Today I taught the graphing stories lesson to four classes, and it was incredibly interesting to see how each class reacted to the lesson. It was actually a shockingly complete failure in one class, and a rousing success in another - and I'm really struggling to see why. The other two classes were as I expected. Let's start with the not so successful class.
FAIL
I have a class that is usually pretty chill, and I love them for it, since they come in immediately after a very, very chatty bunch and it's nice to have a class that follows along, is usually excited when things are interesting, and is just generally receptive to what I throw at them. But, not today. For some reason lots of kids just immediately shut down when we started looking at the graphing videos.
It started with the "warm up," which was fairly easy question that mostly involved reading a sentence and using common sense. Of my other three classes, 90+% of students answered the problem correctly.
"Did she teach this yesterday?"
"I wasn't here yesterday, so I can't do this."
"I don't know how to do that!"
So, I stopped them mid freak-out and told them to calm down. I read the problem aloud and most of the kiddos ended up getting it correct with good explanations for their answers. I told them that they're wasting a lot of time freaking out instead of actually being persistent and figuring things out.
And then we started the graphing stories lesson.
"I don't get this."
"This is stupid."
"This is retarded" (gah!!)
"I hate this. This is hard."
"Why are we even doing this? When will I use this in real life?"
It wasn't going well. I intervened by doing more modeling than I had done for the previous classes. They claimed they didn't understand anything I was writing on the board. Just a total disaster.
SUCCESS!
My last period is extremely chatty, and it's the class that I have to be on guard for with classroom management. After a disastrous class before lunch, I was really worried about teaching the lesson to my very silly class.
However, they were completely enthralled, and incredibly skilled at creating the graphs. It was like a miracle.
And why were they so enthralled? Partly because of my amazing teaching and because of Dan's amazing lesson, but probably more so because they became obsessed with proving that I am dating and/or married to Dan Meyer. Evidence? There is a woman with brown hair on the couch of the ladder video. AND MS. MCKENNA HAS BROWN HAIR! So they started teasing me.
"I like that shirt he's wearing. Did you buy it for him Ms. McKenna?"
"Why is he running away from the camera? What mean thing did you say to him?"
"Did you tell him that he's running on empty?"
After constant denials, I finally just admitted that yes, I am married to Dan Meyer.
At which point they decided that that couldn't possibly be true, and I'm in fact dating the 9th grade social studies teacher.
I'm still not sure why the lesson was such a complete failure in that other class. I think it comes back to math confidence and I'm just not sure how to deal with it.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Film Elective
Tomorrow I start teaching a Film elective that will meet for 1.5 hours each week. I'm super excited about it because I absolutely loved the film class that I took in college (taught by this guy, Nick Davis, who memorized pretty much all of our names before the 1st class by perusing our ID pictures - this was a big class of about 75 students, so super impressive). I'm selfishly using this elective as an opportunity to revisit what I learned in that intro class in college, and to continue to learn more about film.
So, I have 16 kids who signed up for the class. 13 boys and just 3 girls (which surprised me), and the majority of the students are 10th grade boys that I teach in Geometry. I think it will be cool to have a group of kids who chose to be in the elective - talk about instant intrinsic motivation just based on interest!
My plan of attack for the first day is a brief survey of what types of movies the kids consider to be "good," what their favorite genre of movie is, their favorite film, and their favorite director. Then, we'll watch A Trip to the Moon and a scene from Broken Blossoms, and begin discussing shot scale and introduce some vocab.
Finally, I'm going to put kids in groups of four to create two-minute long silent films.
I'm excited!
So, I have 16 kids who signed up for the class. 13 boys and just 3 girls (which surprised me), and the majority of the students are 10th grade boys that I teach in Geometry. I think it will be cool to have a group of kids who chose to be in the elective - talk about instant intrinsic motivation just based on interest!
My plan of attack for the first day is a brief survey of what types of movies the kids consider to be "good," what their favorite genre of movie is, their favorite film, and their favorite director. Then, we'll watch A Trip to the Moon and a scene from Broken Blossoms, and begin discussing shot scale and introduce some vocab.
Finally, I'm going to put kids in groups of four to create two-minute long silent films.
