Friday, September 3, 2010

This week was rough...

Sam Shah wrote about some of his struggles this past week. His openness helps us all, and I will try to be as open about what I'm struggling with...

It's too late now. I should have asked last week for interesting ways to approach the basics of solving equations. I did a lot of lecture, and some small group practice.

I have a few projects I'm planning to do later, but I'm doing a lot of lecturing now. Some students say they like that best, actually. (But I know it's not what helps them learn the most.) In one section, I asked what percentage of the time we should have: projects, lecture, and small group practice. Students called out all sorts of percentages for each, and I had them do averages. We came up with 1/4 projects, 1/3 lecture, and 2/5 small group practice. (No, that's not quite 100%.) I like that as a goal. But I'm not there yet. This week, I probably gave them about 10% projects (we did the function machine game), almost 20% small group practice (sometimes alone or in pairs, sometimes groups of 4), and over 70% lecture. Yuck!

I asked that question in the one section that's going really well. In another section, I've told 2 students they're on probation (for repeated disrespectful behavior), and had a similar behavior talk with one other student. I am not teaching high school; I am teaching at a community college. Yes, I often have discipline problems. That's hard to admit; it makes me feel inadequate. I often think that if I were interesting enough, students would cooperate perfectly.

I find myself lecturing more in the classes where students aren't into it. Getting group work going well is pretty hard when there's resistance. It's hard to write this. I wish I could sail into the classroom with interesting activities every day. I am not there yet. (After 20 years of teaching, Sue? When will you be there?...)

No one (3 sections, about 140 students total) passed the mastery test I gave on pre-algebra topics. (FIDO = fractions, integers, distributive property, and order of operations). They'll all be doing retakes. Yikes! Everyone has this homework assignment: for each problem on the test,  do it correctly, explain the steps in words, and make up a new similar problem.

I think it will get better. A lot of students struggle with graphing, and there are so many cool projects to do for that.

Today I have no regular classes, but I come in for two hours of "hour by arrangement". Many of my students come in, and they can get help, play mathy games, or just do a worksheet that's been provided. The best thing about the hour by arrangement, in my opinion, is that the students start to bond - it helps them form a community.

4 comments:

  1. I had a rough week. Negative and positive integers was the hard concept. I tried a physical number line that they walked. I tried real-life problems that weren't hokey. I tried notes and graphic organizers.

    The plus side of every day with the same students is that at some point it clicks. You don't get that same kind of luxury.

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  2. Thanks for sharing this experience. I hope it gets easier for you soon. Please don't be too hard on yourself - these "kids" are responsible for their own behaviors.

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  3. It is interesting to hear that students who actually are paying for school can still misbehave. I have had my share of bad weeks as well. You are a great teacher. The fact you reflect on your teaching is huge. I don't know if you are familiar with Kagan's cooperative learning. I have some of their math books and it has helped me tremendously with students working in together. Before them, I had group work and now I have cooperative learning. The website is http://www.kaganonline.com/google/cooperative_learning/

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  4. The ones who misbehave are probably not paying themselves. My guess is those are the ones whose parents pay. Also California has a tuition waiver for those in need.

    I'll check out the cooperative learning materials. Thanks.

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