2020 - No more High School Math Homrwork (for my students)

HS Math classes don't (necessary) need homework....

About 3 years ago I migrated to no outside of class math practice (no homework).  And after some bumps have had success and student's continued to grow.  For me and my students a real positive!  Had presented about it a few times at conferences.....
This post really deserves to be better, but instead I am posting about what happened next.....

A parent contact the Channel 3000 local news about my teaching without assigning homework in HS math courses (Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus).   They wanted to do an interview and good PR for the school is always welcomed.

They came down and did a 3 minute segment and article. - here.

But then it really caught fire, had a Smart-brief wtih ASCD about it - here
then, probably received 80 emails about how....

And finally an NEAtoday article - here

Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs, 2nd edition

by Cathy A. Vatterott  - here  

(My Hitchhikers Guide to No Homework - yes 42....)

My goal for this post is to simply connect these for any teacher considering changing.  There are always naysayers, but I run on data and while HW for HS math is good - I skip good for great....

I am always open to discuss -   It can be done and I know my students are better because of it!

Curriculum - searching for the grail.....

So how do you select curriculum in a small district?  Form a committee?  There is only a few of us in the entire district (Grades:  4K-5, MS, HS, Admin -- ~7 to 8 of us).  So as the HS teacher, the only HS teacher it feel likes it starts with me.  So like any other school you ask for books and start searching through them, and finding what?

I hope for the book that helps our school make the students better problem solvers and learners, ready for whatever they do upon graduation.  And I am constantly thinking about what that should look like in a textbook.  How does that text book progress from Kindergarten to Calculus?  (or 4K versus Kindergarten)

I am feeling like I am searching for the holy grail, I need the theme song to Indiana Jones just to survive it.  I am sent books that are over a 1000 pages long (1300 pages/180 days --- 7.2 pages per day -- CRAZY!) -- I know that I don't have to teach the whole book - but we (the students and I) get to carry them around all the same.

I have looked at integrated and non-integrated, CCSS aligned, ACT College and Career Readiness models.....  And it leads me to one common belief, it is what we do in the room, not which book we have that matters most.

It is how we make sure they understand concepts versus procedures.  It how we lead them in problems solving, encouraging/modeling persistence.

The curriculum is not that important, the teaching is...      except....

Except I really need the text book series to have assessments and workbooks - because with so many different preps there is no time to make everything I need.  (Which is why I am scared of CPM, great book - but I don't feel I can prep for it, not enough hours in the day).  I currently make a lot of my own assessments with projects, but sometimes I need to use book assessment or worksheet as a base for a class (then just add a question or two, cross one off, etc).  This modification process is what keeps me sane (or at my present level of insanity).

So as a small district searching for texts you would figure someone would have made good assessments that use high level skills and practices -- cause big or small we all want that resource.  You wish for assessments that would be awesome (I mean they are written by the authors!),  But often they are the same "pump & dump" - little different than the 10 plus year old texts I have -- except they cost $100 each.

Perhaps I want too much, but I will keep combing the desert in search of that text book series that matches my school's vision.

Curriculum Improvement is slow work, Just going one step at a time....

So another nice day out, and I am making boards about Algebra 1 and Calculus.  These are the two classes out of the seven I teach that I am trying to flip.  It simply taking steps during summer to be slightly better each year - just 2% each year I joke and next thing you know you are making real substantial progress.

School in-service starts in 2 days - and I have done a lot of reflecting and working this summer on curriculum.  But I will admit the ugly truth - I have not made the best lessons and videos I could have.  That's because there is never enough time, I am always delivering less than my best (it is my best for the time available).   (Note - I know I read about this ugly truth in another article or blog  - but cannot locate it to cite - but I am joining that author and admitting the ugly truth.)

And sometimes that can be a weight on me.  I want to do the best - not just the best I can within my workload, or the best I can in some amount of time.  But that is not truly possible and something I rarely discuss - I talk about working hard, and making choices that maintain sanity.  I cannot spend 4 hours prepping a 45 min lesson - cause I have 7 different ones that day (7*4>24).

