Fear of failure cannot stop us...

Just had a great couple of days at the Wisconsin Math Conference last Thursday and Friday (#wismath17).  I was able to present and get ideas from other math professionals (and computer science).

And I love this conference - I heard someone say "these are the people who drink the Kool-Aid"  and that is definitely true.  These are the professionals who ask for the PD time, prep the speeches and put themselves out there with their peers!

Yet....     Often we hear a ton of good stuff but it becomes so hard to implement...
time, administration, testing requirements, fear of moving backwards....
Where our only question should be "Is this best for students for actually learning math (not tests or college readiness, or state report cards).

I have almost always moved on good ideas and adjusted as I go.  I commit to changing a minimum of 10% of my practices (sometimes I try and go-back)  But if you don't try you are stagnate.
And I believe you cannot plan perfect transitions and by trying to, you end up not moving - your practices don't improve.  And that is worse than moving with some errors - I am willing to try/fail/revise/try/fail/revise.... to improvement.  And it works - we must remember that 2% improvement per year leads to great gains in just a few short years.

That said so many of us want all the steps and answers and I believe that over-analyzing slows us all down to no movement.  Many teachers ask about how I decided to move to a retake system and a homework system which uses no class time.  How did I get my admin on board?  (Did not ask) What plans did you do ahead? (Just started and fixed as I went) Etc.  I did not plan them completely - I just kept making small truly new adjustments - then one day a new system was there.

I definitely make mistakes - but my overall trend is 2% positive - which is best for my students.   I want my peers to know that the path is not straight or without pot-holes...  but we must walk the path.

Good versus Great - Making tough decisions.....

Had my great friend (thanks Mary!) send me an article on how good teachers become great.  I am always looking for the great activities, the best, and those are done at the expense of good things.  Knowing what not to do, I believe, is as important as knowing what to do -- because there simply are not enough minutes.

I found the post great because it started talked about perfect lesson plans, bulletin boards and binders.  The title said great teaching - and that is my goal - and I don't do any of that.  Ugh!  It was talking about all the things I skip to put time on authentic tasks that make students ready for what lays beyond my walls.  But then just about when I was ready to scream - it pivoted about how students need opportunities - authentic tasks.  And how much of the good teacher tasks must be skipped to be great (whew...) ---  saying: "In fact, becoming a great teacher requires that much of the good teacher code be broken." 

Think of all the things that can suck time -- Having perfect lessons, or the best hall passes or having all the right forms and binders prepared....    Heck those are things I often make the office ask for twice (cause a lot of stuff they ask for they just file, and most of the time - they ask once and not again).  Doing TPS things just takes more time than it is worth.  Uhhh...yeeahh...

Making things happen takes time but I think great teaching is letting students go (it was the number 1 thing in the article) - and that does not take as much time.  But I think that is hard for us as teachers.  Control can seem like a precious commodity, but in the end it is in the student's best interest to put them in control.  And success is nice but a lot more can be learned in failure and revision (for us teachers too).  

And the results are undeniable once you put students in control.  For years I have assigned projects using ideas and software that I have not done.  I think I could - but I am after end results, students can figure out details to create things (assigning a 3D house in Google Sketch Up is the largest project - I can barely draw a prism in Sketch Up). 

I plan to focus my upcoming reflections on how important minutes are in my classroom.  Not just for me and my time, but more importantly, my students time.

 

WMC Conference 2016 Reflections

Attended the Wisconsin Math Council (WMC) conference in Green Lake Wisconsin again this year, and another great conference.  A Gathering of a slew of dedicated math instructors from Kindergarden to College.  Peers presenting, keynotes presenting - just a lot of math discussions and thoughts.

For me personally it is a tremendous reflection time and I picked up some great ideas to use and share on ratios from Gail Burrill from Michigan State and division of fractions writing in a context from Natalia Bailey from Edgewood college/UW.   There was an intriguing session on standards base grading by Jeff Harding (even if he is from Illinois).  And UW-River Falls showed tidbits and I found some activities that will help my students with reasoning and justification.  All things that will make me a better teacher, all things that I would not have located on my own (most likely).  Things that make the conference very worth while - yet that is not the biggest return on my time at the conference (or my school district’s money).

There are 2 things I always find are huge at the conference for me professionally - 1) is presenting on my classroom (that is always scary - presenting in front of peers);  and 2) the reflections, peer discussions and time to think deeply about my practices.

I presented on recursive review and improvement that has resulted in our school’s ACT data - and that is always good for me.  It makes me think about the blend of necessary skills that my students need to be successful in math - while really reflecting on how to make sure my room is being driven from conceptual understanding with many opportunities for practice in problem solving and persistence (problem solving with many answers requiring justification).

The single most important thing that makes me go again and again is how the time, enviroment and presenters make me really think about my practices and how I approach the classroom.  What my goal for my teaching is, what my students will do - what I really need to lead them through so they are successful beyond my high school’s walls.  

And my number one take away is…..   

Wait…  

Picking one can always be something that gets a lot of “attention,” but this would be my number one - I am sure everyone’s is not the same. So a bit of a disclaimer: knowing how we teach is super important - that we are leading students to understanding, not memorization but from memory, that we would not worry about just the test but most importantly how they problem solve and analyze for their times beyond education institutions (and yet make sure they have the skills not to be unsuccessful in post-HS mathematics - meaning that the ACT and placement tests matter).  So with all that said, for me, the number one take away this year is:

Minutes matter.

I will modifiy many lessons because of this conference, and add things here and there.  But for me the number one thing is treating my 44 minutes period like the precious commodity it is.  That from bell to bell we are doing math - solving problems, mixing in review.  That the students are pushed and are working a combination of problems that review and stretch.  

It is so important that I am commiting to myself and 12 of you that read this blog that I am going to submit a presentation about it next year for the WMC (including some of more non typical things - like no HW grading or HW questions is class)   (Side-note: my wife does not believe there is 12 of you)

So there it all is - a great conference - already cannot wait for next year.  And I will do my best to make every minute count......

Teach 15 Reflect 4

So how do we make students really reinforce concepts and ideas we spend our precious class time showing, leading and/or guiding?  How do we make sure they are reflecting on the lesson objective, using the practices  - that they are making connections?  It is an interesting question - I often ask how do I make sure my students understand the concept and embrace their learning - but perhaps I should be asking how do I make students reflect?

Thinking about student reflection was part of a speech from Naomi Harms at a professional event I recently attended - she spoke about the need to only do 15 minutes of teaching, lecturing, practicing, working, etc and then 4 minutes where the students reflect.  That reflection can happen any number of ways - but the key is to allow that time.    And I am now working hard to set up my daily teaching to make sure students are reflecting, and that they are really embracing their learning.

It may seem like a modest change, but after reflecting on it I am hopeful that it can have a large impact in my students.  I think this reflection can have a large payback - the investment is small, about 8 minutes per period - but if students can make their connections in those few minutes then the impact will be much greater than 8 minutes of more lecture, or more practice, or more anything,

Seriously only 4 minutes reflection for 15 minutes of attention, seems too easy.  But when I think about myself - even now as an adult I struggle to pay attention and connect ideas when a lecture or speech is more than 15 minutes straight.  I am shifting my classroom, I had provided time to make connections but never said "Reflect on this," or "Discuss this with a partner," etc.

So I am going to add it and see how the first month goes.  Nothing ventured.....
Finally I just want to thank Juda, JAM'M, WTI and Morgridge Family for making the conference possible - hearing Naomi is making me think about my teaching and work on making it better.  So it was a good day.