Algebra 1 Inquiry Activity - Factoring Trinomials

This is my first attempt at an inquiry lesson in Algebra 1 for the concept of factoring trinomials using the method of grouping.  Instead of just giving the students the rules, I want them to have to think about what will work, why it works, and how you know it works.  
[Click here for resources]

I got this idea for the inquiry factoring "lesson" from someone...either on twitter or a blog.  And I can’t for the life of me remember WHO!  So, please, if it was you, let me know so I can give you credit :)

I am always looking for ways to involve inquiry in my math class - that has been a big area of focus in my second year of flipping my classroom.  So, here is the first one I’ve created for Algebra 1!

Usually we just teach factoring as a protocol, a method, something to memorize.   Why not have our students figure it out themselves? (With some guidance, of course...)

I use the grouping method to teach factoring, so here is an activity that sets up the idea of grouping (trinomial → polynomial) but has the students figure out which numbers work and then why.

Please let me know what you think. (This is my first draft and I just started working on it today, so there is room for improvement!)

•  Is there anything that is unclear? (Especially the questions...)
•  Is there something that you suggest be tweaked? 
•  Do you have any activities like this for your classes?  (I teach Algebra 1 and Pre-Cal)

(For better viewing, click here for Google Drive Folder or download for FREE from my TeachersPayTeachers store!)

Year 2 of Flipping...Post #3 - Modifying WSQ chats to meet student needs

This is post #3 in my "Year 2 of Flipping" series I am trying to do to reflect on this past school year.  Modifying WSQ chats is my big area of focus for next year.

Here are the other posts in this series:

• New Things I've Tried (and how they've panned out)
• Post #1 - Student Blogging
• Post #2 - Organizing Content
• Things I need to tweak for next year
• Post #3 - WSQ chats
• My summer to-do list... which may be a complete joke of getting done ;), but it's always good to have

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Post #3 - WSQ chats

I was not 100% satisfied with my WSQ chats this year.  I'm not sure what was different from last year, but they just didn't seem to work as well.

[side note: if you don't know what a WSQ is, please check out "WSQing" and my "FAQ" pages above]

I know a few things I wasn't happy about:

1. Not enough variety
1. This has always been my struggle, so my goal for this summer and next year is to come up with a wider variety of ideas for how to structure the discussion time.  Please contribute your ideas here (see live document at bottom of post to view, but if you click on the link you can edit and share)
2. Not enough accountability
1. I tried a variety of things, from having students write on individual whiteboards (still not 100% engagement, went through WAY too many markers on a limited budget, etc) to writing on paper (once Algebra 1 lost the privilege to use the whiteboards because of not having markers because they wasted them doodling or stole them, I had them actually jot notes on paper to prove they participated).  Neither of those I was happy with in terms of holding all students accountable for their participation.
2. *Please share your thoughts on holding students accountable for their participation in the comments section.
3. Took too much of class time
1. I always struggle with this because I want my students demonstrating TWIRLS daily, and this is a great time to have structured Thinking, Writing, Interacting, Reading, Listening, and  Speaking time.  So it's valuable time, but sometimes it goes on wayyyy longer than it should.  Last year I would limit it to 2 minutes in Alg1 and 5 minutes in Math Analysis and that seemed like pulling teeth to get them to talk that long!  This year, I feel like I had to get them to shut up and move on to the practice!  What I wanted to take 5 minutes they would take 15 minutes of class doing.  I don't know why it would take them so much longer and I'm not sure if it's how I explained it or structured it or something...
4. Students did not see the benefit
1. This doesn't apply to all students, but a large chunk of my students saw this time in class as a waste of time and they would rather just get on with the practice to "get their work done".  How do I help my students see the benefit of talking about math with their peers??

Want to contribute to the document below?  Click here

Year 2 of Flipping...Post #2 - Organizing Content

This is post #2 in my "Year 2 of Flipping" series I am trying to do to reflect on this past school year.  Yes, the year is already over for me! (don't be too jealous).  Baby Kirch is coming in less than a month!

• New Things I've Tried (and how they've panned out)
• Post #1 - Student Blogging
• Post #2 - Organizing Content
• Things I need to tweak for next year
• My summer to-do list... which may be a complete joke of getting done ;), but it's always good to have

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Post #2 - Organizing Content

I've learned a lot in the last year about organizing content and making sure it is well-organized so students are able to easily and readily access everything needed for the course.  Last year I was very sporadic and posted things in a variety of places, which made it difficult sometimes for students to find the material and opened the door to a plethora of excuses of why they couldn't watch the lessons.

I have found that the more organized I am as the teacher, the more confident the students feel in using the online resources and the fewer excuses I receive.  Just because live in the "digital age" does not mean all students are technologically proficient and so making class resources easy for them to access is key to a successful flipped classroom experience.  Plus, with my Type-A/love-to-be-organized self, it adds a little bit of sanity to this crazy life!

As a point of emphasis, I do want to say that what I talk about below is not what makes the "flipped classroom" so amazing.  These are just tools and strategies that I have found to be useful in staying organized and providing structure for students, all which help the adjustment to the flipped classroom a tad easier.

Here is what worked for me, as well as my views on the pros, cons, and tweaks I will continue to make for next year.

My two class websites can be found at 

kirchmathanalysis.blogspot.com and 

kirchalgebra1.blogspot.com

(please feel free to use what I've done and described below to 

aid in the creation and organization of your own content!)

