Week 4 Reflection: Progress

This week I found myself able to breathe and relax a bit. Students are getting comfortable with class and are realizing I expect them to take responsibility for their own understanding. Memorable moment of the week; a student whose struggling completed a practice assignment, upon grading it realized they had many mistakes and asked "can't I just turn it in to have it done?"  No Honey, it's not about completion, it's about understanding.  We are making progress. Slow, steady progress. 

As students come into class I have the tracking spreadsheet up.  If you are in the red you're in a row. Being in the red means that students haven't completed their WSQ (watched video, summarized with notes, and answered questions online).  In rows they need to grab a netbook and complete their WSQ. 

For those in groups we've been starting class with our Rapid Review. Students grab a whiteboard and I put up some problems from the concept covered in huge video. They work them out, show me their answers/work and I can identify who needs help and provide some remediation. I also use students' answers to their online submissions (the "Q" part of WSQ) to guide what we do for Rapid Review. 

Next students have flex time and work on their practice. I also use this time to pull together small groups for remediation and help students individually. We end class with a whole class activity. Lately we've been finding mistakes in student work or doing number talks. 

We also have a number of interventions from our Freshman Academy including academic detentions, meeting with counselors, parent calls home, and Link Crew lunch study buddies. There are a few students I need to meet with about retaking their first unit test. Progress is happening. Slowly but surely.