Today I attended SUM 2013. I was very excited to hear Dan Meyer speak. I've mentioned him in previous blog posts. We have tried to model his teachings, but it is not an easy task! It was great to hear him today and have him take us through a three act math activity, modelling to us what a teacher's role is. He has a very good way of questioning so that everyone feels like they CAN ask a question and that every question is valid. He shows a problem/situation/activity and then asks for "the FIRST question that you have". He typed out any question a person asked and never made you feel like it wasn't good enough.
Fast forward to the last keynote speaker. This person would ask for questions, but if they weren't what she wanted she responded in a way that I can only describe as somewhat rude. There were two questions in particular that I didn't like how she responded. One wasn't along the lines of what she asked, but instead of thanking the person for taking a risk, she more or less shrugged it off and asked for a question "with words". Another time she was asking what questions could be developed from a picture she was showing, and with one of the responses, she turned her back to the person and commented "I don't think students would find that interesting." Really? If I did that in my classroom with my students I would NEVER have a student risk taking! After the second "snub" I basically tuned her out. I didn't find her respectful of her audience.
The two differences between the keynote speakers really opened my eyes to how a teacher can turn on or off students in a heartbeat! We have to be very careful how we respond to student's questions and comments. We need to encourage thinking, and thank students when they do take a risk, even if they aren't necessarily on the right path. I definitely want to model Dan Meyer's technique, and avoid at all times, the second keynote speaker's technique!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
There is no NEW math!
I have been thinking about blogging about this for a while but I wasn't sure how to put it in words. Today two things made me decide it was time. There was a comment that was supposed to be funny about "new math" made at our staff meeting and I read a comment on facebook criticizing the "new math". It's time to voice my views on the subject.
First, there is no NEW math! The rules of math have not changed! What has changed is that there is a new CURRICULUM. Outcomes/skills have been rearranged and a few ideas that were not in the old curriculum have been added, but NONE of these are NEW math skills! 5 + 8 is still 13! 3x + 5x is still 8x! etc.
Second, the new curriculum encourages introducing multiple strategies to solving math skills. There is nothing wrong with this! I read a tweet that quoted Alfie Kohn: " Irony alert: Adults freely confess they stink at math, then object if their kids aren't taught with same methods they were." Think about this. It is so true. I have parents who will freely come in at interviews and say that they can't help their son/daughter because they sucked at math. Yet, the minute we try to show students a way that they might understand a process that is different from teachings in the past, parents are in an uproar that they don't understand! I can't think of another area where change is so blatantly discouraged! We wouldn't want the medical procedures that were done in the 1930's to still be done today. We couldn't imagine living with the technology that was used 50 years ago! Yet, why do people fight so hard against change in education?
My high school math teacher taught me to factor trinomials using decomposition. This is how I taught my students for the first half of my teaching career. Many students struggled with this skill. The numbers could become quite large, the signs could be tricky, and an understanding of greatest common factors was necessary. A few years ago, a colleague showed me another strategy for factoring trinomials, which we refer to as the box method. This strategy is amazing! Students don't need to deal with large numbers or greatest common factors. I now show both strategies and most students choose the box method, but there are a couple who will choose decomposition. They both have the same end result, but for some students one makes more sense than the other. Now, instead of just reaching some students, I can reach more students because I have multiple strategies for them. The misconception is that they have to know ALL strategies. No, they just need to know one of these with deep understanding.
Another examples with finding domain of functions. I was taught set notation in high school. That is what I used up until 3 years ago. I thought students struggled with domain. I used to plan to spend two to three days just trying to explain it so all would understand. Three years ago, when the resource came out for the new curriculum, there were alternate strategies, one of which was interval notation. I had never seen it before and had to do a bit of reading on it to understand it myself, but when I showed it to the students something happened - they were successful with domain! It wasn't the understanding of domain that had most puzzled, it was the notation we were using! Set notation has symbols in it that hadn't been used a lot in previous classes. Students weren't understanding what all the symbols meant. Once I showed interval notation, more were being successful with domain! In my foundations 30 class half of my students are using set notation and half are using interval notation. If I just showed one of those methods, I may not have reached as many students as I did.
In my grade 9 class we are currently working with polynomials. This is the first time they see polynomials in the curriculum. For some, they make the jump to solving symbolically with ease and others really struggle. I've shown how to use algebra tiles for those who need a visual to help them understand. Today, on the midterm, I had a student ask if he could use the algebra tiles to answer some questions! Eventually I hope he is able to transition to solving symbolically as algebra tiles aren't effective with large values, but for now it is helping him to understand the process. If I just taught "traditionally" as the naysayers of the new curriculum want, then this student would still be unsuccessful with basic polynomial operations because I would only be teaching the symbolic strategy. He wouldn't have a chance to develop an understanding. I believe he will eventually move from visual to symbolic the more he practices with algebra tiles.
Another focus of the new curriculum is for students to explore and develop their own understanding of the math "rules". For example, in the past we simply told students that any power with exponent of 0 was equal to 1. "Just memorize this." I have a math major from university and I never knew why this was until the new curriculum came out and I completed an explore in the resource to discover this! I think about this and am thankful that I was good at memorization! Math came easy to me because I was able to memorize all of these processes and rules. However, for those who struggled in math we have to ask "why". And I believe the answer is that the curriculum never tried to reach all learners. You were taught one strategy (in most cases - some teachers did expand a bit) and it was sink or swim! Now my grade 9's do an explore where they see the pattern that leads to powers with exponent zero being equal to 1. Ultimately we still state the rule, and some students will just memorize this rule, but there are many more that will now have the understanding of why and will be able to remember this rule in the future. If they are able to develop the rule instead of being told the rule, their understanding will be deeper and they will be more likely to recall this information later on.