This is quite a long post, so use the colors to go to the sections you are interested in (or just grab a snack and read it all!)

Video Creation
Video Hosting & Organization
WSQ Submissions
Assignment Submissions
Online Access Issues

• Video Creation
• What I did last year:


• When I started making videos, I just used what I had (which is what I suggest to others!).  The document camera my school provided for me was an AverVision 300AF+ which allowed me to record video captured by the camera and save it as an .mp4 on my computer.  
• I did not do much (if any) editing and these were one-take videos.  That means if I made a mistake or the recording errored, I was basically stuck and had to start all over.  While this didn't happen often, it happened enough to be annoying.  Sometimes I would use iMovie to the editing on parts I needed to piece together, but the importing of files and rendering process took f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
• In about March or April, I got Camtasia for Mac and holy goodness - amazing!  Once I figured out how to still utilize my document camera and have all the amazing features Camtasia at my fingertips, I was set.  I realized all I had to do was screencapture the video that showed up from my Aver software using "custom region" and the rest just flowed from there.
• With that being said, my face was not in 85% of the videos I made in year 1.  I started putting my face in the videos the last two units of each course as I could do so with Camtasia and my webcam.
• I experimented with one Unit (R, Math Analysis) making the videos solely on Educreations but the feedback from my students was that they actually liked being able to see my hand writing and it was easier to follow when they could see the SSS packet I was writing on that they were taking notes on themselves.
• What I did this year:
• I started flipping last year in Unit G of Math Analysis and Chapter 6 of Algebra 1.  So, I had to make from scratch Units A-F and Chapters 1-5.  After that, I went through and either fully edited or completely remade the video depending on how I felt about it.  The first videos I made were pretty bad...I can definitely see the difference as the year went on even in simple things such as having an engaging and dynamic voice throughout the lesson.  Another thing that stood out to me was the length of my videos.  I always thought in year 1 my videos weren't that long, but as I went back through them, I had several that were 12-18 minutes lllloooonnnngggg.  Ouch.  
• The rule of thumb I learned from Jon Bergmann this summer was "1 to 1 1/2 minutes per grade level" meaning for my Algebra 1 classes, it's 9-13.5 minutes max and for Math Analysis, it's 11-16 minutes max.  However, that does not mean one long video - that means total video watching time for that certain lesson broken up into chunks for 4-7 minutes.  And, those are MAX times... the shorter I can make it, the better!
• For the ones I just edited: 
• Imported the .mp4 video files into Camtasia
• Chopped them up into 4-7 minute bits
• Added callouts, images, etc to engage the students and call their attention to important parts of the lesson
• For the ones I fully remade:
• Recorded with my Aver screencaptured through Camtasia with my webcam for Picture-in-Picture (PIP). 
• Videos were much shorter just to begin with.  I found it easier to record all the videos first and save them as Camtasia project files and then go back and edit all the videos.  Lastly, once done, I would export all the files so they could be uploaded.  When I would try to record-edit-export each file at a time, it just took way too long!  It was nice to knock out all the recording and then I could sit all comfy in my recliner to do the editing and then just do the exporting while I was doing house chores or something else.
  
• Added callouts, images, etc to engage the students and call their attention to important parts of the lesson
• The learning process and how I went about it:
• Camtasia's tech support (and any TechSmith product in general) is simply amazing.  First, they have tutorials walking you through all the features of the software.  I would suggest actually having a project to work on while going through the tutorials (like they tell you to) so you actually learn it.
• If you ever have any questions, you can tweet to Camtasia and they are pretty awesome at getting back to you.  The two that I mainly use is Camtasia Mac and Techsmith's Camtasia
• With all the editing, it does take longer to record.  For a five-minute video, I would say it takes about 8-10 minutes to record (sometimes I would make mistakes and just keep on recording, cropping it out later), 10-15 minutes to edit (think about it - you are basically re-watching the entire video, pausing and adding features throughout), and then the exporting time (that I don't count because I just do it as I'm doing other stuff around the house or at school). 
  
• Pros and Cons:
• Pros (of using Camtasia)
• Easy to learn, easy to use
• Ability to create great, engaging videos
• So many options!
• Cons
• Does take longer to record and edit than one-takes
• Things I want to still tweak and change:
• As the years go on, I hope my video-making decreases.  I have the whole library made and there are just a few that I have made notes of that need to be re-recorded or edited from this last year.
• My focus for next year is more on the class activities and discussions, finding inquiry activities for students to engage in before watching the lessons, etc. 

• Video Hosting & Organization
• What I did last year:
• I hosted videos on YouTube & SchoolTube, and then linked to them in my Edmodo library.
• YouTube is blocked at my school, so it couldn't be my one place to upload even though most students did use it.
• SchoolTube was simply annoying, to be honest.  Took forever to upload, and then the videos would not show up in your library for 5-15 minutes after uploading...and then sometimes they wouldn't show up at all and you would have to start all over again!
• The Edmodo library was not user-friendly in organizing the materials and students had look at each of the titles to find the ones they needed for that night.  In addition, because students had to log in to Edmodo to watch the videos, I found that to be one more layer of excuses (mainly for my freshmen students) of not being able to watch the videos because they forgot their logins.
• What I did this year:

