Overshooting a little

Trying to adjust my lessons and plans to this flipped classroom approach is taking a bit of time to wrap my brain around.  I spent all summer gathering materials (thank you to all the people who post on twitter and their blogs, and those at Twitter Math Camp who are willing to share for free....YOU ALL ROCK!) and reading blog ideas and simply gleaning content and materials from anywhere I was able.  I printed out several notebooks worth of stuff.  I was able to even get it organized by chapter.  Now moving on to the next step...using it.  The videos (although time consuming like I knew they would be) are covering what goes on at home, but I want "stuff" that is going to cause engagement while the students are in class.  I had decided that there needed to be much more discussion amongst students with the explanations about their thoughts/process, and my asking kids "why does that work?", "is there another way?", "how do you know?" and so forth.  While I knew that this is the quality thinking that takes time, I guess I didn't anticipate how much longer it really does take.  I've taught for 29 years with the "hurry up and get through HW so you have time to deliver some lecture notes" method that it never dawned on me just how much I was going to have to slow down.  So while I'm planning all these activities that we can get through each day, only to realize that there is NO WAY I can get the students through ALL THAT if I want them to have that deeper understanding that I'm hoping to get this year.  Thus the justification of my title:  I have definitely been overshooting on my lesson plans.  In some way this is actually a relief, because it means I won't have to use EVERY SINGLE THING that I found this summer...and then some!  It means I'll be able to pace all the "good stuff" and I will probably be able to pick and choose which ones I want to use this year, with leftover materials for changes next year if I need to.  HALLELUJAH!  I have been really worried about filling 180 days with awesomeness!  I wasn't sure I'd have enough.  It's so nice to let groups finish a task they are working on, and at the same time, give those who are done something more as a challenge.  That turned out to be easier to come up with (off the top of my head) than I expected.  The challenge now will be to keep track of every extra thing I generate spur of the moment.  I don't want to have to create everything again next year.

Today was a good example of how this played out.  In Calculus they have been working on a set of 15 multiple choice review problems in their groups over the past 3 days.  Some groups were done, so I posted challenge questions on the board for them to work on while the other groups finished.  In addition, they had to post their proof (trig identity) and graph (trig graph) on their vertical whiteboards.  I  overhead students asking their teammates "can I put my answer up?"  How exciting that students WANT to put up their work for everyone to see!  I'm bummed that I have been missing out on this for so long!  I liked this asynchronous workflow because it kept everyone engaged so there wasn't wasted time waiting for all groups to finish.  Sure, not all groups did the same amount of problems and, OF COURSE I would like for every student to complete ALL the problems I gave, but if I rush them, then those that need to discuss a few minutes longer don't get the time (nor understanding) they need.  Over time, I know there will be a payoff for every student. I think inevitably they will all do more problems as a result of the groupwork than they would have done solo.

In stats, I sometimes forget how many iterations it takes on the graphing calculator before students understand the steps for doing things like graphing histograms and copy the results onto their paper.  Every student was working away trying to get "the hamsters" to give them the correct graph that they had already described to me.  Although some of them helped their teammates, most of the time they were intent on working to get the desired results.  I had to MAKE THEM STOP, and claimed their brain needed a commercial break, so that I could show them another graphing calculator tip.  Can I ask for anything greater?  I think not!

The wonder of Desmos

My calculus students were reviewing graphing concepts today: find the points of intersection, find the intercepts, transformations on parent graphs.  We were using the graphing calculators and I was making them explain to me how to do each of these processes.  Some of them were feeling quite proud of themselves because they remembered and were able to shout out the steps and buttons that I should push.  Enter Desmos!!  They have never seen this operating platform before.  We have Chromebooks in the class, enough for two people to share.  I started with a "find the intersection points" problem and they were in awe.  Then we moved on to finding all the intercepts.  Excitement continued as some of them were discovering new things about it.  That's what I love, you do the introduction to something on the computer and they RUN with it!  No nudging required!!  Then we went to the transformation with sliders!  Their graphing calculators can't do this!!  They were having SO MUCH FUN!  Some of them zoomed so far out it was as though there were looking at the graph from an airplane at 30,000 feet.  Should I reiterate: their graphing calculators can't do this!!  But when they figured out that you could hit the "play" buttons on the sliders and watch the transformation animate, there were mesmerized!  When I hear "I can't focus because I'm too busy graphing", you know it's a GREAT DAY!  When I made them pick back up their calculator and do it "old school", they grumbled that using that piece of technology "sucked".  I had to agree!  And I have been the biggest salesman of graphing calculators to my students.  Now I am encouraging someone to step up and manufacture a hand-held Desmos calculator....I think it's been done...called an IPhone or IPad!  But the problem is: they can't use these on the AP test, so we have to keep using the slide rule, er, I mean the graphing calculator!  How long until the world of education (and testing) catches up to the "real world"?  I hope I get to see it!