I could go on and on where showing multiple strategies and inquiry has reached more students than just picking one for all. Just like one shoe size doesn't fit all, neither does one strategy reach all learners!
I do understand that some students get confused when presented multiple strategies. What I will often do, is after showing one strategy, I will tell students who struggle with seeing more than one way to cover their ears if they understood the first method. If they didn't understand the first method then they might want to watch the second in case it makes more sense!
Another criticism of the new curriculum is that parents/society don't feel that students are learning the basics. The basics are STILL taught. Students STILL learn to add, subtract, mulitply and divide. There are some strategies for these skills that may be new to some people. It is not about rote memorization anymore. Let's be real - what percentage of adults do you actually think could recite their multiplication tables without any thought? Not many. Most people have either forgotten some of the products or have developed a strategy to recall the product quickly. These are strategies we want our students to have. At some point, fluency is important, but if they have a strategy that will help them retrieve the answer quickly then that is what they need. My other issue is that why do parents feel it is only up to teachers to drill these facts into the students. Why can't parents take initiative and work on these basic skills at home? My daughter is in grade 2 and my son is 4 and we do basic math skills regularly at home. My daughter has a poster with multiplication facts on her wall. Yesterday I walked into my daughter's bedroom and my son was looking at the poster, giving her two numbers and she had to say the answer. They will both learn their multiplication facts by practicing together at home. My daughter comes home each day with a "green bag book" and is expected to read for at least 15 minutes daily. Why can't we also do 15 minutes of math facts? This will help with recall of basic skills. If parents spent this time with their children so many of the math skills taught in class would be understood a lot quicker. I get that parents may not be able to help with some of the more complex processes, but doing basic math fact questions daily should be easily handled by most. I don't want my daughter's math teacher to be spending too much time worrying about drill and practice on basic math skills - I want her to be teaching strategies and understanding of number systems and patterns in math and I will look after the basic recall of facts.
I do think that some of the negative views have been fostered due to a poor rolling out of the curriculum. I feel for elementary/middle years teachers who were given multiple new curriculums to learn all at once and were told that there were new assessment strategies that needed to me implemented as well, yet there was no extra time given to plan for these, to learn about these, and to collaborate with others. A teacher who all along has only known one strategy and has no time to learn a new strategy is likely going to struggle the first couple of times through. Professional development is crucial to teach teachers how to use manipulatives and various stratgies that are not familiar to them. Also, there was not a lot of guidance from the Ministry on what the purpose of multiple strategies are and many teachers thought that ALL had to be taught and understood. In reality, they are in the resource to assist in reaching all learners, but students, in most cases, only need to be literate in one effective strategy. Once teachers have the chance to learn about the purpose and learn about the strategies, it will spill over into the classroom and things will run a lot smoother. We tell our students that practice makes perfect and it is the same for teachers! The more I teach something the more I feel comfortable with it, the more I feel comfortable with multiple strategies, the more I find out where students struggle and the better I am prepared to assist all learners in developing a deep understanding of the skill.
Ultimately, my advice to parents is that you don't be afraid of the math that you see. Embrace the new strategies and be willing to learn alongside your son/daughter. Challenge your son/daughter to teach you this new strategy - if they can successfully teach you then they have a deep understanding of the skill/process! If you get to the point where you or your son/daughter is not able to complete the work at home, don't be afraid to seek help from the teacher. Ask the teacher to explain the strategy to you. Ask them to send an email, a note, a photocopy of explanation from resource. At home, work on basic math facts instead. You can never go wrong by having a strong skill set in that area. Send a note back to the teacher that you worked on the problems but were unsuccessful and will require more assistance. Please do not play into a struggling student's hand by agreeing with them that "this sucks" or "this is stupid" or "I don't need this anyways". Tell them that it is important to try hard and do your best and it is okay to ask for help. Model this behaviour for them!
Embrace the new curriculum, embrace the changes occuring, and please realize that there is NO NEW MATH!!!!!
First, there is no NEW math! The rules of math have not changed! What has changed is that there is a new CURRICULUM. Outcomes/skills have been rearranged and a few ideas that were not in the old curriculum have been added, but NONE of these are NEW math skills! 5 + 8 is still 13! 3x + 5x is still 8x! etc.
Second, the new curriculum encourages introducing multiple strategies to solving math skills. There is nothing wrong with this! I read a tweet that quoted Alfie Kohn: " Irony alert: Adults freely confess they stink at math, then object if their kids aren't taught with same methods they were." Think about this. It is so true. I have parents who will freely come in at interviews and say that they can't help their son/daughter because they sucked at math. Yet, the minute we try to show students a way that they might understand a process that is different from teachings in the past, parents are in an uproar that they don't understand! I can't think of another area where change is so blatantly discouraged! We wouldn't want the medical procedures that were done in the 1930's to still be done today. We couldn't imagine living with the technology that was used 50 years ago! Yet, why do people fight so hard against change in education?
My high school math teacher taught me to factor trinomials using decomposition. This is how I taught my students for the first half of my teaching career. Many students struggled with this skill. The numbers could become quite large, the signs could be tricky, and an understanding of greatest common factors was necessary. A few years ago, a colleague showed me another strategy for factoring trinomials, which we refer to as the box method. This strategy is amazing! Students don't need to deal with large numbers or greatest common factors. I now show both strategies and most students choose the box method, but there are a couple who will choose decomposition. They both have the same end result, but for some students one makes more sense than the other. Now, instead of just reaching some students, I can reach more students because I have multiple strategies for them. The misconception is that they have to know ALL strategies. No, they just need to know one of these with deep understanding.
