We had our first test in Math Analysis this week and it was either up or down. Many students did very well, and many students did very poorly. As a teacher, I can usually sense that ahead of time... but since one of my goals for the class is that students take responsibility for themselves and learn how to value practice for learning rather than just practice for checking an assignment off a list, sometimes I have to wait until the students experience failure for them to learn. I can tell them day in and day out how to prepare and to take their assignments seriously, but it doesn't really hit them until they don't do well on an assessment and realize that something needs to change.
So, I am obviously disappointed that not all my students did great, but I think a lesson was learned. And, since my goal is learning, all students will be able to reassess for 100% credit on the exam. I think that many of them will begin to work on their habits of "playing school" and checking off assignments just to get credit... and hopefully start to figure out that true learning is what is important.
There is one thing I've done differently this year that I don't think helped this first situation - I am not checking or signing off homework on their WSQ charts at all this year. They still have them (don't forget you can purchase my WSQ chart templates from my new TpT store here!), and they are supposed to be getting them signed off by a partner in class (still keeping some level of accountability), but I found it to be such a stress and waste of my time to try to get around to sign off every students' chart last year that I chose to not do it. This means there are students who aren't finishing their practice work. But, I am hoping (sooner rather than later) that they find out that the practice work is beneficial to their learning and will lead them to success on the test. We will see how this pans out.
One thing that seems to be working well is my "not prepared" list. Students who don't do their WSQ before class simply put that day's date on the chart and head over to the side of the classroom to watch the lesson. They know that if they do it on their own (without me prompting them) they receive NO consequence. (Unless it becomes a daily habit, then I will discuss with that individual what is going on and talk about potential consequences). For the most part, the students are doing great at it and it's a stress relief for me.
On a totally random note, Dropbox camera upload sync is amazing. Students take a picture with the iPod, open the Dropbox app, and BOOM their pictures are on the three class laptops! Love it! This will be great once they start making their own videos as well.
So, I actually took pictures this week...but I used the iPods mentioned above. And synced them to the class laptops... and then cleared out the class Camera Uploads folder at the end of the week, deleting the pics I took as well. Fail. I'll try to get some more this next week :)
Short post, I know. And, it's not even color coded. But, it's a weekend and I'm having way too much fun spending time with my husband and amazing smart and cute 3 1/2 month old :)
Showing posts with label wsq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wsq. Show all posts
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
My new TpT store! - WSQ chart templates
After much cajoling from other teachers, I have made editable (.docx) templates of my current WSQ chart structure and put them on my *new* Teachers Pay Teachers page!
Check the set of 10 WSQ chart templates out here - they are currently on sale for 50% off for this week only!
Thanks for your support!
Check the set of 10 WSQ chart templates out here - they are currently on sale for 50% off for this week only!
Thanks for your support!
Week 3: Finally getting started!
This was our first full week of actually learning new content in the flipped classroom. Routines are slowly being put into place and students are coming along at different paces.
Every day when students come in, I have an agenda for the day that looks something like this. I edit the HOT questions right before class based on what I saw in the online WSQ.
We also review the WSQ expectations. They were given to them in detail here, and summarized on this slide:
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
My big focus for this year is having variety in the WSQ chats. Here is what we did this week:
Mon - Students had a WPP for this concept, so their WSQ chat was to partner up with someone in class and to go over their problem, work with each other to make sure they solved it correctly. They then had to post it on their blogs. Below are links to the MentorMob playlist that they embedded on their blogs.
SAMPLES OF FINISHED WPP'S (I just picked 3 random ones of varying performance)
Tues - Another WPP
SAMPLES OF FINISHED WPP'S (I just picked 3 random ones of varying performance)
Wed - We had the "Polynomial End Behavior Dance" (I'll have to post a video sometime, but I am still waiting to get it from my student) and then students were given 16 polynomials that they had to categorize, describe the categorization on a sticky note header, and then answer some questions when I came around to them. (Gosh why didn't I take pictures!!). I'll just say the dance was to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and it was pretty hilarious.
POLYNOMIAL END BEHAVIOR CARD SORT ACTIVITY
Thurs - We did a form of "Peer Instruction". I picked two problems and gave students time to solve the first one. Then I had them vote on answers A-E (A-D were real answers, E was chosen if they didn't yet have any of the answers. In two of the classes, 90% of the students got the correct answer to the first one within the time frame. So, the students who didn't were told to come to the U after the WSQ chat time (which they did and we went over it together). In the third class, it was still split about half and half so the students who chose the correct answer were told to get out of their seat and go help an "E". It was awesome! Students were up and moving around and found someone to help and they were explaining it. (Again, I should have taken pictures!)
The second problem I purposely chose to be tough and require something I didn't go over explicitly the night before. I gave the students two minutes and then purposely had them vote. 100% of the students were at answer E, which gave me the opportunity to explain that imaginary and irrational zeroes have to come in conjugate pairs. Then I gave them a few more minutes to finish the problem and had them vote again. Students who had it right moved on to the practice work, and students who were still struggling got help on finishing it correctly.
PEER INSTRUCTION PROBLEMS (I chose several in advance and then based on their WSQ responses chose the two - one from each concept - that I knew would be most beneficial to students.
Fri - We did a whole class activity on sketching polynomials based simply on their zeroes/multiplicities and end behavior. I put up a problem and students worked in groups to draw it. For the first problem, I purposely left out the end behavior and let students struggle for about a minute until a few raised their hands and told me I needed to give them more information.
Then, students had to create their own 4th degree polynomial by starting with the zeroes and working backwards. They were guided through the beginning and then in their groups had to work together to discuss and finish figuring it out.
SAMPLES OF FINISHED STUDENT PROBLEMS
(it's due Tuesday, so only 1 has been turned in so far)
Example 1
On Monday, they are going to do a card chain activity with polynomials. You can see that activity here.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I am having students submit their HOT questions both on the google form and write it on their SSS. So, in the morning I skim through and pick out 2-3 questions that are repeated often to decide on what needs to be focused on that day. Because they have them also written on their SSS, as I walk around that day, I can glance at the questions and make sure we have discussed them and students don't have any further questions. Many students are still not writing it on their SSS, but I keep emphasizing it so hopefully they will get in the habit soon.
If there are a few questions that stand out, we will go over them as a whole class before beginning the small group WSQ chat.
Their online WSQ form says this:
The part I’m most confused about is... - use this space to write your HOT question. OPTION 1: If there is something you are confused about, phrase it in the form of a question and write it here. OPTION 2: If there is nothing you are confused about, write a good discussion question for class tomorrow and write out a detailed answer to it. OPTION 3: A final option is to write your own example problem from this concept and solve it verbally step by step.
I've asked students to label their question as either "CONFUSION", "DISCUSSION" OR "EXAMPLE", and then I have some automatic color-coding going on so I can quickly and easily see how many of each I have and which questions are really the "confusing" ones I need to focus on.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
For students who don't come prepared, I have a roster tacked to the wall called the "not prepared" list. If students are not prepared, they simply put today's date next to their name and get on a computer. If they do that without asking, no worries, no consequence. If they wait until I find out they didn't do it, then there is a consequence. I have told students as long as it doesn't become a habit, it isn't a problem. Out of my 107 students, I have one who has been on the list 4 out of the 6 days and another 3 out of the 6 days. I've had individual conversations with those kids and hopefully they will figure it out soon that it's more beneficial to them to come to class prepared. We will see how the next week goes.
Many students have figured out they can finish their work and start the next video in class with the iPods if they manage their time well. Hopefully more and more students will realize this.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
In terms of adjusting to the flipped classroom, students are coming along. The biggest struggle they have is with the technology... not the WSQ part, since they did that over the summer for their review work, but in terms of creating their blog, uploading pictures, creating MentorMob playlists, etc. For some students, this is overwhelming. I don't know how I am going to adjust it for next year, but I need to. 50-60% of the students did it without any help beyond my instructions (see bit.ly/kirchblogsetup1 and bit.ly/kirchblogsetup for the instructions they are given). So, I don't think it's a good use of time to have the whole class go to the computer lab to learn how. I had a few days after school and mornings where I was available with computers in my room to help, and that put us up to about 80%. The remaining 20% (approximately) aren't really coming in for help and are complaining and then staying up hours upon hours at night trying to figure it out. I have tried to be explicitly clear in class that they are NOT to stay up struggling with the technology; if they can't figure it out then wait until the next day to do it together in class, but some students are refusing to do so and continue to stay up hours working on it. I'm not sure how to alleviate this issue, but I'm still working on it!