So another nice day - and I worked on curriculum - not all day, but part of my summer day and that is the best.

82% Fail Algebra 1 Final

Saw this video -- where in Montgomery County, Maryland, "which is considered a well-off suburb of Washington, D.C." -- 82% of students failed their Algebra I final.  And the video asks why - to me the video felt like they were searching for blame - and there is plenty of it to go around.

Lets start with a system of standardized testing that pushes too far too fast.   If you do not take time for students to really understand the concepts & interconnections and have recursive practice students simply memorize to pass a unit test, then, they are doomed on any really understanding.  This lack of understanding in turn dooms them on a final.

Teachers feel pressure to show what is on the standardized tests, but if a student is not ready - and they need more practice on "lesser" material - then that must happen.  Yet the CCSS are demanding and there is a pressure there (which I think we teachers need to balance -- College Readiness is number one).

Also - the amount of material is a question.  See the review final from there website.  The amount of material covered is impressive, but are the students getting a deeper understanding - is it possible to push a very young adult through the amount of material on the practice final and have them truly understand?  I always remind myself the students will always do the minimum - so they memorized during the semester, the minimum, and then are ill-prepared for the final (and college math - again somewhere around 30-40% are not college ready).

And I am careful not to criticize the teachers there - perhaps they have a K-12 math program where this is what Algebra 1 learns, but at my school - nearly half of their final is Algebra II.   The challenge is not to look at any one course like Algebra I and ask what they need, but to look at the HS graduate with 3 years of math and ask if they have the skills.  If you don't get deep into parabolas in Algebra I then save them for Algebra II, and spend time doing more projects, recursive practice, etc.  It does mean trading away something in Algebra II - perhaps come conics, or some imaginary number graphing - that can go to PreCalc.  I know we need to trade there too then, but that is our job to decide what is most important for the time we have - and if we make the curriculum manageable then the fail rate will fall.

Finally I don't blame the students - I believe that finals always fall one letter grade.  And unless 82% of the students got a D or F mark for the 4th quarter - then there is something awry.  Systems for grading need to be designed that ensure success - but if that system is impossible when overloaded with topics.  For the record I only test what we have mastered on a final, my final changes based on the topics covered each year.  (FYI - I have about 12% failure rate)

In the end - teachers need to take control.  Set a curriculum that prepares the students for two places in their lives.  Point 1 -- being college ready, and point 2 -- having the problem solving skills & basic math to be successful at 27 years of age.  I often joke that I work for the students, the 27 year old student.  And at 27 they want to be skilled at problem solving, and do not want to have flunked out of college because of math (skills or because of fear).

If we remember our accountability is not to a predetermined curriculum plan, or to politicians or to administrators - not really even to parents  - but to students (it's their life!), then we are doing our job.  Then we will be preparing the 27 year old for their challenges.

Math Mob Mondays

So I am considering a new idea - Math Mob Mondays.  Being in a rural district means some classes do not fill all the desks (or any class fills all the desks).  I have been thinking of ways to show our parents and our community what we are doing in my room.

My idea is to offer some "Math Mob" days where I invite (or coerce) adults to fill my room.  I think I would start with Algebra 1 (an afternoon course) - have them come in.  Do a lot of review, introduce a new lesson, have my students be helpers, etc.  I like the idea - it would make my students help others.  It would also give curious and coerced community members a  first hand look at what we do, my expectation - and I think it would just be fun.

I think Facebook could help me out, take a little video and just have some fun with it.    I would have to get 8-14 commitments, so it is "big enough."   I think it could be some fun, especially if I tap some people to come on in and have fun.

Not sure if and when but I will post any more work I do on this.

Curriculum & Standards - What is the mission? What is the right decision?

Had a good moment today!  Had a parent pull me aside in a public place (not school) and thank me for helping their student with math.  The student had just completed their math course required at college (college algebra).  It was a student that struggled in all my math courses, a student who I demanded non-negotiable skills from.

