Checklist turned Tracking Sheet

At TMC16, I went to lunch with a group to discuss SBG and Interactive Notebooks.  We ended up mostly talking about SBG, which was great because I got a new idea!  Jessica Breur (@BreurBreur) shared how teachers at her school use tracking sheets for the students to reflect on how they are doing with each target and record scores the teacher has given them.  Then at the end of the unit the teacher collects and keeps them.  I asked her to share with me, and she kindly did!

While looking at all her resources and thinking through it all I was thinking about how it would make a lot of sense to combine this with my checklist, since most of the assignments are recorded there anyway.  Also students rarely keep their checklists after the unit is over, so it doesn't seem detrimental for me to keep them.  I would just need to add quizzes and tasks to the checklist when we do them, which wouldn't be too tricky and would be incentive for students to make those up right away when they miss them (bonus!).  So instead of using any of her wonderful resources, I worked on creating my own.

I needed to break up the spots for assignments based on learning target and provide a space for students to graph their scores for each assignment, so I have a sample that looks like this:

It has room for four assignments per learning target (3 learning targets on the front, zero or one or two on the back depending on unit), and a big miscellaneous section at the bottom of the back.  I figured I would use the miscellaneous section for assignments that related to multiple (or no) learning targets and overflow if I need more than four assignments for a given learning target.  Here is a picture of the back side:

I did an example of what I would write if there were five assignments for the first learning target.

Thoughts I still have:

• Will the stamp space be big enough for my stamps?  (I'm going to test it out tomorrow)
• I am concerned that I will end up needed more than four assignments often, making it pointless to separate it by learning target, but I need to fit three learning targets on the front when I have five learning targets in a unit.  I am especially concerned if I am adding quizzes, group tasks & reflections, and open middle type problems to this.
• I used to require students to have 80% of their checklist complete in order to take the test.  I could do it that same way, or I could say you can at most one missing from each section.  I want this to be a reflective tool, not just a punitive tool, but I also feel a need to hold them accountable.

What potential concerns do you see?  What things would you change?  Any ideas on my thoughts above?

-Kathryn

PS - I am on a blogging roll since TMC16, and I have a lot more ideas to come!

Checklists #MyFavorite

As I was thinking about what My Favorite thing in the classroom was I thought of checklists.  A year -and-a-half ago I wrote about why I was excited to try checklists, but now I'm on the other side of it--I have used them for a long time!

Here's a brief summary of how I have been using checklists.  Students get a blank one at the beginning of a unit.  As we progress we fill it out.  I usually project it so students can update theirs while I walk around and give out stamps.  When students have completed something they show me and I stamp it.  At the end of the unit I calculate how many stamps is 80%, 90%, and 100%.  They MUST have a least 80% of their checklist completed to take the unit test.  I enter a score in the gradebook based on what percent of the stamps they have, but it doesn't affect the final grade.

Reasons I love the checklist:

• I helps students (and me) stay organized throughout the unit
• It holds students accountable to doing the work
• Students like getting stamps :)
• Students can look back at the end of the unit and see EVERYTHING we've done.  It gives a sense of accomplishment and reminds them "we did learn this"
• It is the students' responsibility, emphasizing that they--rather than solely I--are responsible for their learning

Something I'm trying this unit:  I added a column to allow students a section to self-reflect at the end of the unit on each learning target.  Hopefully this will help them focus their studies!  Seeing a proficiency score next to the assignments we've done will show them what they can look at or work on to study for the test.  I'll report back (but it might take a year-and-a-half!)

Here is an image of what I use and a link below to a document:

Link to Checklist in Drive (download as word document to restore formatting)

-Kathryn

While You Were Out

I've never had a good system for absent work that seemed efficient to me.  Last year I had a big bulletin board with each day of the week where I put handouts, but that doesn't summarize everything and it only worked for one class.  And the folders fell down...a lot. This coming year I have three preps and I can't exactly put 15 folders up on my bulletin board with three calendars and expect that to work.