I ran into two of my students last year who are now in AP Calc and asked them about the blog stuff. They agreed that the first couple weeks is really hard but then it gets easy and it's not an issue for the rest of the year. I was glad to hear that from students who have actually experienced it because that is my perspective; it's just hard to get the current students to understand that.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I have really tried to amp up my Parent Communication this year. I am sending out a weekly newsletter update. I don't know how many parents are reading at this point, but at least I am trying to keep them informed. You can see my parent newsletters so far here.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks as students get used to the way things work in my classroom!
Every day when students come in, I have an agenda for the day that looks something like this. I edit the HOT questions right before class based on what I saw in the online WSQ.
We also review the WSQ expectations. They were given to them in detail here, and summarized on this slide:
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
My big focus for this year is having variety in the WSQ chats. Here is what we did this week:
Mon - Students had a WPP for this concept, so their WSQ chat was to partner up with someone in class and to go over their problem, work with each other to make sure they solved it correctly. They then had to post it on their blogs. Below are links to the MentorMob playlist that they embedded on their blogs.
SAMPLES OF FINISHED WPP'S (I just picked 3 random ones of varying performance)
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Tues - Another WPP
SAMPLES OF FINISHED WPP'S (I just picked 3 random ones of varying performance)
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Create your own Playlist on MentorMob!
Wed - We had the "Polynomial End Behavior Dance" (I'll have to post a video sometime, but I am still waiting to get it from my student) and then students were given 16 polynomials that they had to categorize, describe the categorization on a sticky note header, and then answer some questions when I came around to them. (Gosh why didn't I take pictures!!). I'll just say the dance was to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and it was pretty hilarious.
POLYNOMIAL END BEHAVIOR CARD SORT ACTIVITY
Thurs - We did a form of "Peer Instruction". I picked two problems and gave students time to solve the first one. Then I had them vote on answers A-E (A-D were real answers, E was chosen if they didn't yet have any of the answers. In two of the classes, 90% of the students got the correct answer to the first one within the time frame. So, the students who didn't were told to come to the U after the WSQ chat time (which they did and we went over it together). In the third class, it was still split about half and half so the students who chose the correct answer were told to get out of their seat and go help an "E". It was awesome! Students were up and moving around and found someone to help and they were explaining it. (Again, I should have taken pictures!)
The second problem I purposely chose to be tough and require something I didn't go over explicitly the night before. I gave the students two minutes and then purposely had them vote. 100% of the students were at answer E, which gave me the opportunity to explain that imaginary and irrational zeroes have to come in conjugate pairs. Then I gave them a few more minutes to finish the problem and had them vote again. Students who had it right moved on to the practice work, and students who were still struggling got help on finishing it correctly.
PEER INSTRUCTION PROBLEMS (I chose several in advance and then based on their WSQ responses chose the two - one from each concept - that I knew would be most beneficial to students.
Fri - We did a whole class activity on sketching polynomials based simply on their zeroes/multiplicities and end behavior. I put up a problem and students worked in groups to draw it. For the first problem, I purposely left out the end behavior and let students struggle for about a minute until a few raised their hands and told me I needed to give them more information.
Then, students had to create their own 4th degree polynomial by starting with the zeroes and working backwards. They were guided through the beginning and then in their groups had to work together to discuss and finish figuring it out.
SAMPLES OF FINISHED STUDENT PROBLEMS
(it's due Tuesday, so only 1 has been turned in so far)
Example 1
On Monday, they are going to do a card chain activity with polynomials. You can see that activity here.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I am having students submit their HOT questions both on the google form and write it on their SSS. So, in the morning I skim through and pick out 2-3 questions that are repeated often to decide on what needs to be focused on that day. Because they have them also written on their SSS, as I walk around that day, I can glance at the questions and make sure we have discussed them and students don't have any further questions. Many students are still not writing it on their SSS, but I keep emphasizing it so hopefully they will get in the habit soon.
If there are a few questions that stand out, we will go over them as a whole class before beginning the small group WSQ chat.
Their online WSQ form says this:
The part I’m most confused about is... - use this space to write your HOT question. OPTION 1: If there is something you are confused about, phrase it in the form of a question and write it here. OPTION 2: If there is nothing you are confused about, write a good discussion question for class tomorrow and write out a detailed answer to it. OPTION 3: A final option is to write your own example problem from this concept and solve it verbally step by step.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
For students who don't come prepared, I have a roster tacked to the wall called the "not prepared" list. If students are not prepared, they simply put today's date next to their name and get on a computer. If they do that without asking, no worries, no consequence. If they wait until I find out they didn't do it, then there is a consequence. I have told students as long as it doesn't become a habit, it isn't a problem. Out of my 107 students, I have one who has been on the list 4 out of the 6 days and another 3 out of the 6 days. I've had individual conversations with those kids and hopefully they will figure it out soon that it's more beneficial to them to come to class prepared. We will see how the next week goes.
Many students have figured out they can finish their work and start the next video in class with the iPods if they manage their time well. Hopefully more and more students will realize this.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
In terms of adjusting to the flipped classroom, students are coming along. The biggest struggle they have is with the technology... not the WSQ part, since they did that over the summer for their review work, but in terms of creating their blog, uploading pictures, creating MentorMob playlists, etc. For some students, this is overwhelming. I don't know how I am going to adjust it for next year, but I need to. 50-60% of the students did it without any help beyond my instructions (see bit.ly/kirchblogsetup1 and bit.ly/kirchblogsetup for the instructions they are given). So, I don't think it's a good use of time to have the whole class go to the computer lab to learn how. I had a few days after school and mornings where I was available with computers in my room to help, and that put us up to about 80%. The remaining 20% (approximately) aren't really coming in for help and are complaining and then staying up hours upon hours at night trying to figure it out. I have tried to be explicitly clear in class that they are NOT to stay up struggling with the technology; if they can't figure it out then wait until the next day to do it together in class, but some students are refusing to do so and continue to stay up hours working on it. I'm not sure how to alleviate this issue, but I'm still working on it!
I ran into two of my students last year who are now in AP Calc and asked them about the blog stuff. They agreed that the first couple weeks is really hard but then it gets easy and it's not an issue for the rest of the year. I was glad to hear that from students who have actually experienced it because that is my perspective; it's just hard to get the current students to understand that.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I have really tried to amp up my Parent Communication this year. I am sending out a weekly newsletter update. I don't know how many parents are reading at this point, but at least I am trying to keep them informed. You can see my parent newsletters so far here.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks as students get used to the way things work in my classroom!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Week 2: It all begins...
This was the second week of school, and we have officially now ended the "summer review" and have started the "real" flipped classroom. Friday was the first day, and overall it was really great. Here are some reflections:
1. Students were to watch Unit E Concept 1 before class on Friday. We had a review test on Thursday, so they were told this on Wednesday. I had a feeling many would forget, so I sent out a reminder on Edmodo. Regardless, out of my 107ish Math Analysis students, I had 65 submit the WSQ. Some students said they just forgot; others said they weren't really sure what they were supposed to do.
So, what did I do? Well, right when the students walked in if they did not have their WSQ submitted they were instructed to go off to the side of the classroom and not take a seat in their groups. This ranged anywhere from 10 kids to 20 kids in my 3 classes. I began class and went over the WSQ expectations for all the students and just reviewed what they were supposed to have done. I also went over the technology policies in class (laptops, iPods, personal devices).
Then, the students who were not prepared completed the WSQ in class, using one of many devices available to them. They were told that today's date (9/6) would be listed next to their name on the "Unprepared Roster" (still coming up with a good name for it, thinking something to do with Cheesebucket :)). If it only happens every so often, no biggie, just come in and take care of it. If it continually happens where they are behind, then there will be parent phone calls and other consequences.
I will keep reminding my students, "You can work ahead, but you can't fall behind"
2. I spent the rest of the period focusing on the students who came prepared. They got in (modified) groups and had their first WSQ chat. We did a short class review of the key vocabulary, and then I chose 4 HOT questions that the students came up with to go over with the class. I think that is what I'm going to do first this year. Then, they got into their activity today. My goal this year is to really come up with different activities for them to do during WSQ chat time. Today, they had to write their own quadratic equation to complete the square and put in graphable form, identifying all key parts (sorry if you're not a math person and I totally lost you!). This is something they are going to be posting on their blog as a "Student Problem". So, they worked with one another, each coming up with their own problem but checking with each other. Once that was complete, they could move on to the regular practice and other activities for that day.
