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.

 

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.

Homework - How much does it matter?

So it is final exam time at my school, we are coming into summer, so it is summative assessment time!  So I will start grading finals shortly (or my student teacher will) and it will indicate how Juda is doing with respect to math education - according to the world (I measure myself and my students by a whole different set of metrics - basically performance following HS.)

When I started teaching eight years ago, I taught how I was taught.  We reviewed homework, graded homework, introduced a concept and started homework.  I was the boss, it was their job.  And what they could recall for final was typically not good.  But that was teaching, then - now.... 

Now I never take homework problems in class, no grading, no chasing - homework has minimal value.  And if I gave 2014 finals to my students of yesteryear only a few would pass.

I get over 7000 minutes per year to teach math to a student (42 minutes/class * 170 classes).  How much time is needed to teach Algebra or Geometry?  Some practice must occur outside of class but how much?  Is 10% enough - that would be only 5 minutes per class period of homework, maybe 30% - that is only 15 minutes.  So when I hear of an hour of homework I think about how brilliant of students they must be.

But it is the summer that shows what the student has really learned, what they really know.  The first assessment on "old skills" in September with little to no review shows what they truly know and understand.

And what do they know after a summer off?

My old students doing lots of homework needed lots of review -- basically an entire quarter.  The students where I started bell-to-bell teaching, extremely limited homework and time outside of class is doing projects (essays, powerpoints, etc) - get just a couple of weeks.   And they perform well.

So I am sitting at the end of year and the start of summer of curriculum planning where I must reflect on the question "How much does homework help students?"

Homework amount? The real question is its value.

I have read many articles lately on the amount of homework students are getting today, is it more or less, etc.  Are students over-worked, under-worked?  I don't know the answer to the questions of amount - whether it is more or less, or if it is too much, but the question of the value of homework keeps popping up in my head.

A lot of what I am reading is connecting rigor and homework amount together, more homework is more rigor.  And the question I have is this: does homework make better learners, better students who are more prepared for college and career?  This is the question that I try and remember to ask with each assignment I give.

Is the homework creating a student more prepared for the future, not for the next big power test, but does it support my vision of a person who can problem solve, learn and understand/deal with situations.

I feel like when I started teaching my first instinct was to assign homework because that is what you did, how else can students learn.  But the longer I teach the less homework I assign and it is simply because now I ask myself - how does work make the student stronger, better.

Assigning the homework to be "forward-moving" for the student, making him/her more ready for the next step beyond high school is my only goal.  For me that means a blend of practice, problem solving and justifying - perhaps not every assign gets all three of those things, but when I think about what I assign over the course of month or quarter I think I am getting a decent blend of the three.

In the end - I do my best not to assign busy work, I try real hard to assign work of value.  And my plan is not to stop asking "Is this of value?" when making homework assignments.

Progression of Homework

So I am still thinking about homework, how to do it (or should I), how much value does it have, what is the best thing for my students?

Where I started teaching just 8 years ago I ran a traditional class - or at least the class I was use to in High School (even though I was more than 15 years removed from it).  I did like many first time teachers - I taught  like I was taught (quite a bit). 

Class started with checking homework, I usually collected it too.  But we spend time grading it, answering questions and then answering more questions.  Then correcting what students did incorrectly the evening before, or copied in the hall.  And the whole time - 6 students really focused while 20 were zombies - eyes open and nothing going on.  Then I would be pressed to teach the lesson.

I quickly moved to just collecting and handling questions by doing a different problem with similar content so everyone could work it.  That quickly help, at least everyone was involved.  But I still had a ton of questions from homework and misconceptions to "clean up" from students trying to do their work and doing it incorrectly.  And why wouldn't I have to fix misconceptions?  I was assigning something  new, something that we had just been introduced too.

Then I started not assigning new concepts immediately, we would do new in class together for a number of days, and then my question time quickly decreased I would lead the problem as I walked the isles. 

And now over the span of years I have migrated where I supply solutions and just have students turn in their work occasionally.  That way a student who is struggling can have an extra day, find time for help in the class or study hall.  It opens up a ton of my time to help students during the hour. 

And there you see the progression, I no longer consider homework really important.  Otherwise I would be "on my students" to be done every day.  But homework is for the student, it is what he/she needs, thus I give some flexibility.  

The students know they are responsible  for the material in the text (I sure say it often enough) and their grade is based on their knowledge of that material.  I often joke that students "can learn through homework or through test and quizzes, I really don't care which way."  Note, in my class, grades are based upon summative recursive assessments on mastered material.  And since the quizzes are recursive, always focusing on mastered material students are continually "practicing" twice per week. 

Now is good time to mention that my goal is not their grades but the knowledge they leave my school with, are they college and career ready.  (They can be a pain with some students or parents sometimes - but when is last time a person was asked about their Algebra 2 grade when applying for a job?) 