Another examples with finding domain of functions. I was taught set notation in high school. That is what I used up until 3 years ago. I thought students struggled with domain. I used to plan to spend two to three days just trying to explain it so all would understand. Three years ago, when the resource came out for the new curriculum, there were alternate strategies, one of which was interval notation. I had never seen it before and had to do a bit of reading on it to understand it myself, but when I showed it to the students something happened - they were successful with domain! It wasn't the understanding of domain that had most puzzled, it was the notation we were using! Set notation has symbols in it that hadn't been used a lot in previous classes. Students weren't understanding what all the symbols meant. Once I showed interval notation, more were being successful with domain! In my foundations 30 class half of my students are using set notation and half are using interval notation. If I just showed one of those methods, I may not have reached as many students as I did.
In my grade 9 class we are currently working with polynomials. This is the first time they see polynomials in the curriculum. For some, they make the jump to solving symbolically with ease and others really struggle. I've shown how to use algebra tiles for those who need a visual to help them understand. Today, on the midterm, I had a student ask if he could use the algebra tiles to answer some questions! Eventually I hope he is able to transition to solving symbolically as algebra tiles aren't effective with large values, but for now it is helping him to understand the process. If I just taught "traditionally" as the naysayers of the new curriculum want, then this student would still be unsuccessful with basic polynomial operations because I would only be teaching the symbolic strategy. He wouldn't have a chance to develop an understanding. I believe he will eventually move from visual to symbolic the more he practices with algebra tiles.
Another focus of the new curriculum is for students to explore and develop their own understanding of the math "rules". For example, in the past we simply told students that any power with exponent of 0 was equal to 1. "Just memorize this." I have a math major from university and I never knew why this was until the new curriculum came out and I completed an explore in the resource to discover this! I think about this and am thankful that I was good at memorization! Math came easy to me because I was able to memorize all of these processes and rules. However, for those who struggled in math we have to ask "why". And I believe the answer is that the curriculum never tried to reach all learners. You were taught one strategy (in most cases - some teachers did expand a bit) and it was sink or swim! Now my grade 9's do an explore where they see the pattern that leads to powers with exponent zero being equal to 1. Ultimately we still state the rule, and some students will just memorize this rule, but there are many more that will now have the understanding of why and will be able to remember this rule in the future. If they are able to develop the rule instead of being told the rule, their understanding will be deeper and they will be more likely to recall this information later on.
I could go on and on where showing multiple strategies and inquiry has reached more students than just picking one for all. Just like one shoe size doesn't fit all, neither does one strategy reach all learners!
I do understand that some students get confused when presented multiple strategies. What I will often do, is after showing one strategy, I will tell students who struggle with seeing more than one way to cover their ears if they understood the first method. If they didn't understand the first method then they might want to watch the second in case it makes more sense!
Another criticism of the new curriculum is that parents/society don't feel that students are learning the basics. The basics are STILL taught. Students STILL learn to add, subtract, mulitply and divide. There are some strategies for these skills that may be new to some people. It is not about rote memorization anymore. Let's be real - what percentage of adults do you actually think could recite their multiplication tables without any thought? Not many. Most people have either forgotten some of the products or have developed a strategy to recall the product quickly. These are strategies we want our students to have. At some point, fluency is important, but if they have a strategy that will help them retrieve the answer quickly then that is what they need. My other issue is that why do parents feel it is only up to teachers to drill these facts into the students. Why can't parents take initiative and work on these basic skills at home? My daughter is in grade 2 and my son is 4 and we do basic math skills regularly at home. My daughter has a poster with multiplication facts on her wall. Yesterday I walked into my daughter's bedroom and my son was looking at the poster, giving her two numbers and she had to say the answer. They will both learn their multiplication facts by practicing together at home. My daughter comes home each day with a "green bag book" and is expected to read for at least 15 minutes daily. Why can't we also do 15 minutes of math facts? This will help with recall of basic skills. If parents spent this time with their children so many of the math skills taught in class would be understood a lot quicker. I get that parents may not be able to help with some of the more complex processes, but doing basic math fact questions daily should be easily handled by most. I don't want my daughter's math teacher to be spending too much time worrying about drill and practice on basic math skills - I want her to be teaching strategies and understanding of number systems and patterns in math and I will look after the basic recall of facts.
I do think that some of the negative views have been fostered due to a poor rolling out of the curriculum. I feel for elementary/middle years teachers who were given multiple new curriculums to learn all at once and were told that there were new assessment strategies that needed to me implemented as well, yet there was no extra time given to plan for these, to learn about these, and to collaborate with others. A teacher who all along has only known one strategy and has no time to learn a new strategy is likely going to struggle the first couple of times through. Professional development is crucial to teach teachers how to use manipulatives and various stratgies that are not familiar to them. Also, there was not a lot of guidance from the Ministry on what the purpose of multiple strategies are and many teachers thought that ALL had to be taught and understood. In reality, they are in the resource to assist in reaching all learners, but students, in most cases, only need to be literate in one effective strategy. Once teachers have the chance to learn about the purpose and learn about the strategies, it will spill over into the classroom and things will run a lot smoother. We tell our students that practice makes perfect and it is the same for teachers! The more I teach something the more I feel comfortable with it, the more I feel comfortable with multiple strategies, the more I find out where students struggle and the better I am prepared to assist all learners in developing a deep understanding of the skill.