3. Speaking of HOT questions, I was SO impressed with my students for the first submission. I would say 80% of them phrased their response in the form of a question and 100% of them ask a question (rather than saying "I understood everything"). I'm making them submit the question on the google form but also write it in their SSS packets on the corresponding concept's page. So, I can quickly skim through the questions before class to pick out 2-4 ones that seem to be repeated over and over again... then, as I walk around and work with students, I can glance at the question they have written down and make sure they got it answered. Hopefully the good questions will continue!
Other randomness:
1. I had one student ask me if she could work ahead. I said, "Of Course!" Later, I followed up with her and she said that she is super busy some nights with Marching Band practice and it would be nice to not have to do homework that night. I explained that she can get it done as early as she wants, and that some busy students would do all the WSQs for the week on the weekend and have nothing to do during the week. She thought that was awesome! :)
2. I FINALLY figured out how to make the iPods more useful. Last year I could not figure out for the life of me how to get pics and vids off of the iPods in an efficient manner. YouTube upload was blocked, I couldn't email pictures from the iPods because of the way they were configured... it was annoying. Well, last week I came up with the brilliant idea of having a class dropbox account installed on the class laptops, and having every iPod sync with that dropbox account. How did I not think of this before? Now, when any student takes a pic or vid on any of the 14 iPods, it syncs automatically to the three class laptops and they can get the file to put straight onto their blog. Woo hoo!
I'm looking forward to a full week of flipping coming up and hope to see improvement in the student's completion of the WSQs, now that they know what to expect, and continued goodness in the questioning and focus in class time!
1. Students were to watch Unit E Concept 1 before class on Friday. We had a review test on Thursday, so they were told this on Wednesday. I had a feeling many would forget, so I sent out a reminder on Edmodo. Regardless, out of my 107ish Math Analysis students, I had 65 submit the WSQ. Some students said they just forgot; others said they weren't really sure what they were supposed to do.
So, what did I do? Well, right when the students walked in if they did not have their WSQ submitted they were instructed to go off to the side of the classroom and not take a seat in their groups. This ranged anywhere from 10 kids to 20 kids in my 3 classes. I began class and went over the WSQ expectations for all the students and just reviewed what they were supposed to have done. I also went over the technology policies in class (laptops, iPods, personal devices).
Then, the students who were not prepared completed the WSQ in class, using one of many devices available to them. They were told that today's date (9/6) would be listed next to their name on the "Unprepared Roster" (still coming up with a good name for it, thinking something to do with Cheesebucket :)). If it only happens every so often, no biggie, just come in and take care of it. If it continually happens where they are behind, then there will be parent phone calls and other consequences.
I will keep reminding my students, "You can work ahead, but you can't fall behind"
2. I spent the rest of the period focusing on the students who came prepared. They got in (modified) groups and had their first WSQ chat. We did a short class review of the key vocabulary, and then I chose 4 HOT questions that the students came up with to go over with the class. I think that is what I'm going to do first this year. Then, they got into their activity today. My goal this year is to really come up with different activities for them to do during WSQ chat time. Today, they had to write their own quadratic equation to complete the square and put in graphable form, identifying all key parts (sorry if you're not a math person and I totally lost you!). This is something they are going to be posting on their blog as a "Student Problem". So, they worked with one another, each coming up with their own problem but checking with each other. Once that was complete, they could move on to the regular practice and other activities for that day.
3. Speaking of HOT questions, I was SO impressed with my students for the first submission. I would say 80% of them phrased their response in the form of a question and 100% of them ask a question (rather than saying "I understood everything"). I'm making them submit the question on the google form but also write it in their SSS packets on the corresponding concept's page. So, I can quickly skim through the questions before class to pick out 2-4 ones that seem to be repeated over and over again... then, as I walk around and work with students, I can glance at the question they have written down and make sure they got it answered. Hopefully the good questions will continue!
Other randomness:
1. I had one student ask me if she could work ahead. I said, "Of Course!" Later, I followed up with her and she said that she is super busy some nights with Marching Band practice and it would be nice to not have to do homework that night. I explained that she can get it done as early as she wants, and that some busy students would do all the WSQs for the week on the weekend and have nothing to do during the week. She thought that was awesome! :)
2. I FINALLY figured out how to make the iPods more useful. Last year I could not figure out for the life of me how to get pics and vids off of the iPods in an efficient manner. YouTube upload was blocked, I couldn't email pictures from the iPods because of the way they were configured... it was annoying. Well, last week I came up with the brilliant idea of having a class dropbox account installed on the class laptops, and having every iPod sync with that dropbox account. How did I not think of this before? Now, when any student takes a pic or vid on any of the 14 iPods, it syncs automatically to the three class laptops and they can get the file to put straight onto their blog. Woo hoo!
I'm looking forward to a full week of flipping coming up and hope to see improvement in the student's completion of the WSQs, now that they know what to expect, and continued goodness in the questioning and focus in class time!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Reflections on Week 16 (Three thoughts for a three-day weekend)
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| https://openclipart.org/image/300px/svg_to_png/176652/3_THREE.png |
Other posts from the week:
1. Flipped Class Webinar - Take Two!
2. Monday's #flipclass chat - ideas to ponder
3. Three students that struggle in my #flipclass
- I'm LOVING having students submit their WSQs electronically instead of handwritten. There is more accountability for them and more feedback for me. I am making them resubmit the WSQs until they are correct, so that motivates them to get it right the first time and really pay attention to the video. It is a little tedious with the resubmits, but because they are all online through a Google Doc, I can do a few here and a few there and it doesn't turn into too big of a deal. Also, I can choose which WSQs are "Mandatory Resubmissions" (or even which QUESTIONS are mandatory resubmissions) if I want to lower the amount of "re-grading" time that I have.
- What I love best about the Online WSQs
- More accountability for them - I can and do read every response so they can't just write "crap" down in their notebooks and hope I don't spend too much time at their group that day. Also, they have the accountability that they have to be complete AND correct in their responses or they will be resubmitting.
- More feedback for me - I know BEFORE they come to class exactly where the misconceptions are. I have about 45/70 students submit the WSQ before 7:30am, and the rest submit it in the morning, during homeroom, or during lunch. So, although I don't get to read through all of them before class time, I do get a pretty good grasp about where the tricky parts are and how they are doing.
- It guides class instruction if needed - based on the responses, I can decide to do a 5-minute mini lecture, or do a sample problem as a class, or change up how/what I want them to focus on during their WSQ discussions. It's great feedback as a whole. On Monday of this week, only 7 of the students got all 7 "Secret Questions" right... and about 15 students got all of them wrong. So, their WSQ chat actually turned into them re-working through the Secret Questions together and figuring out where they went wrong. It was actually very helpful. I had the 7 "perfect" students still re-work through them with their groups, both as the "experts" and to make sure they really knew what they were doing and didn't guess. In hindsight, that was a good and a bad thing. I think it was a positive experience for them, but it did "hold them back" if they were ready to move on, which is one of my goals NOT to do with the Flipped Classroom.
- To work on and tweak with online WSQs:
- Students need to handwrite their question ("Q") and bring to class. I have often forgotten to do anything with the questions now that students don't have anything written in front of them.
- One of the "hidden" goals of the WSQ is to have the students working on their writing skills in my class. I need to train/teach and then hold the students to a higher level of expectation in terms of typing online - I still want complete sentences and coherent thoughts, not just short, quick answers.
- Ideas for next year with the online WSQ
- IF we are able to use the iPad lab in my class, students could submit the WSQ online and then just open the Google Doc up to talk through their answers in class. Then, they have access to not only THEIR answers, but EVERYONE'S answers from Math Analysis! I think that would be a great collaboration tool.
- I am in the process of getting a lot of end-of-year feedback:
- "Flipped Classroom Reflection Interview" - all of my students are answering nine questions about the flipped classroom both in typing and then on video interview. For the students that allow me to use their video in public, the interviews will be posted here on my blog. Four of them are already up in a previous post, and I am editing more as they get filmed (a few a day until our June 14th last day of school!). I will try to post a few more later this weekend. Once I get all the students' videos edited, I will be putting together a "highlight reel" for each question to use in my class next year as an intro to the Flipped Classroom.