In AP Stats, I gave the students 10 different data sets.  They had to select 5 and make 1 bar graph, 1 dot plot, 1 pie graph, 1 stem plot and 1 back-to-back stem plot and show me the graphs on their whiteboards.  These were some of their results.  There is so much discussion! I love it!  And students can even spot mistakes in others work on the other side of the room!  Then when I asked them questions like "was there anther data set that could have been used for this type of graph?" and said discuss in your group, they were all on task DOING THAT!!  Can I just say how much I LOVE this new set up?!!  (groups of 4 and vertical whiteboards).  Even though I'm giving them the lesson via video notes as homework, the group work is SO POWERFUL!  It really is like me getting to double my time with my students! And the students are so excited to be a part of this! Why did it take me so long to get to this place?

Playdate LA 2014

I hadn't intended to blog about my "excursions" to professional development conferences, but I definitely want to be able to view my own posts later so that I can see my growth and how the twitterverse has grown me in SO MANY unexpected ways, both with my students and apart from them.

I attended Playdate LA this morning.  It was my first time and I was excited to attend after looking at the scheduled sessions.  I thought it was like an EdCamp, but then I saw the schedule and expected something more like the annual CUE conference.  It was like the conference in that the titles/topics of the sessions were already chosen, but like EdCamp in that there were no scheduled presenters.

We had a few minutes to mingle after all the housekeeping information was given out, and it was suggested that if anyone in the room was not on twitter, that they find someone to help them accomplish that task.  Helena (last name unknown) was standing next to me and said "I don't know what to do with twitter, do you?" Well that was all I needed.  I had her signed in and downloading tweetdeck in a flash.  We were fixing her channels and getting #playdatela on it immediately so she could view the tweets all morning.  We got so into it, that we didn't notice it was time to go until one of the organizers interrupted us to ask if we planned on attending the first session.  I felt successful for helping one other person!

So off I went to the first session about non-clicker student response systems.  There was only one other person in the room to start, but after a few minutes a 3rd person joined us.  None of us had any experiences to share, so we all decided to go to our second choice which was screencasting.  Now, I have been doing my videos for a little while and can teach others, but I don't consider myself and expert.  Couple that with the fact that I use Touchcast and I have met no one yet who uses that app.  So I was looking forward to learning about something new.  I was surprised that I turned out to the the "expert" and I did all the talking/describing/answering of other's questions!!  Actually, shocked would be a better description.

Second session, I went to presentation tools.  Someone was taking charge in there and started by asking what presentation tools we each used.  I stated that I used none of the ones listed on the program.  Many of the others had little experience either, but a few had played with Haiku Deck.  I was interested in that one and was hoping we would go in that direction.  It seemed to for a little while, but then took a turn when I said "well I have used Voki and Go Animate to present information to students and they are both REALLY SIMPLE".  This immediately  caused others to say "can you show us?".  So once again, I became the "expert".  I was having so much fun that the time flew by.

Session 3: Using Social Media with students.  A few teachers were already in the room and talking when I got there.  I eagerly listened to the ideas that were being thrown around, hoping we would land on one and I would have something concrete to use when I left.  Well, after participating in the discussion, I finally got into the small group that was looking at "Today'sMeet".  It works like twitter but is self contained and expires after a given time.  So you could use it for a class period and then it would be gone.  Great way to engage students in a discussion though!  I will definitely try it out!

We went back to a large room for closing session and people were encouraged to stand up and share what they learned.  Helena stood up and said "I got so much information from Paula Torres and everyone should be following her!"  I was NOT expecting THAT!!  Now my twitter is "blowing up" with new followers!  I also had earned enough "stars" from everyone that gave me one that it got me a prize for having the most in the room.  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!!!  I consider myself to be a beginner!  I guess I have learned/absorbed a LOT more than I even noticed! It was great affirmation!  And I loved being on the helping side!  I hope to get to do more of this in the future!

Convince me!!

Today was another good day.  Calc students had problems that they were working on in groups as I circled around and eavesdropped on conversations.  I LOVE listening to them talk math!  The competition consisted of multiple choice questions and I sit with each group and randomly select students in that group to tell me answers...picking a new person (or sometimes the same person) from the group each time to give me the next answer. This way they all HAVE to work together because they don't know who I will call on for each answer.  They worked the entire time.  What I really love is with whiteboards on the wall for every group, we could have discussions with diagrams to help them see concepts that aren't currently clear to them.  I also have mini whiteboards with graph grid on them and I noticed students reaching for those to draw a graph in order to choose the correct domain and range.  Such SIMPLE tools that kids now have quick access to by being placed in groups around the perimeter of the room.  I LOVE THIS NEW SET UP!

