Good Math is Hard to Find

My standards-based grading journey thus far has been far from linear.

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I began by jumping in with both feet (& hands & torso & head-under-water & gradebook) and forged ahead with no training and not much research. I tried to separate every single assignment I gave into a specific standard category & place all grades (yes, including homework & notebooks and all that, mock if you must) into the magical electronic “standards-based” gradebook. And here’s what I learned: DON’T DO IT THIS WAY!! Just because your gradebook is standards-based doesn’t mean that your teaching or basic philosophy is standards-based.

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The next phase was a bit more refined. I realized the error or my ways after reading brilliant posts from superstars like Dan Meyers and Kate Nowak and many others. I subscribed to the philosophy of “re-doing until mastery” over “try it once or twice,  pass or fail, and them move on to the next topic”. I remediated with those who needed it, I allowed re-quizzing as needed, I gave students standards checklists that they had to keep up with. I separated quizzes into standards but lumped them in with end-of-unit tests and kept separate categories for homework (OK, I still graded hw, rant away), projects, and computer lab work.  Most importantly, I think, my ultimate goal was for every student to master every standard, no matter WHEN and no matter WHAT.

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So now I’ve been following the #SBG chats in twitter over the summer months and I’m feeling the push to take it to the next level.  The problem:  What does “the next level” look like? I’m currently wrestling with these questions and I’d love to hear your feedback (even if you have more questions and not answers for mine!):

1. How should I weight my grade book now? I’m required by the county to keep a “normal” electronic gradebook that parents & students can see to keep up with progress. What percent should the standards quizzes weigh? What other categories are necessary? (I’m thinking projects, computer lab work, and unit tests–although can I lump in unit tests with the standards quizzes?).
2. Once I figure our how to weigh the grade book, how can I “sell” it to my administration (and co-teachers, and parents . . .) I fear that if I don’t have support then I’ll be pressured to change it. “What?!  You teach 7th grade and quizzes are 60% of their grade?  Are you insane?”
3. How do I “sell” SBG to my students? How do I motivate them to do non-graded practice, such as class work and homework? They have been inculcated by previous teachers to be grubby little point-mongers rather than focused learners!
4. I think “Process Standards” are really important in every unit (problem solving, reasoning/ justification, communicating mathematically, making connections, multiple representations). How do I assess them? How do they factor into a standards-based gradebook?
5. OK, there are really several other questions, but they may be best saved for a separate post.

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So, as Dan would say, “What Can  You Do With This?”

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Today is the end of the 3rd 9 weeks grading period, only 9 more weeks until summer! Yay!

So of course instead of finalizing my grades, I’m blogging, but I have an excuse. Really, it’s a good one! The required online grade book program that I use is on some silly scheduled maintenance or back-up or something every night from 10-11, so I really can’t do it now.

In the meantime, I have been taking time to reflect on my practices. Recently some of my students (the struggling ones in particular) have been complaining pretty directly to me that they do not like my methods. In their words, the way I’m teaching doesn’t work. They want me to tell them how to do a problem, then give them problems exactly like that to solve. No group work, no extended problems, nothing challenging–that sort of thing makes it too difficult to make an A!

Now it would be soooo much easier for me to succumb to this type of mind-numbing “teacher dumps knowledge into students’ heads, students dutifully regurgitate” routine, and grades would likely improve, and many students would be much more comfortable in math class. But the thing is that I really don’t want them to be comfortable! I want to stretch them and make them think and choose experiences that will help them figure out the important ideas. I want the problems to be messy and long and challenging–isn’t that what math is like in real life?

So as I plan my last two units of study, I am really trying to “stick to my guns” and teach the way that I truly believe is the best way for students to learn and understand and remember long-term, despite the obvious fact that many of them really do prefer some boring old school marm un-differentiated, low-technology, outdated pedagogy.

Here goes nothing!

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I teach 7th grade math in Georgia, and one of the standards we worked on this month was on basic geometry constructions (copy a segment & an angle, bisect a segment & an angle, construct parallel & perpendicular lines). I thought I knew how to do constructions, I even researched to find online demonstrations, cool instructional videos, and helpful notes on the various steps.

Wow, what a bust! My kiddos reeeaaaalllly do NOT get it! Not only do they not remember the basic steps, but they don’t understand WHY they work, and isn’t that the whole point? Yes, we discussed the “why” part in class, and a few bright students carried the discussion while the others sat there trying not to look confused. Not good enough. (Imagine that, right?)

Mistakes I made:

1. Thinking that direct instruction was enough to create understanding,
2. not providing enough concrete experiences for them to learn the whys behind the whats, and
3. moving way too fast (see mistake #2 as a reason for this).

How I’m going to improve:

1. Prepare activities that will aid in gaining understanding, I’m especially leaning towards constructions with patty paper and also using Geometer’s Sketch Pad (our school has a license) and/or Geogebra.
2. Make my future self a giant note on bright-colored paper about how NOT to teach this unit next year.

Do you have any awesome activities or resources that help your students understand constructions? I would love to hear your input and ideas!

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Hello, my name is Mrs. Fuller, and I’m a math teacher.  Isn’t that how the meetings start?

Anyway, I’ve spent many months reading fantastic, inspiring bloggers like Dan Meyer, Kate Nowak, Dave Sladkey, Tom DeRosa, and others, and have come to a couple of conclusions: (1) making mistakes & blogging about them makes for better teachers, and (2) I make lots of mistakes, so maybe if I blog about them I’ll  be a better teacher!

Step 1:  start a blog.  Check.

Step 2: blog regularly. Partial check.  (Signed up for Project52)

Step 3: make less mistakes next go-around.

I look forward (gulp!) to putting all my bumps, bruises, and train wrecks out there for the world to read!

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