Week 1 Reflection: Groupwork

One of the books I read this summer was Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom by Elizabeth G. Cohen & Rachel A. Lotan. I have always wanted to do a more effective job of having my students work in groups.  I believe that rich group tasks are an authentic way for students to develop their mathematical thinking and it gives them an opportunity to work like mathematicians.  Too many times students develop the inaccurate belief that mathematicians sit alone in their offices pondering challenging mathematical ideas and concepts.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Mathematicians not only discuss ideas with each other, they also build on each other's work.  Sometimes over hundreds or thousands of years.

Through reading Designing Groupwork I began to understand how to develop the necessary skills in my students so that they could work in groups effectively.  I am a work in progress and will continue to reflect on the ideas of Cohen and Lotan.  In the appendix of the book, the authors provide activities that are constructed to develop students' abilities to work together effectively.  I decided to start the first week of school by using these activities with my students.

One of the biggest hurdles I had was in getting groups to share out their strategies they used in the activities during our whole group wrap up at the end of class.  Although students were engaged during the activity, it was quite the opposite when it came to the whole group.  My focus was on getting students to share their strategies so they could see that there were many "paths" to the solution.  This was important to me because I want to emphasize the importance of strategy over the solution.  So often students are so focused on "did I get the right answer" that they overlook the richness of the way (or ways) to get there.  I'm pretty patient and can sit with the "wait time" fairly well; letting the silence hang in the air in the hopes that a student will fill it.  But my goodness they just weren't opening up!

Somehow I stumbled on the idea of debriefing the groups individually as they finished the task and flushing out their particular strategy.  Then I would ask the individual group if they would be willing to share their strategy with the whole group because I thought there was value in other students hearing about it.  This worked extremely well!  I don't know if it was because I gave value to their strategy, asked "permission" for them to share, or built up their confidence so they felt comfortable sharing.  Whatever the reason, I was happy that I had more groups sharing during our whole group debriefing.

My other take away was coming to the realization that the success of a task or activity isn't always related solely to the activity itself.  It matters whether or not I feel some connection to the task.  There were a couple of activities that I just didn't feel a connection to and they did not go as well as the others.  They were perfectly good tasks, but I just didn't connect to them for some reason.  It makes me wonder if other educators have had this same observation.  Maybe my disconnection influenced how I navigated through the task and kept it from being as successful as it could have been.  And I wonder what was it specifically that kept me from connecting to it?  I'm not sure of the answer but I will continue to ponder the question as I try more tasks throughout the year.

Facing the Fear of Change

Here we are.  The day before we return for another school year.  My classroom is ready, at least for the most part.  Beginning of the year professional development has been completed.  Students are on my rosters.  And that is where I begin to feel the panic, worry, and fear set in.

Large classes with a large population of at-risk kids.  The plans of drastically changing what I have been doing year after year start to seem overwhelming.  The self-doubt sets in and throwing out the summer of research and hard work seems like an increasingly safe idea.

There is some solace in continuing to do things the way you've always done them.  At least you know what each day will bring.  Good or bad, the days will at least be familiar.  It is that fear of the unknown that can so eloquently stop us dead in our tracks.  It is in that space of the unknown that the "what ifs" take shape.  What if it doesn't work?  What if students push back at the changes?  What if parents push back?  What if I can't keep up with the workload?  What if...I fail.

Fear can be crippling.  It can stop us from making changes we know in our hearts are worthwhile.  It can turn opportunities into obstacles and possibilities into panic attacks.  How, then, do you we handle fear?  How do we face it?  How do we take away its' power?  Catherine Pratt puts an interesting spin on this fear of change in her blog post Life Change - 6 Reasons Why We're Afraid to Change.

"If you let it, your imagination can dream up a never ending supply of terrible things that could happen.  But let's think about it.  You have the ability to imagine the absolute worst thing that could happen so that means you also have the skill to use your energy to imaging the absolute best thing that could happen.  It's a matter of focus.  Why do you waste so much time imagining the worst when there's just as much of a chance of the best outcome happening?"

Fear is a choice.  We can choose to envision the worst of possibilities.  Or we can choose to envision the best.  Ultimately, neither one of them have become our reality.  Yet.

So I begin to imagine the possibilities.  The possibility that my students will take ownership over their learning because they have been given a voice in what they learn, how they learn it, and how they are assessed.  The possibility that my students develop number sense through authentic number talks.  The possibility that my students develop their critical thinking, creativity problem solving, communication, collaboration, connection making, and curiosity.  The possibility that they view mathematics conceptually rather than through mere procedure alone.  The possibility that they begin to think like mathematicians and, dare I say it, begin to love math!

I'm not sure which reality will become my truth.  Maybe a bit of each.  But I do know this, if I can choose which direction my mind will wander, I'll choose the one that puts a smile on my face.

And somehow, the fear begins to slip away.

Halting the Hiatus

My how time flies!  Sometimes, the best of ideas get placed on the back burner.  Maybe for good reasons.  Maybe because the rhythms of life took you somewhere else for awhile.  Either way, I've decided to return to this place to share my thoughts (and my adventures) into this journey we call teaching.

It really is a journey.  One on which we hope to grow and become better teachers; for our students, our students' parents, and for ourselves.   Although it is sometimes a difficult journey, filled with self-doubt, unending criticism, and daunting goals, we trudge on.  You hope that the passion you had when you began this career as an educator will carry you through.  Sometimes it does.  Sometimes it doesn't.

We all reach those dark moments.  The moment you wonder whether or not you want to (or can) carry on in a career as an educator.  Some of us realize we can't and leave.  And that's okay.  Choosing to do something different is really just another choice in life and not necessarily an indication of failure.

For some, the passion continues to brew; although it feels a million miles away.  You look in the mirror and wonder what happened to the idealistic educator who so passionately put together their first classroom that first year.  Or second.  Or maybe even tenth.  You know that passion still resides within you; buried deep beneath the pointless PD, laundry list of standards, requirements to post learning targets, and overwhelming evaluation rubrics that make it clear no one can ever really be "highly effective" in every area because of those nasty little "all" or "every" clauses in the matrix.

And then, you make a choice.  To stay.  Like every other choice in life there are pros and cons.  You decide to focus on the positive and overcome the negative.  They exist with every decision we make after all.  You recognize you need to make some substantial changes in hopes of rekindling that passion.  They will take work of course; much worth doing usually does.  And then you begin to feel that passion, rise yet again.  And it feels...right.

Teachers for the Accountability of Parents (TAP)

No Child Left Behind was the biggest shift in trying to legislate good teaching in my opinion. I'm not against holding teachers accountable for educating children. Many of our kids have no power or control over the situations they find themselves in; addict parents, poverty, custody battles, parents battling cancer and other health issues. It is the adults in their lives that do have influence over these conditions. Those adults with the most influence are their parents. The educators in a child's life have very little yet they are the only ones being held accountable through legislation. 

