Michael’s Velocity Graph

Shoving aside yesterday’s terrible day of no one finishing their test AND everyone doing horribly on it, today’s problem was a lot of fun to work on.

Each pair got a small white board and marker. They drew their axes (Quad 1 & 4) with time vs. velocity. I then showed them the slide, explaining that the purple was just a number line and they had to graph Michael’s velocity.

I used a picture of MJ because of his famous moonwalk. The kids had kept saying “the particle moves backwards” on their responses so I wanted to see if they really knew what they were saying. Did they mean the particle was moving in the negative direction or doing the moonwalk?

This was just a simple slide show of MJ sliding across the number line, until about 5 seconds in, when the picture flips and he continues sliding to the right, but backwards.

Sure enough, I got graphs that looked like a sine curve instead of two hills. Mostly though, I got the graph of time vs x(t). Guess I’ve got more work cut out for me than I thought.

The actual powerpoint slide show is in the Box widget to the right. Included are some slides that my students had a hard time with a couple of tests ago in terms of reading velocity graphs.

Teaching Shame

Me: J, why don’t you tell the whole class how many homework assignments you actually did these last couple of weeks?
J: Aww, Ms. Hwang! Why you gotta call me out like that?
Me: …[brief pause. wondering if I was in the wrong.] because you should be ashamed! You obviously aren’t ashamed enough!

This is pretty much my take this new school year. I want to help place shame in the proper place.

Making mistakes – NOT a cause for shame.
Copying hw to avoid mistakes- cause for shame.
Asking questions that others deem “obvious”- NOT a cause for shame.
Not doing hw altogether- cause for shame.

I actually have an unofficial Wall of Shame where I pinned up two identical homework assignments. I also called them out on it by name in front of the whole class. They probably got a little bit smarter on HOW to copy hw, but at least those two will never copy hw in my class again.

Then yesterday, because my class floors were being cleaned, our class got moved to the class next door. On his white board was this:
They definitely made it a point that I notice it. I laughed. Maybe I need a Hall of Fame to match. Maybe.

Quote of the Week

A student who failed the class the first semester of Calculus comes up to me after class Thursday.

Student: “I think I got my… my uh…”
Me: “Mojo back.”
Student: “Yeah! I got my mojo back.”

=) I love the temporary downhill of derivatives after teaching limits. I’m still missing my mojo when it comes to that chapter.

Class Discussion using Question Cards

Today was a good day. Today was a great day!

And that’s a lot coming from a feverish, coughin sick gal writing a blog about WORK on a Friday night.

I got to debrief the responses from Google Forms today (see last post) and then use my Question Cards to get a great discussion going in class while I sat in the back watching the problem get solved. And not by just a handful of students, but with about 75% student involvement (as in walking up to the board, discussing out loud, and contributing to the problem) and 100% attention, even if from the sidelines.

So Question Cards is actually something that’s actually mine, unlike pretty much all my other lesson ideas. In my second year of teaching while getting my credentials, I had to video record myself teaching and analyze it. I basically saw that when I got “class participation” to work on a problem, I ended up talking to only a couple of students and to make it worse, I would actually REPEAT what they said or RE-EXPLAIN what they already explained. What a way to trust my class to do it. Ever.

So I came up w/ Question Cards. Here’s how they work:

• Everyone gets a card with their name on it, the value of the card, and the date it’s due (usually 1 week later)
• A relatively difficult, but do-able problem is given in class for the class to solve together.
• Whoever participates by asking questions to PEERS and/or by helping to contribute to the problem gets their Question Card taken away.
• At the end of the week, I go through the cards I had collected and give them their due points. Those who did not get it taken away now has TWO for the following week, the new one worth 10 points, the old one now being worth 8.

This has definitely gone through many mutations (and still does). It had started off as a homework check thing where I chose random names to go up and do one of the hard problems from the hw. The kids had to ask either sincere questions or leading questions to help the person called up to solve the problem. I pretty much vary it depending on the class maturity and content.

Here are some reasons why I love this:

• Students have a week to get rid of their cards. If they were absent, no big deal, they have the other days to get rid of it.
• The super participatory ones get their cards taken away on the first day and so you can use the excuse “let’s let some others get a chance at getting rid of their card” to hear from the more quiet ones.
• No one is sleeping. Everyone is awake and trying (even if only w/ their neighbors for the time being)
• They get less afraid of making mistakes, they’re more bold in asking questions to their peers, and they take ownership of the white board. =)
• I get to sit and watch them make mistakes and then work their way out of their mistakes. =) This is my favorite part. I feel like the proud parent of Squirt on Finding Nemo when he finds his way back into the EAC when I get to watch my kiddies work their way out of a mistake w/out looking to me for hints and clues.

Here is the PDF of what I print out on colorful cardstock. I had Title 1 laminate a couple sets and my TA’s cut it. Now I just use transparency marker to write their names on them.

Dang I wish I had recorded today. What a contrast it wouldve been to see from that first video entry. It would’ve made a great entry for National Boards. =T

Google Forms

GOOGLE FORMS. Awesome feedback system. I absolutely loved it! It is so much more powerful than simply going over answers with the class.