Ultimately, my advice to parents is that you don't be afraid of the math that you see. Embrace the new strategies and be willing to learn alongside your son/daughter. Challenge your son/daughter to teach you this new strategy - if they can successfully teach you then they have a deep understanding of the skill/process! If you get to the point where you or your son/daughter is not able to complete the work at home, don't be afraid to seek help from the teacher. Ask the teacher to explain the strategy to you. Ask them to send an email, a note, a photocopy of explanation from resource. At home, work on basic math facts instead. You can never go wrong by having a strong skill set in that area. Send a note back to the teacher that you worked on the problems but were unsuccessful and will require more assistance. Please do not play into a struggling student's hand by agreeing with them that "this sucks" or "this is stupid" or "I don't need this anyways". Tell them that it is important to try hard and do your best and it is okay to ask for help. Model this behaviour for them!
Embrace the new curriculum, embrace the changes occuring, and please realize that there is NO NEW MATH!!!!!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Growth Mind Set
Today in our Learning Leader's meeting we talked about fixed mind set vs growth mind set. It was an interesting discussion. I know I used to have a fixed mind set. I believed that people/students fit into different categories - ie. A students, B students, great athlete, good athlete, poor athlete, etc. Now I believe I have shifted towards a growth mind set. I believe everyone can improve. We don't all improve at the same rate, and I don't believe that we will all get to the same level in our lifespan, but I do 100% believe that everyone can improve at what they want to.
I think that in our traditional education system we set students up to have a fixed mind set. They were either good, average or poor at math. We did this because we taught a chapter, tested it, gave the evaluation to the student, and that was the end of it, we moved on to the next chapter. Typically students stayed in a particular "grade" range from test to test. We didn't talk a whole lot (or at least I didn't) about learning from the "test" and improving our knowledge.
What really changed my belief was moving to the 4 point rubric. Here it is easy to talk about growth and have a growth mind set. The same scale is used so we can discuss the growth of learning. My first success story with this was in the first year of using the rubric. I had a student with a fixed mind set - she hated math and sucked at it and always failed, so why try. We've all had those students. She had a fixed mind set as she didn't believe she could learn and improve. As I started to think more about growth I simply pointed out to her how proud I was with an assessment result because she had shown improvement since we began that outcome. She thought about that and her mind shifted. Once I had pointed out that she had gone from not knowing, to learning a little, to having a basic understanding of the outcome, she started to believe that she could learn. Her attitude changed as she shifted to a growth mind set and the results for her in the class were a success.
I love that with a growth mind set we are not comparing to one another (ranking), which is what a fixed mind set does. I think a good example of this is when you take your child to the doctor for their annual visit and their height and weight are charted on a percentile chart. Yes, your child is "ranked" in a percentile according to others, but that is not what my doctor focused on. He didn't care if I they were at the 70th percentile or the 5th. What he focused on was that they followed the growth pattern fairly close and remained about the same. A huge drop or increase was cause for concern. I try to get my students to see this as well. I don't want them to compare how they are doing to anyone else, I want them to look at whether they are improving on their learning. When a parent asks me what a good "score" is on the rubric, I tell them it depends on the student. What is more important is whether the student is showing growth and if they are then learning is happening even if it is at a slower/faster pace than someone else.
I think that it is also important with this measurement tool (4 point rubric) that reflecting on learning is occurring. I know I am working on being consistent with this. If all you do is return an assessment with a "score" on it, and there is no follow up, then it can lead to fixed mind sets again. If you return the assessment and have the students reflect on where they are at in their learning, what they have been successful with, what they still need to learn, and whether they have shown improvement, then you are fostering a growth mind set.
What I have found really interesting through this journey is that those who are most opposed to the 4 point rubrics are either students or parents of students who would be deemed "upper" end students if we ranked the students. Today's conversation lead me to believe these are of a fixed mind set and need the validation of the high marks and ranking. Scholarships and University entrance often enter the conversation. Really, University entrance is not an issue - students will be provided with the necessary University required "grade". And really, what percentage of students are we talking about here? Not a whole lot! This system can reach ALL students. Sometimes I wonder if this group is worried about others "catching" them and then they are not alone at the top. I really do think that this validation is necessary for them. And that is something that we need to change. I really don't hear any of the "lower" or "middle" ranked students/parents complaining about this once they have listened to the purpose of this system (initially they might have a negative view until the purpose is explained). They see the benefits of being allowed to improve and being encouraged to learn.
I love how the 4 point system that we have implemented complements a growth mind set. I know I have to improve how I use the system in my classes so students see the benefits of believing that they can learn and not being satisfied with where they are at. This is all about being life long learners. We should all try to improve ourselves daily!
On another note, I watched the following video this evening (click here) and would like to thank the "first follower" who joined in with trying rubrics four years ago, and then the next and the next. Without you guys, we would not be where we are today!
I think that in our traditional education system we set students up to have a fixed mind set. They were either good, average or poor at math. We did this because we taught a chapter, tested it, gave the evaluation to the student, and that was the end of it, we moved on to the next chapter. Typically students stayed in a particular "grade" range from test to test. We didn't talk a whole lot (or at least I didn't) about learning from the "test" and improving our knowledge.
What really changed my belief was moving to the 4 point rubric. Here it is easy to talk about growth and have a growth mind set. The same scale is used so we can discuss the growth of learning. My first success story with this was in the first year of using the rubric. I had a student with a fixed mind set - she hated math and sucked at it and always failed, so why try. We've all had those students. She had a fixed mind set as she didn't believe she could learn and improve. As I started to think more about growth I simply pointed out to her how proud I was with an assessment result because she had shown improvement since we began that outcome. She thought about that and her mind shifted. Once I had pointed out that she had gone from not knowing, to learning a little, to having a basic understanding of the outcome, she started to believe that she could learn. Her attitude changed as she shifted to a growth mind set and the results for her in the class were a success.
