In many post-observations I have been told that I was the hardest-working person in the room (well, I am the only one in the room getting paid, aren’t I?), and that my students should be doing more of the heavy lifting.  A very dear friend of mine (ESL coordinator who is on an administrative track and will clearly be an amazing principal) has  pointed out that I should do my hardest work preparing, and then let the kids do the hard work in class.  Today, I think I made a big step in that direction.

I probably should have stayed home.  I woke up with a very painful sore throat, after spending the night alternating between being cold and sweating.  But I am already behind in my Algebra 2 class, and thus felt compelled to struggle through the day.   I have a student teacher who needs guidance in keeping on track with the fast paced curriculum, and I had done a lot of prep work for my Geometry and Discrete Math classes.  So I went in to school, armed with homeopathic remedies, Airborne, Advil and Wellness Formula.

How do we keep track of all those great treasures that we find on line every week, day, every time we go on line or on Twitter?   I have no idea, really.  I’m tagging with Delicious.  I’m using The Old Reader, making notations and ‘likes’ there.  I read things and take notes in my favorite Moleskine  (which I don’t always go back and look at).   I print articles, blog posts, and activity ideas, leaving them in folders I use so that I keep finding them as a reminder.  I try to use all these checks and balances so that when I am looking for an idea, there is a chance I will find that perfect activity which struck me as brilliant when I first saw it.

So last year, I came across a blog post by Kate Nowak about a logic review game that sounded great.   When I read the post, I didn’t have an immediate use for it, but I am always looking for games that manage the winning process well (I still haven’t figured out how to run a successful Jeopardy review game – someone is always convinced it wasn’t done fairly). This post was one of those items which I printed, leaving the hard copy to pop up in my papers every couple of weeks. (Some system, huh? Now that I’m writing it down, it sounds ridiculous.  But in this case, it worked.  If you look in my photo at the top, you can actually see the print-out…)  Cut to the chase, Wendy – I thought the Logic Game would be an engaging review for my early morning off-track Geometry kids – and it is hard to rouse them in an 8:00 class.  I made sure I understood the rules of play, and set out to prep the materials – no small feat.  I enlisted my personal carpenter (hubby) to make the “Dice of Logic”, printed up pages of true and false closed statements, T/F cards, and hot pink negation cards (so colored because they are for optional emergency use during the game).  None of this was actually difficult – but it required extra planning and time.  I sorted everything into ziplock baggies – each game set was for one pair of students – and was ready to go.

The game was a success – and I was thrilled because this group of students has been particularly difficult to engage.  Once I made sure that everyone understood the rules, I circulated quietly, asking an occasional question, but otherwise with nothing to do.  Perfection!  They played all period, clearly reviewing the material and becoming more comfortable with it, and we agreed to continue on Monday, because the students had only gotten through the first two levels (there are 3).   I can’t wait.

On to Discrete Math, where we are doing linear programming (yesterday was Lego Day 1 – http://fawnnguyen.com/2012/12/31/lego-pieces-and-feasible-region.aspx).  Today’s activity involved an exploration on the iPads using Sketchpad Explorer.  Again, this was a lesson that was front-loaded – designing the file in Geometer’s Sketchpad for use with the app took some time and finessing, and writing step-by-step instructions which everyone could follow (a requirement with these classes) was also a task.  But once the iPads were given out – I had nothing to do!  Since I wouldn’t answer direct questions about the material – always redirecting the students back to each other or the work – there were a solid 15 minutes where I wandered around the classroom.  Everyone was working.  Astonishing!  And I was feeling much better than when the day started.