In extreme cases there are laws protecting children from abuse and neglect. There are organizations (like CPS) who can remove a child from these conditions. We have social programs like food stamps, WIC, and public housing to help support families in financial crisis. We have Pell Grants and student loans that offer parents the opportunity to go to college and end the cycle of generational poverty. I understand that it is not an easy task to improve ones situation but there is help. 

Let's be real for a moment. How many teachers have gotten the brunt end of an angry parent of a child who is failing because they are choosing not to work in class. I get there are many reasons why a student may not work. I personally know many educators who have tried everything to help; giving up family time to stay after and personally tutor students, accommodating assignments, giving multiple opportunities to improve on a test, etc. Yet the parents don't provide a quiet place to work at home, have no consequences at home for their students lack of work in school, take them on vacation or hunting when the student is suspended, buy them expensive cell phones as if they are required to provide them.  Do parents not understand that when they blame the teacher they remove all accountability from their children and set a lifelong precedence of blame everyone and everything else?

Now before anyone decides to lambaste me for calling out parents let me put on my parent hat for a moment (I have five kids, three of them, in college). I work hard as a parent and I teach my kids responsibility and hold them accountable. I take away their privileges when they aren't doing what they are supposed to in school. Yes, they can survive without a cell phone. There was a time when parents made arrangements for rides home from after school events before cell phones. It can be done! I check my childrens'  grades regularly and if I get busy and haven't checked I don't blame the teacher if my student has missing assignments or is failing. I blame my kids and kick myself for slacking in MY job as a parent. 

So why aren't we calling for the legislation of good parenting? As I see it there are three stakeholders in a child's success; the parent, the student, and the teacher. In that order! Parents have the most influence in holding students accountable and supporting their success. Yet there is no legislation requiring that they do so. That is absurd!  And that, my friends, is what's wrong with the education system. 

Rather than tapping out and leaving education, which many teachers have done or have considered, why aren't we collectively calling for holding parents accountable? Where are the parent evaluations? The pendulum is constantly moving in education. Maybe the next move will be in the direction of parent accountability. Maybe we teachers need to speak out and give it a little push. 

Flipped Update: Meeting the Needs of Advanced Students

Many times I find myself focusing on how to help students who are struggling.  It's the main reason I decided to flip my 9th grade math class a few years ago.  However, I have had an interesting situation develop with my advanced students.

After trying flipped mastery at the beginning of the year and realizing it wasn't working (read Week 3 Reflection: Regrouping) I returned to the flipped format I was using last year.  Prior to our winter break we gave students an assessment over the Linear Functions unit.  Unfortunately, the results were extremely disappointing.  Most students failed, so after break we regrouped, reviewed, and re-assessed.  However, I had 13 students (out of about 100) who scored 80% or higher.  I just couldn't stomach the thought of making them review and reassess when they clearly understood the concepts.  So I gave them a choice; you can review and reassess with the rest of the class OR you can move ahead and work at your own pace.  ALL 13 students took me up on the idea!

Luckily I have most everything ready from last year's flipped Algebra 1 class and only need to tweak a few things and stay ahead of the most eager student.  I have them sitting in a group together, helping one another and coming to me when they have questions.  After they check the practice assignment for each concept against the answer key they must meet with me briefly.  From time to time they will pause (of their own free will) and be my "classroom experts" and help other students.  I have a few who are very eager and will be ready for the final exam for this trimester in the next week or so.  The trimester doesn't end until the beginning of March!

Our typical path for students is Algebra 1 in 9th grade, Geometry in 10th, Algebra 2 in 11th and a senior math class (either Trig, Stats, or Consumers Math).  If students were identified in 7th grade as advanced they took Algebra 1 in 8th grade which put them on course to take AP Calculus their senior year.  I have spoken with a few of the most advanced students who are progressing rapidly about the possibility of not only finishing the Algebra 1 curriculum this year but getting started on Geometry.  This gives them the opportunity to advance through our curriculum and be able to take AP Calculus their senior year (Geometry, Algebra 2, and Trig are only 2 trimesters, Algebra 1 is 3).  Thus far the several students I have spoken with about this opportunity are excited for the challenge!

Finding Myself, Defining Myself

Over the last few months I have taken an unannounced hiatus from this blog.  Recently I've come across a couple of articles that seem to articulate the impetus for my silence.  I decided it was time to write again.

Reflecting 

When I began teaching I was idealistic, eager, and very focused.  Admittedly to my own detriment.  If standards were supposed to by my guiding force, well then, I would know them inside and out and have them drive everything I do in the classroom.  If my evaluation was to be based on student achievement I would pour over that data and use it to guide my instruction.  If creating engaging lesson plans meant sacrificing time with my family then I would make the sacrifice.  The result?  I got burned out.

I recently began to realize that I wasn't happy with my career choice anymore.  Being a teacher used to feel like my calling.  Now it just feels like a job.  One in which rules and regulations are decided by people who have no experience teaching, assessments of my abilities are quantified when in reality much of what I do is qualitative, and what qualifies as true learning has been dissected into a laundry list of standards I must cover rather than an environment of opportunities I'm allowed to create based upon my own experience and the true needs of my students.  I can relate to a veteran teacher in the article I Would Love to Teach But  who states that;

To pursue this calling, I worked hard to earn the title of “classroom teacher,” but I became quickly disillusioned when my title of teacher did not in any way reflect my actual job.

 And the public's perception of my job is no more positive.  From the article In What Other Profession David Reber states;

If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault.

Although he's using sarcasm the unfortunate reality is that there is much that is made a teacher's responsibility that is clearly student/parent responsibility.  At least is should be clear.

Recently I had coffee with my father and we discussed the articles our superintendent writes in the local paper.  He wondered why there has not been a letter addressing parents' responsibility.  There have been articles addressing student achievement, curriculum, and state mandates so why not parent responsibility.  I also wonder why there are no state regulations mandating parent responsibility.  After all parents have more control over their students than we do as teachers.

Reacting 

I decided that I needed to somehow change the direction I was going in.  I started teaching late in life (I turned 40 my first year of teaching) and our financial situation requires me to keep working toward my pension and health benefits.  It was time to pull back and focus on myself and my family.  In essence, it was time to find myself separate from my position as a teacher.  I scaled back the time I spent on work from home and spent that time with my husband/children and on my own hobbies.  Magically, lesson plans still got done as did grading.  But I became a better mother, better wife, and better me.  I began to delve into my creative side again.  I began to knit, crochet, and sew again.  Something I haven't done in years.  I started to find myself.

Most importantly, I began to realize that I didn't have to be the "best" at what I do to still be happy with the job I do.  The perfectionist in me thought the only way to be satisfied with a job well done was to be the absolute best at it.  The perfectionist in me was wrong.  There is a critical balance that needs to be created and maintained for me to happy.  There is a lot about the politics of teaching that I have come to despise.  I have had to learn to define myself and the job I do outside of that political arena.  It means that I let go of evaluations, standards, and the like.  It means that I concentrate on supporting children in transitioning to adulthood.  It's high school after all.

I teach.  It's what I do not who I am.  Who I am is a caring, empathetic adult who enjoys helping children become the best adult they can be.  And THAT makes me happy.