I've also always wanted to try the "While You Were Out" form that gave more detail to each student rather than just handouts, but I don't have time at the end of the day to complete one for each student.  But I implemented roles last year, and one of the Recorder's jobs is to "set aside papers for absent group members."  Which really meant nothing last year, but will mean something this year.

So I made a form:

And I made copies and put them on my bulletin board:

Now here's the plan:

When a student is absent the recorder (or navigator who is the substitute recorder), will grab a "While you were out" form and complete it as we go throughout class.  They will also collect any handouts for the student.  At the end of class they will tack it back up onto the bulletin board.  Then when the student returns he/she can check the bulletin board and grab his/her work.

I will demonstrate how to complete the form in each class period during the first week when someone is absent.  Then I will have to ensure that students are doing it from that point on.

My one concern:  leaving extra tacks for students to tack the work back up there...seems dangerous with freshmen, but I'm going to try!

-Kathryn

Algebra 1 Units, Learning Targets, Pacing, and Reporting Standards

I finally got to spend some quality time in my classroom this afternoon.  It was just a couple hours, but I felt SO productive.  After cleaning my group whiteboards with WD40, I set out to rearranging units, learning targets, and a pacing calendar.

Before

After

[Sorry, the pictures are not that great.]

Reporting Standards

One of the things that is new for me this year is that my school is moving forward with standards based grading.  We have written "reporting standards" for one class (I chose Algebra 1), and students will receive a report card with those 4-8 standards on it for each class.  So I thought about which reporting standards connect with each unit, which I'll share below as well.

Here are the reporting standards:

• Organize numbers, quantities, and units to solve problems (NQ)
• Numbers and Units; Exponents and Radicals
• Rewrite expressions to solve problems (SSE)
• Expressions and Equations; Polynomials; Quadratic Equations; Quadratic Functions
• Rewrite and evaluate exponential and radical expressions (ER)
• Exponents and Radicals; Polynomials; Quadratic Equations
• Create equations and use them to solve problems (CRE)
• Expressions and Equations; Linear Functions; Exponential Functions
• Build and interpret functions in multiple forms (IBF)
• Functions; Sequences; Linear Functions; Exponential Functions; Quadratic Functions
• Identify and compare linear and exponential relationships (LER)
• Linear Functions; Exponential Functions; Sequences
• Organize and analyze categorical and quantitative data (SID)
• Linear Functions; Exponential Functions; Quadratic Functions
• Approach problem solving as a mathematician (SMP)
• ALL!

I'm sticking with my goal of integrating the statistics throughout multiple units, and I've written my learning targets in a way that I think will allow that to work well.  I will probably not test over statistics, but there will be various ways of assessing statistical analysis.

Units and Learning Targets

Unit 0:  Numbers and Units (08.24-09.11)

I can identify and justify number order and equivalencies.

I can simplify numerical expressions by following the order of operations.

I can convert units.

Unit 1:  Expressions and Equations (09.14-10.02)

I can identify and create equivalent algebraic expressions.

I can evaluate algebraic expressions for the given value(s) of the variable(s).

I can solve one-variable linear equations.

I can rearrange multi-variable linear equations for a given variable.

Unit 2:  Systems of Equations (10.05-10.30)

I can state whether or not give values for the variables represent a solution to a system of equations.

I can estimate a solution to a system graphically.

I can estimation a solution to a system numerically.

I can solve a system algebraically.

Unit 3:  Functions (11.02-11.20)

I can find the domain and range of a relation.

I can determine and justify if a relation is a function.

I can use function notation to describe, evaluate, and graph a function.*

Unit 4:  Linear Functions (11.23-12.17)

I can determine and justify if a function is linear.*

I can find the slope and y-intercept given a linear function.*

I can graph a linear function.*

I can define an explicit function to model a given situation.*

I can interpret the meaning of the slope and y-intercept of a function used to model a situation.*

Unit 5:  Exponential Functions (01.05-01.29)

I can determine and justify if a function is exponential.*

I can find the base and y-intercept given an exponential function.*

I can graph an exponential function.*

I can define an explicit function to model a given situation.*

I can interpret the meaning of the base and y-intercept of a function used to model a situation.*

Unit 6:  Sequences (02.01-02.12)

I can identify if a sequence is arithmetic, geometric, or neither.