• In the middle of last year, I learned about Sophia.org and began to upload my videos into tutorials there (and then organized the tutorials into playlists, like this sample from Unit A).  I really liked that the videos were hosted solely on Sophia (so I didn't have to worry about it being blocked at school) and could be played on both computers and mobile devices with no problems.  In addition, the Sophia tutorials allowed me to add more than just videos - I could add text, images, and also embed my Google Form WSQ into the same page so students had a one-stop shop to complete the lesson.
• I also started my two class blogs for Algebra 1 and Math Analysis using Blogger as the platform.  I trialed this with my Math Analysis students at the end of last year as I was trying to wrap my head around what I wanted for this year.  Over the summer, I decided how I wanted my blogs organized and just went to work.  Once I had the template, I put some eager students (looking for community service hours) to work to create each of the pages, create the tutorial templates, embed the html and google forms, etc.  Big time saver :)

• In addition to uploading to Sophia.org, I still do upload my videos to YouTube (although they are "unlisted" on my YouTube channel. I would have about 1000 unorganized videos on YouTube so I've decided just to leave a few videos public and utilize the organization of my blog to link people there if they really want to).  I organize the YouTube videos on a MentorMob playlist and embed on the blog directly below the Sophia tutorials.  Some students still prefer to watch on YouTube, so I want to provide this for them.  Also, it gives the students two options to watch videos in case their computer needs updating (I can't tell you how many times a student has told me the video wouldn't work because their computer told them they needed to update a program and they wouldn't go about following the steps to update it...)  or if Sophia is going through updates (like they will every so often at 2-3am and students are still up trying to do their homework).
• Each page of the class blog is organized in the same way for easy student navigation.

The top of each page has the "turquoise box" that has links to all the of the handouts, documents, or GoogleForms the students will need for that chapter.  All documents are uploaded to GoogleDrive and linked to on the blog.

Two places for students to watch videos: the organized Sophia tutorials that include the WSQ embedded, or the YouTube links if for some reason Sophia isn't working.  The titles on Sophia and the YouTube videos are the same for easy navigation.

After the Sophia playlist and YouTube links MentorMob playlist, I include other resources the students will need for the chapter.  For this example, there were some awesome GeoGebra applets I wanted the students to be able to play around with as well as a "Collaborative Answer Key" I had them all contribute to throughout the chapter.

Every chapter has this playlist with random stuff I find online that I think is useful.  As I find things online that relate to a certain concept, instead of trying to remember where they are after bookmarking them, I have a MentorMob playlist already created for every chapter as well as the MentorMob Google Chrome extension.  It's as easy as bookmarking it, but it's added to this playlist instead and now accessible to students!  My goal for next year is that students contribute to these playlists more.

• The learning process and how I went about it:
• I think Sophia, MentorMob, and Blogger were all pretty intuitive.  As I mentioned above, I utilized students to do the repetitive template creation, copy-pasting, etc.  Otherwise, it can be quite time-consuming.
• I found it helpful that I already decided on the template I wanted for each page of the blog before beginning so I didn't have to go back and change it all.
• Pros and Cons:
• Pros:
• No login required for students to access resources
• Easy to navigate and find resources throughout the school year
• One-stop shop
• Cons:
• I don't consider this a huge con, but all my stuff is public.  Which means even though I do expect attribution and appropriate use, I do find people that misuse or rip off my work without attribution...which is pretty annoying.
• Things I want to still tweak and change:
• Just need to finish cleaning everything up and making sure all the links are accurate.  I'm pretty happy with it!

