the point of this experiment?
3. Did you have any questions that were not answered?

The responses to number one were 8 better, 6 worse, 5 the same, 2 no answer.

The responses to number 3 were 13 no, 5 yes, 3 no answer.

The response to number 2 were incredibly valuable. Here are some of their comments:

-To make us do more work
-To see if we an learn without you talking
-Learn to be quiet
-To see if it would help us learn
-To have our friends try and teach us
-To see if we could learn without your help
-To show you can teach and we can learn without talking. It's about paying attention and reading directions. Making us think more.
-I learnt better today somewhat because it was us learning.
-To learn in a different way

The next day I showed them the results and put up the following quote:

"If students could learn math by just listening, teachers would have been replaced by tape recorders a long time ago."

I asked them what this meant. They commented that you need to do more than hear it, you need to see it and actually do it.

Then I asked them how I could talk less so that they could learn more. Some of their suggestions were that I talk 2 days a week and not talk 3 days a week, not talk until they asked me a question, and only talk 5 times a period.

I haven't really decided what I'm going to do but I have been really noticing how much unnecessary talking I do and I hope I'm doing a good job of cutting it out.

My biggest takeaway from this experiment is that my students do not listen to what I say. As soon as I start talking, they tune out. They know I will repeat it or that it does not matter. This is a part of my issue with respect but I haven't  figured out how to master that yet.

By not talking, I forced them to watch me and pay attention. I forced them to listen to each other, not talk over each other, and try to understand on their own.

I forced myself to communicate only what matters.

I think I made them think.

Shh. Don't say a word.