The student struggled with grades - usually in the below average range, but I did not make the courses about a grade.  We made it about the skills, the concepts, what the student would have to do at college.  We quizzed, requizzed - worked at skills, would become frustrated and repeat.  I spoke at length with the student prior to graduation that math at college was something that the student could do -- just find the proper math help -- tutors, help centers, etc.  In the end the student got a C+ -- that is awesome!

It is times like this where I feel I have the curriculum balanced properly between how fast and how much mastery - because curriculum speed and mastery are not independent of one another.  My Algebra 2 course - which is college prep - does not go as far as many other school's Algebra 2 courses.  But the material we cover we know; we work hard at having a conceptual understanding of the items we do, and a mastery of the basics.

It means things like delaying the quadratic formula in favor of completing the square first.  Doing Geometry proofs as a few weeks of enrichment versus a semester of memorization.  About making each course a progression of the previous - including the course's grade.  A Geometry grade at my school is about 50% Algebra 1 skills, an Algebra 2 grade is 50% Algebra 1 and Geometry skills.  And so forth - except AP Calculus.

When I think about the trilogy of college prep courses - Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 -  I am mostly concerned that they learn how to problem solve, have a true mastery of basics skills, and have a tenacity to stick with things - to look for the how and why.  I simply don't care if all the "standards" have been met, I don't care about a grade -- I want the team (student & I) to care about the big picture. 

And the big picture is that we do the things to make students successful.  Because I work for the student, not the 16 year old in my class, but the "future student" - the 23 year old student.  The student who wants the skills, knowledge and tenacity to be successful in their life - that is my math mission, that is how I set up my math curriculum. 

Is it the job of technical schools, 2 years colleges and state schools to help students through math?

I recently read an article that says a post secondary degree is becoming the new HS diploma for getting a job (degree deflation).  So as good jobs disappear for people with only HS degrees, we see everyone talk about worker retraining -- get them back to school to get the skills for the jobs of today.  And I think that is great, and I agree.

But what responsibility does the technical school/college have to getting students through math.  We often talk about secondary schools providing opportunity, a student must choose to work and do well.  But with most remedial math students (and especially non-traditional students) it is not a choice, they have not done well with math at the HS level and instead of realizing that, our secondary institutions demand more math, faster, at a higher level of performance than HS.  Now I agree high schools must do better but I don't agree with institutions that decide to 'help' but really are entering for profit or pseudo-profit.

What I mean is once you tell prospective students that you can lead them to better training thus to better jobs you have a commitment to that student.  That student is paying for a service.  When you then place students into remedial math courses that as an institution you know only have a 40-50% pass rate you are doing a disservice.  Especially with non-traditional students.  Only in our secondary education system can you look at a 50% pass rate and blame the students.

I am not saying we teach less, but once you run into a wall a few times, shouldn't you look for a door?  Should we look at how we are teaching, how do we expect students who have never mastered numeracy to quickly do that in a few weeks, so we can do lines, expressions and quadratics?  I believe these are skills that a student should master but is the current system correctly doing that; with so many non-traditional students that have not used math skills for so long that they have lost them repeatedly taking remedial math I think the answer is no.  Yet tech schools and colleges advertise themselves as centers of opportunity, get your loan, come on in, we will help....   And sure they offer tutoring, but that is within the context of the existing secondary math curriculum, if you can't keep up, don't worry the institution will still cash your check.

Only in education could you get away with this, blaming the customers (actually failing customers who try).  They have their expectation completely set by their K-12 experience.  Except in HS they somehow got through.  I know many non traditional students studying tens of hours per week in their quest to become non-STEM people.  They face their math fears dead on, as the course sprints forward.  The courses demanding that the skill of distribution learned last week, be mastered to the point to use with equations this week and next week lines.

In 6-12 grade math those subjects and their expected mastery are spread out over years versus weeks.  Yet we teach math the same way at tech schools and colleges as was done in 6-12 grade where the remedial student failed to get mastery but now we expect different results.  Really?   I know a 12 year old more easily learns than a 42 year old (I am reminded about that every day my son and I try to remember a new skill).