In Stats today, I made them answer questions to the Fruit Loop Activity.  They had to convince me about whether the mean and/or median would change if another data value was added.  What was "cool" was 5th and 6th period classes had different data that led to different rationale.  So my plan for Monday is to switch their data and see if they can answer the questions correctly with the other list.  Then I'll know whether or not they really have the concept.  But the discussions were SO POWERFUL!!  And I found out who could explain really well on paper (whiteboard).  We also had the discussion that it is not enough (in Stats) to say "he's guilty" and then just sit down.  There needs to be some evidence.  This was taking me back to the great presentation by Chris Luzniak (@plspeak) at TMC14 on arguments (argument = claim + warrant)!  I am definitely working this strategy into Stats this year!  Using that analogy was a quick way to get them to understand how much more they need top put into their explanations.

Here is what I noticed.  Some students were struggling with the concept of how the mean changed based on adding another data value until I said "so your test average is 80, what happens when you get a 60 on the next test?  Or a 95?  Or an 80?"  They could tell me the answer right away.  Interesting that it needs a certain context for them to have it conceptually, and when you use a different context (# of fruit loops in a handful), they don't get it so easily.  Perhaps we rely on the same contexts too often.  There definitely needs to be more real life brought into math lessons.  There next task is to select from 10 different data sets that I gave them to create 1 bar graph, 1 dotplot, 1 pie graph, 1 stemplot and 1 back-to-back stemplot.  It was fun to watch them start to discuss which data would be best choice for each graph.  I can't wait until Monday!!  I also can't wait to start using google forms with them and have them create their own surveys to collect their own data and then graph it and analyze it.  Laptops in the classroom open up so many opportunities!!

On another side-note, I got to share the awesomeness of Mathalicious (@mathalicious) with my department this morning!  I took them through about 3 lessons so they could see how useful they would be to our math teams.  In addition, I showed them the fantastic-ness (a new word) of Desmos (@desmos) and the 4 lessons in teacher.desmos.com.  So stellar!  I love opening up the world of technology for others they way it has been opened up to me!  It's so fun to share that wealth! I have gotten some colleagues to join twitter this week!! YAY!!

They won't fall asleep this year!

Well, it might be the year that I need to retire my spray bottle of water.  In the past when students fall asleep, they get a squirt to the face.  Once the students realize this, they tattle on whoever is sleeping just so they can see them get sprayed.  It always warrants a few good laughs, even from the person getting squirted.  But now that I have whiteboards all around and laptops out every period, the students are BUSY!!  After having to sit in student desks for the last 2 weeks of summer, I definitely realized how uncomfortable they must be for 7 hours (glad I got to walk around all the time)!

In all classes, today's technology piece was how to get to their locker, google drive and class page on School Loop.  It took very little time as most students already had a google account.  Those that didn't made one with some help from me, but more help from their partner.  Students know so much about navigating that I learn from them (I LOVE THIS!).  I already announced (the first day) that while they would be learning Calculus or Statistics, I too would be learning how to use the technology that we ALL need to know to live in this technological world.  It's surprising to find out that as tech savvy as we think they are, there still are lots of things they don't know.  I want to help them learn how to use the tech more effectively and efficiently.

In Calc, we finished with web navigation and moved on to back-to-back graphing.  I found this activity on Study of Change (by Becky Hart Lyon) and I modified it a bit.  I had students facing each other, one looking at the projector screen and the other with their back to the screen. Students who can see the screen have to explain to the other how to draw what they see. They begin easy and get more "math like". Students drew on mini whiteboards and then held them up when they thought the drawing was correct.  They switched positions after each drawing.  I heard so many great comments!  And they were so busy explaining, drawing and switching, the time flew.  We would discuss some characteristics about the graphs after everyone got it correct to help them improve their explanations. Will definitely use this next year!

In Statistics, we were finishing up the Fruit Loop Activity from yesterday (see yesterday's post). Students were using the data and making box-whisker plots.  First they had to do it by hand on their whiteboards.  Then I showed them how to do it on their graphing calculators and finally we copied the data into Stat Key to do the same thing.  We found an "error" on Stat Key and had to decide what the program was doing.  It was great that they even asked the question!  The minute I said I want box plots on your boards, they were so quickly up out of their desks and talking was happening!  I love it!  I think the best part was when students asked "simple" questions, I got to say "What would you do if you were at home right now with that question?" and when they responded with "google it", I pointed to their laptops and walked away.  It is a mindshift when I don't give them the immediate answer, and I got the usual "but you're the teacher".  It will take awhile to get the spoons out of some mouths, but I have nothing but time to teach them how to be learners and use resources!  It's gonna be an AWESOME year!  I may have to change my blog to "180 days of best day ever!"