I finished the day with Algebra 2, my favorite classes (sshhh!).  I started them off with Megan Kay-Golding’s Rational Expressions Row Game, hoping again to deflect some of the hard labor.  But after we finished the activity, it was a little too much of the Ms. Menard show; I have trouble delivering the content in that class in a timely fashion (I’ve definitely got a departmental clock ticking) and a more exploratory manner.  These students ask many good questions, but I don’t think I can rely on their cooperative mathematical sense to answer them independently and take them where they need to go with the material.  Or maybe it’s just the current topic, rational expressions…but this is why I participate and help facilitate #alg2chat on Twitter, hoping to find answers.  After 2 periods of walking the students through the multiplication and division process, my throat was burning again, and I was dead tired.   Clear evidence of the better way to go.  On a positive note, I did turn both classes on to MathMunch, and hinted at their coming assignment involving the website.

I’ll take the 60% progress  – 3 out of 5 classes – for the time being, and I must admit I am proud of my ‘almost boredom’ today.   But I’ve still got work to do in Algebra 2 – presenting the challenging curriculum [somewhat] on schedule, but with the kids in the driving seat.  Miles to go before I sleep….but who needs sleep?

 

Last year was the first year I taught Algebra 2.  I have just begun my 8th year of teaching, and for the first 6 years, I taught mostly Geometry, some Algebra 1, and a host of electives I was coerced selected to develop.  I was thrilled at the opportunity to begin to ascend the ladder of math courses, but, of course, there were some bumps along the way – afterclass moments when I realized how the presentation I thought was crystal clear was only that way to ME – who coined the term – The Tyranny of Knowledge?  I already knew the material, so it was almost impossible for me to understand how my students perceived it the first time it was introduced.  I felt like a completely botched a few topics with muddy introductions.

Among those topics were absolute value equations and inequalities.  I introduced them with a brief discussion of absolute value as distance, and then we worked on the procedures for solving them and finding solution sets.  There was little understanding and some outright confusion as a result of this abstract and mechanical approach.

In discussing this with my #alg2chat tweeps, @lbburke offered to share the Smartboard lessons she had gotten from @k8nowak on Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities (http://function-of-time.blogspot.com/2011/09/algebra-2-solving-absolute-value.html).  As I worked through the problems in both lessons, I was impressed with the simplicity with which the lesson built on the idea of distance, and used perfectly -paced discovery to teach not only the way to find solutions, but also to have genuine conceptual understanding of the Big Ideas behind the absolute value statements.   They are the lessons I wish I had designed myself! (Thanks once again, #MTBoS.)  I was psyched for my classes.

I have 2 sections of ‘gifted’ Algebra 2 (‘gifted’ in quotes because the students are thus tracked because they enter the school through a screening process which has nothing to do with being mathematically gifted) back-to-back – 7th and 8th periods.  Same teacher, same lesson, pretty similar delivery – questioning, prodding, occasionally lauding the beauty of math.  But different groups, and VERY different vibes.  The first class was practically hostile because I wouldn’t ‘just tell them how to do it,’ especially after one student who was transferred into the class 2 days ago announced that her other teacher just told them to set the absolute value term equal to both the negative and positive terms on the opposite side of the equal sign and solve.  Still I persevered, with 34 pairs of eyes glaring at me (well, I might be exaggerating, but it sure felt that way).   And while I appreciate that these students are challenging me to lead them to enlightenment, I can’t say that I wasn’t just a little relieved when the bell rang, and I could regroup and rethink my approach.

Enter 8th period.   A somewhat chattier group (closer to the end of the day?), less afraid to ask questions, seem to be better humored.  As soon as we worked through the warm-up, many students immediately grasped the idea of the absolute value equation as a calculation of distance.  This class also seemed to groove on the progressive nature of the discovery [SUCH a well-designed lesson, @k8nowak!].  They posed questions and answered each other – I felt just a little like the conductor of an orchestra rather than a direct teacher.  While there was still some mystery to the whole process at the end of class (what I wouldn’t give for those periods to be 10 minutes longer), I felt an intrigued energy among the students as they left – and, even better, a basic trust of the process in my classroom.