- "Flipped Classroom Parent Survey" - I am having my parents fill out a short survey about the Flipped Classroom. I just realized now that I never actually sent home the "letter to parents" to my Math Analysis students because we just kind of transitioned to the Flipped Classroom. With my Algebra 1's, it was a hard and fast change, so they got a letter sent home. I sent the letter out to my Math Analysis parents electronically via Edmodo, but I'm finding out now that several of them never accessed it at all. But, they never asked me any questions all semester via email, edmodo, phone, etc... so I leave that on them at this point.
- "End of Year Survey" - This is a survey I do every year (tweaked a little bit each year) to get feedback on everything we've done this year, not just the Flipped Classroom (only the last page refers to the Flipped Classroom). Some years I do it anonymously; this year I chose not to. I feel like I have developed an open and honest relationship with my students where they can tell me the truth even if it's not positive. [Please note: to see the whole survey, you will have to click through the questions because they are "mandatory" completion. Go for it if you choose, just don't click "submit" on the very last page and I'll never know the difference!]
- Sharing, sharing, sharing!
- On Tuesday, I had a day of meetings with the rest of the Math Department Chairs in my district. I am "officially" presenting my Flipped Classroom to them on our June 7th monthly meeting, but it got brought up and we spent lunch talking about it and sharing. One of the other math teachers has been experimenting with "video instruction" for the last chapter or so of his Geometry class. I shared about the WSQ, Sophia.org for lesson organization, MentorMob for curating content, student-created videos, and how the focus of the flipped classroom needs to be OFF the videos and more on the class environment and how that is changing.
- On Thursday, I was honored to host about ten visitors from two different high schools (both from more than an hour away!!!). They observed my first class (which, due to it being an assembly day, was only 37 minutes instead of 54) and then we were able to just chat for about two hours (being an assembly day and not having a homeroom = I had lots of time!). They had a lot of questions and it was just an informal Q&A session about anything they wanted to discuss. It was really neat because from one high school, the principal, a social science teacher, a couple science teachers, and a couple math teachers were able to come. It was great to have a variety of subject areas all interested in how the flipped classroom could make a difference with their students.
I have found that it is hard to motivate kids when you are exhausted yourself. On Thursday and Friday, I was EXHAUSTED. More so than I think I have ever been. With so much on my plate the last month above and beyond my normal teaching duties, I have worn myself out.
Luckily I have great kids who can just go with the flow and will work hard when I have an "off day". I went home Thursday and took a nap... Friday I just had the kids working independently and silently, which they did a great job with. We left town on Friday afternoon and am enjoying a long weekend at my parents house in the small town I grew up in. It's quiet, calm, and peaceful...and I'm loving it!
13 more wake-ups until summer break!
Out of those school days:
-I am pulled out for meetings for two of them
-Two of them are Friday modified days (out at 12:30)
-Three of them are Finals modified days (out at 12:30)
So, I have 6 "regular" school days left until summer :)
What I am looking forward to most about Summer 2012
Personally:
- Not waking up to an alarm clock. I have been sleep deprived this year. It's not fun and it's not healthy. I am looking forward to getting back on a regular sleeping schedule and carrying that over to the new school year.
- Continuing with my weight loss - I am 10 pounds away from being back at my wedding weight, and I'd love to celebrate our 5-year anniversary back where I've been trying to get for the last four years :) Speaking of our 5-year anniversary, hopefully we will find something fun to do to celebrate. We were planning a big trip, but then my younger sister decided to get married in Florida with two months notice and that kind of turned into an "early" 5-year anniversary trip to DisneyWorld. I'm not complaining :)
- Spending more time with friends and family - I am looking forward to spending more time hanging out, going to the beach, playing tennis, going on walks/runs, reading, shopping, cooking, etc. I want to start exercising consistently again and get my tone back.
- I have a goal of 70 books this year, and right now I believe I'm on book 22. I read a lot of novels, so over the summer I will probably read 2-3 a week - they are fiction novels though and pretty easy/fun to get through. I have (not kidding here) probably 50-60 books sitting on my bookshelf just waiting to be read... so I'm exciting to curl up with a good book :) [I get most of my books from garage sales, thrift stores, bargain bins, or from amazon.com/half.com super cheap].
Professionally:
- ISTE 2012 in San Diego! I will be driving the hour down south with 3 other ladies from my school and I am so excited for the entire conference... I wish there were three of me so I could attend all the sessions I want to
- FlipCon12 "virtually" - can't fly to Chicago, so I'll be attending the virtual conference... some live, some I will probably watch throughout the summer. Super excited!
- Getting my Flipped Classroom videos recorded for the first few months of school from when I still taught traditionally. Most of Math Analysis needs to be done in the first 2 weeks of summer because it is now a part of the "summer packet" for my incoming students. (see kirchmathanalysis.blogspot.com)
- Get my class blogs set up for next year (Math Analysis already partially set up; get Algebra 1 put together)
- Finishing my final edits of my curriculum that has been 4 years in development. Possibly putting it online somewhere like teacherspayteachers? (If anyone has used that, let me know your thoughts... everyone who uses my stuff tells me I need to start selling it.)
- Go through all my posts from this year and make notes about what I want to think about, change, tweak, etc, and start getting all those thoughts put together in an organized fashion. I am so thankful I chose to take the time to blog through this entire journey because it has been so helpful for me!
- Update the flippedclassroomdata.blogspot.com site with all the new submissions to the survey that have been received since it was initially published on April 4th. It's been put on the backburner for a while now :)
This week marked my four-month BLOGAVERSARY, and I celebrated with 50 followers and over 26,000 views! Amazing what can happen in four short months...
It's also hard to believe there will only be two (or three, if I choose to blog on Finals week) reflection posts left... then A LOT of student/parent feedback posts once I get them all organized... then who knows?
What should I blog about next year?
Like I've said over and over again, this blog has been indispensable to my professional development. I'm thinking I will continue reflecting on my journey as a "flipper" because in Year 2, I am almost certain I will learn just as much if not more than year " . 5". We'll see where this leads! :)
Friday, May 18, 2012
Reflections on Week 15 (starting to wrap things up!)
It's hard to believe there are officially 3 weeks left of school (and then finals week). I say this every year, but this year flew by! This is the point of the year right now that I get to every year - I am excited about finishing strong, but my mind is constantly bombarded with new ideas and what I want to change or try for next year. I have been able to have some good conversations with some of my students about the Flipped Class and come up with some good thoughts for next year. I am VERY excited to start a school year flipped from the beginning!
I had three visitors from our District Office come and visit one of my class periods on Monday, and it was very exciting to share with them what I have been doing. They were very excited and impressed with the level of engagement of the students and the focus/on-task behavior that they saw. It is really cool to me to think "that's just normal" now for my classroom. Students are generally engaged, focused, and on-task for the majority of the period and classroom management is not that big of a deal. I am hoping they might do some district-wide training on the flipped classroom next school year that I will be able to be a part of! Yay!
Also, I will get to present my flipped classroom at our next Department Chair meeting in June! I am doing a "flipped" presentation - the other chairs will be watching my webinar before the meeting and send me questions they have. Then, the 20 minutes I would normally have to present/discuss the flipped classroom will be spent all on discussions, questions, and ideas! I'm excited!
Oh, and speaking of my webinar, if you missed my first one, I will be doing another one on June 12th at 4pm PST. It will be the same presentation, but if you missed it the first time, hopefully you can join in this time live!
*Each
week, I spend some time personally reflecting on the week - what I did,
what worked, what didn't, what I liked, what I didn't, etc. I try to
organize my reflections in a similar manner each week, since they do get
pretty long: (1) Math Analysis; (2) Algebra; (3) Sharing and
Collaboration; (4) Other Thoughts; (5) Running lists (Things I've
heard this week that I love; Characteristics and qualities of my flipped
classroom that I want to keep; Changes I've made this week that I like;
Ideas I'm still contemplating and experimenting with). I hope
these reflections give you insight into my classroom and give you some
ideas to try in your own flipped classroom. I appreciate any comments,
feedback, ideas, and follow-ups that you provide, so please comment and
join in on the conversation!
For
those of you who read my weekly reflections consistently, you will
notice a change this week compared to the past. These posts will be shorter with links to more detailed external posts on specific topics.
