Skip to main content

Writing

Writing is SO important... I've been perusing through Pinterest over the last few days and it struck me that I need to have my students write much more than I currently have been.

1. Another teacher had the idea that we should never just have them solve a problem. From the very beginning, they should have to say in writing why or what allowed them to set up the equation or make the assumptions that they did. This would mean they would be tested more on their explanations and understanding of the concepts rather then their ability to set things equal to each other or to 180 degrees...

2. What about having kids write at the end of the class period every day? I don't know if I want them to have a place in their notebooks where they record their thoughts or if I want them to fill in exit slips so I can easily read what they wrote. I guess it depends if it's for me or for them. I would like giving them all a half journal that they would keep in the classroom. Then whenever I wanted them to do some writing they could get their journal and respond to a topic.

3. Screw journals... I need to find a way to do this online... Twitter is probably my best option actually... I need to figure out how to use it to have daily writing prompts. That's the answer...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God - Brilliant Mathematician and Trusting His Power

I've been working on creating a visual to go with Psalm 91 in desmos (a free online graphing software). Here's what I've come up with so far: I tried to show the fowler's snare (bottom left), deadly pestilence/plague/Corona virus (bottom right), the fortress of the Most High, an eagle with wings to give us refuge and protection, and a shield and rampart to represent God's faithfulness which will protect us from the "arrow that flies by night." To make my picture, I've typed in 181 mathematical equations so far. Here are just a few of them so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about even if you don't totally understand the equations. I was reflecting (for the thousandth time) on how my understanding of mathematics leads me to a deeper understanding of God and his power. When I was first learning how to graph I started by plotting points. If I wanted to graph just one single line, I might graph two or all of these points an...
Post a Comment
Read more

God and Classroom Management

Ezekiel 20:11-13 "I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws," (God gave clear and consistent expectations. I would bet he made sure they were available in multiple formats so people could both read and hear them.) "for the man who obeys them will live by them." (I have way more wisdom and knowledge, not to mentioned a fully developed frontal lobe. I know the results of those bad choices already, so seriously, listen to me for your own good...) "Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy." (Here I imagine God feels like I do when I spend hours planning a hands-on lesson that would make me curious and excited as a student. I bet he looked forward to the Sabbath because he imagined how excited he would be as a human to have this day to rest and appreciate what a great and loving God they have. He wants us to know he loves us and wants what's best for us, just like I want my ...
2 comments
Read more

School vs. Real Life

I read a post on facebook today about things in the real world that students don't learn in school. It got me thinking about how we spiral everything in Geometry and Algebra 2. Here's how it works... We teach a brand new unit for about 2 weeks. During that time, we review something from a particular previous unit each day so that by the end of those two weeks, they have learned all the new material a little bit each day and reviewed all the "spiral" material a little bit each day. Then we give two tests, one over the new material and one over the "spiral" material. By doing this, they will experience all material once as new and a second time as spiral. This will allow them to take two tests over every unit. Their first test score affects their grade, but if they score higher on the second test, they get to keep just the higher score. If they score lower on the second test, we average the two test scores. Most students score higher on the second test becau...
2 comments
Read more