Our society needs educated people to maintain our leadership in the world.  We need to be constantly educating our people.   But we need an educational system that works!  Only in education would we say we have a 50% failure rate and believe the answer is more of the same, more courses, more instructors, more repeating!  And when the non-traditional student fights through their 2 remedial courses and 1 course for credit math (usually thinking D for Degree), are they better math students?  Will they apply those skills in the world?  Or did they simply memorize enough to get through.....  What is the purpose?

While some students do just need remedial math as it sits (looks like about 50%).  The rest need something different.  The courses need to meet more, cover less material and push them to success.  I realize I am adding a course, hours and staff; it would take 3 remedial courses versus 2, because the same material must be learned.  Courses need to meet 6 hours per week versus 3 hours.  Less lecture, more guided learning, set lab hours with tutors at a 1 to 8 ratio, we must help students to understand the math.  It is a radical suggestion, but we have a horrific problem, 50% failure.

Yet tech schools and colleges expand, under the disguise of providing opportunity, encouraging students to come back and learn today's skills, they'll help....   Right now they just cash the check....

Curriculum Mapping

So we had in-service this past week and used the time to work on curriculum mapping.  Working on a plan to teach the Common Core Standards (CCSS) through out our K-12 building. Aligning what we are teaching/how we teach to the new national standards.  It seems like time well spent because we finally found some software that allows a teacher to not only plan by unit and topic but also includes the ability to have learning targets (the daily "stuff" of teaching).

Thus curriculum mapping goes from an overall tool to a daily tool, so as I work on lessons I can build them there in the software (BYOC, is the software).  I can store links, sheets, ideas all to a Learning topic (versus a unit).  This then becomes a way for me to create plans that work by learning goals.  I am excited because curriculum mapping at unit and topic level just becomes a way to say you checked against standards, the previous program we used did just unit and topic and I rarely looked at it.  I was always too busy making lessons.  Now I can make those lessons in the curriculum mapping software and then that can be looked at and refined the next year.  These learning topics (the daily lessons) are tied to unit and topic with standards and makes me really focus on the standards.  Tie that standard focus to the new mathematical practices and there is a framework to really become proficient at CCSS.  My hope is to finally have a place to do continuous improvement on a lesson!

This hopefully will be the tool I use to tie daily teaching to lessons.  My goal is to quickly rough in the topics/units into the software so I can really work on learning targets.  Then I can decide the best way to teach concepts for understanding & high level thinking.

Is this "pie-in-the-sky?"  Maybe...  But at least the software has a way to look at it and have it be useful on daily basis....   Because the only way to get better is one lesson at a time....

Too big too care?

So Key Curriculum (makers of Geometry Sketch pad) announced that it had joined forces with McGraw-Hill Education.  So the question I want to ask does this help math students in our country?

I have become very disillusioned with publishers of math materials in the US.  There has been a slow decline in their quantity to the point where there are just a couple of publishers left.  This is a problem.

It is a problem because competition breeds innovation and quality, the only innovation lately has been "Common Core Aligned" stickers on the textbooks that existed prior to the common core!  The concern over profits versus materials that profit students is a battle seemingly long lost.

I have started my protest by not buying new books (why buy non-quality things!), I have used self-created materials, free websites and used text books.  It is sometimes not optimum for me, as the teacher, but I can buy a used book for $8 in precalculus, a new text is >$100.  So I have 3 texts that we switch between - utilizing the strength of each book - for less than $25 per student the last 3 years.  I am also using ck-12.org -- a website with free "texts."  My next plan is to have precalculus students help create sections that contain lessons and videos thus moving towards a web-based resources versus paper texts.  A text that integrates applications discussed in my last post.  This is what we need in math education, we need innovation!

So Key Curriculum asked "LIKE and SHARE if you are as excited as we are for this opportunity!"  So am I excited?    NO.......