So I’m contemplating what to do tomorrow – in both classes.  I want to reassure my 7th period doubters, but not give in to procedural memorization; I want their trust and their willingness to contemplate the idea behind the math.  And, truthfully, I can’t wait to dig into the material again with my 8th period class; I am looking forward to seeing what understanding they bring back to class tomorrow.

And, as always, I am open to reflections, observations, and suggestions…

I’m going to start in reverse because I am (despite the stupor-inducing heat and humidity) jumping up and down – in my head – about my day today.  Borne out of the desperation induced by a failed copy center and lack of toner, negating all of my well-wrought discovery/Mathalicious plans for today at least, I executed my first 3 ACT TASK!  There was a part of me that never believed I would get to this, that it would remain something that I-would-do-if-only-there-was-room-in-the-curriculum, that I just couldn’t execute the questioning well enough to make it work.  But arriving at school this morning to find myself without resources, I decided that IT WAS TIME.   So after I panicked and growled at the first 5 people unlucky enough to encounter me with a crisis at 7 a.m., I took the plunge.

I love the Pyramid of Pennies.  I love the video of Dan Meyer working the NRICH crowd with that task, and  Fawn Nguyen’s exhortation to change things up in your classroom with a culture of problem-solving totally informed my approach to planning this year.     So in my Discrete Math and Algebra 2 classes today, we examined the Pyramid of Pennies.  And it was great.   In 90 degree heat, students were guessing, estimating, asking questions – there were many, many hands raised, and lots of math chat.   My afternoon classes in particular were impressive – the temperature was peaking, the room was packed (36 kids – we needed to to borrow desks from another room), but I had too many volunteers with questions and ideas to be answered in our 44 minute session.

Yesterday, Ms. Menard’s classes competed against one another in the great Marshmallow Challenge.   Again, great fun, interesting ideas, even if approximately 70% of the structures could not be measured due to their inability to remain standing long enough.  Still, the conversations were good, and the cooperation of students randomly grouped on the second day of school was impressive.      

 

 

On the first day of school, we discussed Mindset.  I had the kids create desk nametags with feedback flaps on the back (described here by Rachel Rosales).  Not surprisingly, many students have asked about the quantity of homework mand the frequency of tests and quizzes, but some of the questions and feedback are great.  Here are a few:

           Some of the students want to know when we are going to do “real math” and why we are working on our estimation skills. (They’ll find out.)  The comments I find most touching, and heartening, are those which evidence that some students already perceive that my classroom is a ‘safe’ place, and that my growth mindset means that I believe they can and will learn math.  Three out of my five classes are with off-track students – juniors and seniors (more than a few of whom I have previously had in class) – motivating these kids to once more attempt something they have already failed at multiple times is MY challenge.   But I see that I am on the right track, and earning their trust – a very good first step.

A final positive note – I don’t have my own classroom (school is way overcrowded) but I share an ‘office’ with three other like-minded math teachers in an out-of-the-way corner of the school, surrounded by the Foreign Language department (kind of poetic, don’t you think?  I like the interdisciplinary opportunities this affords; we spend a lot of time engaged in mutual student support with the ESL teachers).  Our office is known as the Bat Cave, and we’ve cleaned it up quite a bit, including organizing the out-of-use monster Algebra 2 textbooks (aka Glencoe’s 2008 3rd quarter profit) which are stored there for lack of other space.

 

It may not look like much, but in a 75 year old NYC public school with no room to spare, it’s a cozy spot in which to continue this banner school year.  All it needs is our soon-to-be-delivered MathMunch poster, which will be featured prominently on our door.

On this night of remembrance, I’m grateful for these great first days.

 

 

My first week is completely planned – I am nervous and excited to implement the wealth of ideas that has been generated by my participation in #TMC13 and the Exeter Conference. 

I have 3 preps – Algebra 2 Honors, Discrete Math, and 1st of 3 terms Geometry.  The Discrete Math and Geometry classes are both for off-track students, so motivation will be a big issue.  But I have brainstormed long and hard over the last month about how to keep those students engaged.  So wish me luck!