I'm excited!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
You're killing me, Smalls
I wasn't organized enough to create a survey or multiple choice questionnaire. However, I did ask my students to write whatever came to mind, positive and/or negative about 1st quarter math. I kind of like that I didn't use a more formal survey, since kids were able to think, without any guidance from my questioning, of what they thought were positives and negatives of both my instruction and their own learning in class.
Some of my favorite positive comments include:
You are pretty
You have pretty hair
Ms. McKenna is awesome
Uh... I know these don't have anything to do with my teaching ability, however, these were my favorite comments because I am extremely vain.
Other things that the kids really like include the fact that we sing this song almost every day, that "math is fun now" (woo!!), and that they can re-take assessments if they need to (although many more kids need to be taking advantage of that).
The more critical comments were interesting to me because they indicate that a lot of kids think that I'm moving too fast through material (ok, fine - I'll agree) and that I should grade homework (disagree so hard).
In particular, this comment really killed me:
"For second quarter, I think you should start to grade homework because I do all of it for nothing because you don't grade it. And I also think you shouldn't give so many tests. I think we should get them every other week."
This comment makes my cold, tiny heart hurt a bit.
I think that most of those who read my blog know that I'm an avid SBGer (Standards Based Grading, yo). Or, maybe you don't know that since I blog once every 10 months or so, so no one reads this thing anyway. Except, I read it sometimes. And I know that I'm an avid SBGer. So there, my statement is true.
Homework should be used as practice and a way to give feedback. When kids complain about not getting "credit" for homework, I explain that they will get credit when they show a "complete understanding" on their assessment. I give one or two assessments each week - never more than 20 minutes in length - and the usually assess 1-3 learning targets. So, this kiddo wants me to grade practice, and then give fewer opportunities to assess knowledge after practice and feedback.
You're killing me, Smalls.
Also, at the end of each assessment the kids get to draw a random picture that I make up at the top of my head before I've consumed an entire serving of caffeine in the morning. Sometimes I'm jealous that the kids get to draw a picture of a tap dancing spider with a top hat, or a lizard taking over the world, or a fish eating a lion. Who wouldn't want to do that once or twice a week?
Now go read these:
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
Some of my favorite positive comments include:
You are pretty
You have pretty hair
Ms. McKenna is awesome
Uh... I know these don't have anything to do with my teaching ability, however, these were my favorite comments because I am extremely vain.
Other things that the kids really like include the fact that we sing this song almost every day, that "math is fun now" (woo!!), and that they can re-take assessments if they need to (although many more kids need to be taking advantage of that).
The more critical comments were interesting to me because they indicate that a lot of kids think that I'm moving too fast through material (ok, fine - I'll agree) and that I should grade homework (disagree so hard).
In particular, this comment really killed me:
"For second quarter, I think you should start to grade homework because I do all of it for nothing because you don't grade it. And I also think you shouldn't give so many tests. I think we should get them every other week."
This comment makes my cold, tiny heart hurt a bit.
I think that most of those who read my blog know that I'm an avid SBGer (Standards Based Grading, yo). Or, maybe you don't know that since I blog once every 10 months or so, so no one reads this thing anyway. Except, I read it sometimes. And I know that I'm an avid SBGer. So there, my statement is true.
Homework should be used as practice and a way to give feedback. When kids complain about not getting "credit" for homework, I explain that they will get credit when they show a "complete understanding" on their assessment. I give one or two assessments each week - never more than 20 minutes in length - and the usually assess 1-3 learning targets. So, this kiddo wants me to grade practice, and then give fewer opportunities to assess knowledge after practice and feedback.
You're killing me, Smalls.
Also, at the end of each assessment the kids get to draw a random picture that I make up at the top of my head before I've consumed an entire serving of caffeine in the morning. Sometimes I'm jealous that the kids get to draw a picture of a tap dancing spider with a top hat, or a lizard taking over the world, or a fish eating a lion. Who wouldn't want to do that once or twice a week?
Now go read these:
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
Saturday, November 5, 2011
FAKE POST
I did not post on Saturday, November 5th. Some things I did instead:
Slept for 12 hours
Read a romance novel
Lazed around
Watched TV
Went out for Thai Food
Went to Idle Hour
But thanks to the magic of blogger, I can pretend that I posted on Nov. 5th.
Take that NaBloPoMo!
I don't think that NaBloPoMo is supposed to be my evil nemesis, and yet, that's how I feel.
