Sorry for the corny title. I have marriage on my mind a lot these days...Let me go ahead and apologize about my previous blog post. I work at a charter school were anything other than direct instruction is forbidden. If I implemented writing in my classroom, it would be very likely that I'd be pulled in by the Dean of Academics and told how writign in math class was a waste of time. As Head of the Math department, I've wittnessed this first hand. I don't mean demote my school's policy, in a lot of ways I agree with it. I believe Direct Instruction is the most effective way to teach students who are behind grade level (as are 99% of my students). As a direct result of this believe, I belive writing should only be implemented in a math class if it is done to be productive--not done just to be done. With all this being said, post-TCAP, I managed to sneak in a bit of writing , which was incorporated into a math lab on qualitative data.
a) I spent Monday and Tuesday having my students complete a math lab on qualitative data.
Day One: The students were put into groups of two. They chose their topic (favorite pizza topping, favorite soft drink, favorite NBA team, etc.) Each group created 5 categories for their topic. For example, if I chose "Favorite Pizza Topping", my categories might be: Pepperoni, Cheese, Sausage, Supreme, and Hawaiian. The students then surveyed 20 of their classmates and recorded their data in a table. The students completed a worksheet of 12 questions regarding their data. Questions mostly covered percents, ratios and proportions. For example, one question was, "What percent of students chose Category 1?". The last two questions are were the writing comes in! I had students write (in complete sentences, of course!) what their sample population was and whether or not their sample was bias.
Day Two (tomorrow): The students will calculate percents to make a circle graph. Students will assign each of their 5 categories a color, make a cooresponding key, and shade in the appropriate percent, using the appropriate color, on the circle graph. I provided them with a circle graph, which was divided into 100 pieces-- which is why they are calculating percents first!
b) I had students complete a math lab for two reasons. The first reason being that I had math labs as part of my Big Goal that I created before the school year started. I wanted students to complete 6 math labs relating to the 6 main areas of study (Whole Numbers/Decimals, Fractions, Algebra, Percents/Ratios/Proportions, Geometry, Data Analysis) in order to reinforce a conceptual understanding. The second reason I had students complete a math lab dealt with their inability to grasp the concept of "bias". "Sample Bias" was introduced late in the year, during TCAP crunch time. (During the weeks preceding TCAP, it is always crunch time!) There were a hand full of objectives I had not taught yet--sample bias being one of them. I had noticed that students were struggling with determining whether or not a sample was bias. I thought doing a math lab covering data analysis would help to reinforce students conceptual understanding by giving them a concrete, real-world example of collecting data.
c) See (a)
d) I learn that some studnets do not have a strong enough math background to benefit from inquiry. At my school we group based on grade level. It was intersting to notice the differences between cohorts' execution of the math lab. My lowest group of students had to be walked through the steps. The benefitted little. I do not believe their conceptual understanding was enhanced at all, because they have such a poor concept of numbers to begin with. On the other hand, the higher cohorts enjoyed the project. They were able to make the computations without much prompting. Hopefully their understanding of Data Analysis was enhanced by the project.
e) Next week, I plan on doing a very similiar math lab using quanitative data. I'm going to have students gather quantitative data and use it to calculate mean, median, mode and range. I think this will give them a wide perspective on what people use data for.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
What has worked for me....
I am chosing not to mention writing in this post, because the directions don't specify to talk about writing--and just to be candid, I rarely have students write in my class.
a) I believe that holding students to high expectations is the number one reason I have achieved success in my classroom. I work at a charter school, where we expect 100% from our students at all times. We have a "no excuses" policy that is executed well. We also reiterate our theme of college everyday. Our students wear college t-shirts on Friday, and they are constantly reminded of what it takes to get to college. I believe these strategies is the difference between the performance of SOME charter schools versus SOME traditional public schools. (Please don't misunderstand, I know there are terrible charter schools and great traditional public schools!)
The biggest difference -- I have witnessed -- between a charter school and a traditional public school is the everyday behavior of the students. I have been told from teacher at other schools that they are amazed how well engaged my students are. Other visitors have admired how well behaved my students are. The academic results are noticeable as well. I have had students jump two to four grade levels in just one year. These results are going to get our kids to college.
b) I teach 6th grade Math Problem Solving. Students often come in 3 or 4 grade levels behind. (We've had students who were behind 5 grade levels.) Trying to get these kids on grade level by the end of they year cannot be done unless a "no excuses" policy is implemented. In my class, students must sit up at all times. They must follow along with a pencil while we are reading problems outloud. They must participate by raising their hand--bluring out is not tolerated. They must write down all notes that I put on the overhead. They must be silent at all times unless told otherwise. They must track whomever is speaking--to give that person their full attention. If they don't follow these rules, then they lose paycheck dollars (a system used schoolwide at my school). If a student loses too many paycheck dollars he/she must go to detention. Students who earn enough paycheck dollars get speicla priveledges. Students have homework every night (including Fridays, Spring Break, Winter Break, etc.), and if they don't turn in their homework they go to success lab. These procedures are just a few implemented in my classroom everyday to ensure that students are maximizing their learning.