Here’s what’s going to go on Ms. Menard’s classrooms this week:

• estimating (thank you, Mr. Stadel)
• examining Mindset
• feedback desk labels (thank you, http://purpleprontopups.wordpress.com/)
  
• counting circles (thank you, @wahedabug and @pamjwilson)
• 2 Mathalicious lessons with projects (thanks, @mathalicious, obviously – and everyone in the PBL project!)
• The Great Marshmallow Challenge
• formative assessment on polynomial representations (mathshell.org)
• group whiteboarding
• tweeting for homework (thanks, @heather_kohn)
• fun, math, and then more math.

I’ve worked hard to transform my own mindset and my teaching – this past summer opened up – literally – a whole new world for me – a generous community of like-minded individuals that I sought locally without huge success.  So wish me luck – documentation to be posted!

 

I have the amazing luck of having an additional 2 weeks of vacation before I return to school and actually see students (September 9).  I would not give up these extra days of waning summer relaxation, but as I read everyone’s ‘back-to-school’ posts, in which people are describing how they are [successfully thus far] incorporating their new-found strategies and ideas – whether these are the result of good times at #TMC13, PCMI, or personal summer explorations – my level of anxiety about the coming year, and the changes I want to incorporate into my classroom, increases.

@sophgermain tells me I am already awesome (http://bit.ly/17josyk), @nathankraft1 tells me I don’t have to be THAT awesome (http://bit.ly/1dmrSY8), @ddmeyer is making over lessons faster than I can figure out how to incorporate them in the classes I am not sure I am teaching this year (http://bit.ly/15t1TbQ), and I am still clutching my notes [figuratively] from @fawnpnguyen’s epic post on Deconstructing a Lesson Activity (http://bit.ly/1djLmM8) with its myriad gold nuggets of pedagogical wisdom.    And Mr. Waddell (http://bit.ly/1aLMsiI) has openly shared some early success and perceived [but not true] failure in his foray into the 2013-14 school year.

I set up a huge whiteboard in my dining room (thanks to an indulgent husband who allows me to take over large common spaces with my two loves  -besides him and my children, natch – teaching math and quilting).  And I have been making lists and editing them every day since I returned from Twitter Math Camp – see below.  (Did I mention one of my children attends art school?)

When you make too many lists, then even the lists give you anxiety.  So I am making here my final (ha!) laundry list of goals for this year of teaching.    

• Notice, wonder, notice, wonder
• Embed more formative assessment
• Predict with visual patterns
• Notice, wonder, notice, wonder
• Incorporate 3-Acts
• Estimate EVERY DAY
• Try some counting circles
• Notice, wonder, notice, wonder
• Tweet & blog regularly

My hard-learned rule of thumb is to not try too many new things each school year (like more than one) because, well, too many new initiatives are hard to sustain successfully.   So I am thinking of all of these items as really one new initiative – CREATE CRITICALLY-THINKING, QUESTION-POSING, MATHEMATICALLY ENGAGED LIFELONG LEARNERS.  No small order, huh?

(Note: While it goes without saying, I’ll say it anyway –  my deepest thanks and gratitude to all of you who share so generously – I hope I can do the same.)

 

Last night was the first Algebra 2 Chat #alg2chat!  It was great to connect with some new high school teachers and discuss the upcoming year with them; it was also great to chat with teachers I have already met – in the blogosphere or at #TMC13,  with all of their personalities in attendance (@bobloch, @ATMOPAV, @HHMathClub).  You can read the Storified archive here (http://mathchats.pbworks.com/w/page/68161908/alg2chat).  

AND you can join us next week, Monday at 9 PM EST for the next #alg2chat.  We are taking suggestions for topics right here: http://tinyurl.com/m7stjdz

See you next week in the #MTBoS!

(real blog post coming very soon….)