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. 

Week 3 Reflection: Regrouping

I feel that as educators it is so important for us to be reflective about what we do and responsive to our students.   As a type A perfectionist I sometimes get so caught up in my commitment to an idea that I forget they just don't always work out the way we plan.  Although my students were learning the process of flipped mastery there were some unintended consequences that are quite frankly not good for my students.  Or for me.  As Gary Strickland (@SciAggie) from my PLN tweeted me this week "stepping away from a plan that's not working isn't the same as giving up.  Regroup and move forward."  So this week...I regroup.

Unintended Consequences
I had my mastery portion set up so that students would take a short five question quiz after learning each concept to show their level of understanding.  This week it became evident how that worked to dramatically increase many students' test anxiety.  I have always worked diligently to lessen that anxiety so it did not sit well with me that this increased.

I also found that the necessary management of reteaching several groups of students who were on different concepts took up so much of my time that I was having less time with my most struggling students. I always have students who, because of failing middle school math, tend to sit and do nothing due to their severe lack of basic math knowledge.  However, when flipping last year I found that I had time to sit and work with them.  Not so while implementing mastery.

I also feel that I don't have as good a grasp on what my students really know because I haven't been able to have those quality conversations with individual students.  There is just too much chaos.  And I'm not a sissy when it comes to organized chaos.  I have five kids of my own!  Chaos is the norm for me in my life.  But what's been going on in my classroom has not been beneficial chaos.  For my students or for me.  It is okay to acknowledge that.  And to make a new plan to fix it.

Right Fit?
Now its true that  there  may be things I could do differently to manage my time and students better.  Maybe there is a solution to make continuing mastery viable.  But maybe, just maybe, its not right for me...right now.  And maybe, just maybe, its not right for my students...right now.

I work with all freshman in a Freshman Academy setting (I'll blog about that at a later date).  We have four core teachers who have the same 125 students all year at the high school level.  We have the opportunity to have great conversations about our students.  And we are working to help successfully transition them to high school.  We are finding that our students are coming from a middle school experience where they rarely had homework.  Collectively we have an expectation of about 5 hours of homework per week.  That transition is very overwhelming for our students.  At some point I have to accept that our collective goal of getting 100% of our freshman to graduation is greater than my personal goal of doing flipped-mastery.

Regrouping
I've decided that rather than quizzing over each concept we will have a quiz for every 2-3 concepts.  This means that rather than having maybe eight quizzes in a unit we will have about 2-3.  The day following a quiz I will build in reteaching for as many students that need it.  If that's the whole class its okay.

I also found that students were trying to skirt the system a bit by taking quizzes without authentically watching the video, summarizing with notes, and answering the questions online.  We will be staying together as a group more.  When students come into class they will need to show me their notes and have done the online submissions in order to sit in a group with their friends.  I have a tracking spreadsheet to show me who has done theirs (thanks Crystal Kirch).  Otherwise they will sit in a row with a netbook and get that done.

Meanwhile, those who have their WSQ done (watched video, summarized w/ notes, question submission) will get a "rapid review".  Student grab whiteboards, I put up a few questions on the board, and we check their understanding of the concept and clarify any misunderstanding.  This helps me identify those who need small group intervention and gives those students who crave the "tradition" style a bit of that.  By the time we get to small groups those watching the videos in class should be done and can join the small group if they feel they need the extra help.  Those not needing small group can get started on the practice.  When small group is done they can then get started on the practice.

Since I'm finding that students (especially freshman) get a little squirrelly near the end of class we will do a whole class activity for the last 10-15 minutes of class (keep in mind I have 71 minute class periods).  These will be number talks or problem solving activities (see my post on Whole Class Activities).

Here's a recap of class time:

• Rapid Review/Watch Video 10-15 min
• Practice/Small Group Interventions 40-50 min
• Whole Class Activity  10-15 min

 Please know that I'm not saying I don't believe in flipped-mastery as a viable instructional method.  It's just not working for me and my students right now.  Maybe I'll give it more of a go later in the year.  Maybe I will decide its just not right for me.  In conversation with my principal he admitted that he could never do it.  It's just not right for him.  And I think one of the worst things I can do as an educator is to use an instructional method (or be forced to) that doesn't fit who I am as a teacher.  I love flipping.  It works for me and my students.  But it's not for everyone.  And that's okay!

There's a part of teaching we don't talk about much.  It's intuition.  It's time for me to listen to it. Are there growing pains in trying something new?  Of course.  But there's also personal growth in reflecting on the journey and listening to your heart.  What's your's saying to you?

Week 2 Reflection: Breathe!

Even though my level of exhaustion at the end of the day continues to be high.  Overall, it has been a good week filled with student progress and administrative conversations.  Here's the highlights!

Positives:
Students are getting the hang of the process and I have several who have finished the first unit ahead of schedule.  Everyone has made some progress, some more than others.

I have tweaked my organization for quiz retakes to help me better pull together students who need small group interventions.  When I grade that day's quizzes I have half sheets for quiz retakes and fill them out for students who need to retake, noting their original score.  I then gather these by concept and work with students in groups.  I'm finding that some students can explain concepts when we work in a small group adequately although they may do poorly on a paper & pencil quiz.  Therefore, if they show me mastery of the concept in small groups I give them a passing score on the quiz.

Negatives:
I have some students falling behind and really struggling.  There are so many that need help that I find it difficult to get to everyone.  I also have some who are resisting flipped.  I expected this.  Students who are used to "playing school" tend to resist flipped because it requires that they take responsibility for their learning.  I will be calling home for my struggling students this week.

Positive or Negative?
I'm not sure if this is positive or negative.  I have begun to realize that flipped mastery is magnifying the need for differentiation in my students.  It would normally take quite some time for those who might be disengaged, not really taking notes, and not being authentic on the practice problems to be identified.  But now they are quickly identified.  This is good because then it allows me to more quickly get them help.  The difficulty is that there are so many.  I just can't seem to keep up.

Conversation with Administration
I asked my principal to come in and observe me this week.  I just asked him to be an objective pair of eyes and tell me what he sees.  It was a very good experience.  He noted that when I talked to groups I would inadvertently put my back to the rest of the room.  As soon as he mentioned it I remember making the conscious effort NOT to do that last year when I flipped.  It was a good reminder.  He also noticed that when students would encounter a question they would just stop, put their hand up, and wait for me.  This will be something I need to work on.  I'm thinking about something like "ask three before me" kind of thing.  It will be part of our focus for this week.  Most students were on task most of the time.  Given that this is the second week of school and these are freshmen says a lot.  They have much individual work time and they are using it well, most of the time.  I'll take it!  He was also impressed with how well they have have learned the procedures of the class.  He stopped a few when they were turning in quizzes, etc. and asked what they were doing and what they were supposed to do next.  They seem to understand and I'm proud of their efforts.