I was finding (for myself) that it was hard for me to go back and find a
previous post on a specific topic because it was hidden among a huge
weekly reflection. So, hopefully this will alleviate that problem.
Other posts from this week:
1. Frustration rant about student responsibility and motivation here.
2. Some more end of year thoughts and reflections here.
3. My weekly #flipclass chat random musings post... things that stuck out to me and what I want to think about further. This week's chat was on incorporating reading and writing strategies into every content class. Post here.
4. A post about a speech I gave to my Frosh/Soph Algebra 1 classes about self-assessment and evaluation. Our new phrase in class is, "Oh yeah, I get it now". Post here.
5. Round 1 of "End of Year Student Interviews". I am having all of my students interview on video answering 9 questions about the flipped classroom. The questions they are answering are here and the first student video is here.
6. What will you miss the most about #flipclass? What part did you enjoy the most? Student answers here.
7. Three types of students that struggle in my #flipclass. Do you have any of these students in your class? Post here.
2. Some more end of year thoughts and reflections here.
3. My weekly #flipclass chat random musings post... things that stuck out to me and what I want to think about further. This week's chat was on incorporating reading and writing strategies into every content class. Post here.
4. A post about a speech I gave to my Frosh/Soph Algebra 1 classes about self-assessment and evaluation. Our new phrase in class is, "Oh yeah, I get it now". Post here.
5. Round 1 of "End of Year Student Interviews". I am having all of my students interview on video answering 9 questions about the flipped classroom. The questions they are answering are here and the first student video is here.
6. What will you miss the most about #flipclass? What part did you enjoy the most? Student answers here.
7. Three types of students that struggle in my #flipclass. Do you have any of these students in your class? Post here.
Math Analysis
1. WSQ resubmissions
2. Senioritis and the Flipped Class
3. Final Exam Idea
4. Summer Excitement!
1. WSQ resubmissions
I continued to require WSQ resubmissions for incorrect and incomplete answers. I really like how this makes the WSQ an even greater accountability tool for students. Here is the general process.
I continued to require WSQ resubmissions for incorrect and incomplete answers. I really like how this makes the WSQ an even greater accountability tool for students. Here is the general process.
- Students submit their WSQ electronically. The WSQ includes their "summary" (answering specific questions I ask), their own HOT question (with what they think the answer is if they have an idea), and their answers to the "Secret Questions" I have them answer. I have started to ALWAYS give the students between 2-5 problems to try on their own after each video as a way to self-assess.
- After submitting, students are given the link to the spreadsheet that will show all student responses, in addition to my "perfect" response at the top of the page. There are also sometimes links to short video explanations of the "Secret Question" problems in case they got them wrong.
- Students can read through their classmates responses and figure out where they might have had misconceptions or did not fully answer the question. I am able to make comments immediately on student responses, and color code their names to let them know their "level" (Green = clear, Pink = wrong answers, Yellow = incomplete answers).
- Students must resubmit their answers to any box that is not Green as soon as possible (by the end of the Unit is my deadline). They can do it in two ways: in person by explaining it to me during class or by sending me a note on Edmodo. Regardless, when they resubmit, they must also explain their answer in more detail and explain their misconception or where they went off track the time before. This is because they basically have the right answers in front of them now so they have to do more than just copy the correct answers that are already there. I add a column called "corrections" where their corrected answered are copied into.
2. Senioritis and the Flipped Class
This is the point of the year where my seniors in Math Analysis have major struggles with senioritis. They have less than 3 weeks of school left and none of them need my class to graduate. So, they would much rather slack and not watch the videos at home and then not be productive in class. I remember how I felt my senior year when graduation was so close, so I do feel for them a bit. But, at the same time, I wish I knew a cure for senioritis...
This is the point of the year where my seniors in Math Analysis have major struggles with senioritis. They have less than 3 weeks of school left and none of them need my class to graduate. So, they would much rather slack and not watch the videos at home and then not be productive in class. I remember how I felt my senior year when graduation was so close, so I do feel for them a bit. But, at the same time, I wish I knew a cure for senioritis...
3. Final Exam Idea
My students already took the first part of their Final Exam before our State Testing at the beginning of this month. So, they are just supposed to take a "mini-final" at the end of the year covering the last 6 units of the year. Because our seniors take finals a week early, it completely throws off the schedule because my class is mixed juniors/seniors. In the past, we have always had the seniors take the finals on their day, and the juniors do so during the real "finals week". I really want to do something different this year and have the juniors and seniors take the final on the same day, and do something different with the juniors for the 2 hour "final exam" time period.
So, I've been running some ideas through my head for what to do for the "final", especially since it's actually the seniors last day on campus and I usually do a big "farewell, good wishes, share about your future" sendoff day. They still need to take some sort of "final" exam though.
Any ideas for "non-traditional" final exams? I don't have any ideas fully formulated yet to share, but I'd love to hear if you have tried anything "different"
4. Summer Excitement! My students already took the first part of their Final Exam before our State Testing at the beginning of this month. So, they are just supposed to take a "mini-final" at the end of the year covering the last 6 units of the year. Because our seniors take finals a week early, it completely throws off the schedule because my class is mixed juniors/seniors. In the past, we have always had the seniors take the finals on their day, and the juniors do so during the real "finals week". I really want to do something different this year and have the juniors and seniors take the final on the same day, and do something different with the juniors for the 2 hour "final exam" time period.
So, I've been running some ideas through my head for what to do for the "final", especially since it's actually the seniors last day on campus and I usually do a big "farewell, good wishes, share about your future" sendoff day. They still need to take some sort of "final" exam though.
Any ideas for "non-traditional" final exams? I don't have any ideas fully formulated yet to share, but I'd love to hear if you have tried anything "different"
I am VERY excited for the "summer #flipclass" our incoming students will be doing. We always give our kids summer packets for Honors/AP classes, and I never felt they were as useful as they could be because students wouldn't really do them. So, we haven't done them the last 2 summers for Math Analysis. But, now that we are going to incorporate the use of Videos, modified WSQs, and online support throughout the summer, I really think it will go well. We are doing this for two reasons:
1. The first chapter of Math Analysis is actually usually skipped because it is Algebra 2 skills. However, we normally spend a month on it. Our students come in, think this class is a piece of cake, spend little to no time on homework, get into bad habits, and then get hit really hard come a month into school when they realize this math class is actually difficult. We want to avoid that by starting off running.
2. There are several chapters we have actually had to skip (polar, parametric, matrix operations, vectors, 3-D graphing, conic rotation, etc) because we don't have enough time to cover them. I would love to have the extra three weeks we would gain back to spend more time on our current content and start teaching some of the stuff we had to leave out again!
Algebra 1
1. "Oh Yeah, I get it now"
2. Students back to Chapter 1 and 2
1. "Oh Yeah, I get it now"
See my "speech" here. This is one of my biggest frustrations/concerns with my Algebra 1 kids. They seriously just lie to themselves and they don't realize it. If there is one thing "non-math" I really want my students to learn from my class, it's how to self-evaluate correctly and how to learn. A lot of my students really seemed to get a lot from my "speech", as they have talked to me about it every day. However, changing their mindset and the way they've always gone about doing things is not a one-day or one-week change. It's going to take a while. I only hope I provide a step in the right direction for them.
2. Students back to Chapter 1 and 2See my "speech" here. This is one of my biggest frustrations/concerns with my Algebra 1 kids. They seriously just lie to themselves and they don't realize it. If there is one thing "non-math" I really want my students to learn from my class, it's how to self-evaluate correctly and how to learn. A lot of my students really seemed to get a lot from my "speech", as they have talked to me about it every day. However, changing their mindset and the way they've always gone about doing things is not a one-day or one-week change. It's going to take a while. I only hope I provide a step in the right direction for them.
At this point, all of my students below a 40% are in a completely separate group in my classroom, working on basic operations from Chapter 1. My goal is that they are prepared well to hopefully succeed in Algebra 1 next year. This whole experience makes me really consider the thought of a Flipped-Mastery Model. Why are students allowed to move on to a harder chapter when they haven't mastered the pre-requisite skills. I'm not sure if I'm ready to try this on a large-scale for next year, but it will definitely be in the back of my mind for my struggling learners. Having all the lessons on video will be a huge asset. We'll see how my thoughts develop on this...