I can describe a sequence recursively.

I can describe a sequence explicitly.

Unit 7:  Exponents and Radicals (02.15-03.04)

I can evaluate exponents and radicals.

I can simplify exponential expressions.

I can simplify radical expressions.

Unit 8:  Polynomial Operations (03.07-03.25)

I can identify the degree of a polynomial.

I can add and subtract polynomials.

I can multiply polynomials.

I can factor polynomials.

Unit 9:  Quadratic Equations (03.28-04.15)

I can solve a quadratic equation by factoring.

I can solve a quadratic equation by using the square root.

I can solve a quadratic equation by the quadratic formula.

I can determine which of the above methods is most effective for a given function.

Unit 10:  Quadratic Functions (04.18-05.13)

I can determine and justify if a function is quadratic.*

I can translate between standard, vertex, and factored form of a quadratic function.

I can find the zeros, vertex, and line of symmetry of a quadratic function.*

I can sketch a graph of a quadratic function.*

*Learning target includes statistical component

Notes:

• The dates are an approximate for pacing, so NO, I will not end every unit on a Friday
• I think I left a week open at the end of the year, which is good, because I didn't count holidays or long weekends when setting this out
• It will change; I'm sure; it always does
• Homework will be the same as last year
• I want to have finals at the end of each semester be 7 sections, one for each reporting standard
• I think this came out to 42 learning targets.  I heard once that 30 was what you should aim for...so I'm a little higher than that, but I guess paring it down is a goal for next year!

Well, that's a summary of my work from today!  I hope you can use it in some way!  If you have questions, please ask via comment here or twitter (@kathrynfreed), especially if you have an idea that can possibly make some part of this better.

-Kathryn

Group Work Role Cards

Happy Monday!  This might be one of my favorite #Made4Math Monday posts (of mine).  I've very excited to share it with you :)

I've been reading Strength in Numbers by Ilana Horn and it talks about complex instruction throughout the book.  I think these roles are based off of a complex instruction structure.  However, I've modified them some on my own and a lot in regards to Elizabeth's post here.  For the most part I stole Elizabeth's changes and them made a few small changes for myself.

Here are my cards:

I laminated them and put them as a set on a ring so that I can store them in the group storage totes.  That way they are accessible to students whenever they need them.

I really like that they will be able to keep instructions for their role in front of them as the work in their groups.  This will help remind them of their duties as well as encourage them to speak out to fulfill their obligations in whatever role they are in.

This is the first time I'm going to try group roles, and I'm pretty nervous!  But these pretty things make me a little less nervous and a little more excited :)  Let me know if you have any tips!

Here is a link to the file I used.  It has one role description per page, 6 times.  Then the last two pages are the role titles written larger, as you see on the "front" of the cards.  (Note:  the file will open in google drive, but you can download it to word if you would like.)

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the encouragement from those of you who saw the picture on twitter!
-Kathryn

Lesson Plan Book 2014-2015

I know it's not Monday, but Tuesday is only a day late (or 6 days early), so I'm going to call this a #Made4Math Monday post anyway :)

Today I present my Lesson Plan Book.  I have four sections in my book this year:

Note:  Throughout the book I used the font Pea Ashley Grace by Kevin and Amanda.  You can get it for free here.

1.  Behind cover/Info Stuff:

It holds my schedule, school bell schedules, district calendar, phone extensions for the district, a page protector, and the Algebra 1 standards.  (This is mostly district specific documents, so I have not shared them here.)  However, I use these documents daily.  I did it similarly last year and I love having it on hand so quickly.  