I took my students to the computer lab yesterday to have them check their blog and readers to make sure everyone was on the same page. On my blog, I posted the link to my worksheet:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGVjQ0gzR21GbTEtWThialdWU3FEQmc6MA

When they fill it out and submit it, all their resopnses go directly to my Google Documents in spreadsheet form! =) It looks something like this:

Going over the answers the next day was SO much more interesting this way!

I know there are lots of other contraptions for immediate feedback, but this one’s free. =)

It’s great for surveys or take home tests too. You can easily make the form multiple choice, from a drop down menu, or make room for paragraphs.

** Just go to Google Documents and “Create New” –> FORM. The rest is pretty user friendly! (You just have to find a place to put your crazy link for your kids to find or embed it somewhere accessible.)

Quotable Stuff

I gotta quote this one. Not just cuz I love the Uncanny Valley and it’s applications everywhere, but because I really don’t know what’s going with my teaching this year and I think this may be it.

Interruptions

I love this book. It was so enlightening. I’ve always known there was significant difference in Asian education and American education, but I really couldn’t pinpoint what it was, other than the fact that we got beat if we brought home C’s and the craziest looks and lectures if we brought home B’s. And that’s just for me as an Asian AMERICAN. I wasn’t even born in Asia.

However, this book compared the two education systems from a much more objective standpoint. As I was reading it, somewhere towards the middle of the book, it really did seem bleak and hopeless to ever improve our education system here in the States. Much of it due to the fact that we would have to change our entire country’s culture on education or upturn the entire bureaucracy of the education system.

HOWEVER, there were a couple of things that I felt like I could change as a classroom teacher.

1. Focus on the lessons, not on the teacher/ teaching.
2. Prevent INTERRUPTIONS in the classroom.

This second aspect is what this post is about. In the book, when a group of educators from Japan had come to visit and observe education in the States, they were alarmed when the PA system went off. They thought there was some sort of emergency like a fire in the building. This was because in Japan, that would be the only reason why instruction time would be interrupted, if everyone was going to DIE if they weren’t interrupted.

Here is what our school’s interruptions look like:

• summonses delivered from the counselors
• summonses delivered from the college office
• summonses delivered from leadership
• memos delivered for reminders about meetings, student council
• collection drives for students who passed away, gifts for janitors who are coming back
• toy drive collection
• candy gram sales/ deliveries
• newspaper deliveries, xerox copy deliveries
• students looking for other students
• phone calls asking me to send a list of students of blah blah and blah
• phone calls asking me to clarify things about a memo/note I sent
• special ed teachers coming by to ask me to sign a piece of paper

Apparently, these are all grounds for interruption. These are not even including all the interruptions from within my class, like my students who are tardy or who have to leave for a game or have to go home.

This also does not include how rude some of these delivery people are! I’ll be in the middle of a sentence and they’ll come right up to my face to hand me the summons, even if I had ignored them the entire time they made their way over to the front. I even made a box by the door that says, “DO NOT INTERRUPT. Drop off all summonses, copies, notices into this box.” They push it aside and walk to me to hand me the school paper, for example.  Some even demand the student be released. Sometimes, the teachers are even worse because, of course, we feel like we have extra rights.

I don’t think I ever noticed just how many interruptions I got in one 95 min class period until I read this book. Then I started counting. It’s almost guaranteed I get one per period, but it goes up to at least up to SIX in ONE period, especially if I have a class of juniors and seniors.

So I put in a complaint. I wasn’t even the one who looked up how to complain because, frankly, I didn’t know I could. Apparently, a bunch of other teachers were starting to run into the same problem. It had just gotten outta control.

And now?

And now I think I’m being rumored on campus as a biatch about this stuff. I’ve been called a brat by a counselor to my face (only half jokingly) and I’ve had another teacher roll their eyes at me. And these are only the ones I know about.

BUT, I don’t care, cuz IT’S WORKING!! Before, all my kids would look up and get totally distracted anytime one of these people would come in. They would talk to the delivery people or ask out loud, “Who is it for? Is it for me?” right in the middle of my lecture.

Now, they completely ignore the person at the door, even if they do look up. Sometimes, they even get annoyed at them for interrupting their lesson! Some of my kids by the door point to the box and stop them at the door now.

So, call me a brat, a bitch, roll your eyes or talk trash, cuz I am loving this! Let’s just call my instruction time, SACRED!!

Blog Success!

Whew, its been a long while since I blogged on my own. However, I have other successes in blogging, my students’!!

I had all my Calculus kids start blogs of their own, responding to prompts that are written on my own blog. It took me awhile to get used to what to ask them to write about, but I’m really starting to see the perks of it.

Perks

1. No stack of papers to grade. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but this is definitely awesome. I hate deciphering writing and taking stacks of writing to take home. It’s MUCH less daunting when they come in nice feeds to your reader instead.
2. Instant feedback. I can just comment on their posts. If I can’t type out the response, I just write their names on a 3×5 and give it to them the following day.
3. Accountability. Sometimes, I make it part of their grade to go around answering each others questions. I also encourage them to go around reading what other people are writing about, especially if they don’t understand something.
4. They’re writing about math! Even if it’s about something they didn’t understand, I still think that’s really valuable. If you can explain exactly what it is you don’t understand, you’re off to a good start. Really.
5. It makes them use the internet for something more than chatting and MySpacing. Last week, the week that CSU/UC applications were due, I directed them to the College Board website to look up a bunch of majors. I remember in high school I used to think that English, Math, History , Biology, Chemistry, and Psych were the only majors in college. Basically, the classes we had taken in high school.