Slept for 12 hours
Read a romance novel
Lazed around
Watched TV
Went out for Thai Food
Went to Idle Hour
But thanks to the magic of blogger, I can pretend that I posted on Nov. 5th.
Take that NaBloPoMo!
I don't think that NaBloPoMo is supposed to be my evil nemesis, and yet, that's how I feel.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday
Grades were due today and I stayed at work until 6:30.
I'm watching Exit Through the Gift Shop, drinking a glass of malbec, and trapped in a wikipedia black hole of street art.
So, go read this instead. The blogger, Erin, is an amazing scientist, yoga teacher, and friend.
And yes, I realize that I fail at NaBloPoMo.
I will be better tomorrow.
I'm watching Exit Through the Gift Shop, drinking a glass of malbec, and trapped in a wikipedia black hole of street art.
So, go read this instead. The blogger, Erin, is an amazing scientist, yoga teacher, and friend.
And yes, I realize that I fail at NaBloPoMo.
I will be better tomorrow.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Video Scavenger Hunt
In addition to teaching math, I also have an advisory group (we call it POD) that meets for about 1.5 hours every day. Ideally, every advisory is with their advisor from 9th grade until they graduate, but I inherited a 10th grade POD from a teacher who moved on to full time graduate school.
To make a deliberate effort that our 9th and 10th graders are getting to know each other (which can be difficult, since they're taught on completely different floors), once a week, some of the 9th and 10th grade pods trade half of their kids so that we have mixed grade groups. And then we have SO MUCH FUN.
Two weeks ago we did a video scavenger hunt. For an hour, this group of 15 kids who don't know each other very well (and me, of course) ran around the school, ran outside, and generally giggled our heads off as we raced to complete (and catch on video) as many of the items on the scavenger hunt list as possible. I was worried that the kids would think that it was lame, but they threw themselves into it pretty immediately.
We finally screened all four groups' videos today, and it was hilarious to watch the kids' different takes on the Maury Show and Cops - because of course those were some of our first choices on the list. I also learned that I'm pretty much the worst videographer in the world.
My team won by a landslide. So that makes it even better.
Here's the video scavenger hunt list in case you're interested! It was mostly created by my amazing art teacher colleague. I think I contributed The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song idea and that's about it.
Video Scavenger Hunt
And don't forget to check out my fellow Bmore bloggers participating in NaBloPoMo
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
To make a deliberate effort that our 9th and 10th graders are getting to know each other (which can be difficult, since they're taught on completely different floors), once a week, some of the 9th and 10th grade pods trade half of their kids so that we have mixed grade groups. And then we have SO MUCH FUN.
Two weeks ago we did a video scavenger hunt. For an hour, this group of 15 kids who don't know each other very well (and me, of course) ran around the school, ran outside, and generally giggled our heads off as we raced to complete (and catch on video) as many of the items on the scavenger hunt list as possible. I was worried that the kids would think that it was lame, but they threw themselves into it pretty immediately.
We finally screened all four groups' videos today, and it was hilarious to watch the kids' different takes on the Maury Show and Cops - because of course those were some of our first choices on the list. I also learned that I'm pretty much the worst videographer in the world.
My team won by a landslide. So that makes it even better.
Here's the video scavenger hunt list in case you're interested! It was mostly created by my amazing art teacher colleague. I think I contributed The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song idea and that's about it.
Video Scavenger Hunt
And don't forget to check out my fellow Bmore bloggers participating in NaBloPoMo
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Confidence in Math
On the first day at my new school this year, I met 90 awesome kids. I did my introductory thing – rapped the McKennalicious rap, proselytized about the amazingness of math and how much great stuff we’ll do all year, and got to know the kids a bit too.
I ended the day feeling great and really positive about the year. And then I found myself cornered by two, very, very anxious students.
“We just want to let you know that we really love you and you seem really awesome so we’re so sorry that we’re really awful at math.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I’m sure you’re not terrible at math and…”
“YES WE ARE. WE ARE SO TERRIBLE AND WE’RE SORRY!”
And then they literally ran away.
It was really intense.
So, we’re two months in now, and those girls who cornered me? Not at all bad at math. In fact, they’re both pretty darn good.
