Differenti-what?

The hardest part about actually teaching math?  Differentiation.

Differentiation.

Differentiation.

Chills?  Memories from bad dreams?  Cold sweats? 

Differentiating instruction is something that I've really been working on this school year.  When our test scores came out, I was back hand slapped with the fact that I didn't do so well differentiating for ALL students.  That is where my drive for this year stemmed.  It grew even stronger when I met my students.

Last year, over 80% of our 7th graders met growth.  My question?  How in the world am I supposed to keep them high as well as show growth for those bottom 25%.? My brain started spinning in circles to determine how to show growth for these students.

First, make each and every lesson either applicable or so much fun that they don't even ask about its applications.  This takes a lot of planning on my end.  To be honest, I've taught a lot of lessons off the fly.  Not my proudest moment(s)...

Second, identify my strong math thinkers.  These are my students who are just "naturally" good at math.  Show them one time and they've got it.  They don't always care for discovery tasks, but they'll do anything you ask of them.  These are NEVER helpers in my class.  

I could use help on how to push these students even more.  I don't use them as helpers because they usually aren't good with deeply explaining concepts or identifying and finding the source of mistakes.  They typically say "Oh, that's the wrong answer.  Here's how you do it correctly, because this is what I did.  I don't know how you got your answer."

Third, identify my hard workers.  They may not necessarily be the best at math, but they work SUPER hard to get it right!  Not only to get it right, but to really understand it.  These students are ALWAYS my helpers.  Once they have finished the task, they walk around the room and help me answer questions.  I only answer questions from the helpers.  If the helper doesn't know it, or how to explain it, I first explain it to them until they understand it.  Then, they go back to answer the struggling students' question.  I had one boy who was a helper in my last class.  I started the whole idea of helpers because of him.  He's a natural leader, but struggles a bit.  I assigned him to be a helper for 2-3 weeks.  He went from making high D's/low C's to high B's/low A's.  It was phenomenal.  The helpers ask me a ton of questions, which I LOVE!  I know they're trying to understand it so they can help others. 

(I always have a line of students who want to be a helper.  I'm still planning out the best way to have helpers.  If you have any ideas, please enlighten me!)

Lastly, my strugglers.  Oh, my dear strugglers.  No lie, struggling students are usually my faves.  Probably because I spend the most time with them...  I have Struggling Students 1, 2, and 3.

Student 1.  He is very capable.  Extremely capable, but equally lazy.  He sits on the front row.  At the beginning of the school year,  he had me fooled.  His answer to every single question I asked him was "I don't know."  Eventually, one day, I pulled my rolling chair right in front of him and rested my hands on my face.  He said "I don't know."  And I just stared at him.  He let out the loudest sigh and proceeded to work the problem.  He worked a few steps with limited guidance, and then said "I don't know what to do next."  I rolled my eyes and continued to stare.  Y'all.  He laughed so loud.  I told him that he wasn't getting rid of me.  He said "Ms. Watson, I'm not playing this time, I really don't know what to do next."  I reminded him of the next step, and he went on the complete the problem.  That was earlier in the school year.  Now, he can pretty much work on his own, but I stop by his desk every now and then to make sure his work is good.  If he isn't working, I just give him "the stare" and he gets right to work.  "I don't know" isn't his first go-to to get out of doing work because he knows it won't work!  Sometimes, we'll be sitting together working a problem.  I'll know that he doesn't want to work, but I still pull my chair up, sit right beside him, and wait for him to work.  We both think it's quite funny.

Student 2.  He is actually Student 1's partner.  This is his first full year in a general education classroom.  His 7th grade year was supposed to be his first full year in gen ed, but he was sent to alternative school.  He was accustomed to not really doing anything in class and being passed on.  WRONG!  I've just recently gotten a breakthrough with this child.  He is low, but he is beginning to do the parts that he knows he can do.  His biggest struggle is remembering what he's learned from day to day.  For example, when we were learning the Pythagorean Theorem in rectangular prisms, he could get every single problem correct 2 days in a row.  He knew that if he had the length, width, and height, all he had to do was to multiply them by themselves, add them, then take the square root.  On his quiz, he forgot all about multiplying them by themselves and taking the square root.  He set the problem up correctly, but then he just added his 3 dimensions.  Ugh.  Frustrating for him and for me.  So.  What do I do? 