I love that with a growth mind set we are not comparing to one another (ranking), which is what a fixed mind set does. I think a good example of this is when you take your child to the doctor for their annual visit and their height and weight are charted on a percentile chart. Yes, your child is "ranked" in a percentile according to others, but that is not what my doctor focused on. He didn't care if I they were at the 70th percentile or the 5th. What he focused on was that they followed the growth pattern fairly close and remained about the same. A huge drop or increase was cause for concern. I try to get my students to see this as well. I don't want them to compare how they are doing to anyone else, I want them to look at whether they are improving on their learning. When a parent asks me what a good "score" is on the rubric, I tell them it depends on the student. What is more important is whether the student is showing growth and if they are then learning is happening even if it is at a slower/faster pace than someone else.
I think that it is also important with this measurement tool (4 point rubric) that reflecting on learning is occurring. I know I am working on being consistent with this. If all you do is return an assessment with a "score" on it, and there is no follow up, then it can lead to fixed mind sets again. If you return the assessment and have the students reflect on where they are at in their learning, what they have been successful with, what they still need to learn, and whether they have shown improvement, then you are fostering a growth mind set.
What I have found really interesting through this journey is that those who are most opposed to the 4 point rubrics are either students or parents of students who would be deemed "upper" end students if we ranked the students. Today's conversation lead me to believe these are of a fixed mind set and need the validation of the high marks and ranking. Scholarships and University entrance often enter the conversation. Really, University entrance is not an issue - students will be provided with the necessary University required "grade". And really, what percentage of students are we talking about here? Not a whole lot! This system can reach ALL students. Sometimes I wonder if this group is worried about others "catching" them and then they are not alone at the top. I really do think that this validation is necessary for them. And that is something that we need to change. I really don't hear any of the "lower" or "middle" ranked students/parents complaining about this once they have listened to the purpose of this system (initially they might have a negative view until the purpose is explained). They see the benefits of being allowed to improve and being encouraged to learn.
I love how the 4 point system that we have implemented complements a growth mind set. I know I have to improve how I use the system in my classes so students see the benefits of believing that they can learn and not being satisfied with where they are at. This is all about being life long learners. We should all try to improve ourselves daily!
On another note, I watched the following video this evening (click here) and would like to thank the "first follower" who joined in with trying rubrics four years ago, and then the next and the next. Without you guys, we would not be where we are today!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Mini Conferences 2
A couple of posts back I blogged about mini conferencing after an assessment. I have begun to do this regularly. I really like it. It serves multiple purposes.
First it allows me to check understanding that was incomplete on the assessment yet I feel the student actually does understand (based on formative results in the classroom). Many times I don't score the assessment until after I have had a conversation with the student. I want to be sure their score accurately reflects what they understand at that particular time.
Second, it allows the student and I to touch base one on one. I try to do this with all students as often as possible, but realistically some students are more vocal with asking for help and some shy away from it. In these conferences they have to speak to me! I am able to probe into their thought process in order to get a better feel for where they are understanding the outcome.
Third, I am able to discuss with the student their areas of weakness (and strengths). We can go through the questions they had errors on and discuss whether it was a simple error or something they need more help on. One on one the student is more focused than if I simply went through the answers with the whole class. Many times through the conversation I have realized the error they made was not the error I assumed they made so it is easier to correct the misunderstanding.
Fourth, I am able to score the assessment AND give a comment AND have the comment looked at by the student. Research shows (Wiliam) that if both a comment and a grade are given the student does not look at the comment. Learning does not take place. When they conference with me we discuss the comment! I do have some other ideas that I would like to try down the road where the student only receives a comment, yet I can score the assessment in my gradebook, but that is for another discussion/post at a later date!
This whole process can usually be completed within 20-30 minutes of a class. Instead of giving the assessment back at the beginning of a class, I now "teach" the next lesson and then while the students are practicing, I call them up one at a time and we have our conference. Some are really quick as some students are at level 3 or 4, so not a lot of misconceptions. Really when a person looks deeply at the assessment it is typically one or two misunderstandings and when the student is right in front of you it doesn't take long to correct these. If I do have a student who is really struggling we can set another time for them to meet with me for extra help.
I have really liked this process so much that one time recently the follow up lesson included an exploration so there was no time for practice, so I told the students they had to wait an extra day for their assessment to be returned! I wouldn't stretch the wait time out more than a day as it is important for the students to see what they have done, but one day isn't going to make a huge difference and the value of the conference outweighs the extra day!
First it allows me to check understanding that was incomplete on the assessment yet I feel the student actually does understand (based on formative results in the classroom). Many times I don't score the assessment until after I have had a conversation with the student. I want to be sure their score accurately reflects what they understand at that particular time.
Second, it allows the student and I to touch base one on one. I try to do this with all students as often as possible, but realistically some students are more vocal with asking for help and some shy away from it. In these conferences they have to speak to me! I am able to probe into their thought process in order to get a better feel for where they are understanding the outcome.
Third, I am able to discuss with the student their areas of weakness (and strengths). We can go through the questions they had errors on and discuss whether it was a simple error or something they need more help on. One on one the student is more focused than if I simply went through the answers with the whole class. Many times through the conversation I have realized the error they made was not the error I assumed they made so it is easier to correct the misunderstanding.