I use the bell schedules to write up the early out/late start schedules.  Since I have my book wherever I go during the school year, I can use the district calendar when I need to schedule appointments.  I use the phone extension list anytime a student wants to leave to go to another classroom.  (I call first.)  I love being able to put in rosters because I need those handy when we have fire/tornado/lock down drills, and they are always changing.  And then I use my standards as I'm working on curriculum and lesson planning.

2.  Lesson Plans w/Calendar:

I have a two-page calendar for each moth and also a two-page spread for each week.  This is definitely the largest section of my book.  Here is a picture of August:

And here is an example of a week's planning pages:

For keeping track of what we do each day.  Also I write in the date below where it says the day.

This is a big change from what I had last year.  I specifically designated this space better because I thought it would be nice to remind myself of meetings or duties in addition to having a space to jot down students who worked with me before or after school.

3.  Attendance:

Last year I did not have this section, but I tried to merge it with my lesson plans and calendar.  I wanted a better space for it.  I'm not sure if this will be better or not, but I'm going to give it a try.

On the back of the cover page for the section I gave myself a spot to note the codes that I will be using.  I want to be able to be flexible with this, so I put it here where it got laminated.  That way I can use dry erase to write on it and changes will be easy to make.

I also have a page protector here for rosters as well.  I might even makes lists like Fawn does here (bottom of post).

Then I just have a basic sheet printed a bunch of times.  We'll see how it works.

4.  Meeting Notes:

I had a section for meeting notes last year and I loved it!  I have made some changes.  For example I added a page protector because we always get handouts at PD and I needed a place to keep them.  I also felt that the set spacing that I had given myself last year didn't really work.  Some meetings required more notes than others.  So I kind of revamped that.

Here is an example of what the pages look like now.  I have several for each type of meeting that I know I'll be going to.  Then I make some extras for meetings that might come up during the year.

So that's my binder!  I'm really excited to use it this year :)  Here is a link.  You will need to download the file to view it in powerpoint.  Also remember that if you don't download the font from Kevin and Amanda it won't be as pretty when you open it.

-Kathryn

Checklists: Why I'm Excited to Try Them!

This morning I saw Steph Reilly's post about Checklists and Error Analysis.  Both are genius ideas (please, go read and I'm grateful to her for posting them.  I think checklists are going to be a life-saver for me...and here's why.

I don't grade homework or notebooks.  I don't have time and I don't want to put so much emphasis on homework that students want to copy.  (I wrote a lot more about homework here.)  However, I had a lot of trouble getting students to do the work required to get the learning.

Because of that I chose a unit and planned to have students do an Agenda assignment in preparation for the test.  I gave them an "agenda" with lots of options for tasks to complete.  (By the way, creating the agenda was a LOT of work for me.) They got to choose which ones to do in order to earn x points.  They had class time to work, but were expected to complete some if it out of class.  They had to have it completed BEFORE they could take the test.  This was pretty unsuccessful.  Students hated the agenda, to put it nicely.

I've been debating all summer how to hold students accountable for doing the work, but I knew that agendas probably weren't going to work.  There is something similar I'd heard of called "menus", but I'm not really sure they would be any better.  So I had a problem with no solution, and that is one of the reasons I was so excited to read Steph's post.

Here are the things I like about the checklist:

• Can be built as we go, so I don't have to plan everything out ahead of time
• Can include whatever I want, even notebook pages
• It won't overwhelm students at the beginning because it will be empty
• It will give students things to work on if they finish something else early
• It will remind students of things that we have done that they have forgotten about

Anyway, I liked the idea so much that I am fairly certain it is the solution to many of my problems.  I wanted to link the assignments to specific learning targets, so I added a column that Steph didn't have in hers.  I also typed up some instructions, but didn't want to have to include them on the actual checklist, so I think I will make them notebook friendly and tape them in the front of our notebooks with our syllabus, bellwork schedule, and classroom expectations.

Since I made the documents, I'm going to go ahead and call them my #Made4Math Monday, but I totally stole it from Steph as stated above, so please read her post!

My instructions document

My Unit 0A Checklist as shown above

Note:  These files will open in google drive and you will have to download them to edit them in Microsoft word.