Here’s the link to my blog where I post their prompts: http://www.ninjacalculus.blogspot.com/

If you take a look at the list on the right, you’ll see links to all my students’ blogs. The latest one is where they get to tell me all that they don’t understand about limits.

Logistically

Setting Up

I gave them written instructions (w/ pictures) to go and start their own Blogger for homework one night and to bring back their URL the next day. The day that it was due, I reserved time in the computer lab where everyone wrote their web addresses on the board. They then all signed onto Google Reader (hence the reason for using Blogspot also- to keep their username and password the same) and started subscribing to each other. While they were all busy doing this, I got to help out those who were having trouble with it.

Due dates

I have the due dates mostly on Saturday of that week. It has to be time-stamped by that time for full credit. I change them every once in awhile for various reasons, but this gives me Sunday to at least glance through them so I can address misconceptions or common questions on Monday.

I really do love it so far. I love the fact that I don’t have to fear directing them online anymore either, whether to check their grades, find their homework, or to use the net for more resources. =)

Yay for technology! Now this stuff is useful for education!

The Best Classroom Management

The best classroom management is a good lesson plan.

I had completely forgotten about this until last Thursday when my last class of the day was on-task working the entire time (well, for the most part anyways). It was a group rotation activity. Craziest thing, they actually asked questions while I was in the front explaining (as opposed to me having to answer the same question about 15 different times) AND they actually read the instructions on the page!!

Of course, it only took 2 days of planning, 8 bags of marshmallows, cutting and taping 2 foam boards, cutting and taping 16 different solids, a tub of cm cubes, transparencies of cm squares, and running to the xerox machine on the other end of campus twice.

*sigh*

There’s a part of me that still loves teaching remedial math. But is it terrible for me to say that I REALLY miss my Calculus kids?? Just one more week til I meet this year’s batch of Calc kids! =)

Writing in Math (w/out the papers!)

So at my school, each term is only 2 months long. We actually have to get through half of a whole school year’s worth of material in 2 months. (I see them 95 min. everday.)

Due to this scheduling, some of these kids I only have for 2 months before they have to change teachers again. This ridiculously short amount of time w/ my students has caused me to can a lot of things over the years.

1. Teaching them organization. This really takes about 2 months for me to train them on and then they leave. It’s great if they keep it up, but I can’t stand re-training a bunch of NEW kids every 2 months.
2. Writing. By the time I read them and get it back to them, we’re already halfway through the term and it wasnt quick enough. Reflecting only for two months doesnt show much progress either. Plus, you should see some of their English. Its a whole ‘nother workload deciphering what they wrote. To top it off, having them turn in all those papers drives me bananas.

BUT, with my Calculus kids, I’m guaranteed to have them for 6 months (should they choose to remain). If they drop, they drop, but no new students will be added in the middle of the year.

So I gotta take advantage!

Day 1 I am taking them to the computer lab to

1. open up a GOOGLE SITES page with a blog. They will be writing a reflection blog on the class once a week. I can email them a prompt, or they can just reflect. First assignment can be to create an intro to self page so that I can get to know them. This will make things amazingly easy for me to grade because I can do it through my own Reader!! No papers, no deciphering writing done w/ their toes (typing w/ their toes is OK), and I can give instant feedback via comments, one by one, instead of passing papers back in one massive pile!
2. teach them how to use GOOGLE READER! and have them subscribe to my class page AND to their classmates’ pages! Any homework I post, any announcements I make, any grade or calendar changes, they will be able to instantaneously see! Then, as they read what their classmates wrote, they can start collaborating and getting to know one another as well. (Last year, I took them up to Calc camp and they really bonded. That bonding was much more powerful and effective than I had anticipated. I was just sad that it had to happen after the class was over. This might be a good way to get them started on bonding early. =P)
3. teach them blogging/internet etiquette. Pretty much all of my kids’ parents do not know how to use the internet or know what kinds of things are available to their kids on the net. Precaution must be taught. Blogging also has a certain amount of etiquette that should be followed. It has become way too easy to say/post stupid things on the net and get in trouble for them.

Now why didn’t I think of this before??

Well, I think I’m only thinking about it now because of the great math blogs I’ve been discovering for the first time in the last few months. They have been so useful. Another reason is because a lot of my kids used to not have internet at home even up until the beginning of last year. This year though, over 95% of them do. I’m figuring if I have Calc kids, then that means they’re bound for college. Now is as good of a time as ever to introduce them to Google Reader / getting feeds. Gotta break them out of their MySpace-Paris-Hilton-latest-rave world into an e-world of academia.

I’m super excited to start. Has anyone tried this before or something like it? Do you see any pitfalls that I should be wary of?