Yes, it's true. I am continuing with my recent trend of more differentiation and more independent math projects. It seems to be working very well, especially with the types of kids I work with.
The portfolio assignment went so well in Practical Math. The kids enjoyed the visitors, did their daily math assignments and so many of them went above and beyond what I expected for the portfolio assignments. I have such wonderful, creative students - even if all teachers say that, I still think mine are always the best!
In fact, it went so well, that I'm going to try a portfolio assessment for Algebra as well. I have not ironed out the details yet, but I have one week at the end of the school year that is open to whatever I choose, because we will finish the required curriculum early. Snow days will give you that extra time at the end of 4th term, I guess. I think that it will be a great way for the kids to showcase what they have learned, but also not be too stressful the last full week of school. Kids and teachers do have trouble focusing during that time and I think it will be a good activity for all of us.
The idea that I am playing with is giving the kids a list of all the topics we have studied this year and also giving them a list of possible activities they can do, e.g. write a rap, make a poster, design a news program, etc. They will need to match up a certain number of topics with a certain number of activities that will demonstrate what they know about the topics they pick. Suggestions on this idea? Again, it's still in the works in the back of my cluttered brain.
Practical Math is also going well. I have a good mix of group work and individual work each day. We are currently working in construction teams that have to put together bids each day to win my business. I pose as a customer each day with a special construction need, whether it is siding, carpet, windows, or whatever, and the teams have to figure out the cost of parts and labor as well as profit to charge me. If they do their math correctly, I pay them the full amount and they "deposit" their money into their bank account each day. After this unit, they will use all the money they made to invest in the stock market, buy real estate, and complete their final project which is to plan a vacation.
I've really liked this unit and the kids seem to like it as well. Overall, I think Practical Math has been a huge success. It has done what I hoped it would do. There are a few things I want to do to fine tune the class for next year, but I really enjoy teaching it.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Differentiated to the Max
Practical Math so far has been a success. I have completely developed this class on my own and it's going very well.
In 3rd term we did a personal finance unit for six weeks. We learned how to balance a checkbook, fill out tax forms, computer credit card interest and all of that good real life stuff. I used an old business math text book to give me some direction, but developed activities and in class work on my own. I set up a routine - each day we had a certain number of topics to cover. I bought each student a mini steno notepad. For each topic, they had a personal reflection question they had to write about. Then we would spend a few minutes talking about definitions and formulas - like how to compute state income tax - and then they would work on some practice problems in some way that I devised. Sometimes we mixed things up with Scrambled Eggs practice, or I would divide up problems by the color of shoes that students were wearing that day. That way, a little variety was added to the day.
But now we are finished with the personal finance unit and I wanted to find a way to apply that knowledge in a real world context. So for the next three weeks, we have been working on what I'm calling the Job Explorations Unit and it's completely differentiated.
Each day, we look at three different real world jobs that the students could possibly hold. Each day I bring in one guest speaker that actually works in one of those three jobs. The guest speaker tells the kids a little about what they do in their line of work and how they use math each day.
After the speaker leaves, the students have to do activities relating to the three jobs for the day. They get to pick two job stations and complete the activities at those stations. After they finish their in class work, they are to work on their portfolio.
I'm doing a portfolio assessment for the first time ever. I've created a rubric and I've created different activities that I call Tier 1 or Tier 2 activities. Tier 1 activities are lower level thinking and Tier 2 are a little higher level thinking and take a little more time and effort to complete. For each day, the students have to pick three Tier 1 activities and one Tier 2 activity. When these activities are complete, they will be put in a three ring binder that will comprise the students' portfolio.
I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well the students have been working on both their in class assignments and their portfolio submissions. Some of the students are almost done with their portfolio and still have a week of class left to do them! Some of the students need a little more help, but I still strongly believe that when choice is part of an assessment, that students will work harder and do better because they care more about what they are doing.
I hope that I can find more ways to do units like this. The students seem to like it and after the initial work is done, all I have to do is facilitate and keep kids on task. It is lots of fun and leaves me with lots of energy because it's not teacher intensive - all the work is done by the kids! I just lend a hand where needed.
In 3rd term we did a personal finance unit for six weeks. We learned how to balance a checkbook, fill out tax forms, computer credit card interest and all of that good real life stuff. I used an old business math text book to give me some direction, but developed activities and in class work on my own. I set up a routine - each day we had a certain number of topics to cover. I bought each student a mini steno notepad. For each topic, they had a personal reflection question they had to write about. Then we would spend a few minutes talking about definitions and formulas - like how to compute state income tax - and then they would work on some practice problems in some way that I devised. Sometimes we mixed things up with Scrambled Eggs practice, or I would divide up problems by the color of shoes that students were wearing that day. That way, a little variety was added to the day.
But now we are finished with the personal finance unit and I wanted to find a way to apply that knowledge in a real world context. So for the next three weeks, we have been working on what I'm calling the Job Explorations Unit and it's completely differentiated.
Each day, we look at three different real world jobs that the students could possibly hold. Each day I bring in one guest speaker that actually works in one of those three jobs. The guest speaker tells the kids a little about what they do in their line of work and how they use math each day.
After the speaker leaves, the students have to do activities relating to the three jobs for the day. They get to pick two job stations and complete the activities at those stations. After they finish their in class work, they are to work on their portfolio.
I'm doing a portfolio assessment for the first time ever. I've created a rubric and I've created different activities that I call Tier 1 or Tier 2 activities. Tier 1 activities are lower level thinking and Tier 2 are a little higher level thinking and take a little more time and effort to complete. For each day, the students have to pick three Tier 1 activities and one Tier 2 activity. When these activities are complete, they will be put in a three ring binder that will comprise the students' portfolio.
I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well the students have been working on both their in class assignments and their portfolio submissions. Some of the students are almost done with their portfolio and still have a week of class left to do them! Some of the students need a little more help, but I still strongly believe that when choice is part of an assessment, that students will work harder and do better because they care more about what they are doing.
I hope that I can find more ways to do units like this. The students seem to like it and after the initial work is done, all I have to do is facilitate and keep kids on task. It is lots of fun and leaves me with lots of energy because it's not teacher intensive - all the work is done by the kids! I just lend a hand where needed.
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