Syllabus Project-Week 4

This week, I worked to do the adjustment of the original plan. Two days out was a hit especially since we were going to have two weeks where we would have four days of school. However, I felt like we could recover well. As I reflected over the holiday weekend, I thought students would only need 2 days to do elimination and substitution instead of 3 as I planned. I will keep the deadline of Friday for the individual plan but be willing to move since we have a lot of time to finish the unit. Even when you make adjustments because of days missed at school. Students understanding will make you adjust your plans as well. I thought continuing a familiar situation to introduce substitution would be a great way to start the week. I was WRONG.

The lesson on Tuesday was a complete flop. I decided to do a guided discussion since the last time we did this situation was a seminar. We first reviewed the prior situation and talked about their strengths. I then mentioned how algebraic representation is a skill they need because table and graphs are not always able to get you the answer. As we worked on the scenario together, each hour was a different type of pain. In all hours, only a couple of people could write the equation for question 1. When we worked to solve the equation by substitution, the faces of the students changed every hour. 

At the end of the day as I thought about all of those faces, I realized I needed to reset my plans for the week. Substitution and elimination is essential for them to complete the individual learning plan but it was clear we would need to take more time. I decided to wait a week to set new deadline dates. Thank God the unit doesn't end till the end of the month so I can be flexible with the project. Graphing which is a strength can be a great bridge to substitution. I decided I would take Wednesday to go over graphing and then have them do a graded assignment on that skill. Graphing would allow me to fill in gaps or remind them of previously learned skills. In this post for this week, I want to share my assessment cycle and great interaction with one of the student groups.  

Assessment Cycle

Assessment is my jam as a teacher. One of my philosophies of teaching is from Alvin Toffler (see below). It means so much to me that I place it on the syllabus as one of the learning objectives for the course. I believe it is the main skill all teachers need to help students develop. You can practice the skill on any content. I have found that assessment is the tool that makes this skill possible and therefore it is my constant pursuit to get better at assessment. 

Several years ago, I moved to following an assessment cycle. It is a staple to the learning process of my class whether we are doing a project or not. It was a result of reading several books on assessment. None of the books directly gave this advice but this format is my way of accomplishing what they said is best for students. Below is a graphic I shared with students this week to help explain the cycle. I basically call the cycle 2 for 1. Students get at least two days before a formal assessment is taken on any learning objective. The first assessment is low stakes and if placed in the gradebook it is a student work category. This category is worth 30% of their grade (school required category and weight). The students reflect on the learning and work at least another two days before the next assessment which is an individual assessment and worth 50% of their grade. This cycle repeats until the unit is complete.

One of the key aspects to doing this cycle is the students reflecting. They must really analyze their work especially after a class assessment. As you can see in the nearpod lesson, students began by connecting their work to the rubric. We then reviewed the answers to the paper with students being able to ask me questions about each problem. Before I had them write a reflection, I had them think about the previous day and look at their work. I asked them to think about how much they had to lean on someone the previous day, how much technology did they use to answer the question and what do they actually know and don't know. Students often don't reflect well at first which you can see from the answers below. You have to keep working on it by increasing the modeling and consistently having it as a practice. 

  

Graded Assignment Day 

On Wednesday, students worked to understand graphing using a situation and table (which is their strength) and then moved to just graphing from an equation (Here is the handout). Typically, this would be 2 back to back days of practice but since we looked at graphing from a situation starting day 8, I felt one day of heavy review is all that was needed before the graded assignment.

The next day they did the graded assignment. It is what I call the first type of assessment in the cycle. To help them know when I am grading, I add the word graded at the end of the assignment title. When it is a graded assignment, they work together to get the answers. They work with the teams they already are sitting with or they can go to other teams to get help. I do a lot of observing to see what students know and are able to do. Below are pictures I posted on Thursday to show the working day. 

The best aspect of the day was a conversation about question 2 from a group in 5th hour. They really wanted me to give the answer which I couldn't, I can only clarify directions. One of the students in the group did her best to try to ask a clarifying question without it being connected to what was the answer. She kept starting the question with "Can you clarify...". I had to hug her and laugh because it was a great attempt at following my guidelines. I instead choose to help by guiding their discussion with each other. Let's call them student 1, 2 and 3 with student 1 being the person asking the clarifying questions. Below is problem and their answers.

This is the original Problem

Student 2 and 3's Answer

Student 1's Answer

I started the guidance by acknowledging that student 1 is needing the help because her answer is different than student 2. At this point, student 3 chimed in and said they also got the same answer as student 2. I said okay let's explain to each other what occurred and see if we can convince the team of our answer. I said student 2 can you explain how you got the answer 4 for the Walmart cost. He explains but I can see student 1 is not following. I then instruct him to go to a whiteboard that is near the group and demonstrate what he is saying with pictures. He explains with words on the board and student 3 said yes that is right. Student 1 says he can't be right because there are not four cans for Walmart there is only 2 which is what the statement says. The other students then explain there isn't 2 but four cans which means there is another $1 that must be added. This still perplexes student 1. I then try to explain what student 2 and 3 are saying but in a different way. Student 1 still shakes their head and admits they want to quit. This is when productive struggle is over so I decide to end the conversation and the struggle. I explain to her that student 2 and 3 are correct. We will work on her getting why they are right another day.

I love when groups start to disagree and discuss their answers like this group. I hope I get all the groups to get to this level of dialogue but without the breakdown. I have never had everyone in the class get to this level but there is always significant improvement. Can't wait for next week.

You can find a day to day look at the resources for this project at this link.