• WSQ Submissions
• What I did last year:
• Students handwrote the summary and question part of the WSQ.  It was a great way to start but I found that I never actually read what my students were writing because there simply wasn't enough time in class to do so.
• Near the end of the year, I experimented with Online WSQs via GoogleForms with my Math Analysis classes only.  We had discussions about the pros and the cons of handwritten vs. online and for this year, I decided the pros outweighed the cons and to go full force.
• What I did this year:
• I created a GoogleForm template (full video explanation here) for my WSQ (and again, had students do all the duplicating, changing titles, etc for the whole year - huge time-saver!).  
• This included up top a spot for their ID, name, class period, etc.  
• Then there are four spaces for the guided summary questions I have the students complete. I always keep it four spaces even if I don't have four guided summary questions because it helps keep everything organized on my end.  If I don't have four questions, I either put "freebie" or ask the students a random question like "what are your plans for winter break".  Students really appreciate the freebies every once in a while, and it's a great way to get to know your students!
• I have added two questions for "The part I understood the most" and "The part I'm most confused about".  If I don't have time to read through the whole WSQ before class, I generally read through "The part I'm most confused about" and get some general ideas of what I need to focus on with the groups and what I want them to be discussing during their WSQ chats.
• The students submit their answers to the secret questions I had them try on their own. I try to provide video or picture solutions to these questions on the WSQ spreadsheet, but I don't always get to it.  I also haven't found a way to make sure students actually click on the spreadsheet when they are done!
• I make the spreadsheets "viewable to anyone with the link" and put that link in the confirmation students get after submitting. (see video instructions here to make it viewable and here to edit the confirmation link)
• The GoogleForm is embedded as a part of the Sophia tutorial right after the video lesson. (video instructions here)
• I learned about the VLookup feature of Google Docs from Delaine Johnson after requesting help on twitter for some way to organize student responses so I didn't have to mark them off individually.  It's a little confusing at first, but once you have it set up once, it's a lot of copy-pasting and changing just small pieces of it.  It is such a huge time-saver and I use it for everything now!
• I organize all student submissions on a master tracking spreadsheet that imports all of the tracking from each WSQ document into one place using the ImportRange feature.  This is also a huge timesaver and helps me to stay organized.  I give students access to these spreadsheets so they can check and make sure their WSQs have been submitted.
• The learning process and how I went about it:
• Decide what you want. Create a template.  Put students to work helping you with duplication and embedding :)
• Pros and Cons:
• Pros:
• Easy to monitor, easy to keep track of
• Great to see before class what students are struggling with so you can tailor class activities towards their needs
• Easy way to see what time of night students are completing math work
• Cons:
• Students can still find ways to cheat.  I will have students submit blank forms just so they can read what I or another student has written before submitting theirs.  No matter how many times I talk about how they aren't graded on the correctness per say, but more on the completeness of their thoughts and quality of their efforts, some students still don't get it.
• It is all online so it does require internet access.  For the students that don't have access, I do allow handwritten but I end up not usually looking over theirs anyways due to time.  This is only a few kids in every class, but because it's different than everyone else, I forget.
• Things I want to still tweak and change:
• For the "part I understood the most" and "part I'm most confused about", I still often get the answers of "everything" and "nothing" even though it clearly says in the directions to avoid saying that.  
• Instead of "everything", I wish they would think about what was the EASIEST or CLEAREST part so I know.  I need to teach and model this better next year.  
• For the "part I'm most confused about" I think I am going to have that be the place where students put their HOT questions.  So, if they actually are confused about something, they can phrase it in the form of a question and then I can clearly see it.  When I see a question repeated multiple times, I know that is a great question to have them discuss in their WSQ chats.  If they didn't have a question of their own, they still have to ask one (instead of saying "nothing") but they would also include the answer.  This could be a verbal question or a math problem they wrote on their own and solved.  That holds everyone accountable to the same level of expectations, and "nothing" is no longer acceptable.
• I want students to understand more that even though they have access to the spreadsheet, they are only hurting themselves by looking at others' answers before submitting their own.  I also want them to understand the benefit in making sure to click on the confirmation link to read others' answers after submitting to clarify any misconceptions or to simply get a different perspective.

• Assignment Submissions
• What I did last year:
• Most everything was submitted on paper. Lots of paper. Lots to lug around. Lots to grade. Ugh.
• What I did this year:
• As much as possible, students submitted everything electronically, usually to a GoogleForm utilizing tools such as GoogleDocs, MentorMob playlists, YouTube links, and Blogspot links
• The learning process and how I went about it:
• Teaching students how to effectively use online curation and creation tools is not easy...they are not all as tech-savvy as we think!  I had them start the year by creating their own Blogspots and doing most assignments except tests and quizzes on there.  (See Post #1 for details on all this!)
• Basic process: 
• Students submitted link to assignment on specific Google Form
• I used VLookup feature to know who has turned it in
• I used FormEmailer script (thank you Ramsey!) to give students feedback
• Students received an email from me with specific feedback and/or score on the assignment and could reply directly to that email to follow-up with anything.
• Pros and Cons:
• Pros:
• Going paperless!
• Easy to grade on the go; I could sit and grade 3-4 submissions here or there on my laptop and didn't have a huge stack of papers
• No issues with "you lost mine".
• Cons:
• Teaching students to submit correctly.  Yes, a "link" is the thing that starts off with www...  An embed code is different from a URL...
• Students don't check email very often, if at all...
• Student assignments are public which means they can copy off each other...and yes I did catch that this year :(
• Things I want to still tweak and change:
• I started the GoogleForm/FormEmailer in the middle of the year, so definitely starting from day 1 will help alleviate a little bit of the confusion.
• Find a way to make it important for students to check their email to find out status on assignments.

• Online Access Issues
• DVDs & Flash Drives
• I used iDVD to burn DVDs for the few students that needed them.  Took time to burn, but I would try to just stick them in and go do something else.
• I had 3 "loaner" flash drives available for checkout.  I think I started the year with 5, and unfortunately some got stolen... :(  Need to do a better job of locking them up next year.
• Random Internet Cut-outs (use textbook!)
• Many students with "consistent" internet still would have days when their internet would go out or the electricity would cut out.  These students use that as an excuse to not do anything to prepare for class.  Next year, I want to emphasize that the video lessons are a resource to them to come to class with their SSS notes done and the WSQ completed.  If they don't have access to the videos that night, then they need to find other resourecs - namely, their textbook.  They can always watch the video in class but there is no excuse to come to class without anything from the previous night done.

Maternity Leave = Year #2 is over for me!

The time has come... I am officially on maternity leave!  Yes, it's one week earlier than planned due to some medical issues, but it is surreal that I won't be going back into my classroom until about August 20th.  It also makes it so much more real that BK is coming in just about a month... or less!

My Math Analysis students threw me a "surprise" Baby Shower on Friday (I found out about it on Thursday, since I wasn't supposed to leave until NEXT Friday...I threw off all their plans when I told them Thursday that "tomorrow is my last day".) I was so blessed by them, their gifts, but more importantly just their words of thanks from this year.  It makes all the hard work and time that I put into teaching worth it.

I do have "blog about the year" on my maternity to-do list (and since I'm on bedrest, I may find the time), but I am leaving it up in the air depending on how things go.  I may also be pretty slow in replying to emails, so please utilize my archives as well as the amazing twitter community with questions regarding Flipped Learning during this time :).  Thank you for your understanding.

