New Steps I'm Taking to Improve Group Work

I'm working a lot harder on making group work work in my classroom this semester.  I implemented some changes first semester, and expected it to work for itself from there...uh, duh Kathryn, you can't just put things in place and expect them to run themselves.  So I've been more thoughtful about it this semester, and trying to patiently look for small improvements.  Since I rarely blog, I will discuss all changes I have made this year.

First Semester

Desks in Groups of 4:  I have tables, so I've pushed two together to make groups of four.  I had this on and off last year, but I haven't even considered changing it once this year.

Group Supply Tubs:  I organized supplies into group tubs.  Something I sort of had last year, but that didn't work very well.  I also was intentional about not putting too much stuff in at the beginning of the year.


Roles:  I wrote about my role cards before school started, but I expected a little prep and some pretty cards to be enough for students to "play their role" every time...that is not enough.

Talking Points:  We do talking points as a warm-up every Thursday.  This helps give every student a voice.

Then I'd also throw around the phrase "do this in your groups" a lot and feel frustrated that they really weren't.  So I have tried to be more thoughtful.

Second Semester

Role Explanations in Notebook:  I made a half-sheet explanation of all the roles for students to put into their ISNs.  This way they ALWAYS had access to them and I could hold them more accountable.

Group Tasks:  I have been a lot more intentional about groups tasks.  One scored group task every unit is my challenge for myself.  This is super structured, and involves a significant amount of prep.  An important thing I learned from Elizabeth and our morning session at #TMC14 is to put in checkpoints for groups to call me over and see how they are progressing.  This helps a lot.  I even carry around a roster so that I can mark off what checkpoint each student has completed.  Then when I'm prepping for day 2 of the task, I have an idea of where everyone is and who I should maybe guide right from the beginning.

At this point I haven't done any amazingly exploratory/discovery task, but I think that's OK.  I'm not super-teacher, so small steps is what it is going to take.  I've turned some things I did last year (that I liked) into tasks that I now like better.  I'm sure they will morph next year into things I like even better...oh the joys of teaching!

Here is my sequence task:  Instructions, Cut Outs

Here is my function task:  Instructions, Cut Outs, Recording Sheet

Acknowledging What I Like:  I've been intentionally looking for things that I like during the group work time so that I can praise those things.  This helps me and my students, because I see the good things rather than the bad, and they feel encouraged.  It also leads to improvement because others see what I like from a group and they can work to do it in their group.

I actually just had a thought while I was blogging this that I'm going to try Monday.  I'm going to use my whiteboard to give these acknowledgements.  It is semi-public in that the entire class can see (but not other classes), but I don't have to spend the last couple minutes of class giving shout outs that they might forget by the next day.  AND other groups can IMMEDIATELY implement changes to get acknowledged as well.  I could even start with a few things on the board that I'm looking for and then write up the table number when I see that group doing it.

Group Reflections:  Every day we do any group work task work, I have them complete a quick reflection.  I'm sure I stole the questions from Elizabeth (bottom of this post) and just modified it a bit. It's just a quarter sheet, so I make a ton of copies and have them ready.  My hope is that by regularly trying to give a compliment to someone for playing their role they will become more familiar with the responsibilities of each role.  I might modify the reflection next task to involve something the individual did as well as something another person did.  Try to slowly increase the expectation that EVERYONE is playing their role.

Here is a link to what I've been giving (4 to a page).  And here is what I created for next time (2 to a page).

That's where I'm at with group work right now.  I'm proud of the changes I've made, but also disappointed that we're not farther along.  I have been realizing this year how long real change takes.  And it is a little disheartening because I'm starting to understand that it's going to take more than just me to make real change for our students.  We really need every teacher on board to make real change for students.

Let me know if you see something big (or small) that I'm missing that would make group work more valuable for my students.  I know that it is not ideal at this point, but I'm working on getting better.

-Kathryn

Talking Points in my Classroom

After my Group Work Working Group morning session, I knew for sure that I wanted to try Talking Points in my classroom.  After a lengthy twitter conversation I was convinced that I didn't need to do it day 1, but that day 2 or day 3 was okay.  We ended up starting with talking points on day 3.

Here are the instructions I gave to my students:

I basically took what Elizabeth shared here (see printable student instruction sheet), and modified it to be only one side.  If you would like my file it is available here (titled structure overview).

We read through this as a class and then I passed out talking about talking and started my timer.  As I walked around I tried to remember that I should NOT be intervening unless they were having trouble with the structure.  Here were my observations:

• I did not observe any group ALL DAY doing 3 rounds per statement
• Most groups did not do rounds
• Many did first round without becauses and then went back and said why after hearing from everyone
• Many were not taking turns
• Many students took more than one "turn" per "round" (not really turns or rounds the way students were doing it)
• Saw dialogue between two students while two were silent (groups of 4)

I pretty much felt like a failure.  I'm really not sure why it my students could get the structure from the handout, but I had to do a lot of intervening.  I tried to wait until the end of a round to really get insight into what the group was doing in order to push them the right direction.  I looked for things groups were doing correctly, too.  And all the way at the end of talking points I shared with the whole class the good things I saw each group doing.  (ie. "I saw table 4 reading the statement out loud.  Thanks table 4!")

I had a thought or two about never doing talking points again, but instead I knew I just needed to push it harder and help students focus better.  I came back the next day ready for more talking points and a little more prepared for how to support my students.  I gave the whole class one structural issue to focus on:  say your becauses, and then went around looking for that as well as the other things.  The next time we did talking points I focused on take turns in rounds.  Then finally three rounds per talking point.  Each time I reminded them of the previous expectations, but added one new thing.  This worked really well for me to focus on the good things that students were doing.