Sharing and Collaboration
I love my #flipclass and blogging community. Have I said that lately? You are all amazing and so valuable in my professional development as a flipping teacher!! THANK YOU!
If you haven't checked out my Blogroll on the right hand side of other flipping teachers, do so! It is only through sharing and community that we learn and grow! Also, be sure to use #flipclass on twitter to join in the conversation. If you are a "flipper" and a "blogger" and don't see your blog on the right, please let me know. I would love to follow you and read up on your experiences!
Every
Monday there is a #flipclass chat on Twitter (8pm EST). Check it out
and join in. Connect with @bennettscience to find out more.
I love my #flipclass and blogging community. Have I said that lately? You are all amazing and so valuable in my professional development as a flipping teacher!! THANK YOU!
If you haven't checked out my Blogroll on the right hand side of other flipping teachers, do so! It is only through sharing and community that we learn and grow! Also, be sure to use #flipclass on twitter to join in the conversation. If you are a "flipper" and a "blogger" and don't see your blog on the right, please let me know. I would love to follow you and read up on your experiences!
Other Thoughts
Found this on my desk Thursday after school. Still have no idea who put it there, but it made me smile :)
THINGS I'VE HEARD THIS WEEK THAT I LOVE:
From my student's weekly reflections:
From my student's weekly reflections:
- Just want to say that you're so awesome Mrs. Kirch! You're starting a revolution!
- XD thank you for caring and being like a chittah! :) can be rough but you do it cause you know its for our own good. thank you for a being a great teacher! ^_^
CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITIES OF MY FLIPPED CLASSROOM THAT I WANT TO KEEP (this list is now kept on a separate page here and is updated weekly)
CHANGES I'VE MADE THIS WEEK THAT I LIKE:
nothing brand new :)
IDEAS I'M STILL CONTEMPLATING & EXPERIMENTING WITH (running list each week with updates):
1.
Coming up with a list of "key questions" myself for each concept to
have handy to ask students, to have students discuss in groups, and to
show students what "good, HOT questions"
look like and sound like (modeling)... This will be tied in with the
"Guided Summary" I will be starting to try out. I think this is going
to be put off in its entirety until this summer.
2. Begin coming up with activities students can do to apply their knowledge or practice their knowledge in different ways once they get the basics. Again, this is something I think may just start to happen over the summer or next year since right now it's just crazy.
2. Begin coming up with activities students can do to apply their knowledge or practice their knowledge in different ways once they get the basics. Again, this is something I think may just start to happen over the summer or next year since right now it's just crazy.
Thoughts, comments, ideas, your own experiences? Please share!!!
All Reflections from This Year can be Found Here.
All Reflections from This Year can be Found Here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
#flipclass chat Random Musings... (ideas for next year)
Thoughts spurred from the chat tonight on reading/writing strategies.
Ideas for next year:
1. Vary submission of WSQs from Online (Google Form), Handwritten, and Student Blog. I have started keeping track of student submissions on a Google Spreadsheet and making them resubmit until they are "approved". If they don't get approved on the first submission, they can do a resubmission either by typing it, doing a quick in person interview with me, or submitting a quick webcam interview. Students have until the end of the CHAPTER (instead of the end of the week) to get all WSQs for that chapter approved. It's like part of their "I'm ready for the test" checklist. If the WSQ is handwritten, it must actually be submitted so there is accountability that "I WILL read it". Student Blogs would be more for summary WSQs or just overall unit reflections (separate from WSQ). I still want to look into what I want to do with student blogs- I think I want more "big picture" reflections, summaries, student videos, etc on there.
*Is this idea for just Math Analysis, or would it work with my 9th/10th grade Algebra students? Is it too much responsibility for them to handle, or is it worth a try?
*Model what I am looking for in WSQ submissions. Complete sentences, summaries, detailed answers, specifics, etc... not just 5 word sentence fragment answers like many of them give me, especially online. Forcing them to resubmit helps with this.
*Can I incorporate more online DISCUSSION with students through the use of blogs?
*Can I utilize the "chat rooms" I've done for test review to have class discussion? Where would I host that (want similar feature to Google Docs chat like I've done, but without anonymity).
2. Make WSQ charts for each UNIT instead of each week. Include concept quizzes on the WSQ chart as something that must be "signed off". ALL ASSIGNMENTS on WSQ chart must be completed. (This year they can miss one assignment a week and not receive "school-wide punishment"... I feel like every assignment I assign is valuable and needed so I don't like that rule). If a student is falling behind, find out what is going on and provide schedule to catch up. If student fails to follow through, then "school-wide punishment" can occur. (Still really have to think through this one with our school's policies...).
-If WSQs are submitted online and kept track of via Google Spreadsheet, I don't need the WSQ boxes on the WSQ chart to sign off individually in class (and that takes a lot of time as well!). I would just "sign off" the assignments/learning activities that are completed. This may reformat what the WSQ chart looks like for next year...
*I want to do this with both my classes, but my Algebra kids need more daily accountability or they will fall behind. How do I balance this?
3. Do something more/better with the Question part of the WSQ. The summary is a great reflective/processing tool, and now I am also using it as a formative assessment since students have to keep resubmitting until they get it right (learning, hopefully!). The question part needs to be utilized better in class. I need to come up with different "activities" and ways to utilize the questions to spur on discussion in class (stuff with whiteboards, sticky notes, musical share, carousel, etc is coming to mind). Maybe have the Questions ALWAYS be handwritten and that is turned in daily? That is a lot of paper... hmmmm... I definitely won't go through those daily. Maybe have a "question journal" that they write their questions and answers in? Need to see samples from @math_johnson with his journals and see what I want to do with that. I just know I need to do a better job with actually utilizing the questions. I have allowed myself to be satisfied with "crappy" answers this year even though I say that isn't okay. How can I stand firm in that and not only challenge students to ask good questions (THIS REQUIRES TEACHING AND MODELING!!!) but also to get good, detailed, solid answers.
4. Curate more content... videos, demos, ARTICLES, etc that I can tie into the content to bring life and variety to it. Have my students thinking critically about the math, but also how it applies in real-life situations.
5. Written portion to tests. Get students used to writing and having to explain their work. They will complain, I know, but they should get used to it.
6. Continued use of student-created videos to a certain extent for EVERY chapter, even in Algebra 1. With our new school iPad lab, this will be made easier.
7. Two websites to look at
Ideas for next year:
1. Vary submission of WSQs from Online (Google Form), Handwritten, and Student Blog. I have started keeping track of student submissions on a Google Spreadsheet and making them resubmit until they are "approved". If they don't get approved on the first submission, they can do a resubmission either by typing it, doing a quick in person interview with me, or submitting a quick webcam interview. Students have until the end of the CHAPTER (instead of the end of the week) to get all WSQs for that chapter approved. It's like part of their "I'm ready for the test" checklist. If the WSQ is handwritten, it must actually be submitted so there is accountability that "I WILL read it". Student Blogs would be more for summary WSQs or just overall unit reflections (separate from WSQ). I still want to look into what I want to do with student blogs- I think I want more "big picture" reflections, summaries, student videos, etc on there.
*Is this idea for just Math Analysis, or would it work with my 9th/10th grade Algebra students? Is it too much responsibility for them to handle, or is it worth a try?
*Model what I am looking for in WSQ submissions. Complete sentences, summaries, detailed answers, specifics, etc... not just 5 word sentence fragment answers like many of them give me, especially online. Forcing them to resubmit helps with this.
*Can I incorporate more online DISCUSSION with students through the use of blogs?
*Can I utilize the "chat rooms" I've done for test review to have class discussion? Where would I host that (want similar feature to Google Docs chat like I've done, but without anonymity).
2. Make WSQ charts for each UNIT instead of each week. Include concept quizzes on the WSQ chart as something that must be "signed off". ALL ASSIGNMENTS on WSQ chart must be completed. (This year they can miss one assignment a week and not receive "school-wide punishment"... I feel like every assignment I assign is valuable and needed so I don't like that rule). If a student is falling behind, find out what is going on and provide schedule to catch up. If student fails to follow through, then "school-wide punishment" can occur. (Still really have to think through this one with our school's policies...).
-If WSQs are submitted online and kept track of via Google Spreadsheet, I don't need the WSQ boxes on the WSQ chart to sign off individually in class (and that takes a lot of time as well!). I would just "sign off" the assignments/learning activities that are completed. This may reformat what the WSQ chart looks like for next year...