Looking forward to jumping back into flipping next fall!  I have learned a lot in the last two years and always look forward to a fresh start to try and implement some new things and take what I've learned to tweak the things I'm already doing.

I guess after calling them cheesebuckets all year they can give me this award ;)

Just some of what my students blessed me with!

Here's me at 35 weeks!

They made me a "yearbook" - very special!

Thanks for reading!

HOT Tests - Student Created Assessments

I tried something new this week in Math Analysis... I had no idea how it would go, and it was far from perfect... but it is DEFINITELY something to do again (with several tweaks, but we all learn from experience!)

I had students each write their own version of the test for Unit S.  Then, they took each other's tests as the "real" assessment in class.

I would have to say this is the HOTtest (Higher-Order-Thinking) testing experience my students have participated in.  It wasn't about remembering, understanding, and spitting back out.  They truly had to apply their knowledge, analyze problems (the ones they wrote and the ones their classmates' wrote), evaluate not only the problem itself to see if it was valid and included all needed information appropriately but also their classmates work on the grading day, and of course - creating!

It was awesome!  Here's what a few of my students had to say about the experience of creating a test:

"It was interesting being in control and deciding which problems would be appropriate for a Math Analysis Honors Student. I learned to care about someone else’s grade and make sure that I made the test as best as I possibly could so that the test taker would not misjudge their understanding about the Unit. It also felt rewarding that I created a test and being in Mrs. Kirch’s shoes was not an easy task, but printing that test felt like such an accomplishment."

"I think it was really interesting to write our own problems and come up with a test. At first I thought it was going to be easy but once I started to write the test I realized that coming up with problems actually required a lot of thinking. It was a new experience and made me see what Mrs. Kirch goes through."

"By reverse solving as I like to call it, students are able to have a deeper understanding of what they’re learning. It’s one thing to solve. It is another thing to be able to create problems for someone else to solve, demonstrating more mastery the unit."

"I found that creating this test was really a great pro. It made me analyze and reflect on each concept of Unit S. This not only helped me in coming up with good questions but also to get an understanding of how to work out these types of math problems. It also gave me a sense of responsibility as another person's grade was technically in my hands."

So, here's basically what I did:

1. Students were given a list of 7 types of problems they were to write.  I gave them specifics in terms of what the problems needed to include as well as level of difficulty that was expected. I graded them on a rubric in terms of what they included in their test and how well they met the expectations of difficulty and type of problems.
2. Students made TWO copies of their assessment on a template they downloaded from the class website.  One copy had just the problems they wrote and directions to follow.  The other had the problems, directions, AND step-by-step work and a solution.
3. Students brought their assessment to class on Wednesday.  After all of them were turned in, I randomly distributed them in partners.  I did use discretion and tried to partner up students at similar achievement levels in class so it was a little more "fair" in my opinion.
4. Students had a class period to take their classmate's test.  If they found an error in the problem (like it didn't make sense, it was missing information, etc) they brought it to me and I fixed it or added information.  The person who wrote the test would receive deductions for errors like these.

5. 

   Students spent the period comparing work and answers,
   figuring out who was right and where errors were made.

   Today (Thursday), students came in and got in their partners.  They spent the period "grading" the tests.  They graded both the "answer key" and the test that was taken, comparing work and answers to decide who was correct - whether that be both of them, one of them, or neither of them.  They could only use red/purple/pink/green pen all period so any changes, edits, comments, etc they made on the tests were clearly visible.  They also decided on a point value for each problem, so they had to analyze how "big" the mistakes were and how many deductions should be taken.

Students were engaged with their partners the entire period - it was amazing!

Students critiqued each others work with the goal of helping each other understand where misconceptions may have happened

Some lessons learned:

1. Plan ahead. You need to be specific and detailed of what you expect the problems to include.  I did this, but it was throughout the unit as I thought more about things.  Next time I want it to be 100% clear up front.
2. Make sure the students understand that part of "taking" the test is also evaluating the validity of the problems.  If something doesn't seem right or is missing, they need to bring it to me so it can be fixed.
3. Have clear expectations in terms of the writing of problems vs. solutions.  For example, some students wrote both the problem and their work in pencil, so it was very hard to tell what part was their "problem" and what part was their "work" when I looked at their answer key.  Problems = pen or typed. Solutions = pencil.
4. (Possibly) Have students have a peer "proofread" their test the day before it is due to make sure it includes all needed information and looks ready to go.  This will avoid the small annoying things like, "She didn't write any directions", "I can't read her handwriting" (one student though a 24 was a 2i and solved an entire problem in the realm of imaginary numbers before mentioning it to me...), "This doesn't make sense for Quadrant IV", etc.

Other Student Comments about the process, both pros and cons...

(broken into the three stages of Creating --> Taking --> Grading)

"Creating"

It was difficult to wrap my head around having to trust someone else’s hard work as far as being in the shoes of a test taker. I am such a control freak and it was very hard to let that go. In the end, it turned out well (this part isn’t really a con, but I am happy the way things turned out).

I wasn’t sure that my questions were valid, much less the ones I was answering

I found it to be very difficult to come up with the questions, when in my mind I perfectly knew what I wanted, but then as soon as I began to write them they were not good as I thought. I do not think  that my questions followed the requirements.

"Taking"

The person whose test I took created a great test. The directions were clear, the level of difficulty was right on point, and her writing was clear.