My assistant principal, who oversees our Freshman Academy, had some wonderful advice for me this week.  Breathe!  She was right.  It was time to breathe and get to know my students.  I'll continue to do that this week.  When introducing the procedures of the class I struggled with whether or not to take the band-aid off slowly or just rip it off, so to speak.  I was a bit too focused on getting that right and because of that I had a less intensive focus on my students themselves.  It's good reflection to keep in mind for next year.

So this week I will continue to breathe.  To get to know my students.  To get them to buy into me and my devotion for them.  It was a good week.

First Week Reflection: Initiating Flipped Mastery

The first week has come and gone. I'm exhausted! My students are learning the process of flipped mastery learning and I am trying to ride the waves while maintaining my optimism. It is not an easy task.

To better understand my reflection you need to be aware of how I have structured things.  Students have a basic work flow; 

Watch video

Summarize by taking notes (I give them guided notes to help)

Questions submission (answer questions about the content online)

Practice what they've learned and correct it with answer key, fix mistakes

Check in with me (basically check to see if notes & practice are done authentically)

Quiz over the concept (must retake if score less than 70%)

We have been modeling watching videos and taking notes in class. Many soon realized that they would rather watch the videos in their own learning space so that they can do so at a pace that works for them. This helped to move them to that goal by the end of the week. Starting next week, viewing content will be done in the individual student work space either at home or in class on their personal device or one of my classroom netbooks.  

By the end of the week students were having discussions about math and working together to understand. For the most part. I am quickly identifying students who are disengaged, mostly because of a lack of understanding of basic math. This is an Algebra 1 class and we start with a review of fractions. Maybe this isn't the best idea as most students (and adults) struggle with fractions. However, we find that the inability to do fractions limits students ability to do more complex work throughout the year. So we start there. 

The check in process is meant to be a way for me to quickly ascertain students' needs. I struggle with it because I find that there is so little of me to go around that I fly through the quick conversation because I'm trying to get to everyone. I'm not sure how to rectify this but I don't want to give up on it quite yet. 

I give students choice in the practice assignments. They choose the level of difficulty and have other problems that they must do. Students are still getting the hang of it but they seem to appreciate having options. I have started to teach some students who are severely struggling to focus on the more basic problems to help lessen their frustration and support them in acquiring some progress. 

What is frustrating me most is that I have uncovered students cheating on the concept quizzes. I have multiple versions of the daily quiz (which has questions for every concept) and have found students putting answers to a version of the quiz that was used previously. This means they are taking other students quizzes and copying the answers. Unfortunately, I have been so focused on students learning the process of class that I have not been teaching them to work that process with integrity. That will be our discussion and focus for next week. 

I think this is evidence if how struggling students have learned to "play school" in a traditional system. Because students have not been held accountable for taking responsibility for their understanding they copied and cheated (or were just passed on due to social promotion) to move through grades.  Now I'm asking them to show they understand and they fall back on old habits or try to shut down. 

Class time is very chaotic as I try to reach every student. I feel like many are falling through the cracks because I just haven't been able to meet their needs.  Yet. It's early. But there is one thing that has become very evident to me. The traditional way is so wrong for kids! I'm not saying the aren't amazing teachers who do great things in a traditional classroom. But as I watch what is happening in my classroom I think about how it would be different for my students if this were a traditional classroom. My go-getters would be sitting there bored out of their minds instead of 3-4 concepts ahead of the others. My strugglers would be watching content fly by them with no level of understanding, broken and disengaged. Instead, even though they are still on the first concept of the first unit, they are right where they need to be. Still learning. Slowly. Ever so slowly.

As I work through the pitfalls and hurdles I feel the fear creeping in. It is a constant battle every day to remain positive and optimistic. To not get angry that students aren't taking advantage of the huge opportunities I'm trying to give them to finally learn a subject that has remained foreign to them for many years. And even though I am surrounded by colleagues and administrators who are supportive I am left feeling lonely and isolated. It's hard trying something new. But my fear has nothing to do with me.  I'm not fearful of trying something new and having it not work. If it doesn't I will learn and move on. I'm not afraid to make a mistake. Tomas Edison failed many times before succeeding with his many inventions. I'm not afraid of failing for me. I'm afraid of failing my students.

They are why I do this. Why I work so hard. Why I'm trying something new. Something I know will work if I just figure how. I guess to fall back on my optimism I must remind myself it is a journey. This week was one of many. Maybe it's one of the failures. Maybe there were some successes. Either way it is one small step of a long journey to help kids truly learn. Great things are not accomplished without great sacrifice, hard work, unwavering determination and a good dose of faith. 

So I guess, once again, it's time to let go of the fear. 

Changing Parents' Mindset

Over the summer I have learned much about the importance of a growth mindset.  I've also learned how devastating it is that our nation is so at ease with the feeling that ""I suck at math".  As I weave together my game plan to overcome this in my classroom with my students I realize there is another game plan I need to put together.  That of teaching the parents of my students a growth mindset too.

What is a growth mindset?
There are two types of mindsets and they are important to understand, especially in the teaching of math.  A fixed mindset basically says that I am good at math because I have an inherent talent for it.  I'm either born with the math gene or not.  This is the mindset most people have and it severely limits the accessibility of a deep understanding of mathematics.  A growth mindset says that I am good at math because I work hard.  The importance of this is that it opens the door to a deep understanding of math to everyone!  You don't have to be born with the math gene you just have to be willing to take responsibility for your understanding, ask questions, and work hard.  Other countries, like Japan, establish a growth mindset in their students and I believe it is part of the reason they fare so well.  There are things you can do to encourage a growth mindset (maybe a post on that in the future) and I'm working at putting those things into play this year.

I suck at reading and that's okay! 
It is a crisis in this nation that so many freely admit and accept being horrible at math yet it is not on the radar as such. Saying one sucks at reading or writing would bring specialists out of the corners to intervene.  Friends would be appalled to hear such a statement.  Yet Americans say they are horrible at math all the time. And most of their friends respond with "I am too."  Why is it acceptable to be horrible in number sense and problem solving (let's face it folks, that's what math is!) but not acceptable to say you are a horrible reader?  Somehow it has become socially acceptable to be bad at math.   This has to change.

How did we get here?
Where this is most concerning to me is when those saying this are the parents of  my students. It concerns me because they say it in front their children during parent teacher conferences and directly to me.  Now I don't blame parents for feeling this way.  In a sense they have been set up for it by the way we have traditionally taught math in this country (something we need to drastically change!).  Parents have come to accept a fixed mindset.  The horrible part is that they are unwittingly passing this onto their children.  I believe that you can't change what you don't acknowledge (Dr. Philism, I think) and I hope to find a way to help parents understand their role in helping me to change their children's mindset.

Let's ask parents, "What if?"
Cracking the shell on "I suck at math" is going to be difficult.  It's ingrained and carries with it many horrible experiences people have had with math.  Rather than confronting it abruptly, I wonder if asking parents to dream a better way might not be the way to go.  I wonder the reaction if I asked parents to consider, "What if?"  What if they had be given the opportunity for a better experience in math class?  What if they had been given the message that they are good at math?  What if their math teachers had given them praise for their efforts?  What if they had been taught that mistakes make your brain grow and they are okay?  What if they had been allowed to work in groups to learn from each other?  I think that if I can get parents to see that their could have been a better way for them that I can get them excited to help me create a better way for their children.