*I want to do this with both my classes, but my Algebra kids need more daily accountability or they will fall behind. How do I balance this?
3. Do something more/better with the Question part of the WSQ. The summary is a great reflective/processing tool, and now I am also using it as a formative assessment since students have to keep resubmitting until they get it right (learning, hopefully!). The question part needs to be utilized better in class. I need to come up with different "activities" and ways to utilize the questions to spur on discussion in class (stuff with whiteboards, sticky notes, musical share, carousel, etc is coming to mind). Maybe have the Questions ALWAYS be handwritten and that is turned in daily? That is a lot of paper... hmmmm... I definitely won't go through those daily. Maybe have a "question journal" that they write their questions and answers in? Need to see samples from @math_johnson with his journals and see what I want to do with that. I just know I need to do a better job with actually utilizing the questions. I have allowed myself to be satisfied with "crappy" answers this year even though I say that isn't okay. How can I stand firm in that and not only challenge students to ask good questions (THIS REQUIRES TEACHING AND MODELING!!!) but also to get good, detailed, solid answers.
4. Curate more content... videos, demos, ARTICLES, etc that I can tie into the content to bring life and variety to it. Have my students thinking critically about the math, but also how it applies in real-life situations.
5. Written portion to tests. Get students used to writing and having to explain their work. They will complain, I know, but they should get used to it.
6. Continued use of student-created videos to a certain extent for EVERY chapter, even in Algebra 1. With our new school iPad lab, this will be made easier.
7. Two websites to look at
http://betterexplained.com/ (possible math articles to use)
http://bullis.haikulearning.com/roshast/apcalculusaab/cms_page/view/1458845 (examples of student created videos in AP Calc)
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Reflections on Week 11 (Crazy but More Than Satisfied...)
What I saw this week was phenomenal.
If you walked into my Math Analysis classroom on Wednesday, you would probably wonder "what the heck is going on here?". Out of my 37 students, I had about 15 in my classroom, 15 in the lounge behind my classroom, and the rest in the classroom next door since that teacher was on prep. At one point, I stood in the middle of the three locations (I could stand in one place and see into both classrooms and the lounge) and just took a quick glance around and my jaw dropped. Talk about student engagement! Talk about students doing the learning! Talk about a student-centered classroom!
Several teachers did walk through during 6th period because they were on their conference period and decided to just walk by some of the partner groups and listen in. They came by the next day and said "What your students were doing was awesome! They were talking through the math and using math vocabulary, critiquing each other and their strategies, talking through mistakes, thinking out loud, and just plain looking excited about doing math!"
All Reflections from This Year can be Found Here.
*Each week, I spend some time personally reflecting on the week - what I did, what worked, what didn't, what I liked, what I didn't, etc. I try to organize my reflections in a similar manner each week, since they do get pretty long: (1) Math Analysis; (2) Algebra; (3) Sharing and Collaboration; (4) Other Thoughts; (5) Running lists (Things I've heard this week that I love; Characteristics and qualities of my flipped classroom that I want to keep; Changes I've made this week that I like; Ideas I'm still contemplating and experimenting with). I hope these reflections give you insight into my classroom and give you some ideas to try in your own flipped classroom. I appreciate any comments, feedback, ideas, and follow-ups that you provide, so please comment and join in on the conversation!
For those of you who read my weekly reflections consistently, you will notice a change this week compared to the past. These posts will be shorter with links to more detailed external posts on specific topics. I was finding (for myself) that it was hard for me to go back and find a previous post on a specific topic because it was hidden among a huge weekly reflection. So, hopefully this will alleviate that problem.
Other posts from this week:
1. Brainstorming and thinking about next year/ how to present #flipclass to students and parents from Day 1 before relationships are built. Would still love your comments! Post here.
2. A Day in the Life of Students Creating Videos - a quick 360 of my classroom when all the students are creating their own content via short student-created videos of problems. Post here.
3. Student-created videos overkill - my learning experience about going overboard in using student-created videos :) Post here.
4. Dealing with students starting to slack off and coming to class unprepared as the year winds down and gets crazy. Post here.
5. Link to all student-created videos here.
1. Brainstorming and thinking about next year/ how to present #flipclass to students and parents from Day 1 before relationships are built. Would still love your comments! Post here.
2. A Day in the Life of Students Creating Videos - a quick 360 of my classroom when all the students are creating their own content via short student-created videos of problems. Post here.
3. Student-created videos overkill - my learning experience about going overboard in using student-created videos :) Post here.
4. Dealing with students starting to slack off and coming to class unprepared as the year winds down and gets crazy. Post here.
5. Link to all student-created videos here.
Math Analysis
This section includes:
1. Student Created Videos
2. Online WSQs
3. General reflections for the week
This week's big focus was on student-created videos (hence the reason most of my posts from this week were all about that!). I think it is so great in so many ways - if you haven't tried it, you should. Right now, my biggest use of them is as a formative assessment tool. Students still receive the initial instruction by me. In class, they work through problems and discuss issues with their groups. Once they understand the material, then they make the video.
For Unit S this week, I made the students come up with their own problems for the videos. This required them to think about what constraints and information they needed to provide in order to make sure the problem would work out. At first (or course), when I told them this, there were groans and complaints because it would make them think and work harder!! But, it ended up turning out really well. Here are some student comments from this week's reflection.
- I think it takes the same amount of time, unless it's the last day and everyone needs a recording device, in which case it takes longer. It requires more work however, because it makes us explain the problems, but I think it helps me understand it more. The benefit of of the video is better understanding but the con of it is the feedback may not be instant like quizzes. It's also harder to redo compared to quizzes.
- The videos took about the same amount of time as taking a quiz on the concept. I like making the videos more, because on the quizzes, we don't necessarily get feedback on what we did wrong. On the videos, though, we do get feedback, since the videos are made available to all the math analysis classes. I also like making the videos, because it ensures that we understand the concepts, since we have to give a thorough explanation on how we solved it. I prefer making the videos.
- i think the Videos take a little bit more time than taking a quiz because we have to come up with the problem as well as solve, and a quiz we just need to solve. i think there are times for both, i enjoyed doing the videos and felt like i remembered thinks better because we had to explain and understand how we got the answer not just mindlessly solved it.
- i have watched them when we are given the take home test. they are helpful but i think we should get a list that have all the problems and who did them because if we are looking for a problem with a specific set up we have to go through all of them in order to find the example we need. does it make sense? i dont know how to explain what im trying to say!
- I've watched the videos created by my classmates from time to time. I find that they do help, especially if they are similar to the ones on the PQ or PT.
- I actually haven't watched any of the student related videos because I only watch your videos.
- I think it was kind of useful in that we had to make up problems but usually it was just a modification of one already solved, so it was really just more practice.
- This process was very beneficial because we got to practice and learn from our own mistakes, especially if the problem was written incorrectly. For example, my partner and I made a mistake with our right triangle, and this warned me to not make the same mistake again. Writing our own problems allowed us to think ahead to see if the problem would work out the way we want it to which helped us process the steps to solve the problem in our head. If the problem did not turn out the way we planned, we still got practice.
- Although it was a bit more time consuming, I would say that it was beneficial for me as a student. It made us think more about the potential problems that there were, and the many ways that we could solve for it.
In addition, this week we continued doing "Online WSQs". Here are a few samples from Unit S and Unit T. (The WSQ is the last step in each playlist). I feel like I was able to utilize the online WSQ Google Forms spreadsheet a lot better this week. Every day, I came into class with an idea of where the misconceptions were. I did a little whole-class intro based on the questions that showed up over and over again before I had them get into their groups for the WSQ discussion. One night, I even made a quick Educreations screencast trying to clarify something that I already (at 7pm at night) had almost every student asking about. While it didn't answer every question, it allowed students one more "answer" before coming to class.
As I've mentioned before, students are given the link to view the spreadsheet after submitting their response. My goal in this is (1) They check their answer to the "secret question" to see if they got it right - and hopefully try to correct if not! (2) Read what other questions students have and get thinking about them - and hopefully realize that everyone has confusions and it's okay to not "get it' right away! (3) Read other students' answers to the questions I posed so basically the concept is explained to them again in other students' words.
#5 Finish this sentence: The part I understood the most was...
#6 Finish this sentence: The part I am still confused about is...