Fourth, I am able to score the assessment AND give a comment AND have the comment looked at by the student. Research shows (Wiliam) that if both a comment and a grade are given the student does not look at the comment. Learning does not take place. When they conference with me we discuss the comment! I do have some other ideas that I would like to try down the road where the student only receives a comment, yet I can score the assessment in my gradebook, but that is for another discussion/post at a later date!
This whole process can usually be completed within 20-30 minutes of a class. Instead of giving the assessment back at the beginning of a class, I now "teach" the next lesson and then while the students are practicing, I call them up one at a time and we have our conference. Some are really quick as some students are at level 3 or 4, so not a lot of misconceptions. Really when a person looks deeply at the assessment it is typically one or two misunderstandings and when the student is right in front of you it doesn't take long to correct these. If I do have a student who is really struggling we can set another time for them to meet with me for extra help.
I have really liked this process so much that one time recently the follow up lesson included an exploration so there was no time for practice, so I told the students they had to wait an extra day for their assessment to be returned! I wouldn't stretch the wait time out more than a day as it is important for the students to see what they have done, but one day isn't going to make a huge difference and the value of the conference outweighs the extra day!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
PLC Update
Our PLC group met again this morning to touch base and see how things have been going. We started out with another video clip from a classroom observation. One of our members has begun using the red/green cups (a strategy found in Dylan Wiliam's book Embedded Formative Assessment). We were able to get a good video of a lesson where these were used well and I edited it to just under 3 minutes. During this time we saw how during one example, a large amount of the students changed their cups to red, so the teacher went through the example as a class discussion. Two other times individual students changed their cups to red, so the teacher dealt with them individually. During our meeting the teacher reflected on how things have been going. She said she was nervous to try this, as it seems so elementary, and she has grade 10 and 12 students. However she said they are liking it and asking for them. She said she hasn't yet asked them why they like it. We have discussed possibly furthering our video to include video clips of the students sharing their thoughts on the use of the cups.
Two other teachers shared what they observed during a classroom observation. One noticed a difference in questioning techniques, and the other on organization of board space during the lesson.
We left the meeting with a goal of within one month each teacher needs to make a point of observing someone else and being observed.
Two other teachers shared what they observed during a classroom observation. One noticed a difference in questioning techniques, and the other on organization of board space during the lesson.
We left the meeting with a goal of within one month each teacher needs to make a point of observing someone else and being observed.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
A Day With Dylan Wiliam
First off, I'd like to thank our division for investing money in teacher's professional development.
Second, I'd like to thank my school's PD committee for thinking outside the box. Let me explain. Two years ago, 5 teachers from our school attended a conference in Scottsdale on Standards and Assessment. At this conference we heard Dylan Wiliam speak (bio here). I know I took away a lot from listening to him and I'm pretty sure the others did too. The past couple of years we have begun to implement some of the strategies he talked about regarding formative assessment. Last spring, our admin asked if we thought he'd be worth bringing in. YES! They thought that instead of sending a limited number of teachers to a conference where you hear a person for a short period of time, they would bring the person to us! What an amazing opportunity! As a result, the PLC group I belong to decided we would do a book study of his Embedded Formative Assessment this year. I blogged about our goals here.
Today, 40 of our math and science teachers got to spend our PLC day with Dylan Wiliam. Today was a great day. I thoroughly enjoy listening to him speak. He is knowledgeable, witty, and has stories to back up what he is saying. I could write an essay on what I learned today. Instead I will highlight a few points.
On Education Today
1) We are preparing students today for a world that we know very little about. Jobs are changing at a rapid pace and we need to teach kids how to become thinkers and teach them the skill of wanting to learn.
2) The solution is not in spending more money to change the physical makeup of the classroom, add technology, etc.
3) Teaching is a HARD job! And because of this we need to help teachers become better teachers. He says a lifetime is not enough time to master teaching. We have a hard job and will always encounter failure. We simply need to keep learning in order to become more effective. It is important to note that we are not bad teachers, we all go to work doing the best that we can, but we need to help each other become better. It makes sense - why would I want to be the same teacher I was ten years ago? I'd like to think I've become better and that I can still get better yet!
On Formative Assessment/Feedback
1) The closer the formative assessment is to instruction, the bigger the effect on learning (ie. if you collect your evidence and make immediate decisions based on this evidence for the students you collected the evidence from, it will have a greater impact on their learning)
2) Feedback should be forward looking and not looking back. It needs to inform the learner of what needs to be done to improve.
3) Regular checks need to occur
4) Getting feedback right is hard. Feedback can have a negative effect on learning when done incorrectly, so it is important to know your students so you can be sure they are getting the correct balance. They need to be challenged, but only so that they feel it is attainable and not out of their reach.
5) The only good feedback is feedback which is acted upon. You need to provide time in class for students to reflect on this feedback.
On questioning
1) You need to know a purpose to your questions. You want questions that promote thinking. It's not about closed vs open, but low level vs high level.
2) Love his "pose, pause, pounce, bounce" strategy - the teacher poses the question, pauses for students to think about it (he said a study showed the average wait time was 0.9 seconds!!!! Need to give time to think), pounces on a RANDOM student (as opposed to a "volunteer"), and then bounces the answer to another RANDOM student.
3) Discussion questions - a multiple choice question where a student might select any one of the answers and then you need to discuss with the class as to what their reasoning is behind their thinking.
4) Diagnosis questions (Hinge questions)- a quick question to make sure everyone is understanding what you want them to understand. This question must be a GOOD question - there shouldn't be a way to get a correct answer with incorrect thinking. These questions need to be planned ahead of time and critiqued by other teachers. Idea - have a group of three work on these questions and then give them to another group of teachers to see if they can find a way a student might get a correct answer with incorrect thinking. If they can then you need to find a different diagnosis question. He says that with these questions you must be able to collect and interpret the responses from all students in 30 seconds.
