I have a bad feeling about this week, and I'm not 100% sure why, so I thought reflecting through writing might help me figure it out. Geometry spent the entire week reteaching equations of lines. This is something that we spent 6 or 7 days on earlier in the semester. The kids took a test over it and everything. This week all we did for the first 4 days was reteach, relearn, and review equations of lines for a second time. The kids are taking their test now. Their first tests were terrible... They obviously needed some reteaching and a second chance to show their learning. I'm very hopeful that the test they're taking right now will show their improved understanding and learning. The problem is how easy we made this week. The even bigger problem is that I felt like it was necessary... I feel like I need to apologize to the good kids that have their time wasted because of the kids that don't try or don't care enough to get it the first time.
At our professional development this week we talked about how differentiation doesn't really work in math sometimes. If it's done right, everyone should be doing something meaningful and worthwhile but there should be different activities going on for different students based on their individual needs. Well, "Sam" is doubling up on Geometry and Algebra 2 and has taken tests over equations of lines 5 times this semester... "Bob" on the other hand didn't turn in any homework for the last 2 units, didn't come in before or after school, played a game on his phone during part of notes, didn't write down more than half of 1 example, lost his notes, and bombed the first test. Now Sam and Bob have one week to review the same thing... The majority of my students aren't Sam or Bob. The majority need a little bit of review over each topic. They are able to clafiry many of their little misconceptions that caused them to miss points on the first test after only a little reteaching and reviewing. Bob needs a lot more than what I can provide in the classroom. Motivation level and parental support aside, he's probably missing some basic algebra skills, vocabulary skills, and study/note-taking skills that put him behind no matter what we're doing. If I do a quick simple review which is all that's needed for the majority of students, he will get nothing out of it... That will also be a waste of time for Sam, who could have aced this test in August because he still remembered ALL of it from when he really learned it the first time last year in Algebra 1...
What if I had a culture where the Sams paired up with the Bobs and helped them one-on-one? I wonder if I could send them to the library or just to pairs of desks around the room and have them work through problems after doing the quick review for everyone. The students left would be my middle students who have different little things here and there that they need help with, but nothing major. The Sam's would be consolidating their learning, making connections, and if they can teach it, they definitely know it. The Bob's would be receiving the more one-on-one instruction that they need.
But...
1. What if Sam accidentally makes a mistake somewhere and teaches Bob the wrong thing?
2. It's not fair for me to expect my Sams to help my Bobs every time. Would they consider it a punishment to have to help someone who didn't care and didn't even try to get it the first time when they've already put in the effort on this material 5 times this year?
3. I suppose I would need some incentive for the Sams... Is it okay to offer extra credit to the Sams for giving up their own time to help someone else?
4. How do I create that culture in my classroom? It always feels more competitive. The students want to score higher than their friends. They want to get their homework done so they can do something else that they would rather be doing...
Algebra 2 is the opposite story. This last unit has been hard. It started before Thanksgiving break, and we're taking a test over it on Monday, Dec. 10. It's spanned about 3 weeks... Time aside, the material isn't easy. They have to solve polynomials which could mean factoring one of 6 different ways or it could mean using their calculator and synthetic division. That's 7 choices for one problem. Sometimes you have to use 3 or 4 methods in one problem alone... They're more than capable of learning the material and being prepared to show me all of it on their test on Monday. Even though it's one of the hardest units we've done this year and it's been long, if they have good notes, they should have no problem refreshing their memory. The problem is, today when we reviewed I had about 6 students that didn't know where to start on their review sheet. Two of them started playing games on their phone after I handed it out and announced that it would be extra credit... I had about six students come sit in the back of the room with me, and we just started going through the practice test together. Once we started reviewing together they seemed to remember alot of it, but they couldn't figure much of it out on their own at all... I actually had a student come in back with me voluntarily and start helping students since I literally could not meet all 6 of their needs at the same time. Even though we all started on the same problem, we were working at different paces within minutes... They don't want to take responsibility and look back at what they missed. I do feel bad because one of the studenst isn't available (so he says) before or after school to get help, and I think he really needs it... I worry about some of them going on to trig-precalc.
I guess I feel bad for those students more than I feel bad about how I've handled the week. I've done my best and collaborated with other Alg 2 teachers to give that class the best possible notes, examples, and discussions around the material. I shouldn't feel bad because it's hard. I shouldn't feel bad that they have chosen to get behind on their homework and not get help. Those are choices they've made. I actually had to force one student to work in the group with us. He was just going to settle for not knowing how to do a single problem on the practice test.