c) I have a "no excuses" policy in my classroom to better ensure my students will have the opportunity to go to a four year college after graduation from high school.
d) I have learned what results you can get by holding students to a high expectations. I have also been reassured that poor preformance from (SOME) public schools has little to do with the students as much more to do with how learning is executed in the classrooms.
e) Where do my students go from here? Hopefully my students will go to college 6 years! Where do I go from here? I will continue to implement a "no excuses" policy in my classroom and hold ALL of my students to a high expectation. Although --being candid again-- I do struggle. Problems arise, but I will continue to put my students' learning first and foremost.
a) I believe that holding students to high expectations is the number one reason I have achieved success in my classroom. I work at a charter school, where we expect 100% from our students at all times. We have a "no excuses" policy that is executed well. We also reiterate our theme of college everyday. Our students wear college t-shirts on Friday, and they are constantly reminded of what it takes to get to college. I believe these strategies is the difference between the performance of SOME charter schools versus SOME traditional public schools. (Please don't misunderstand, I know there are terrible charter schools and great traditional public schools!)
The biggest difference -- I have witnessed -- between a charter school and a traditional public school is the everyday behavior of the students. I have been told from teacher at other schools that they are amazed how well engaged my students are. Other visitors have admired how well behaved my students are. The academic results are noticeable as well. I have had students jump two to four grade levels in just one year. These results are going to get our kids to college.
b) I teach 6th grade Math Problem Solving. Students often come in 3 or 4 grade levels behind. (We've had students who were behind 5 grade levels.) Trying to get these kids on grade level by the end of they year cannot be done unless a "no excuses" policy is implemented. In my class, students must sit up at all times. They must follow along with a pencil while we are reading problems outloud. They must participate by raising their hand--bluring out is not tolerated. They must write down all notes that I put on the overhead. They must be silent at all times unless told otherwise. They must track whomever is speaking--to give that person their full attention. If they don't follow these rules, then they lose paycheck dollars (a system used schoolwide at my school). If a student loses too many paycheck dollars he/she must go to detention. Students who earn enough paycheck dollars get speicla priveledges. Students have homework every night (including Fridays, Spring Break, Winter Break, etc.), and if they don't turn in their homework they go to success lab. These procedures are just a few implemented in my classroom everyday to ensure that students are maximizing their learning.
c) I have a "no excuses" policy in my classroom to better ensure my students will have the opportunity to go to a four year college after graduation from high school.
d) I have learned what results you can get by holding students to a high expectations. I have also been reassured that poor preformance from (SOME) public schools has little to do with the students as much more to do with how learning is executed in the classrooms.
e) Where do my students go from here? Hopefully my students will go to college 6 years! Where do I go from here? I will continue to implement a "no excuses" policy in my classroom and hold ALL of my students to a high expectation. Although --being candid again-- I do struggle. Problems arise, but I will continue to put my students' learning first and foremost.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Online Resources for Mathematical Writing
My favorite online writing resources are:
1. Math Wire http://www.mathwire.com/writing/writing1.html
(a) Math wire is a great resource to use for teachers trying to implement more writing in a mathematics course. It breaks down the process very clearly and gives great ideas to make mathematical writing easier (i.e. "think-pair-share").
(b) This site could be used as a resource for writing prompts. Offering a variety of techniques, this site would also be helpful as a guide for how to encourage strong writing in a math class.
(a) This site is also great for mathematical writing. It gives teachers ideas on various activities students can do to practice matematical writing. It also give teacher guidelines for assigning writing topics in mathematics. Glencoe also offers a section describing the use of journals in math classes.
(b) This site would be a great resource for a teacher to use if they were intersted in doing a varitey of writing procedures in class. It offers ideas on not only papers but journals as well.
(a) This site is helpful because it offers a toolbar with a breakdown of grade level standards. Each standard has several writing prompts correlated to that standard.
(b) This is an excellent source for prompts. Each grade level has several writing prompts per standard. The writing prompts relate a deep mathematical understanding to writing by having the students explain their thought process.
4. Math Academy http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/minitext/writing/index.asp
(a) This site is helpful, because not only does it give instructions for the teacher, but it also gives instructions for the students as to how mathematical writing should look. It also offers a lengthy explaination as to why writing should be implemented in a matematics course.
(b) This could be a useful site for students. Students could use this site as a guideline as to how their writing should be formatted. It also offers a great explaination as to why writing is important in mathematics. Explaining the "why" is important for student investment and influences the student's motivation toward the end product.
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