On Strategies For the Teacher in The Classroom
Dylan Wiliam provided a large number of formative strategies that can be used in the classroom. This is what our PLC is working on. It is important to not overload yourself with these and that you make individual choices with which you might try. Although all sound very good, there are a couple that stood out to me and they will be the first ones I get to as I decide to try new things.
1) Structured Interaction - Teach students to pose/develop/ask questions during a lesson. This will increase engagement. How I see it working for me is that I would tell the students that as the lesson is occurring they need to be thinking of questions they might want to ask me. Some questions need to be dealt with immediately, but some can wait until the end of the lesson. Instead of me asking "does anyone have any questions" I would pull three popsicle sticks (random selection) and ask them for the question they constructed during the lesson. This is intended to have the students thinking about what is going on and making them active participants in the lesson. I would like to try this at some point!
2) Self Reflection with red/yellow/green mixed with creating test questions. I would like to have students, on a review day, first pre-assess themselves with each skill that is in our rubric as to whether they feel they are red (no clue), yellow (sort of understand) or green (good to go). Then their review would consist of creating test questions complete with solutions for each of those skills, starting with the skills they are red in. At the end of the lesson I would have them assess themselves again to see if they feel they have improved their learning. I hope to try this at some point.
3) Mini Whiteboards - I went out today after the workshop and bought page protectors and dry erase markers so I can start using an all student response system this week!
There was so much more that I got out of the day, but it is too much to write about. Those were the key points that I took away from the day. The last thing that really stood out is that he said improving our practice involves changing habits, not adding knowledge and that's why it's hard. The hardest part is not getting new ideas into people's heads but it's getting the old ones out!
There are two videos online from a project he was part of where they followed a classroom through many of these changes. It was good to watch how everything wasn't instant success, but the teachers and students kept plugging away and the end result was very successful. You can watch the videos here and here. They are both about 1 hour long, but very worthwhile to watch.
Once again, I thank our division and our school PD committee for providing us with this amazing opportunity.
Second, I'd like to thank my school's PD committee for thinking outside the box. Let me explain. Two years ago, 5 teachers from our school attended a conference in Scottsdale on Standards and Assessment. At this conference we heard Dylan Wiliam speak (bio here). I know I took away a lot from listening to him and I'm pretty sure the others did too. The past couple of years we have begun to implement some of the strategies he talked about regarding formative assessment. Last spring, our admin asked if we thought he'd be worth bringing in. YES! They thought that instead of sending a limited number of teachers to a conference where you hear a person for a short period of time, they would bring the person to us! What an amazing opportunity! As a result, the PLC group I belong to decided we would do a book study of his Embedded Formative Assessment this year. I blogged about our goals here.
Today, 40 of our math and science teachers got to spend our PLC day with Dylan Wiliam. Today was a great day. I thoroughly enjoy listening to him speak. He is knowledgeable, witty, and has stories to back up what he is saying. I could write an essay on what I learned today. Instead I will highlight a few points.
On Education Today
1) We are preparing students today for a world that we know very little about. Jobs are changing at a rapid pace and we need to teach kids how to become thinkers and teach them the skill of wanting to learn.
2) The solution is not in spending more money to change the physical makeup of the classroom, add technology, etc.
3) Teaching is a HARD job! And because of this we need to help teachers become better teachers. He says a lifetime is not enough time to master teaching. We have a hard job and will always encounter failure. We simply need to keep learning in order to become more effective. It is important to note that we are not bad teachers, we all go to work doing the best that we can, but we need to help each other become better. It makes sense - why would I want to be the same teacher I was ten years ago? I'd like to think I've become better and that I can still get better yet!
On Formative Assessment/Feedback
1) The closer the formative assessment is to instruction, the bigger the effect on learning (ie. if you collect your evidence and make immediate decisions based on this evidence for the students you collected the evidence from, it will have a greater impact on their learning)
2) Feedback should be forward looking and not looking back. It needs to inform the learner of what needs to be done to improve.
3) Regular checks need to occur
4) Getting feedback right is hard. Feedback can have a negative effect on learning when done incorrectly, so it is important to know your students so you can be sure they are getting the correct balance. They need to be challenged, but only so that they feel it is attainable and not out of their reach.
5) The only good feedback is feedback which is acted upon. You need to provide time in class for students to reflect on this feedback.
On questioning
1) You need to know a purpose to your questions. You want questions that promote thinking. It's not about closed vs open, but low level vs high level.
2) Love his "pose, pause, pounce, bounce" strategy - the teacher poses the question, pauses for students to think about it (he said a study showed the average wait time was 0.9 seconds!!!! Need to give time to think), pounces on a RANDOM student (as opposed to a "volunteer"), and then bounces the answer to another RANDOM student.
3) Discussion questions - a multiple choice question where a student might select any one of the answers and then you need to discuss with the class as to what their reasoning is behind their thinking.
4) Diagnosis questions (Hinge questions)- a quick question to make sure everyone is understanding what you want them to understand. This question must be a GOOD question - there shouldn't be a way to get a correct answer with incorrect thinking. These questions need to be planned ahead of time and critiqued by other teachers. Idea - have a group of three work on these questions and then give them to another group of teachers to see if they can find a way a student might get a correct answer with incorrect thinking. If they can then you need to find a different diagnosis question. He says that with these questions you must be able to collect and interpret the responses from all students in 30 seconds.