The test I took in class was of appropriate difficulty. They really put some thought into creating their problems. I felt this was also a great trust exercise for the class.

Solving someone’s test and trusting that the problems are correct is like trusting a sashimi chef that there is no poison in the blowfish that the chef will give you

Some of the problems used on the test I took had the wrong signs and placed the numbers in the wrong side of the triangles (concept 5) which confused me.

"Grading"

I got to sit down with my partner and we explained to each other why a problem was done incorrectly. By further explaining this Unit, we got even more practice out of it.

Two brains are usually better than one. When two different people look at the same work and same problem, it is more likely one will spot the mistake made. Often, the person who makes the mistake retraces their wrong work and steps over and over again, so the whole partner thing is a plus for sure.

By sitting down with my partner I was able to realize what I actually did wrong, and it helped both of understand the concepts even more.

Me and my partner had a good laugh while helping each other on what our mistakes were and explaining why the problem they did was wrong and how to do them correctly. I think this Student test will help improve student’s understanding on how to do the math concepts in the future.  

Who wouldn't love a class period of students having discussions like this?

Year 2 of Flipping...Post #1 - Student Blogging

The countdown is on. (yes, I've even put a countdown timer on my blog).

20 more teaching days until I go on maternity leave.

56 more days until Baby Kirch's due date.

I guess it's time to start blogging and reflecting before this year completely flies by.

For many reasons (namely carrying a precious boy inside of my the last 7 months!) I haven't had the time or energy to commit to blogging like I did last year.  In a way, I actually do regret it because the personal reflecting process that happens when I blogged last year was so helpful for my thinking, growing, and processing of this complete paradigm shift we have come to call Flipped Learning.

Over the next few weeks, I want to blog about many things from this year... I will link to all the posts from this page once I write them.

• New Things I've Tried (and how they've panned out)
• Post #1 - Student Blogging
• Things I need to tweak for next year
• My summer to-do list... which may be a complete joke of getting done ;), but it's always good to have

--------------------------------------------------------

Post #1 - Student Blogging

After attending ISTE last summer in San Diego, I knew I wanted to incorporate blogging into my classes somehow. (Here are three posts from last summer about blogging - Lisa Parisi & Brian Crosby's presentation, Linda Yollis & Kathleen Morris presentation,  my rough draft "blogging essentials" blog post from last summer).

I had no idea what it would look like, because most of the sessions centered around elementary classrooms and cross-curricular blogging content.  I teach high school students, and while I try to connect different subjects to what we are learning, our main focus is math.

My plan was to do this in both my Math Analysis (11th-12th graders) and Algebra 1 (9th-10th graders) classes.  However, it only happened in Math Analysis.  I'm sure many of my future posts in this category will detail why it didn't quite happen in Algebra 1.  Regardless, I'm glad that I got it off the ground in one course.  I have learned so much and I really feel that it was a beneficial change for all involved.

Having my students blogging... writing about math in a public forum... peer evaluating each other's work... creating and curating their own content... 

These are all things I've wanted my students to do and this is the first year I've really been able to do it.  Flipping my classroom has freed up a lot of class time for deeper discussions and activities such as these.  

My eyes have also been opened to more varied ways of assessing student progress, and most of these blog posts are used as formative assessment tools throughout the unit instead of traditional paper/pencil quizzes.

And, with the coming of Common Core, blogging is a great way to work on the "Standards for the Mathematical Practices" we are emphasizing with our students.  See this amazing post at Fractus Learning here. 

First, I had to get my students set up.  I had them all use Blogger, since I use a lot of Google programs, and gave them both an instruction document and video talking them through how to set up their blog. At this point, I truly had no idea everything I was going to have them do, so there are A LOT of tweaks that need to occur before next year to these instruction tools.  But, it was a great starting point.

You can see links to ALL my students' blogs from 2012-2013 by period by scrolling to the very bottom of our class blog here. 

I had my students fully set up their blog on their own time and we spent no class time on the set up. I will probably change this for next year and get one day in the computer lab to get everyone set up and knowledgable about the basics.

One of the areas I feel I did not do a great job in was explicitly teaching some aspects of technology to my students.  I assumed they knew it, or could figure it out.  

For next year, I need to make many small tutorials on things such as:

1. How to post to Blogger and how to use the editing features (fonts, colors, etc) appropriately
2. What is a "link" or a "URL" (many students didn't know...).  Especially, what is the difference between the URL to your blog (in general) vs. the URL to a specific post
3. What is an "embed code" and how do you use it 
4. How to hyperlink text
5. How to upload an image to a blog post - and choosing a good image size to post.
6. Basics of writing: Making sure you title your posts, checking for grammar and spelling before posting, previewing the post before submitting to make sure formatting looks good, etc.

I have found that I cannot assume just because we live in a "digital age" that all students are technologically proficient... or even technologically knowledgeable even at the very basic level.

I have been working on a document the last few months here that I'm hoping will hit all the points of where students need more guidance and instruction for next year.

As I look forward to next year, a few things I am going to change or work on are:

• Students organize posts by "tagging" them instead of making them put the posts on the home page and then on a separate page
• Get students to interact on each other's blogs more often through collaborative posting, commenting, etc.
• Samples, samples, samples! This means putting up student blog posts during class to talk about, look at, discuss, critique, etc.  I did this with WPP grading (see below) at the end of the year and wow, were those last few WPP's better and the peer analysis more precise!  This needs to happen with all the types of posts below.  Not only do students need to know what to expect, they need to share with each other, glean ideas from each other, etc.
• Making sure the purpose of the blog and of each type of post are clear.  I have started to outline that in this section of the Tips & Tricks Document.

