Thinking about teaching, learning and math
I think a lot about the things I want to add to my classes, the new goals I’m setting, the ways we’re all going to grow. But, this summer, mapping out my classes (and gritting my teeth at the mismatch between goals and time available) I’ve been having to think about the things I’m dropping. …
I was on it to start this week. I had new, fun, interactive lessons, the classroom is organized, the power point was pretty. I thought, well, if the administrators are going to conduct surprise classroom visits, this might actually be a good time. Except, it was also that week. The one where the make-up assessment …
Topic: Reading Algebra (CCRS: A.SSE.1a) Why: Half of the battle with algebra (well, some significant fraction of the battle anyways, because half is always anxiety and focus and grit and all the metacognitive things) is just reading algebra. The variables, the changes in notation and conventions, it looks so unfamiliar to new learners. And for …
Continue reading “Lesson Sketch: Reading Algebra (Card Sort + Critical Thinking)”
No offense to professional development facilitators, but most of my best PD is sitting around a table talking with other teachers. I had that conversation recently at the end of a workshop, and the conversation turned to giving students more choice in the classroom. Truth: I have a personality that is more inclined than …
Challenge A couple of my favorite lessons, recently, have been basically amp’ed up task cards. I call them “challenges”, because it sounds more motivating than tasks, and make each challenge rather bigger than some of the (often-elementary-grades) card sets I see online. Last night, 7 cards took my fastest group about an hour. I …
learning independently (formerly homework, now “asynchronous learning”) is a skill, and we can scaffold it.
My homework system challenges students to be independent learners I like this. But many of my students don’t know how to study particularly effectively. Most students, period, don’t know how to study particularly effectively, but it’s particularly challenging to do it as an adult with competing responsibilities. This year, I challenged them to try some …
This was one of my teaching goals for the school year, a way to build in a tighter feedback loop so I’d understand something about my students’ thinking each class and so they’d start to understand something about it too. I hoped they’d pay attention to when they struggled and when they had success, what …
Continue reading “Metacognitive exit tickets (work in progress)”
My first tries at incorporating metacognition were, umm, less than fully successful. I asked new students about their knowledge, their preferences, their goals. I asked the class to reflect at the end of the term. It was one-off, well intentioned, added in when I thought the calendar called for it. Or, I’d drop in soapbox …
Continue reading “Classroom routines (aka: You will metacognate)”