On Strategies For the Teacher in The Classroom
Dylan Wiliam provided a large number of formative strategies that can be used in the classroom. This is what our PLC is working on. It is important to not overload yourself with these and that you make individual choices with which you might try. Although all sound very good, there are a couple that stood out to me and they will be the first ones I get to as I decide to try new things.
1) Structured Interaction - Teach students to pose/develop/ask questions during a lesson. This will increase engagement. How I see it working for me is that I would tell the students that as the lesson is occurring they need to be thinking of questions they might want to ask me. Some questions need to be dealt with immediately, but some can wait until the end of the lesson. Instead of me asking "does anyone have any questions" I would pull three popsicle sticks (random selection) and ask them for the question they constructed during the lesson. This is intended to have the students thinking about what is going on and making them active participants in the lesson. I would like to try this at some point!
2) Self Reflection with red/yellow/green mixed with creating test questions. I would like to have students, on a review day, first pre-assess themselves with each skill that is in our rubric as to whether they feel they are red (no clue), yellow (sort of understand) or green (good to go). Then their review would consist of creating test questions complete with solutions for each of those skills, starting with the skills they are red in. At the end of the lesson I would have them assess themselves again to see if they feel they have improved their learning. I hope to try this at some point.
3) Mini Whiteboards - I went out today after the workshop and bought page protectors and dry erase markers so I can start using an all student response system this week!
There was so much more that I got out of the day, but it is too much to write about. Those were the key points that I took away from the day. The last thing that really stood out is that he said improving our practice involves changing habits, not adding knowledge and that's why it's hard. The hardest part is not getting new ideas into people's heads but it's getting the old ones out!
There are two videos online from a project he was part of where they followed a classroom through many of these changes. It was good to watch how everything wasn't instant success, but the teachers and students kept plugging away and the end result was very successful. You can watch the videos here and here. They are both about 1 hour long, but very worthwhile to watch.
Once again, I thank our division and our school PD committee for providing us with this amazing opportunity.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Mini Conferences
Over the past few years as I've become more aware of the necessity to improve my teaching strategies, I've read about the importance of having individual conferences regularly with your students. I've struggled with finding the time to do this, especially in high school where you only see the students for 1 hour a day and typically have between 20 and 35 students in a class. Over the last year I've managed to find a starting point. Today I did this with my grade 9's and found it very successful. Here is what I do.
Yesterday the students wrote an assessment. My weekly assessment's are not summative in nature - I will record their level of understanding to collect evidence of learning, but we are to learn from the results, which really makes them formative in nature and we will do additional assessments based on what we get from the assessment. But the kicker is that I have to make sure that the feedback the students are getting from these is effective and will move learning forward. I'm starting to figure this out. I haven't mastered it by any means, but I am getting better. What I did today was taught the next lesson and then while the student's were working on their practice, I called the students up one at a time. We looked through their assessment. Some students I gave a second opportunity on a particular question. Some had not answered the question in it's entirety so I gave them an opportunity to complete it so I could really gage their level of understanding. Others had made one mistake at a particular level so I allowed them a second chance to see if they just had a mental block yesterday. Then for those who had questions incorrect, we discussed these. I asked how they had arrived at their answer so that I wasn't assuming an incorrect thought and then we corrected that misconception. It went really well. I had enough time with the students and they got 1 on 1 feedback. I then had them complete their learning log as a reflection on the assessment. The three questions I asked were: What was one thing you were proud of; What was one thing you were disappointed in; and What follow up needs to be done to improve? I was impressed with their reflections. I had a student who was proud that she tried on the exam, but knew that her follow up was to practice more. I had a student who, the day before the assessment wrote that he was struggling with this material, get a 2.5 and write he was proud of how well he had done! I had a student who had 3.5, write for his follow up that he needs to spend more time reviewing his assessment before handing it in. These are good reflections and ones that need to be followed up on after the next assessment to see if they made those changes!
I am happy with how it went and plan on continuing this process. My next goal would be to find time to do this before the assessment as well!
Yesterday the students wrote an assessment. My weekly assessment's are not summative in nature - I will record their level of understanding to collect evidence of learning, but we are to learn from the results, which really makes them formative in nature and we will do additional assessments based on what we get from the assessment. But the kicker is that I have to make sure that the feedback the students are getting from these is effective and will move learning forward. I'm starting to figure this out. I haven't mastered it by any means, but I am getting better. What I did today was taught the next lesson and then while the student's were working on their practice, I called the students up one at a time. We looked through their assessment. Some students I gave a second opportunity on a particular question. Some had not answered the question in it's entirety so I gave them an opportunity to complete it so I could really gage their level of understanding. Others had made one mistake at a particular level so I allowed them a second chance to see if they just had a mental block yesterday. Then for those who had questions incorrect, we discussed these. I asked how they had arrived at their answer so that I wasn't assuming an incorrect thought and then we corrected that misconception. It went really well. I had enough time with the students and they got 1 on 1 feedback. I then had them complete their learning log as a reflection on the assessment. The three questions I asked were: What was one thing you were proud of; What was one thing you were disappointed in; and What follow up needs to be done to improve? I was impressed with their reflections. I had a student who was proud that she tried on the exam, but knew that her follow up was to practice more. I had a student who, the day before the assessment wrote that he was struggling with this material, get a 2.5 and write he was proud of how well he had done! I had a student who had 3.5, write for his follow up that he needs to spend more time reviewing his assessment before handing it in. These are good reflections and ones that need to be followed up on after the next assessment to see if they made those changes!
I am happy with how it went and plan on continuing this process. My next goal would be to find time to do this before the assessment as well!
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