-Kathryn

#5things I Need To Do Before School Starts

Well, this morning on twitter @druinok inspired this post.  It really is #105things, but I simplified them into categories to help me feel better :)

1.  Get Organized
I need to organize EVERYTHING:  my closet, my wardrobe, my desk, my filing cabinet, my inbox, my google drive, my dropbox.  Name it and I would prefer it to be organized! (I also need to finish my teacher binder for the upcoming year, but I've got a few things to figure out first...)

2.  Buy Things
I need new things for a new year.  I have an Oriental Trading order (and maybe an Amazon order) to put in as well as some Target/Dollar Tree shopping to do.  I do very much enjoy the buying, but deciding what I need is important otherwise I would spend thousands!

3.  Plan Classroom Structure (ie Procedures)
I need a better way for distributing classroom supplies.  But I don't have a solution yet.  Also I need to decide how I'm going to do bellwork and how strict I want to be about the beginning of class.  I need a plan for storing notebooks in the classroom and maybe even folders too, since I just read Sarah's post about that yesterday.

4.  Plan Units
For many reasons I am restructuring some of my units (again!), and I don't have everything really figured out yet.  I want to make sure to incorporate more problem solving tasks into them as well, so I need to figure some of that out.  I also want to link the foundational standards into my units.

5.  Solidify Grading Expecations
For many reasons I also want to make changes to how my gradebook looks.  I'm not sure how to balance SBG with understanding of concepts (rather than just performing skills), but I really want to find a way to make it work.  Also with the foundational standards identified, I want to have different expectations for them (ie. higher level of proficiency) than with the others.

So there it is, all the big stuff I'm trying to do before school starts...obviously I need to plan individual lessons, write a syllabus, and other things too.  I also need to blog a lot!

Any suggestions for me?  What do you have left to do?

-Kathryn

Paper Organizer

This is my first #Made4Math of the summer!

I always try to keep my desk clean, but I can never seem to manage it no matter how hard I try.  It seems like everyday after school my desk is a giant pile of papers...

So I decided to reorganize a desk drawer that I never knew what to do with before because it was so deep.  I bought one of these...

...and put it in my drawer.  (I think that is what it is for...it just took me a few years to figure it out.)  I labeled folders for each class that say "Algebra Today."  That is where I put copies for the day so that they don't pile up on my desk.  I also keep a folder for the unit next to the today folder.  Then after school I can empty the today folder into my bulletin board for absent students and into the unit folder.

It wasn't a perfect system, but it did help keep my desk cleared off.  It even helped me to use the drawer to store my papers to grade folder and my teacher binder.  This is what it looks like right now...kind of a mess since I haven't sorted anything since school got out!

I turned a wasted drawer into something useful that helps keep my desk cleared off! It felt like a very productive change :)

-Kathryn

#MTBoS30

29/30

Cute Storage Containers

We stopped at Dollar Tree the other day and they had these:

Aren't they cute! I got six.  I'm very excited to figure out what to use them for in my classroom.

-Kathryn

#MTBoS30

27/30

Thoughts after Year 1 of ISN

After a full year of using interactive notebooks in Algebra, there are three main things I want to work on doing better in the upcoming year.

1.  Hold students accountable for them

I chose not to include the notebook as part of the students' grades for several reasons.  One being that I use standards based grading, and I feel like a notes grade would be more a compliance grade than an understanding grade.  The other is that I teach about 90 Algebra students each year.  That would be a lot of notebooks to check.

I had told students that I would hold them accountable because when they asked for help the first thing I would do is ask them to take out their notes.  If they did not have their notes completed, then they would have to complete them before I was willing to help them.  I did OK at this, but I must not have done well enough, because even at the end of the year students were frustrated when I was making them copy notes from earlier.  And this actually meant that some students just stopped asking for help. :(  Not really what I wanted...