Newsletters never end up home!
I thought about sending home a parent newsletter to give parents information about how to help me change their children's mindset.  And I think for this to be successful they need to feel they are a part of the process.  I certainly can't do this without them! But I know in my own household of five kids, newsletter never end up at home.  If they do they sometimes end up in the garbage or read weeks later.  So I thought I would instead create an online newsletter (think parent blog) that was sent out by a link through Remind 101.  I already have parents sign up for it and that way it goes directly to them. I could even use it to send out periodic hints of things to ask their children about class or positive messages that they can relay to their kids.

Parents are your greatest ally!
I don't think there is anyone more powerful to help us change kid's mindset better than parents.  If they are on our side and working with us our students will benefit greatly.  Although I haven't worked out every detail I have gathered a game plan in my head.  Here are the highlights of that plan:

• Help parents to see how their experience shaped them and how it could be better for their kids
• Show parents how I am doing things differently by sharing what's happening in the classroom
• Ask parents to help me make things better by giving them concrete things to say and do with their kids

I believe that once parents see how doing worksheets of 30 problems on the same concept in complete silence sitting in rows day after day has affected their relationship with math they will be hungry for a better way for their kids.  And when I share with them all that I do in my classroom for students like giving them choice in assignments, having them work in groups, etc. they will see hope.  And maybe, just maybe, through their own children they will change their relationship with math for the better.

Algebra Teaching Game Plan

I have had so many thoughts running through my mind this summer that it became necessary to put them into some kind of organized manner.  Being that I am a visual person I put them together into a Google Drawing with links to the resources.

The Main Idea
I'm starting to see Algebra as really a course in Number Sense and Problem Solving.  I very much wish I could change the name of it but, alas, that will not happen.  My relationship with the teaching math has changed.  I see it as having three personalities that mesh together to form the study of mathematics (or at least the teaching of it). There is the "Conceptual" or all things important to truly understanding mathematics. There is the "Procedural" or the mechanics of math.  And kind of sandwiched between the two is the "Relational" aspect of algebra.  I see that as the ideal kind of relationship students have with mathematics that sincerely supports their potential to understand it's study.

Playing a big part in how I see teaching algebra differently is using the study of patterns as a foundation. There are so many inherent benefits to teaching algebra from this perspective that it cries for it's own post (I'll get to that soon).  There is the use of questioning to develop many conceptual and relational aspects of algebra. I have a theory that students struggle in math classes because they don't know how or feel comfortable asking questions.  There is much more to how I see teaching algebra (or maybe even math in general) that it is too much for one post.  For now, here is what has been brewing in my brain.

For the image with active links go here: Game Plan Link

Patterns Make Me Feel Stupid: How I'm Turning That Into a Positive For My Students

Having just completed Jo Boaler's How to Teach Math course thought Stanford's MOOC I am left contemplating the importance of studying patterns in Algebra. I understand they are more meaningful than empty equations. But as I study them for myself while trying to develop how I will use them in the classroom I have two reactions I didn't anticipate; 1) They make me feel stupid, and 2) I don't get how they relate to the real world.

Why They Make Me Feel Stupid

I'm talking specifically about working with visual patterns like those found on Fawn Nguyen's website.  I typically have little problem wrapping my head around how the patterns grow. My difficulty comes in finding the 43rd pattern and modeling the growth with an algebraic expression to find the nth case.  As soon as I recognized my internal voice commenting, "I hate these" and "I'm not good at these" I immediately realized that is how many of my students feel. So what was making me think these things? Im a teacher for goodness sake and I should know better. The answer; because they take forever for me to figure out. Epiphany! I was falling into the same trap my students do; if I can't figure it out in a few minutes then I must not know how to do it.  As much education as I have in teaching mathematics I still fall into that crappy old trap. How easy it must be for my students to fall into the same trap!

How Do They Relate to the Real World

Now I get that there is a great deal of learning that goes on in understanding patterns and using algebraic expressions to model them but how does that really relate to the real world? As i pondered the answer I took a walk on the beach during a family vacation. I found myself looking at the footprints and, noticing that some were partially washed away by the waves, I wondered how many waves it took to wash them away? And how does that differ with the varying depths of the footprints?  And why do some footprints vary in their depth? Then I wondered what caused the shoreline to jut out in certain areas and not others? 

So then I began to question whether the study of patterns was really a study of science rather than mathematics. Wasn't it really a question of the physics behind the waves that I was really wondering about? Then it hit me. I was asking the questions because I had been studying patterns.  thats what caused me to look for the patterns in the world around me.  And it is the existence of patterns and our wonderment about their cause that is the basis of science! Epiphany number two!  Happenstance does not give birth to scientific theory. Patterns do!  When we see things that occur regularly and with form; that is when we ask why.  Why does that happen? What is the cause? Can we recreate it?  By looking at patterns and working to model them with algebra we lay the foundation for scientific discovery and wonderment. That is how it relates to the real world. 

In the Classroom

In the end I am sticking with my desire to make the study of patterns much more prevalent in my classroom. I have decided that even though I am not so great at writing algebraic models for patterns, I will learn a great deal by sharing that journey with my students. We will truly be learning together. I will share with them how studying patterns initially made me feel and how important it is to remind ourselves that time and intelligence are not linked. And I will share with them how that created a curiosity in myself to see patterns everywhere and how to use them to explain the world around me. Ultimately I have come to realize that studying patterns is the seed to cultivating curiosity.  And that is more important than than my own feelings of inadequacy. 

Flipped Mastery: My Blueprint

As the school year draws near it has come time to finalize some decisions and layout my game plan for running my Algebra 1 course as a "flipped mastery" course.  Here is that blueprint, which includes the following:

• Background
• General Policies
• Assessments
• Class Structure
• Student Work Flow
• Students Who Do Not Finish Curriculum
• Physical Set-Up of Classroom

Background
I will have ninth graders all year as part of a new Freshman Academy initiative in our building.  The benefit for my flipped-mastery approach is that I won't have to get new students used to the routine and new approach each trimester.  Last year I flipped the entire year of Algebra 1.  Although I have many videos and guided notes to reuse this year, the first three units will need major revamping.  I changed things quite a bit during the first trimester last year as I found what worked (and didn't) for myself and my students.  I am also changing our practice assignments quite a bit from last year.  They are now tiered with a points systems that allows students to have a choice in the problems they do and the difficulty.  It allows for greater differentiation.