So what is it about this super low confidence in math skills? Is confidence what separates successful students from lower performing students (in math specifically – but perhaps other subjects too?)
How much time do kids who think that they’re bad at math waste just freaking out
about how bad they are, instead of persevering with the confidence that even though they might not get a concept quite yet, they’ll get it in time?
I see this low confidence every day. When kids flat out tell me they’re bad, when I see full and CORRECT answers on assessments completely crossed out or erased because of some fear of being wrong. I have students who would rather leave a question completely blank than write down anything they’re not 100% sure of.
I have a few students who, when I ask why they aren’t taking notes or writing down the example problems we’re working out, answer “because I don’t get it.” Sometimes I think that’s just a cop out, but in the instances that’s true - students are completely putting a wall up to learning because they don’t immediately understand, which means that learning the topic must be completely impossible.
Am I a terrible teacher if students don’t immediately understand a somewhat complicated concept? Am I not breaking it down enough? Sometimes that is definitely the case. Sometimes though, I think my awesome days of instruction aren’t given a chance because of a wall that’s been built up over years. The foundation of that wall (uh oh, metaphor gone crazy alert) can often be found in students’ parents, who had terrible experiences with math. It’s so frustrating to hear parents say, often in front of their kids, that they “just aren’t good” at math, and neither is their kiddo.
I’m not at all blaming parents here – it’s just that there’s this messed up idea that seems to be so acceptable, that people are either good or bad at math and that that’s all there is to it.
I’m pretty sure I’m rambling here. I missed out on my coffee this morning, so I’ve been a bit off kilter all day. I almost didn’t do this first post of NaBloPoMo – but then I realized that giving up on day one was a bit pathetic. Get ready, Internet! You're in for a month of incoherence and exhaustion! (fact, it just took me 3 attempts to spell exhaustion correctly)
For something a little more coherent and worth while, please check out:
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
I ended the day feeling great and really positive about the year. And then I found myself cornered by two, very, very anxious students.
“We just want to let you know that we really love you and you seem really awesome so we’re so sorry that we’re really awful at math.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I’m sure you’re not terrible at math and…”
“YES WE ARE. WE ARE SO TERRIBLE AND WE’RE SORRY!”
And then they literally ran away.
It was really intense.
So, we’re two months in now, and those girls who cornered me? Not at all bad at math. In fact, they’re both pretty darn good.
So what is it about this super low confidence in math skills? Is confidence what separates successful students from lower performing students (in math specifically – but perhaps other subjects too?)
How much time do kids who think that they’re bad at math waste just freaking out
about how bad they are, instead of persevering with the confidence that even though they might not get a concept quite yet, they’ll get it in time?
I see this low confidence every day. When kids flat out tell me they’re bad, when I see full and CORRECT answers on assessments completely crossed out or erased because of some fear of being wrong. I have students who would rather leave a question completely blank than write down anything they’re not 100% sure of.
I have a few students who, when I ask why they aren’t taking notes or writing down the example problems we’re working out, answer “because I don’t get it.” Sometimes I think that’s just a cop out, but in the instances that’s true - students are completely putting a wall up to learning because they don’t immediately understand, which means that learning the topic must be completely impossible.
Am I a terrible teacher if students don’t immediately understand a somewhat complicated concept? Am I not breaking it down enough? Sometimes that is definitely the case. Sometimes though, I think my awesome days of instruction aren’t given a chance because of a wall that’s been built up over years. The foundation of that wall (uh oh, metaphor gone crazy alert) can often be found in students’ parents, who had terrible experiences with math. It’s so frustrating to hear parents say, often in front of their kids, that they “just aren’t good” at math, and neither is their kiddo.
I’m not at all blaming parents here – it’s just that there’s this messed up idea that seems to be so acceptable, that people are either good or bad at math and that that’s all there is to it.
I’m pretty sure I’m rambling here. I missed out on my coffee this morning, so I’ve been a bit off kilter all day. I almost didn’t do this first post of NaBloPoMo – but then I realized that giving up on day one was a bit pathetic. Get ready, Internet! You're in for a month of incoherence and exhaustion! (fact, it just took me 3 attempts to spell exhaustion correctly)
For something a little more coherent and worth while, please check out:
BMoreSchools
Maryland Math Madness
Epiphany in Baltimore
Surviving the System
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