I don't care how they learn it, students that play school do the work and earn a better grade typically.  But the student who really won't play school still typically gets the skills!  And a D in my class means they are ready for the next course.   (I find the D thing to be an epidemic - if a student gets a D and cannot do the work - how are they ready for college/career -- no wonder we have 30-40% of college students doing remedial math!)


And over the span of time the end results have gotten constantly better.  I have had better results on the ACT test, better results on the class assessments, better results from students who report back to me about how they are doing in their jobs or in their college math courses.  And that is because I feel I have increased the time a student does math!  I went from most students being zombies, who spent 20-30 minutes per day on math with homework, to an entire class doing math for 45 minutes, 5 days per week minimum.  Now the 6 students with questions just wander in before school or during homeroom for help.  My room is now a whirling dervish of math activity!   The homework is beyond that, and so if a student copies it (and that never happens) he or she is still doing 45 minutes of work per day.

Now I am pushing for less paper & pencil and more instant feedback practice - websites (Khan, IXL, textbook), spreadsheets, etc.  The hard part is changing me, I still find myself more comfortable collecting homework, than checking website reports -- and weird as that sounds it takes a lot more time to change me than to stay the same.   

I know practice is important and I will keep working for a balance between paper/pencil (a skill that must be maintained) and some sort of on-line portion (which I think gives students better feedback and increases the return on their practice time).

Most importantly - we will keep on trying to be better each day.

Planning is tough

So as I sit finishing my lesson plans for the week, I am left with the thought of how tough it can be to plan a week in advance.  And how I often I deviate from the plan, and if I deviate, and I do, why plan?

I plan cause it makes me reflect on the goals for the next short duration, it makes me consider what I really want the student to understand and be able to apply to real problems in the immediate time frame - always being able to create, revise, and create.  I also hope to instill a belief they can do anything and a tenacity to not stop pushing forward - whether it is revisions or learning new skills or doing what it takes. 

And I consider that every Sunday night as I plan my week.  Nearly all the things I plan happen - but often I find what I would like to get to by Friday is actually the following Monday (that is probably the optimist in me).

It is tough to plan - and plans change, but the reflection is really the important part - because then I deliver on my commitment to reflect on how to make learners.

Watched first flipped videos today!

So today, on our first full day of school, I had the Algebra class and Physics class watch my flipped videos and take notes on them in class (links are in titles).  And it went well, the students said they see the advantages and are excited to try it.  They understood the need to take notes and worked through it with me -- best of all it took less time and the students had better engagement.

So the first step is done!  I had set my lessons to watch all videos together this week, doing a few homework problems at home and reevaluate next week.  But I am already thinking of flipping Friday so they can start at home.   I will see how tomorrow goes then decide.

I am not sure what I expected, I did not think they would fight it but also did not think they would buy-in so easy. I am really glad FIZZ has there independent program with steps to getting you to flip (was the motivation I needed to make videos).

So now to get everyone more comfortable and move videos to homework - then the truly new part - getting better in the hour - making students higher order thinkers!

Flipping Algebra 1 and Physics! Where is the time and why only those courses?

So I am reflecting on why I talk so much during my typical math course!  Probably cause I know so much math! Ha!  Really it is based on a combination of teaching how I was taught and believing I have something really important to say!  Too often I tried to talk a student to understanding. Over the years I have lectured less and less.  Now my flipped videos are about 5-7 minutes, I had lectured about 15-20 minutes last year. But the real question, what was I doing the other 12 minutes?

I really cannot answer that question yet.  Flipping makes me think about the concept harder and simplify.  And hopefully flipping will make the learning process deeper.

Because if flipping works like I hope it does, students in my classroom will have better notes taken outside of class in less of their time and the class hour will be filled with problem solving and critical thinking things.   I have to take it slow, I am only moving my Algebra 1 course and Physics course - and those were picked for specific reasons.

My Algebra group is always new students to me.  As the only HS math teacher all other classes (Geometry, Alg 2 and so on) have had me before and are use to my style.  I did not want to have the battle about "who moved my cheese."  (Good book about change)   Starting with a class that has never been taught by me will make it easier, they won't expect the standard lecture routine I did.  (Though I was not really typical, we never graded homework or review questions from homework -- homework was recursive practice, all 'new' things happened in the hour.  Still running the rest of my classes that way.)

My Physics class is upper level - Juniors and Seniors, based on large projects, labs and daily "mini-projects."  Since it is a high level class I am trying to flip them too, because they are good team to discuss how the videos work and get feedback. Typically the group is self-motivated and driven, and this is science which is different than math, so again the students do not have a preconceived notation on what the class "should look like."  