How did I keep track of 100 different student blogs?  Well, that was a learning process...

• I started by subscribing to all the blogs on my GoogleReader in folders by period.  I started to encounter several issues with this, including:
• Having to open the post in GReader...Sometimes the media wouldn't show up and I would have to click to open it in a new window anyways.  Some students didn't put their first name on their account as instructed so I didn't know who I was reading unless I went to the actual blog. Sometimes I would click on it so it was "unread" and then want to go back to it but forget to click "mark as unread" so it was lost.
• Not being able to easily give feedback...It was annoying to open the post in a new window, then add a comment to the bottom of the post, going through all the "verification" to make sure I wasn't spam, and then knowing that half the students probably didn't sign up for email notification of comments to begin with so they would never read it.  It was also a public comment so I couldn't give as personalized feedback as I wanted.
• I found the power of a script called FormEmailer from the amazing Ramsey Musallam and began having students submit their blog links on a GoogleForm anytime they post.  So, they would (1) publish the post, (2) copy the URL of the post, and (3) "turn in" the blog post on a GoogleForm linked to from our class blog.  I have come to LOVE this for many reasons:  
• I have all the links to all the posts for a certain topic in one place in an organized fashion, 
• I can add comments/scores/etc to it and then email a response automatically to the students using the FormEmailer script.  
• I can easily keep track of who has turned them in with the VLookup feature and even add those submissions to our Tracking Spreadsheet (where it shows them what WSQs they've turned in) using the ImportRange feature.

So... what did I have my 11th-12th grade MATH students blog about?  

Here's the fun stuff...Here we go!!!

[See this section of the tips & tricks document for more details as given to students about each of these]

Word Problem Playlists (WPP's)

WHAT IS IT? 

• Students created these anytime we did a word problem in class.  Part of their "assessment" was to be able to:
• Correctly write their own word problem
• Correctly solve their own word problem
• Analyze and evaluate another student's word problem and associated work
• WPP's were supposed to flow together throughout the whole year with a continuing storyline, characters, etc.  Some students did this, some students didn't.
• Students were given instructions on making WPP's here using MentorMob playlists
• Students were given instructions on how to grade a WPP here
• Students were given a "peer grading rubric" to use here  (I created this near the end of the year, so glad I did.  It was much more disorganized at the beginning of the year)

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• So, basically, students just embed the MentorMob playlist into their blog and that was their post.  The playlist had 3 steps to it.  The "peer grading rubric" was turned in hard copy.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• This is actually quite complex - they have to write the problem, record the problem, upload the video, make the MentorMob playlist, embed the playlist, access a classmate's blog, peer grade...students need to be walked through this step by step
• Students don't know how to make quality videos at first.  Give them instructions, but more importantly, give them samples of "good" and "bad" students videos.  Play a video to the class and have the students critique it.  Talk about how to make better videos.  (I've tried to gather tips and tricks in the document here)

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples... they definitely got better as the year went on.
• Tien
• Briana

Student Problems

WHAT IS IT? 

• I think the ability to write your own math problem is important.  It requires students to think about what a certain problem requires, what information is necessary, and what numbers would make the problem "work out" somewhat nicely.  
• Students also have to explain themselves in writing throughout the problem, by either adding steps, side notes, etc to explain the process they are taking.

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students write and solve their own problem and then take a picture of it to upload to their blog. 
• In addition to having them write and solve their own problem, they also have to include some writing with the post, including two paragraphs that answer:
• What is this problem about? (I am looking for them to be descriptive, use math vocabulary, etc)
• What does the viewer need to pay special attention to? (I am looking for them to be mentioning some of the tricks or common errors that they might get confused with) 

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED:

• Some students are really great with the written part... others, not so much.  I need to definitely do a better job of sampling and critiquing in class so students know what to expect.  Some students would basically say, "This is a Unit M Concept 2 Problem.  Viewers need to pay attention to each step one at a time so they don't make mistakes".  Umm... not quite what we are looking for here ;)
• Students need to be instructed clearly that they need to be neat... they need to write large... they need to write in a dark pen or marker, because pencil is way too light... they need to take multiple pictures of complex work so it is easier to read and follow... LOTS of things students don't think about when presenting their work.

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Nancy
• Mandy

Student Videos
WHAT IS IT? 

• Student videos are very similar in purpose to student problems.  The only difference is that instead of explaining themselves in writing, they have to record themselves on video talking through the problem step by step with proper math vocabulary.
• This allows me to "hear" every single one of my students "speaking math" without having to take the time in class to listen to 40 students every day for a good chunk of time.
• These videos should only be 1-4 minutes long if done well. 

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students upload their video to YouTube, SchoolTube, or EduCreations.  They embed it on the blog using the HTML code on their blog.
• In addition to having them write and solve their own problem, they also have to include some writing with the post, including the same two paragraphs that answer:
• What is this problem about? (I am looking for them to be descriptive, use math vocabulary, etc)
• What does the viewer need to pay special attention to? (I am looking for them to be mentioning some of the tricks or common errors that they might get confused with) 

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED:

• Similar to WPP's, students need to be shown what "good" and "bad" videos look like.
• Students need to be instructed to talk loudly, clearly, and confidently.  They should know what they are going to say before recording.  Some students record at 2am in the morning and their whole video is a tired whisper because the rest of their family is sleeping.  Yeah, doesn't make for the best video... (The best part was when one student started the video saying, "Sorry Mrs. Kirch, it's really late and I'm sick and tired and my family is asleep.")