Oral tests and quizzes.  This kid can explain to me the process of how to work it.  He can talk it out, but can't quite seem to put it on paper.  This may not work, but then again it may.  He is retaking his quiz orally this week.  I'm trying this with another student as well.

Student 3.  This kid is my biggest struggle.  He is severely below grade level.  Partnering him with other students is always a catastrophe.  No exaggeration.  Earlier in the school year, I'd decided to work with him on equations.  But how?  If I could get him good on a few topics, he just might show growth.  But more than that, he could show some success in 8th grade math.  Asking him to pay attention to lessons is like asking me to pass up on a Snickers at the end of the day.  I mean, there's a super slim chance that it'd happen, but let's get real.  Do y'all have any ideas (if you even make it this far in the blog, it's quite long.  Sorry!) for this type of student?  I've thought about having him work on Khan Academy, Buzzmath, or some other app/website at his level on certain math topics pertaining to key concepts in 8th grade math.

My principal  has constantly said that the way to get that bottom 25% of students to grow and become motivated is by building relationships with them.  I never truly understood that 'til this year.  I have a great relationship with almost all of my students.  And they are truly working to do well (which is very different than in the past).

Until next time,

-C. Watson

For the first time in forever...

Y'all.

It's  been approximately 2 years.  Cuh-razy!

Well, I've been teaching for 5 year years now.  I no longer  teach compacted math and am completely engulfed in the wonders of 8th grade math.

The past 2 years were nothing short of tiring.  I dealt with a lot of anxiety with wanting my kids to test well and feeling inadequate to show growth with them.  It definitely wasn't one of the high points in my life.

But now..!!!  This school year is shaping up to be one of the best ones yet!  I am teaching with the incomparable Shauna Hedgepeth.  She always brags on me, but she is the absolute best!  She has so many grand ideas that I would be too cautious to try on my own.    Shauna is my educational "pusher."

Ok.  Let's get into some stuff being done in my classroom.

Pythagorean Theorem.  Shauna and I spent approximately 2 weeks on this topic.  TWO WEEKS!!  On Pythagorean Theorem.  This was unheard of for me, but our approach was the definition of learning through discovery.  The very first day, Shauna, our assistant principal, our 1st block of students, and I all huddled into Shauna's room.  Students were in groups of 4.  They were given 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4,..., 10x10 squares.  They were instructed to put the vertices together to see what shape was made in the middle of the squares.  It was so funny to see them realize it was a triangle.  They then went on to using different sized squares to make triangles.  They made the triangles on graph paper to determine if it was acute, obtuse or right.  This discovery was incredible.  Students could really understand it!  We worked with different angled triangles for about a week before we even introduced it as "Pythagorean Theorem."  It was truly beautiful.

Pythagorean Theorem in Rectangular Prisms.  Shauna and I combined classes again.  Students were given toothpicks, play dough, and tape to construct their cube.  They had to place a face diagonal on the bottom square by using overlapping toothpicks and a space diagonal through the cube going in the same direction as their face diagonal.  Students then determined how many right triangles they saw in their cube.  We wanted the students to see that the space diagonal, the face diagonal on the bottom, and the height made a right triangle.  After seeing this, students discussed what information they needed to determine the length of the space diagonal.  We gave students this picture.

Then students were quick to get started on calculating the space diagonal.  Most groups realized they first had to calculate the face diagonal, then use that to calculate the space diagonal.  Being able to see those connections made...  Wonderful.

I wanted to extend this and have students actually measure the length of their space diagonal, but I can't remember if I forgot about this, or if we ran out of time, or if I didn't have rulers.  I believe it was a combination of all three..

Next year, we decided we will have to make our own squares.  The ones we used weren't actually squares and it made finding the true right triangles a bit tough.

Hmmm....  What else is new.

This is the first year I feel like I have a true connection with my students.  Before, I would tell people that I'm Ms. Watson at work and Cononiah everywhere else.  This was hard!  My students this year know me.  ME!  We laugh, talk and play, but they know when to get down to business.  It's so interesting to see such a change from last year to this year.  It's crazy!  I was ready to leave the teaching profession, but God has definitely reignited my passion!  :)

Well.  Until next time.

-Cononiah W.