They also type their HOT question (and answer if they know it), but it gives me the chance to type in an answer to their question THAT NIGHT. I still have concerns that not every student is viewing or utilizing the spreadsheet, and that students who may open the spreadsheet don't actually look at it after I answer their question (they look, close the link, I answer the question later that night, and they never look back).
My biggest question for students was how they felt about the Online WSQ, if it was more useful than fully handwritten, and if they actually utilize the spreadsheet.
How do you utilize the Online WSQ spreadsheet? How is the Online WSQ process going in general, now that you've had a few weeks? Any suggestions for improvement?
- I think the online WSQ is good so far but sometimes, questions are confusing (like the question on Unit T intro about how sin/cos is positive/negative and how it applies to tangent). Even so, I like it better because I type faster but there are more questions and is more work than a normal WSQ.
- I love the spreadsheet! At first I forgot to write down my hot question and answer, but usually I was able to recall what I had typed the previous night. I especially like the color-coding system because it points out exactly what needs to be talked about. The placement of some things were confusing, such as the key for the color-coding, but I think that's pretty much fixed now since everyone knows what it is.
- The online WSQ spreadsheet is very helpful, because when I look at some of the other responses, it clarifies any lingering questions that I had. I would say that the online WSQ is going great, and it really helps.
General reflections for the week. Overall, even though this week was overwhelming and stressful with the overkill of student-created videos, it was a really good week. I liked that I was still able to do a little bit of "traditional" mini-lessons (one day I went over a whole problem with the class as an intro, the other days I reviewed the Online WSQ as a whole class to guide them along), but the majority of the class period was focused on individual student needs.
Something I feel like I haven't been doing a very good job on the last few weeks is the small group teaching for students who need another "mini-lesson". I think the student-created videos made life a little crazy for that, but I am hoping to start doing that again. Sometimes I think some students need it, but they are still too shy to ask for it. I need to do a better job of gauging that.
How did this week go for you? What was the BEST part of the flipped class? Why? What part did you not like or enjoy as much? Why?
- I thought this week was okay but the video making was a little hectic. Even so, we made it through and this week turned out well so far. I like the little homework problems, which was the best part because it didn't take so long to do.
- This week was pretty hectic and whatnot, because we had to finish filming all the videos. But that was our fault, since we sort of waited till the last minute. The best part of the flipped classroom was learning the concepts, while spending time with Amy! The only part I didn't like was that I had to do my PQ's late because of the time spent doing the videos in class. Also, I forgot to get my WSQ chart signed off for half the week. :'(
- this week seemed a little hectic with the whole videos and pushing everything a day. The best part of the flipped class was when you worked out i believe it was 2 problems with the class. i thought it was the best part because i miss traditional classroom and thought it was fun to learn like that.
Algebra 1
This section includes:
1. Group interview
2. Low-low students
This week I really focused on the "Group interviews" for Algebra 1. Sometimes when I have them do their "5 minute WSQs", I'm not really sure (even though they are discussing the math) that they are getting the correct answers and helping each other on the right path. I spent about 3-5 minutes with each group this week and chose a couple of key questions from their guided summary to probe them about. I was able to check for initial understanding as well as ask probing questions and questions about how things are connected. Depending on the group, I could differentiate the level of questions I was asking to challenge them appropriately. All students were held accountable for answering and they could not get their charts off until their group "passed".
What this looked like in some cases was that I asked each individual student a question and they had to answer it themselves. If they couldn't answer it, I would go away and allow them to discuss it as a group. But, when I came back, that same student had to be able to answer the question without the help from the group. I found this to be very effective. A student couldn't get away with saying "I don't know" or "I don't remember" and then have a group member jump in with the right answer. It was also fun to see other group members get excited and want to answer the question that their friend got asked, but they had to stay quiet and let their friend try to answer first. I love seeing that excitement :).
- It helps me listen to the other students answers and questions that they ask. The group interviews lets us have the chance to talk to the teacher and ask any questions that we have.
- I like group interviews because it gives Mrs. Kirch a chance to see if we know about the concept. Also, she asks questions so that she could make sure we watched the video an did our homework correctly.
- They help me because i get to remember and actually learn it, they are beneficial because there helpful.
- I think they are going pretty well, i can memorize the songs and chants better now.....i think they are beneficial, i think they can improve if while we were doing the "group interviews" if we could get our question answered maybe...
Last week I had a concern about what to do with my "Low-low students". Well, this week I pulled five of them aside and we started going back to Chapter 1, working on basic algebra operations that they still have not mastered. I created some "speed tests" where they can compete against each other to try to get the most right in a short amount of time once they have practiced a little on their own. They seem to like the competition and it's nice to be able to reward them for little successes. My student with a 2% (basically truant and hasn't done anything) has actually been going to school for the last 3 weeks, and he got 20/20 on an addition/subtraction speed test in LESS than one minute! Yes, that may seem like a 3rd grade activity, but hey, he is feeling successful in a math class that he has failed everything all year. Baby steps!
Sharing and Collaboration
I have two webinars coming up in the new few weeks - one on May 1st for a group of teachers in Sacramento and one on May 9th for anyone through Sophia.org. I will post the link to register for the Sophia webinar when I get it. I hope you will be able to join in! Both webinars will be an "intro" to the flipped classroom for teachers who are interested in learning more about it and hearing about how I run my flipped classroom.
If you haven't checked out my Blogroll on the right hand side of other flipping teachers, do so! It is only through sharing and community that we learn and grow! Also, be sure to use #flipclass on twitter to join in the conversation. If you are a "flipper" and a "blogger" and don't see your blog on the right, please let me know. I would love to follow you and read up on your experiences!
Every Monday there is a #flipclass chat on Twitter (8pm EST). Check it out and join in. Connect with @bennettscience to find out more.
I have two webinars coming up in the new few weeks - one on May 1st for a group of teachers in Sacramento and one on May 9th for anyone through Sophia.org. I will post the link to register for the Sophia webinar when I get it. I hope you will be able to join in! Both webinars will be an "intro" to the flipped classroom for teachers who are interested in learning more about it and hearing about how I run my flipped classroom.
If you haven't checked out my Blogroll on the right hand side of other flipping teachers, do so! It is only through sharing and community that we learn and grow! Also, be sure to use #flipclass on twitter to join in the conversation. If you are a "flipper" and a "blogger" and don't see your blog on the right, please let me know. I would love to follow you and read up on your experiences!
Other Thoughts
I had my monthly Math Department Chair meeting this week and we had a presentation by the County Department of Education on Common Core State Standards that are going to start being implemented in the next school year. The presenter went over the "Standards for Mathematical Practice" that we need to start considering in our teaching even now.
As we read through these, the one thing that came to mind is having a flipped classroom has enabled me to "meet" these expectations in a way that my traditional classroom never did.
Here they are: (link to full website here)
As we read through these, the one thing that came to mind is having a flipped classroom has enabled me to "meet" these expectations in a way that my traditional classroom never did.
Here they are: (link to full website here)
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
THINGS I'VE HEARD THIS WEEK THAT I LOVE:
"So, you need to be careful not to make this mistake because it's what I always do wrong" - from a student recording herself on video
CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITIES OF MY FLIPPED CLASSROOM THAT I WANT TO KEEP (this list is now kept on a separate page here and is updated weekly)
CHANGES I'VE MADE THIS WEEK THAT I LIKE:
1. Group interview for Algebra 1 (not brand new)
2. Timer counting UP for WSQ discussions instead of down
2. Timer counting UP for WSQ discussions instead of down
IDEAS I'M STILL CONTEMPLATING & EXPERIMENTING WITH (running list each week with updates):
1. Coming up with a list of "key questions" myself for each concept to have handy to ask students, to have students discuss in groups, and to show students what "good, HOT questions" look like and sound like (modeling)... This will be tied in with the "Guided Summary" I will be starting to try out. I think this is going to be put off in its entirety until this summer.
2. Begin coming up with activities students can do to apply their knowledge or practice their knowledge in different ways once they get the basics. Again, this is something I think may just start to happen over the summer or next year since right now it's just crazy.
2. Begin coming up with activities students can do to apply their knowledge or practice their knowledge in different ways once they get the basics. Again, this is something I think may just start to happen over the summer or next year since right now it's just crazy.
Thoughts, comments, ideas, your own experiences? Please share!!!
All Reflections from This Year can be Found Here.
All Reflections from This Year can be Found Here.
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