I also have the following resources in my classroom:

• 1 cadet teacher (an upperclassman)
• 15 netbooks in the classroom with Wifi
• 24 mp3 players (for students who don't have internet access at home)

General Policies

• Students can move at their own pace.  A “minimum pace” will be established and documented in a class calendar available to parents and students through class website.  
• Benchmark of 70% for assessments (quizzes and unit assessments).  Students must meet this in order to move to next concept/unit.
• Assignments that are not completed on pace will be marked “missing”.  If assignments are not completed by the Unit Assessment date they will become a zero until students complete them.  Note: I have decided to do it this way because I feel that my students will need the "incentive" and parents will need the grade to reflect that a student is behind. I know there is debate about putting in zeros for work that is not complete and I am not sure I will always do it this way, but I need to make some decisions for a starting point and this is it. 
• Parent contact: Contact home will be made if students fall a few days behind pace. Note: This very well will be done by the student themselves during class.
• Students behind pace: Students will have a 1 week window to complete what is “on pace”.  If they become 1 week behind I will call home and require after school tutoring to catch up. If students do not attend after school tutoring they will be required to attend academic lunch detention.  Note: We have free after school tutoring with transportation home. The academic lunch detention will be run by our Link Crew (some of whom are also Cadet Teachers).

Assessments

• Concept quizzes and retakes will be done in class in a "testing area". There is a "Today's Quiz" folder that contains multiple class copies of a "unit" quiz; broken down into sections by concept. Students do not write on these. Each concept has 4-5 questions. I have 12 versions of "Today's Quiz" and put out a new version each day. Students use the version for that day for their initial quiz or retake, whichever they are doing that day. Students have a quiz answer tpacket (SEE EXAMPLE) that they write down their work and answers to make grading easier. Note: I got this idea from @crystalkirch. It is how she has found to be the most efficient way to run paper-pencil quizzes and keep your sanity while grading them!
• Unit assessments will be taken in class during the on pace assessment date. Students who are behind will still take the unit assessment. If they do not score 70% or better they will retake it after completing the outstanding material. Note: I have struggled with what to do with this aspect of my flipped-mastery approach. I feel without the pressing assessments students will fall desperately behind. I may be selling them short and will revisit this if it seems necessary to do so. By having students take the assessments (even if not "ready") I can at least better ascertain how they are doing on the material they have learned.
• Unit assessments retakes will be done before or after school according to a set schedule. Students will need to fill out a "Retake Request Form" (I still need to develop this). This will require students to explain what they didn't understand on the prior assessment (with corrections to their mistakes attached), what they did to prepare, what their original score was, and what they anticipate scoring on the retake.

Class Structure

• Whole-class activity (see BLOG POST of these ideas)
• Check-In during which students get into groups, testing area, netbooks, etc.
• Flex-time during which students have their individual or small group work time (see Student Work Flow)
• Check-Out during which students fill out check out slips to help them reflect on and plan their time (SEE EXAMPLE)

Student Work Flow

From the students perspective, here is the work flow:

• Watch video and complete all guided notes & summary questions (via Google Form)

When they submit answers they are given link to responses. They can check their answers against mine and see how I have coded their answers (GREEN=good, YELLOW=almost, RED=wrong). They will record the date of their submission and the color score on the front of their guided notes packet (I call them VIP Packet - SEE EXAMPLE)

• Complete practice assignment: Students grade their own at the "grading station" and record their score on the front of their VIP Packet. They may work individually or in a group.
• Teacher Conference: Students must get their VIP Packet signed off by me under the "Info & Notes" column. We have a brief discussion about their practice problems and I look over their notes.
• Take concept quiz: The student then takes that day's version of the quiz and turns it in. I will return them, graded, the next day. Students keep track of their scores on the front of their Quiz Packet
• Passed - student moves onto next concept
• Did not pass - student reviews mistakes, gets reteaching in small group or individually with me then reassesses.

Students Who Do Not Finish

Although we are on trimester I will have students all year.  At the end of the trimester any assignments/assessments that students have not completed will be given a zero and that grade (failing if they have not completed curriculum) will be "finalize".  When the next trimester starts any student behind will pick up from where they left off.  Therefore, their "failing" grade is not "final".  At the end of the year if any student is still behind they will come in for summer school and finish what they have not yet completed.   If they do not come in for summer school they will take the last trimester of Algebra 1 at the beginning of their sophomore year.  I do not anticipate anyone being more than 1 trimester behind by the end of the year.  Note: In years prior if a student failed a trimester they had to repeat that trimester until they passed.  We had some students take a trimester over and over again.  My hope is that this will prevent that from happening.

Physical Set-up of Classroom

I have my classroom organized similar to "centers" as follows:

• Groups of desks for students to work together/helping each other or by themselves

• Small table for small group work with me or the cadet teacher

• Testing area for assessments

• Digital Work Station where netbooks will be set up and students can watch videos and do online submissions

• Grading Station where students can check their practice assignments against the answer key. (This used to be my desk. I've decided to give it up!)

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts. If there is something I've forgotten, let me know and I'll do my best to address it. This is just the beginning of what I'm sure will be an interesting journey!

~Lisa

Preventing Teacher Burnout

After experiencing the awesome EdCampHome I took some time to reflect about what I learned in my session "Preventing Teacher Burnout".  It's a topic near to my heart because I struggle to balance a husband, five children, and a career that I love. Much has changed in the five short years I've been teaching.  There is so much in the way of sharing information, education reform, and technological advances its easy to be overwhelmed. How do we as educators keep the fire within us burning bright without burning out?

We had some great discussion focused around the following areas; 

1. Time management

2. Filtering and curating information

3. Maintaining a positive focus

4. Getting and staying connected

Time Management

Time is finite.  We only have so much of it so its important that we spend it carefully. Try first documenting where your time currently goes. Then prioritize it, compartmentalize it and do what you can to save it.

• Google Chrome extension "Time Tasker" helps you monitor on which websites you spend your time online.  
• The Pomodoro Technique helps you learn how to manage your time by teaching you to develop appropriate time limits for tasks and setting them.  
• Prioritize your time! I recently made a priority list for my goals that includes; this summer, this year, next year, in 3 years, in 5 years, and pipe dreams. I limited myself to five things in each category and out everything I was trying to accomplish into a category. I quickly realized that my "this summer" and "this year" categories were filled. I made some tough decisions about what to put off until next year.  Those decisions have helped to reduce my stress load.
• Compartimentalize your time using something like Priority Matrix app.  This also helps with your prioritizing and keeping track of important tasks.  
• Consider using It This Then That website or www.ifttt.com. This website allows you to create "recipies" that put the internet to work for you by letting you identify a trigger that causes an action you specify.  For example, if i favorite something on Twitter also save it to Evernote.  
• Filter through blogs by using a service like Feedly or Zite.  This helps keep you from randomly perusing the internet during your blog reading time.

Filter & Curate Information

One of the problems I struggle with is having too many ideas for the time I have. So how do I filter it and keep track of it?  We talked about needing to filter out all the "crap" by using two filters; community and experts.  It's helpful to realize that good ideas will surface again and again. For example, I realize I spend more time than I should following Twitter feeds for fear I'll miss a good idea.  Well, if its a good idea it won't be mentioned only once.  The community you surround yourself with (in this case Twitter) will make sure that good ideas catch your attention. The other filter is created by finding experts in our particular field and following them, whether it be their websites, blogs or Twitter feeds.  Those experts are usually pretty good at curating information so it comes to you already filtered. 