We have done talking points four times now, and my students are starting to get it figured out.  I still have some things to work on with them such as:

• some groups were doing all statements round 1, then all statements round 2, then all statements round 3
• most students do not interact much with each others thoughts unless they are "commenting"
• still see "popcorn" conversation rather than turns dictated by rounds
• a few groups think round 2 can go as long as they want, giving each student more than 1 turn in round 2
• Sometimes I hear a student asking "Do you still think ____?" which I do not like
• A few groups are still not tallying responses during round 3...I'm not exactly sure if they're just writing down their opinion, or if they are voting

So far I have done talking about talking, talking about listening, talking about questions, and talking about roles.  I have mine formatted a little differently than Elizabeth, just because my brain works differently than hers :)  I also always copy the self assessment to the back side and have groups do that together.

All of my files are in a google folder that you can access here.  If you download the file it will open in word.  Also there are many shared talking points available here.

Did anyone else experience my struggle with talking points?  If so, what have you done?  If not, how did you set your students up for success?

-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

Talking Points with my Family

I've been thinking a lot about talking points since #TMC14 and our #gwwg14 morning session.  Somehow I started wondering about what it would look like it a family setting.  So, I decided to try it!  It was a little like pulling teeth to get my 12-year-old on board today, but with him, myself,  and my husband we made a good group of 3 to try it out.

We started by going through the instructions and then started with "talking about talking".  Here are some of my observations:

• My 12-year-old's "becauses" were generally restatements of the statement
• My husband and I tended to agree
• Rarely did anyone change his/her mind
• We made it through about as many as I did with my peers at TMC
• I really wanted to convince them to think like me
• The 10 minutes went fast and everyone seemed willing to try more in about a week...even wanting to work on the same page
• We only came to a full consensus on one talking point

I'm trying to not evaluate these observations at this time, but I am trying to get rid of my attitude about wanting to change other peoples minds/attitudes.  If they are willing to try again, then I guess we will just see where this takes us.

-Kathryn

[Unit Overview] Polynomials

This is very old and thus is going to be mostly pictures since I already have them updated :)

Finding the Degree and Naming Polynomials:

We actually filled this in as much as we could and discussed why we couldn't really have a constant trinomial...

Adding and Subtracting Polynomials:  I wrote up some notes and passed around papers to groups so that they could put what they wanted into their notebooks.  There were also some practice problems and answers.

Then here is what my notebook pages looked like:

Multiplying Polynomials:  I demonstrated two methods for them to choose from.

This is my go-to style for practice problems

Factoring Polynomials:  We defined factor of a trinomial and did a few examples.  Prior to the examples we completed an exploration activity with multiplying polynomials finding b and c and then making observations.  I've done it twice now and it's pretty structured, but I think it's better than me just stating the pattern for them.

Well, that's my quick post that should have been completed in March or April :)  Enjoy!
-Kathryn

#TMC14 Things I Shared

Sarah Martin (@Sarah3Martin) and I met with the administrators from our school to share some of our highlights from #TMC14.  I figured I'd give an overview of the things I shared as it will be a good summary of TMC.

Talking Points (shared at TMC by Elizabeth)


Talking Points was the biggest take-away for me.  If you haven't already, please go here and print off the instructions and one of the talking points and find 2-3 other people and just DO IT!  I am so excited to try this in my classroom.  I love that talking points gives ALL students a voice and requires ALL students to listen to their peers.  This is something we need to teach to our students, and talking points is a great way to facilitate this.

Math Maintenance (shared at TMC by Kathryn @iisanumber)

Kathryn used Math Maintenance as bellwork, but I am seriously considering using it as homework this year.  It would help me to review older material with students regularly and to prepare them for what is coming in advance.  It might also help me prepare students for a re-assessment on an older learning target to ensure retention.

Here is Kathryn's post on Math Maintenance.

Desmos Lessons

I shared desmos.com and a little bit of what it can do as well as teacher.desmos.com.  Mostly I shared their vision for providing these things for free forever.  It isn't to the point yet where it can do everything I need, but the idea that there are people out there talented at creating this sort of thing for our students is awesome.  And I believe it really helped to demonstrate to my administrators what kind of people go to TMC.  It was a picture of how awesome our community was.

My Session

I shared a little with them about the session I led on intervention strategies.  I wanted them to know that I appreciate the opportunities they have given me, and that not all teachers get those opportunities, but those are signs of how we care for our students.

After hours productivity
One thing that makes TMC stand out from other conferences (not that I've been to a bunch of national math teacher conferences) was that the after hours talk was productive.  Outside of sessions it was always possible to find someone to discuss teaching math with you.  At breakfast, lunch, supper, and well into the night there was always a good conversation to be found.  And usually you had to choose which one you wanted to participate in the most, which was often a big challenge!

Sarah will be shared about Embodied Mathematics, plickers, Nix the Tricks, and Formative Assessment Strategies.

What was really cool about sharing with them was watching their attitudes change as they heard more about TMC.  They were willing to admit that "Twitter Math Camp" didn't sound like much more than a super-fun weekend with geeky people, but at the end they were astounded and excited by everything we had learned.  They were shocked by the wonderful community of math teachers that we have found and how that community can help us become better teachers.  I think each of them walked away with something that they were still pondering and wanting to share with others.  I call that a win!  (Even though they might still think we are strange for enjoying talking about teaching math every minute for 3 1/2 days!)

-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