The biggest challenge will be setting up new hour once the videos replace homework.  But the key will be too talk less and have the students do more.  It is time to become a math coach.

Sports and Math -- Why do they have to be different?

Is coaching and teaching different?  So this year I am coaching HS volleyball, and this is not a post on that.  But it is a post about why do we feel there is a difference between coaching a sport and teaching math -- because I think most people think they are different.

A key to coaching is not to talk too much, and it really is tough.  You show them a skill quickly and then give them a chance to replicate and we develop, we make them better - we coach.  Math teaching should be exactly the same - we need to lecture less.

All too often we seem to think we can talk our way to their understanding.  I have been working hard at making flipped videos for my Algebra class and while I rarely lectured more than 20 minutes - these videos are falling between 4 to 8 minutes.  So what was I doing the other 14 minutes?  (A post for later)

I just need to work on guiding more, talking less.  And remind myself, repeatedly, that students learn from doing, not listening (and I would argue a minority really listen and understand when I do lecture).  But the key will be too talk less and have the students do more.  It is time to become a math coach, get the players active and develop.

Time outside class - Figuring how to Flip

So as I reflect on how we are going to do homework in the coming school year, It's 2013 shouldn't HS HW look different, I am really trying to figure out how to use a flipped classroom to help deliver content.  I know there is value in doing practice and problem solving during class when I can help guide the students.  I also know a lot of the low level practice can be done outside of the class.  But how much is enough?  What I mean is how much time besides the 220 in-class minutes do I need per week? 

In the past I have asked for 15-20 minutes of outside work 5 days per week, for projects, homework, etc.  - though students tend to procrastinate the projects into 2-3 hour sprints.  And it should be noted that I had already taken daily practice to 4-8 problems that are complete review for practice (I don't assign new content for homework).  So my thought going forward is to keep the 100 minutes per week of outside time (with study halls that is not too much), somewhat tough to pick a number because everyone works at different speeds, but it is a target.

That would allow me to assign about 20-30 minutes of "online" practice per week, 15 minutes of pencil/paper homework per week, 25-40 minutes of project work per week leaving 15-40 minutes for flipped instruction.  That would be about 2-3 videos per week (seems like a lot).  My goal would be 1 video per week, perhaps 2.

The problem is how do you know whether a student watched the video, it would be awfully hard to do practice in class without an idea of the content (students will try to though - asking to be taught the video info in class).  How do you know they watched?  Reflections (google docs)? Notes?  A worked sample problem?  And what do you do with the students who don't watch the videos, is it the same problem as homework?   Remember most students are minimalists, at 16 who cares if you understand, they are just trying to get it done (at least that was how I was).

Currently I make students stay after school to do the work on the same day (see HW FAQ), I treat assigned work like deadline work in the world, and I suppose I could do the same with flipped videos but I still need something to check (a problem, note sheet, reflection, a quiz).  My temptation is to do notes for upper level courses and perhaps a google doc reflection in the trilogy courses (Alg 1, Geom, Alg 2).  I plan to start making some Physics videos soon -- that would be a high level course in my school.  So I would expect to see notes (because the course is open note for all quizzes, tests and exams).  In the trilogy courses I think I will start with the google doc reflection (thanks to Brian Steffen). 

Either way the commitment is made -- math is gonna be different.

Homework, less is more.....

So we have finished the first week of school (ok - Tue thru Fri - but close enough) and the new policy of assigning very little homework and not collecting homework or grading it seems to be working.  I have simply been checking at their desks while they work on warm up problems from the board.  This has allowed me to spend more time tutoring and planning versus shuffling papers (and grading).   Also since I give answers for all problems it allows me to spend less time reviewing homework and more time doing concept teaching and in-class practicing.

I also have adjusted my homework assignments to no more than 8 problems (usually 6) --- even if the problems are "easy."  Coupled with that change I have discussed at length, repeated times that the expectation is for the students to gauge their need for additional practice and make sure to understand the work versus simply completing (or copying).  And so far it is working great, students are practicing extras as needed in their notebooks.  I have engagement on the topics and the rumor "in the hall" is there is less copying...

The funny thing is talking with students one-on-one they tell me they are spending the same time usually on the 6 problems as they did on 20....    I am guessing because they did not focus on any before -- 20 with a lot of work and you had to "get it done."  But 6 allows them to work thru it, the students are not worried about the length and (so far) are buying into the idea of understanding.

I believe this is going to work, homework only counts for about 2% of their grade (on a 70% and up scale) - and projects, tests and quizzes make up the rest.  We start quizzes this coming week to make sure understanding is there and I am anxious to see how the quizzes show (or don't show) mastery/understanding.  At the same time I am interested how the students will react to missing concepts and how they use their time.

This is a cultural change that I am shooting for, I know there will be bums but so far -- without a doubt --- with regards to homework, less is more.