Maintaining a Positive Focus
It's important to focus on the positive.  Negative things tend to grab onto our attention and drag us down. This exacerbates teacher burnout.  Work toward focusing on the positive by keeping a journal or sharing your positive happenings. Use #eduwin or #edugood to share those positive experiences on Twitter. Or go to http://www.whatisyoureduwin.com/ to share.  Negative things will always happen but we have to work at acknowledging them without dwelling on them if we are to prevent teacher burnout.

Getting and Staying Connected
We agreed that finding a network of positive people to share with and support us is invaluable.  Twitter has been and continues to be a great source for connecting with colleagues.  No more do you have to be isolated in your classroom, building, or district. The people you connect with can help keep you sane when it seems like your world is falling apart.  I have personally experienced needed reminders about giving myself a break and not taking on too much from people I never would have met otherwise (thanks Jon Bergmann!) Twitter has personally been a live saver for me.  We all agreed, getting and staying connected is important!

Whole-Class Ideas for Asynchronous Flipped Mastery

When I think of moving to flipped-mastery I think of all the advantages; students moving at a pace right for them, meeting all of their individual needs, showing mastery instead of just moving on, etc. And I know that I will have students congealing into self-identified groups.  But what I don't want to lose are those whole-class group activities and conversations I've experienced from my traditionally run classroom.  And I want them to be much more in-depth and meaningful than I have done in the past.  I also want the ebb and flow of my classroom to be efficient and organic.

I think there are benefits to having whole-class discussions and activities that take the entire period, are short and sweet, and happen over the course of several days.  Therefore, I'm thinking about having a mix of all of these.  I also want to focus on perseverance with my students this year.  I believe they get stuck in a problem or don't even know how to start because they don't know what questions to ask.  I want to help them with that.  I also believe that they have difficulty finding their mistakes and seeing alternative routes to solutions.  I want to help them with that too.  

Since my students will be in different places due to being asynchronous I want to focus these discussions on the mathematical practices rather than on the content.  By that I mean these discussions don't have to be around the content in that unit or "paced out" for that day. I believe that I, as a teacher, have been stifled in trying to move to a more problem-solving  based classroom because I have always tried to find an activity/problem that correlated with a "standard" set for a particular day.  Rather than focusing on "does it fit in my curriculum" I'm giving myself permission to use anything that I think will help my students, regardless of the correlation to CCSS-M or pacing guide.

So here are some of the ideas I've been mulling around.  I'd love your thoughts and comments.

What's the Error?: Show a problem done incorrectly (from student work or our text, which surprisingly has a good number of these) and have students discuss in their groups what the error is and how to fix it.  These would correlate with the concepts being learned in the current unit. This would also give rise to discussions of alternate solutions depending upon the problem.

What's Your First Question?: Using Dan Meyer's 101 Questions show a picture or video and have students share the first question that comes to mind.  Here, there is no pressure to find the answers to the questions or do any "math" per se.  The idea I have is to build students' confidence and ability to ask questions which I think is so vitally important to perseverance.  Eventually some of these may be used to actually answer the questions posed in future class periods (via 3-Act Math - Dan Meyer style, see below) .

How Big Is It?: Using Andrew Stadel's Estimation 180 to help build students' number sense.  Show a picture and have students estimate how big something is or how much of it there is.  Let students work in groups and report out, not only their answers, but their methods as well.  Great use of constructing viable arguments and attending to precision.

Would You Rather?: Using John Steven's Would You Rather? give students a question to for which students must choose their answer and justify it. For example,  "Would you rather carry a bucket with 5.62 liters of water or carry a bucket with 1.85 gallons of water?".  These could lead to some great discussion about what information is necessary to answer the question and how do you find that information.  Which could break into some great learning opportunities regarding searching methods on the internet and unit conversions.

What's the Pattern?: Fawn Nguyen's Visual Patterns gives students the first three iterations of a pattern and asks them about the 43rd. I anticipate needing to give my students more than snippet of class time but learning to look for and make use of structure takes time.  And the opportunity for discussion of multiple solutions is rich.

Can You Create This?: Daily Desmos gives students a graph and asks them to use their online graphing calculator (or other) to create the graph.  Now some of these are rather complicated graphs and beyond what I think my students could do.  However, whose to say some student might not figure it out? And why does everything we ask students to do have to result in an "answer"? Can't the process itself be the point of it all? How much learning could take place if we give kids time to play with the graphs?  How much might they learn about domain and range even if they can't figure out the actual function that makes it? I think sometimes, play time is enough.

Over the summer I have been reading a bit about teaching with Dan Meyer's 3-Act Math  and I believe it to be a worthy thing to include in my class.   However, along with moving to flipped-mastery I am instituting 20% Time/Passion Projects with my students.  I have relegated one day a week toward this endeavor and feel that it will be difficult to take yet another class period for something like a 3-Act task. This all has me wondering if I couldn't divide the 3-Acts over several days.  Here's what I'm thinking...

Day 1: Introduce the problem (Act 1). What questions does the image/video give rise to in students? Document these.

Day 2: Focus on one question and discuss what information we need to answer it (Act 2).

Day 3-4: Work on answering the question.  

In essence this could be worked over the course of the week.  I believe there is benefit to wrestling with a problem, walking away, and coming back to it.  I can't tell you how many times I solved problems in the shower when I was in college because I took time to "walk away".

Well...those are the thoughts that have been rambling around in my brain.  I'm not sure how it will all pan out and I bet there are some future blog posts on whether or not they do.  I welcome your thoughts and ideas.  And if anyone is thinking along the same lines and wants to collaborate on developing specifics together, please let me know!

  

Concerts & Collaboration: How Your PLN is Like a Band

As I sat thoroughly engaged in a concert last night (Guster, Ben Folds Five, Bare Naked Ladies, if you must know!) I began to see correlations between concerts, teachers, and collaboration.  And how your PLN through Twitter might be better than any in your building.

How many times have you gone to a concert of one? Even if there is only one "performer" there is a multitude of supportive people around them; stage hands, song writers, etc.  As I watched the performance last night I got to see evidence of all of the collaboration that must go on.  These musicians work together, tossing around ideas of how do a montage of a wide variety of other artists' songs in a way that was not only meaningful and organic but entertaining and engaging.  Members from Guster jumped in and performed with BNL.  Musicians in Guster jumped from one instrument to another.  They made full use of their strengths and overcame their weaknesses, together.  They WERE better together.

Having a husband who has been in numerous bands over that the last twenty plus years I have also come to know the behind the scenes drama that can ruin a good band.  It's inevitable that the drama creeps in.  Some bands overcome it, others do not.  When your only collaborator(s) are within your own building it sometimes becomes difficult to push aside drama.  I'm not saying that your PLN through Twitter is without this, but I am suggesting that because you can have a working relationship with your Twitter PLN and they are not in your same physical space, you have the opportunity to physically work away from any drama that might arise.

