In order to be in Honors Math 8, you must maintain an 85% or higher in the course. This is because M8H is basically 9th grade Algebra 1 and by taking this course, you skipped Math 8- Pre-Algebra. Well, Trimester 1 just ended and my class of 25 shrunk to 15.
This means that most of my students are now a little more consistent in their abilities and motivation. Because of this, Chapter 7 will not have various levels of work to choose from. I made a weekly packet with more challenging and difficult work that we can all complete together.
So far this week, things are going well. This has fostered much more of a cooperative atmosphere instead of the competitive one we had before. I grouped my students together with purpose and they are helping, encouraging and teaching one another. Let's hope this continues : )
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Questions I Have- How Would This Look in Other Disciplines?
Since I also teach science, I have found myself wondering how flipping would look in not only my other discipline, but all others. I really think for math, that aside from a task/discussion/project based course, flipping is the best way to really teach our students. It makes so much sense to practice material when a teacher can be there to help you, to have time to move beyond the required curriculum and to use class time to have discussions about the best way to approach problems.
I'm teaching 8th grade science this year which is a bit of Physical Science and some Earth and Space science. In the past I have taught Physics and Intro to Chemistry and Intro to Physics at the high school level. In science, so often I don't teach information straight out, like in lecture format. We have a lot of discussion already in class, complete with examples and experiments. I guess this year I have had students read information out of their books that could be watched at home in a video format.
I have a friend in another school district that I know flips her Chemistry class. She loves it because it gives her time to do more in depth experiments and to practice all the problems associated with high school level science.
Does any one flip a non-math based class? What kinds of things do you record? What kinds of things do you practice in class?
I'm teaching 8th grade science this year which is a bit of Physical Science and some Earth and Space science. In the past I have taught Physics and Intro to Chemistry and Intro to Physics at the high school level. In science, so often I don't teach information straight out, like in lecture format. We have a lot of discussion already in class, complete with examples and experiments. I guess this year I have had students read information out of their books that could be watched at home in a video format.
I have a friend in another school district that I know flips her Chemistry class. She loves it because it gives her time to do more in depth experiments and to practice all the problems associated with high school level science.
Does any one flip a non-math based class? What kinds of things do you record? What kinds of things do you practice in class?
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Teaching Math Has Always Been A Little Boring
I love math. Really. I know many think I'm crazy, but I love how all the puzzle pieces fit together. I love that calculus was created to solve a science problem. But teaching it? Eh, not so much...
All but one year of my teaching career, I have always taught half science and half math. I secretly hated that year. Most students are not fond of math and see no point to learning it. That alone makes math very difficult to teach. On top of that, math has a ton of curriculum to get through in a year (more than in science, I feel), math needs practice and math is very difficult to make real to students.
Although I really try to make math fun and interesting, it doesn't happen all the time. I always feel like math is very routine, and it's very difficult to get out of that rut. This year I genuinely enjoy teaching math. I still teach science for half of my day, but I get excited for math!
The only class I decided to flip this year was my Algebra 1 class- Honors 8th Grade Math. The fact that I get to show my students the connections between the material they are learning and higher mathematics has had an impact on them. They are finding math just as exciting as I once did. I see their wheels turning and their lightbulbs flashing.
The other math classes I teach I have been using books from The Connected Mathematics Project. These books led students to a deeper understanding of concepts and helps to prove things that allow for a more genuine connection. There is one entire book dedicated to discovering the Pythagorean Theorem! It's a great way to introduce younger students to the idea of proving and understanding things that are sometime just thrown at them in other curricula. More about those books later...
All but one year of my teaching career, I have always taught half science and half math. I secretly hated that year. Most students are not fond of math and see no point to learning it. That alone makes math very difficult to teach. On top of that, math has a ton of curriculum to get through in a year (more than in science, I feel), math needs practice and math is very difficult to make real to students.
Although I really try to make math fun and interesting, it doesn't happen all the time. I always feel like math is very routine, and it's very difficult to get out of that rut. This year I genuinely enjoy teaching math. I still teach science for half of my day, but I get excited for math!
The only class I decided to flip this year was my Algebra 1 class- Honors 8th Grade Math. The fact that I get to show my students the connections between the material they are learning and higher mathematics has had an impact on them. They are finding math just as exciting as I once did. I see their wheels turning and their lightbulbs flashing.
The other math classes I teach I have been using books from The Connected Mathematics Project. These books led students to a deeper understanding of concepts and helps to prove things that allow for a more genuine connection. There is one entire book dedicated to discovering the Pythagorean Theorem! It's a great way to introduce younger students to the idea of proving and understanding things that are sometime just thrown at them in other curricula. More about those books later...
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Busy Week- PTCs
Parent Teacher Conferences are this week. We have 10 (that's right, T-E-N) hours over three days where parents can come and chat about their children and my classroom. I do really enjoy learning where my students come from- most don't fall far from the tree, in both good and bad ways!
I was especially excited/nervous for these PTCs. The only other contact I had had with my parents was informing them that my classroom style was changing. Now after seeing it in action, I was going to sit face-to-face with parents who want what's best for their children, but learned the old fashioned way and might not understand what I was doing in my classroom. I got none of that! My parents were excited, impressed and curious about flipping. It was such a good feeling (and honestly some relief) that everyone was thrilled about what was happening and how their students were learning math!
I was especially excited/nervous for these PTCs. The only other contact I had had with my parents was informing them that my classroom style was changing. Now after seeing it in action, I was going to sit face-to-face with parents who want what's best for their children, but learned the old fashioned way and might not understand what I was doing in my classroom. I got none of that! My parents were excited, impressed and curious about flipping. It was such a good feeling (and honestly some relief) that everyone was thrilled about what was happening and how their students were learning math!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Organized Chaos?
If you were to walk by my 4th hour today, you would have noticed some chaos, organized mind you, but chaotic none the less. With this chapter (Systems of Linear Equations), I made copies of notes and work for about half the chapter. Some of my students work faster than others and I figured I would try a chapter with different paces, I mean, what could go wrong?
Well, I had one kid not only watch ALL of the videos the first night but also DO ALL OF THE WORK. So...
In class earlier this week, most of my students were practicing the first section. As the week went on students became more and more different in their work and pacing. This gave me a chance to help those that were struggling and gave the others something to keep them thinking and working. It was great to be able to actually sit down and take some time to help a few of my students one on one.
I realized yesterday that I was going to have to talk about some expectations when it came to finishing early. It is expected that my students come with something to do if they finish work early and that they be respectful of those who might be moving a little slower. So, we'll see how it goes. Everything I've been doing has been somewhat trial and error, so why not this?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)