I think this is just still that time of year when I see some kids failling, I've tried all my own creative ideas, I've "failed" because kids are still failing, and I feel like I can't possibly do enough. The truth is, I can't do enough, and the sooner I get over that for this slump, and just get back to doing the best I can and being okay with that, I'll feel much better about everything.
The fact that we have a week left before finals week and we're behind in our schedule is also frustrating... although it was inevitable...
At our professional development this week we talked about how differentiation doesn't really work in math sometimes. If it's done right, everyone should be doing something meaningful and worthwhile but there should be different activities going on for different students based on their individual needs. Well, "Sam" is doubling up on Geometry and Algebra 2 and has taken tests over equations of lines 5 times this semester... "Bob" on the other hand didn't turn in any homework for the last 2 units, didn't come in before or after school, played a game on his phone during part of notes, didn't write down more than half of 1 example, lost his notes, and bombed the first test. Now Sam and Bob have one week to review the same thing... The majority of my students aren't Sam or Bob. The majority need a little bit of review over each topic. They are able to clafiry many of their little misconceptions that caused them to miss points on the first test after only a little reteaching and reviewing. Bob needs a lot more than what I can provide in the classroom. Motivation level and parental support aside, he's probably missing some basic algebra skills, vocabulary skills, and study/note-taking skills that put him behind no matter what we're doing. If I do a quick simple review which is all that's needed for the majority of students, he will get nothing out of it... That will also be a waste of time for Sam, who could have aced this test in August because he still remembered ALL of it from when he really learned it the first time last year in Algebra 1...
What if I had a culture where the Sams paired up with the Bobs and helped them one-on-one? I wonder if I could send them to the library or just to pairs of desks around the room and have them work through problems after doing the quick review for everyone. The students left would be my middle students who have different little things here and there that they need help with, but nothing major. The Sam's would be consolidating their learning, making connections, and if they can teach it, they definitely know it. The Bob's would be receiving the more one-on-one instruction that they need.
But...
1. What if Sam accidentally makes a mistake somewhere and teaches Bob the wrong thing?
2. It's not fair for me to expect my Sams to help my Bobs every time. Would they consider it a punishment to have to help someone who didn't care and didn't even try to get it the first time when they've already put in the effort on this material 5 times this year?
3. I suppose I would need some incentive for the Sams... Is it okay to offer extra credit to the Sams for giving up their own time to help someone else?
4. How do I create that culture in my classroom? It always feels more competitive. The students want to score higher than their friends. They want to get their homework done so they can do something else that they would rather be doing...
Algebra 2 is the opposite story. This last unit has been hard. It started before Thanksgiving break, and we're taking a test over it on Monday, Dec. 10. It's spanned about 3 weeks... Time aside, the material isn't easy. They have to solve polynomials which could mean factoring one of 6 different ways or it could mean using their calculator and synthetic division. That's 7 choices for one problem. Sometimes you have to use 3 or 4 methods in one problem alone... They're more than capable of learning the material and being prepared to show me all of it on their test on Monday. Even though it's one of the hardest units we've done this year and it's been long, if they have good notes, they should have no problem refreshing their memory. The problem is, today when we reviewed I had about 6 students that didn't know where to start on their review sheet. Two of them started playing games on their phone after I handed it out and announced that it would be extra credit... I had about six students come sit in the back of the room with me, and we just started going through the practice test together. Once we started reviewing together they seemed to remember alot of it, but they couldn't figure much of it out on their own at all... I actually had a student come in back with me voluntarily and start helping students since I literally could not meet all 6 of their needs at the same time. Even though we all started on the same problem, we were working at different paces within minutes... They don't want to take responsibility and look back at what they missed. I do feel bad because one of the studenst isn't available (so he says) before or after school to get help, and I think he really needs it... I worry about some of them going on to trig-precalc.
I guess I feel bad for those students more than I feel bad about how I've handled the week. I've done my best and collaborated with other Alg 2 teachers to give that class the best possible notes, examples, and discussions around the material. I shouldn't feel bad because it's hard. I shouldn't feel bad that they have chosen to get behind on their homework and not get help. Those are choices they've made. I actually had to force one student to work in the group with us. He was just going to settle for not knowing how to do a single problem on the practice test.
I think this is just still that time of year when I see some kids failling, I've tried all my own creative ideas, I've "failed" because kids are still failing, and I feel like I can't possibly do enough. The truth is, I can't do enough, and the sooner I get over that for this slump, and just get back to doing the best I can and being okay with that, I'll feel much better about everything.
The fact that we have a week left before finals week and we're behind in our schedule is also frustrating... although it was inevitable...
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