My husband has a former boss that had a steadfast rule; don't become friends with the people you work with.  He was friendly with them, but didn't maintain a friendship outside of work.  It has worked well for him and I can see the advantages.  What I think a Twitter PLN has is the best of both worlds.  You can let friendships grow without the worry or concern for it directly affecting the physical space of your job.  And you can collaborate with others who may have different experiences than those within your building, thus building on the strengths of each member.

I'm still finding myself in my Twitter PLN.  I've made some connections but am still working toward that deep collaboration.  And that's ok.  All good things take time.  And when it happens I know that what we create together will be as amazing and engaging as a great music concert.

Self-Doubt: A Lesson in Trust

It's taken me five years to figure out who I am as a teacher.  And I came to teaching later in life, having turned 40 my first year of teaching.  My first five years were filled with self-doubt that affected me greatly.  It got me questioning my effectiveness even though those around me sung my praises.  It sucked away my self-esteem and left me empty.  It's a horrible thing we do to ourselves sometimes; let our personal criticism define us.  Until we realize that it doesn't have to be defining.  It can be empowering.

As I have struggled to turn around my self-doubt I've learned to recognize it as an opportunity to grow rather than a definition of my failures.  Let's face it, we all fail.  At something.  Sometimes.  But not everything.  And certainly not always.  If I am trying to get my students to trust me to be comfortable in making mistakes then shouldn't I be comfortable in making them myself? Just as I ask students to be able to recognize a mistake as an opportunity to grow, shouldn't I as well?  And when I celebrate my students' successes shouldn't I also be able to celebrate my own?  Even if my success wasn't a result of my first attempt?

It's not often that we have the opportunity to be in a career that gives us so many opportunities to give and receive.  There is a symbiotic relationship we have with our students and I think I have (for far too long) not recognized the beauty in that.  As much as I teach them to trust, I have learned to trust.  Not only in my ability to accomplish what I set out to do, but in my ability to learn from my failures and not let them define me.  I'm learning to become strong from my weaknesses.

I have also learned that I will never be the teacher I imagine for myself. Because with each step I take toward that ideal, I reflect, I grow, and I re-imagine my perfect self.  And I have come to realize that my failures and short-comings are not what define me but it is what I do with the recognition of them that does.  Perfection is not what you do, or don't.  It is how you trust in your imperfections to let you become the best of who you are.  Imperfections and all.

So when your next lesson flops, or that video isn't quite what you wanted it to be trust that it is what it needs to be for now.  Trust that it is the next step that you need to take.  Trust your journey.  It is the perfect journey just for you.

Struggling with Standards: My Journey to Balance

With many educators scrambling to understand and implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) I feel the need to comment upon them and my own journey to understand them. In my humble opinion they are not the Holy Grail for which some of us had hoped.  They are no more narrow than the Michigan High School Content Expectations (HSCE's) under which educators in my state had been operating. They are still a "mile wide and an inch deep".  I continue to find myself struggling to "meet" all of the standards much to the dismay of my administration. I continue to fight for my students with my never ending rant that there is no way (or reason for that matter) that I should try to "cover" all of the standards laid out in this national plan called CCSS.

Let's get real for a minute.  We have an educational system that continues to function on the premise that social promotion supersedes mastery.  Until I no longer have students in my high school Algebra 1 course that have potentially failed the last 2-3 years of mathematics (and I have them), I refuse to proceed through a laundry list of standards.  The CCSS are built upon the assumption that students have achieved "fluency"(see here and here) at the lower levels.  This, my friends, does not always happen.  Even if a student has passed their lower grade mathematics courses they may have barely done so.  This is because moving through our current system is based upon a passing grade and not mastery.  And I hate to call out the elephant in the room but many times that grade is based upon effort not understanding.

Now let me step off my soap box.

In the summer of 2012 my district gave us the opportunity to work with our ISD's K-12 Math Coordinator for Math Instruction at unpacking the CCSS.  Almost all of our math teachers grades 5-12 were there and we worked for three days to wrap our heads around the CCSS and the expectations for us and our students.  It was a wholly worthwhile experience.  We had an opportunity to have real vertical alignment discussions that brought to light assumptions some of us had about what was covered at the lower levels.  And those at the lower grades had a much greater understanding of where it is that our students were being asked to end up at the end of their high school careers.  It was eye-opening for all of us.

We began by taking an individual standard and deciphering what it really meant. We used a worksheet to begin to call our attention to the nouns and verbs used in individual standards. We then wrote "I can..." statements using teacher language and then "This means I can..." in student friendly language.  In essence, we took vague and hard to understand standards and broke them down into their collective pieces and wrote them in student friendly language. Now at times this was difficult because sometimes we didn't even know what the standards were really trying to get at.  We looked at examples and found the Illustrative Math website to be quit helpful. You may also want to visit this LiveBinder and go to "Content Unpacked" and then "flipbooks".  There you will see unpacked standards from many states with instructional strategies and examples.  I personally find this flipbook put out by McGraw-Hill to be something I cannot do without.  It has standards broken all the way down to "I can" statements for you.  Quite frankly they are better than the ones we came up with, in most cases.  Having said that, do not underestimate the value in unpacking standards yourself.  It is a wholly worthwhile process.  I have a better understanding of the standards because of it and our district has better vertical alignment because of the conversations we were able to have while doing it.

Now, even though it may seem that I am poo-pooing the CCSS there is something that came out of their development that I believe is a game changer; the Mathematical Practices.  I have heard it said that our state HSCE's had something similar woven throughout.  However, by specifically addressing those skills, characteristics, and practices that are indicative of good critical thinkers I believe we can bring our mathematics education in this country to the 21st century.  Those eight, simply stated practices eloquently address a focus for our math instruction that moves beyond mathematics itself to skills that will help our students be successful in an ever changing global society.  They support something I have always believed and said; mathematics is the vehicle to developing critical thinking.  That goes beyond understanding that the sum of a rational number and an irrational number is an irrational number (that is seriously a Common Core standard, see N.RN.3).

Last school year (2012-2013) after unpacking the standards and aligning our curriculum we also chose to have a focus on the Mathematical Practices.  We discussed them with students and called attention to at least one in a lesson. Although we didn't get the results we were looking for I believe we did get a better understanding of their importance.  I've come to personally realize that to focus on all eight is difficult as we transition to CCSS, both for us and our students.  I have decided to choose two to focus on in this upcoming school year; (1) making sense of problems and persevering, and (3) constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others.  I've written a previous post. Teaching Perseverance. on my initial game plan for developing the first math practice in my students.

In the end, I've come to develop my own personal balance between CCSS and my students needs.  They do not all need to "cover" or even be exposed to every standard.  Right or wrong, I see them as a guide.  However, I see so much value in the Mathematical Practices that they have become my focus.  For me, the standards have become a vehicle to teach the Mathematical Practices.  Just like you wouldn't take an electric car on a 500 mile trip with nowhere to recharge, not every standard is necessary to develop the Mathematical Practices.  I will choose wisely which standards to use. I will consider the needs and experiences of my students and for what next math course I need to prepare them.  It is how I have personally found balance.  How will you?