My notebook--no papers sticking out :)

Student notebook--lots of papers that should be glued in :(

My notebook--filled out TOC :)

Student notebook--empty TOC :(

My notebook--worked out problems :)

Student notebook--answers with no proof :(

In discussing this with the Algebra 2 teacher at my school, she suggested some accountability in a different way.  She recommended that I require students have their notebooks completed for the unit before I allow them to take the unit test.  I tried this with a review assignment later in the year and it didn't work out well, less than 50% of students had it completed on time... But she thought if I started with this at them beginning of the year students would come to expect it.  I know that I need to hold students accountable, but I'm not set on this as the way...however I do know that I could make this work.

I envision checking notebooks the day before the test while students are working on review stations.  Doing a 100% or 0% check like Sarah Hagan does (see here) would hopefully make the checking process faster.  If students do not have their notebooks complete I warn them that they must complete their notebooks before the test tomorrow.  When we start the next day I pass out tests only to the students who have completed their notebooks.  Other students must get on a netbook and work to update their notebooks.  If they don't get it done in time, then they have to take the test on their own time (before/after school) another day.

Like I said, I'm not sure this it what I'm going to do, so I would like feedback on this idea, please :)

2.  Be more organized 

One of the reasons why it was hard to hold students accountable was because I did not have a good organization system in place.  I figured out a decent system right before 4th quarter started, but I didn't share it with the students because I wanted to see how it would work.  It worked well enough, and with a few adjustments I think it will work great.  I shared some of it here.

I plan on including a monthly calendar on my bulletin board instead of writing on the folders, I can write on the calendar.  This will help if students want to see something more than a few days in the past.  I have a small file cabinet that I will use to store older papers.  I will have to try to organize the file cabinet a bit better than I did this year...I also think I might make one copy of each paper a specific color (ie. yellow) and then students know not to take that one, but to make a few copies first.  (I also want to write the page number that the copies go on before I make copies.  I read of that idea from Type-A Mathland here, and tried to implement it from then on, but mostly forgot.)

One more thing I can do to help make things more organized is to post pictures of my notebook on my website.  This will help hold students accountable, because I only have my one noteboook and when multiple students need to make up notes (or when students want to make them up at home) they will have the ability to get on a computer and view them.  This will be a significant amount of more work, but I think I could choose to do it first thing during my prep each day and I would be OK.

3.  Give more opportunities for student ownership

I was hesitant to have students do reflection activities in their notebooks since I wasn't really holding them accountable for it.  The few times we did do reflection things I really, really liked it.  I think that students were willing to think and process as I was asking them to.  But I need to start out doing those things in the first unit, so students learn to develop those thinking skills.  Here are some examples of reflection-type things we put into our notebooks:

Students had to write own steps for calculator

Students had to finish sentences on their own

Another way that I can give students ownership of their notebooks is encouraging them to use color purposefully.  I didn't encourage this at all this year.  I did it myself, and some of my students did it too, but I think it is something all students would benefit from.

An example of my use of color

So those are my goals for next year...hopefully I can handle that :)

-Kathryn

#MTBOS30

25/30

Bulletin Board Calendar

I had seen many various of this on pinterest and blogs, and I finally figured out something that works well enough for me.  Well enough for a semester at least!  I wanted to make sure that handouts were easily accessible and that students could see what they might have missed other than a handout.

So here is my bulletin board about a week ago:

I have a folder for each day of the week and I taped a 1/2 page of transparency to the front.  This way I can write a brief description of what happened in class AND include any handouts all in one go.

Up close for a day with a handout:

Up close for a day without a handout (they can tell there is still something they need to make-up):

Students who are chronically absent like this because they know how to take care of their work.  Students who are rarely absent are just figuring the system out now.  But I don't mind because it is easy to manage.  On Friday when students who were absent Thursday didn't have the paper they needed for their notes I could easily say "It's in the Thursday folder." and they can figure the rest out themselves.  It doesn't take up my time for them to get what they need.

I plan to modify slightly for next year, but I haven't finalized what I want.  The transparency won't last all year and for small pieces of paper (as often happens with interactive notebooks) the folders are no good.  I was thinking about getting the folders laminated and seeing if that helped any.  I can use dry erase on laminated stuff just as well as a transparency.