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Frank
• Xochilt

Reflection
WHAT IS IT? 

• A few times throughout the year, I want my students to formally reflect on their progress and think through how they are doing.

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• I give the students a few prompts and questions to think about, and they respond on their blog in words.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED:

• The one reflection I've done so far this year was pretty long.  It would be nice to have them more often and shorter...
• Students turned in their blogs via the GoogleForm as always, and I took the time to give individualized, personalized feedback on their reflection with FormEmailer.  Students really appreciated my comments, even if it was something as simple as, "I've seen how hard you've been working this year, keep up the great work!"  This was a great way to connect with students one-on-one in a way I wouldn't get with 40 of them in a class.

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Xochilt
• Jillian
• Arlene

Real World Applications
WHAT IS IT? 

• I try to make the connection to the real world whenever possible.  However, I don't want to be the one giving the students all the ways the math connects to the real world - I also want them to go out and find it!  So, this is a post where students make the connection using resources they have found online and then explain to the best of their ability the connection.

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students post their own writing, pictures (their own or ones they've found online), videos (their own or one's they've found online), etc to convey and explain the connection they have found.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• Because of the plethora of resources found online, you have to pose good questions for the students to reflect on or think about so it's not simply a "curation of resources" blog post where they just post a bunch of stuff from the internet but don't think about it themselves at all. 

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Tien (combo post of Derivation & Real-World)
• Sayra (combo post)
• Arlene (combo post)

Inquiry & Derivations

WHAT IS IT? 

• It has been my goal this year to find places for inquiry.  One of the easiest ways in Math Analysis is instead of just giving students a formula to memorize, having them actually derive it and come up with it themselves.
• It is my goal to find more inquiry "projects" and derivations for students to participate in next year, I only had a few this year.

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students post their discoveries and what connections they have found through writing, pictures, and video.  Most of these posts are their own work, although if they find a resource online that explains it well, they can include that as well.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• Students need ample time before being required to put together a blog post to make sense of what you are asking them and to make sure they understand it.  Otherwise you'll get a lot of posts that don't hit the mark at all.  This means structuring time in class for group and individual discussion and grappling - then, as a final product, have them put it together as a blog post. 

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Tien (Unit Circle)
• Arlene (Pythagorean Identities)
• Arlene (Unit Circle)

Big Questions
WHAT IS IT? 

• Many of my units have "Big Questions", or "things that are so super important that the students really need to understand".  These generally start as an Online WSQ question, and lead to a WSQ chat discussion, and then turn into a blog post from them.

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students answer the big question, using text, photos, videos, etc to support their explanation.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• This is a great way to take the simple WSQ questions and really make students think about it for more than just a one-day discussion.  I like it :)
• Even if there are multiple "Big Questions" for a unit, don't overwhelm the students by giving them multiple posts per unit... pick one, or even better, have THEM pick one from a group of choices.  :)

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Kassie
• Arlene

Math Mistakes 
WHAT IS IT? 

• The website MathMistakes.org is amazing, and I've blogged about it before.  Every day, a new "mistake" is posted for readers to look at, critique, and give teaching suggestions for.  
• This is one of my "new ideas" so only a few students have done it as a "trial" but I am going to use it next year more frequently.
• As the MathMistakes posts come to my GReader, I save the ones that apply to my students' levels (and already went through all the archives to organize what is already there) and collect them here. 

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Directions for students are here.
• Posts will include a hyperlink to the original post, a written/annotated correction of the problem, and a picture/video of the correct way to solve the problem. 

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• I've only had a few submissions this year, so I'm sure I'll learn a lot more as I make it a part of class next year...

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Briana
• Jessica

Collaborative Answer Keys
WHAT IS IT? 

• We have several units in Math Analysis where the problems are very complex and have a lot of steps... and where the WORK is more important the answer.  Needless to say, I will be honest and say I don't have the time to make a worked-out answer key for all of these problems!
• So... why not have each of the students take one problem and make the answer key for that problem, post it in a collaborative MentorMob playlist, and use it as a formative assessment tool?

SO, WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY POST?

• Students add a picture or video step to the MentorMob playlist I've created.  I make it publicly editable so they can access it freely.
• Collaborative Answer Keys have just been posted on our class blogs this year, with students submitting the link to their step on the playlist in a GoogleForm.  I could easily have them also cross-post it on their blog.

SOME THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• Sometimes it's easier to make a playlist for each class period to collaborate on, whereas other times one playlist per course is fine.  Neither way is "right" or "wrong"
• It is important to take the time to go through these submissions individually and comment on the step if it is incorrect - students are using these as resources and I don't want them led astray because of a classmate's incorrect post.
• Video OR picture answer keys are both good under certain circumstances.

SAMPLES, PLEASE?

• Here are some samples:
• Unit M (all periods)
• Unit Q Period 4
• Unit Q Period 5
• Unit Q Period 6
• Unit R (all periods)

Do you have more ideas of what high school math students could blog about?  

Do your students blog and you have samples you could share? 

 Please share in the comments :)