Usually, we think of first days as starting from scratch. That’s never fully true – students are always bringing previous experiences with them. But it’s particularly not true for my classes this year. Because, interesting things about adult ed: since students start at multiple times and progress at their own pace, I sometimes (this year) have a ‘new’ class, that’s composed almost entirely of returning students.
So, rather than spend most of the first day on syllabus-reviewing and class-explaining, or even on getting to know you’s (and my standard fist-day math move, of combining math with get to know you activities) we’re starting by remembering (retrieving, if you’re a neuroscientist) what we already know. And then doing math about that math (it’s very meta)
Why:
I start the year knowing what they know (more or less) without the anxiety of a pre-assessment (hello, formative assessment) (Also, they do the data analysis for me….)
They start the year knowing what they know (hello, confidence boost)
It brings some of what they already know to the top of mind (after a summer of probably not thinking about math) so, it’s a sort of global activation of prior knowledge.
Retrieval practice is good for the brain and the memories.
Talking about retrieval practice on the first day sets a tone for talking about metacognition and effective learning all year.
Working in pairs on the first day sets a tone for collaborative learning. (I’ll be strategically matching new and veteran students into pairs)
It passes my ‘points on the board’ test (Finding a percent should be a review for most returning students, but new or returning, we walk out knowing we know at least one piece of math)
Teaching percents the first day means they can start grading their own cumulative reviews on the second day.
I think doing math with real, it came from us data, helps math feel less like random torture they have to endure to get a credential, and more like a tool that tells us something about the world (ok, more of them still think it’s torture than a tool, but I try)
How:
Retrieval: An independent brainstorm then a pair-share to bring months old math memories to the surface.
I’m making sure to ask my students about both the math they remember (I remember how to do percents, I remember that y is the vertical axis) and what they remember about themselves as math learners (I remember that I like to work in groups, I remember that writing notes helps my memory).
This expands the discussion in metacognitive ways, and it gives anyone who is panicking about (not) remembering math a way to participate.
Data & Analysis: We’re posting memories as a gallery walk, making tally marks of agreements then calculating the percent of students who share our memories.
Follow up: We’ll practice finding percents, then have a chance to follow up on an independent goal (aka, pick something from my milk crates full of materials) to review a topic they feel they sort-of-but-not-really remember
Implementation
I’m implementing as a first-class activity, but I can see it working well after a shorter break too (Welcome back from winter/April/spring/whatever break! What do you remember from before?) or as a spiral review/comprehension check at a few strategic point during the year (We’re having a review day! But first, what do you remember already?)
(Actually, I was having fun – so I made variations to use with fractions or ratios, instead of percents, and included a bunch of extension ideas)