How do you manage work for absent students?  What do you value about your system?

-Kathryn

#MTBoS30
10/30

Quizlet

I need to get back onto the blogging wagon, and I have been trying unsuccessfully.  So instead of blogging about something thoughtful, I'm just going to share something I learned about at our PD technology day on Monday:  quizlet.com

On this site you can create "sets" of flashcards and study them in many different ways.  Since I've been working at pushing vocabulary in my intervention class, I decided that this would be something to try with them.  Some of the reasons why I decided it was worth trying:  it has a math option for "language" and you can add pictures to the flashcards.  A set can be public, so a set I create my students can use to study.  Also there are apps available for both android and apple devices.

So I created a set for students for this week's vocabulary and had students create an account and join the class to practice for a while today.  We are a google apps school, so I had students use their google account to create a quizlet account.  Then I had them join my class so they could easily access my set, but you can share it by link like this:  Variables and Expressions Set.

What I like is that the students can do several things with the flashcards:

• use them as flashcards...front - back - front - back - etc
• "learn"...it gives definition; student types in word
• "speller"...it says word and gives definition; student types in word
• "test"...set up a test with x fill-in-the-blank questions, y matching, z multiple choice, and w true-false
• "scatter"...a matching game where students drag word and definition together; if it matches they disappear
• "race"...definitions move across the screen and student has to type in the word before it gets across; speed GRADUALLY increases

I think both of the last two will keep a rank of the students and that helps encourage some healthy competition.  I played first so they would try to beat me :)  (However when using the app it doesn't record their scores in comparison to the rest of the class.)

I can think of a lot of things this would be useful for, but you can figure it out too.  So far I'm using the free version, but a better version is available for $15/year or even better for $25/year.  

-Kathryn

Units for Intervention Class

I have been teaching an additional intervention class all year.  This is part of the Tiered Algebra project that our local AEA has been working with schools in our area to implement.  We had been given some guidelines, but not much, for what to do in that time.

• Connect it to what is happening in the Algebra class
• Don't just reteach/review what you are doing in Algebra
• Don't just have "do your Algebra homework" time
• Do more hands-on stuff
• Do more explicit instruction
• Use appropriate scaffolding
• And others, but that's what I could think of off the top of my head

So here I am, a general Algebra teacher, with very little understanding of how to differentiate in my regular classroom, now seeing 24 of my students twice a day, and doing my very best to make it worthwhile.  But I've been mostly clueless.  I tried to do a lot of pre-intervention with them... (see Micheal Pershan's argument for this type of intervention here) which looked like covering the coordinate plane and plotting points before we graphed linear functions in Algebra, for example.  But I still felt like my students weren't able to use much of what we were doing in a way that truly benefited them in the regular classroom.  Not that I actually had any real way of measuring it...

Then the AEA shared with us about a presentation they heard from a school that has a similar model in 8th grade.  They decided that vocabulary was really important, because IF THEY DON'T KNOW THE VOCABULARY, THEY CANNOT ACCESS THE LEARNING IN THE GENERAL CLASSROOM.  This was an argument I had never heard before.  Now I always knew that vocabulary was important.  And I teach it...sort of, but I've never really emphasized it.  This has changed that.  Along with other things that came from this summary of the presentation, I have changed some things, and I think it is for the better.

I now have week-long units.  These units focus on a particular skill and the vocabulary associated with it.  For example we studied exponents prior to working with exponential functions.  We had vocabulary:  exponent, power, base, exponential, reciprocal, expanded form.  We studied the vocabulary each day in different ways:  matching; create your own example; which could be used for x, which would be used for y; etc.  We also had scaffolded lessons on simplifying exponents.  We started with whole number exponents with only positive numbers.  Then we discussed things such as -2^4 vs. (-2)^4.  We simplified expressions using the order of operations (with exponents).  And finally we saw negative exponents.