30 year mark was met with clapping!!

Today marked the first day of my 30th year.  It is hard to believe because it certainly doesn't seem like it's been THAT long.  I love my job more now than I think I ever have!  I have been rejuvenated and reignited by some of the following "new things":  Twitter, technology and what I can do with it in my classroom, technology and what my students can do with it in the classroom, white boards mounted all around my classroom walls, Twitter Math Camp 2014, Cue Rockstar, EdCamp and all the people I have met along this new journey into MTBoS.

It also marked the first day of my, hopefully, year long journey into flipped classroom.  I'm a little worried how I will fill up every day with so much awesome activities, but I know that students working together and discussing (or arguing) about math will be powerful for them.  I'm also confident that it will help the "average" students develop a better understanding than my traditional lecture format did, and those are the students that I really want to benefit.  The "overachievers" will still get the most out of it because of who they are and their work ethic, but I want to improve the level at which the other students are able to learn, and more importantly REMEMBER.

To kick things off, I had prepared a Go Animate to show each class as well as a Voki.  The kids loved them!  And, my first period clapped when they concluded!!  In my 30 years of teaching, I have NEVER had students clap for something I did!  It was AWESOME! The excitement continued all day!  Students were excited to be in a room with whiteboards surrounding them, and I heard several positive comments about the environment (remember, this is the first day!).  Then I blew them away when I opened up the cart of chromebooks!  To say students were engaged is an understatement!  When I went to lunch with science colleagues, they told me the students were talking about it in their classrooms.  That's the stuff I want to hear because I know I'm moving in the right direction!

My statistics kids were "eating out of the palm of my hand" (or rather their own hand) as they started the Fruit Loop Activity  and were sharing their information via a Google doc.  Tomorrow we will take that data and put it into Stat Key (thanks to Andy Pethan @rockychat3 for sharing this awesome website with me) to get the summary statistics and a boxplot. In addition, we will look at the graphing calculator and how it gives the same information. 

The Calculus students were "interns" who were trying to diagnose math monsters (an activity created by @samjshah and @mathdiva77.  Students were completely engaged trying to figure out diagnoses.  Some wanted to give up at first, but with a little push in asking what they had "ruled out", they got back into the rhythm of guessing and testing to eliminate procedures that didn't work and move toward ones that did.  It was a great review while moving them into Calculus!

The stars in my constellation

I recently returned from the BEST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT I have EVER attended in my 30 years of teaching!!  It's called Twitter Math Camp!  I was so excited to go and had talked non-stop to my husband about all the people I knew were going to be there.  I was like a star-struck teenage girl who has mosh pit tickets to see her favorite performance group.  What was even more remarkable was watching the twitter posts on the days leading up to the event and noting that even "the stars" who were going to be in attendance were feeling the same way!

It would not do justice to the event to attempt to write about ALL that I was able to take away from these 3 1/2 jam-packed days of learning.  Six hours with my Calculus group flew by and I would have easily sat through another 6!  Afternoon sessions in 1 hour  increments were over in a flash and my head was swimming with all the information and ideas that were springing into my mind on when/how I could use all of it.  "My favorites" shared by so many people happened so fast that I could barely write them all down and I really wanted to!! When we left the classroom venue at 5 pm and returned to the hotel, the sharing and learning didn't stop!  I stayed up late the first night immersed in a conversation about Statistics websites (thank you Andy Pethan @rockychat3).  Another evening, several of us experienced cutting a king size bed sheet into 1 inch strips, stapling them end-to-end to see how far around the hotel it would go (much greater than perimeter of hotel! And thanks to Chris Shore @MathProjects for that experience!)  To many math teachers, this experience was like Christmas in July.

The most amazing part is that so many of these people are "super stars" in the MTBoS and yet they, like me, are just trying to make a difference for their students.  They are all so humble and willing to share.  I couldn't image trying to list all those to whom I am grateful that I got to meet and work with.  You are all TRULY AMAZING!  And to fail to mention that in addition to all THAT stuff (which was PLENTY by itself), I got to hear Steve Leinwand (@steve_leinwand), Dan Meyer (@dy/Dan) AND Eli Luberoff (@eluberoff) speak and they were FASCINATING!!  If you are not following them, YOU SHOULD BE!  I cannot wait to attend this again next year (at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA)!  Until then, I will be on a mission to use as much as I possibly can in my classroom.  The ideas were STELLAR and I'm sure my students will be equally as engaged in them as I was learning about them.