I was actually able to see my students apply what we were learning in class (no actual way of measuring other than my observations).  I depended on them to lead the other students when we saw negative exponents.  This felt amazing.  I am excited to continue using this model, although I am very frustrated that it took until November for me to find something this useful for interventions.  Hopefully as I continue to apply it I will see more improvement from these students.

But I am also frustrated by the fact that it is still group all of my intervention students together.  What if student a needs this and student b needs that?  How do I make that work?  How do I know what they need?

Just for an FYI here is an outline of the exponent unit:

-Kathryn

Section 1.1 of ISN

I just posted about what I thought my ISNs were going to look like.  This post is here and was written in July, but I didn't publish it until just now.  I guess because I was a little bit scared.  Anyway, as a follow-up to that post, I would like to share what our ISNs look like now that school has actually started.

Section 1.1 Set-Up

As part of our first day lesson, students created 5 numbers about them (I wrote about it here).  Then this week we turned it into their back cover of their notebooks, like Kathryn (not me :) blogged about here.  I didn't give the kids too much time to do it, so we were kind of rushed, but it helped that they already had their numbers picked out.  Here is mine:

 I'm working on covering all their notebooks with packing tape this weekend...what a job!

The first thing we put into our notebooks is on page 5.  I want to do a "title" page on page 1 and a table of contents on page 3, so I had them tape the syllabus onto page 5

And their first foldable was glued onto page 6.  This is about classroom expectations for different ways that we learn in class.  We filled out the inside one part at a time so it wasn't so overwhelming!

The on page 7, we started our first section.  I decided to name all of my sections with an essential question.  Mine aren't great EQs, but hopefully it will put pressure on me to continue improving them :)  So on page 7 we taped in our tab and title:

The tab goes onto the back (so onto page 8) for extra support.  Then also page 8 is our pocket for the section.  So beautiful!  Students have pretests in there already!

On page 9 we put our section TOC and score tracker.  I put the dates into the one that is in my notebook.  But as I said in earlier posts, I use this same template for each student.  I might show off my gradebook in more detail once I get going.  Here is a place for students to track their own scores.

Those things will be at the beginning of each section:  tab, pocket, and score tracker.  We should be able to set them up a lot quicker from here on out since students are more familiar with it now. (I can hope at least, right?)

Section 1.1 Notes (Part 1)
Next comes our notes.  I ended up deciding that it was OK to have input on the left and output on the right.  Hopefully no one will be too upset.  Here is our first page of "real" notes.  Learning target at the top, vocab words flash-card style, and a student-created list of words to use when describing levels of accuracy and precision.

We did a station activity and students had to discuss all 6 stations, but only write a response to one.  Then they handed them in.  The next day I gave them back with comments.  They glued their original onto the next page and wrote a better response below based off of my comments.

We have one more page of notes started.  Here is what that page of notes looks like:

I have an idea about what we are going to do on the next page, but it's not fully developed.  I better get going on that as it will be part of tomorrow's lesson!

Thanks to everyone whose blogs about their ISNs inspired parts of this post.  Your ideas sat in my head for a long time before I could put them to work in a way that I felt was best for me.  I am super excited about the notebooks and how it is already helping with organization!  Students haven't yet asked me for any new copies of things I've handed out :)

Storage

Oh wait, I forgot to share how we are storing them.  I am letting students keep them in the classroom.  Mostly because I decided I didn't want to fight the homework battle any more so I will not be requiring students to complete much homework this year. I picked up a trick from our language arts teacher and loved that the notebooks fit in.  Here is a pic from before school started:

Now all the folders have tabs with student names.  I put them entirely in alphabetical order based on last name and placed the tabs in a certain spot based on which period they are in my class.  Easy to find what I need quickly :)  They put their notebooks in before they leave and pick them up again on their way into class the next day.  It is also wonderful for getting needed papers to students who were absent...just slip it in the folder!  But if using to store notebooks, you do need quite a few crates so they are not overstuffed.  I have 4 for 87 students, but I think another one is in order...

Thanks for reading!

-Kathryn