Applying an Algebraic Rule

As part of CMP3, there was a unit project that suggested enlarging a picture using an algebraic rule applied to the coordinates. The standard it was addressing was recreating a drawing of a different scale. I thought that I would give it a try.  So the process began.  I decided to pick different pictures for the students to do, approximately 15 different ones.  1st period, I had them download the picture, put the grid on the picture and print it.  What a disaster.  2nd period, I had them start their grid while I printed pictures with grids on them already.  Much better!

Each student had to choose either to enlarge or shrink their picture.  Majority picked enlarging which was fine with me!  Next thing they had to do was start to create their grid.  We used big paper and marked off at each centimeter and connected the dots.  This also took way longer than expected.  Not for future self, buy large graph paper!  Once the grid was drawn, it was time to start identifying coordinates on their original image, apply the geometric rule and graph their new point.

For some this went well, others, needed some help.  I would say that by the end of it, 99% of students were able to this independently.  As you can see below, each student had their original picture and their coordinates on hand while creating their masterpiece.  It was a combination of both of these that allowed a student to be successful. 

Here is a picture of a completed shrinking.  I love it!

Overall I would say the was just ok.  To improve, I would have had graph paper already in the desired large size and had the pictures ready to go from the beginning.   With these changes, I think that it will go a lot smoother!

I finally put these up in the hallway.  I will snap a picture soon and post it here!

SBG Explanation for Students

As with any educator, Pinterest is the holy land of all ideas.  I was on a short brain break during a late night planning session and I came across the blog, Everybody is a Genius by Sarah.  This blog has been great a great resource for ideas and what other secondary math teachers are doing, lots of pictures too!

When I saw the poster, "What does my grade mean?", I fell IN LOVE!  I have a student friendly rubric  that I use but this is very relatable for middle school students and pretty too!

My 'pInspiration'

So I give all credit to Sarah and her wonderful blog!  I took out the difference between 4/3.5/3 because I don't do half points and also changed the numbers to reflect 10-5 with my district has adopted. 

And just because I am putting off grading papers, I also made an inspiration poster-esk one as well. I will probably end up editing the color to make them softer but not bad so far. 

So once again, I am in love with this wording, explanation and easy to understand visualness.  Thank you SO much Sarah!

SBG PD Follow Up!

So I was extremely happy with how the PD went!  Attendees were very eager and open to getting started on their journey!  Below is some of the feedback I sent to my principal that came up during the 3 hour session. 

1. When implementing, learning targets should be consistent across grade levels.  At my middle school, I teach 5 sections of math, my curriculum buddy teaches 5 sections of math and the special education teacher teaches 1 or 2 sections of self contained math.  These are all the same grade level and if it wasn't for the massive amount of collaboration time we put it,  we would never be on the same page.  It was brought up that the ELA classes do not work together as much BUT if the learning targets were come up with ahead of time than each teacher could teach how they like but all students would be measured on the same scale.  

2. Educating staff about SBG best practices and presented workable/relatable research based evidence.  I hate to say it but in order for SBG to be successful, it needs to be done right with constant reflection and altering.  Providing a good foundation and creating an atmosphere where conversation is fostered is key in school wide implementation.  (Disclaimer:  I am not an expert, I just call it as I see it!)

3. Provide ample time for collaboration with grade level partners.  My curriculum buddy and I worked together daily this year but unfortunately not everyone can or will do that.  Designating more than 45 minutes per week will foster a healthy relationship and benefit the students the most!

So as a classroom teacher, how are you supposed to ensure that SBG will be successful?  Well part of the recipe for success if your attitude, dedication and advocacy for your needs. The other part of the recipe is to get your administration on board.  I have been very fortunate to have a principal that encourages teachers to try new things and gives the freedom to do so.  Although I do have this freedom, I also do lots of research and send my principal many emails and have meetings to advocate for SBG and keep him informed of things.  

The saying, "If it were easy, everyone would do it" comes to mind because it hasn't been easy all the time but in the end, students have benefited from the hard work and responded to a different grading system.  What issues have you run into during your journey with SBG?  What successes have you had and would like to share?  The more we as educators talk about SBG the better things will be for teachers, administrators and students!!!!

A math joke for your enjoyment!

Standards Based Grading PD

So tomorrow I am leading my first PD by myself!  I am very nervous but at the same time excited!  So my plan for tomorrow is to overview a little bit about what exactly is Standards Based Grading, what it means for students/parents, where exactly does/should one start and lots of time to start the process and ask questions.  I want to emphasize the ask questions and work with others because sometimes just having focused time on a topic works!  I am by no means an expert on this topic but I try my best to read proven research and adapt to my classroom/personality.

Below is a link to my presentation.  I will update tomorrow with how things went.

SBG PD Presentation

Let me know what you think of the presentation and any ideas/comments you have about SBG.  I would also love you hear your experiences and success stories to improve my out SBG practices. 

Is this the End or just the Beginning?

 My 8th graders graduated on Tuesday night and I miss them greatly already.  I have spent the past 2 days scheduling the current 6th graders and can't help but think ahead to next year.  I have found my mind wandering, focused on how can I make my lessons better!

I have to remind myself that it is still 3 months away and that I need to take time some for myself but then I think, HOLY COW 3 months to prepare!  Never the less, to settle my battle, I have started to come up with goals.

Goal 1:  Incorporate STEM.  I know it seems like a buzzy term right now but what I want to incorporate are the ideas and the exposure to my students.  The idea that math is related to other subjects often times stumps my students.  How could it be?  Well dudes and dudettes, it is related to other things!  The other part of STEM that I like is that my students would be exposed to math in real life.  I know that math is everywhere and slowly everyday I have attempted to share this with kids but if I can make the solid connections with engaging and high interest activities that focus on the process standards for science, align with the CCSS for math and the SAMR model, it's a win win for all!

Goal 2:  Tweak my SBG practices.   As this was the first year I followed the SBG model changes need to be made.  There are some things that I really liked such as students could show progression and I knew exactly where every student's strengthens and weaknesses were at a glance but there were things I didn't like either.  I need to figure out a better way to show that I care about homework but to emphasis that it is practice and get the kids to be intrinsically motivated to do it as opposed to extrinsically motivated by rewards.  This is a big one!

Goal 3: Let students help in the classroom.   I can admit that I have a hard time letting kids to things in the classroom because I may be slightly a perfectionist.  Slowly over the past two years, I had a group of students that knew this about me that helped me out and did a fantastic job.  Now that those beloved 8th graders will be replaced by unsuspecting 7th graders, this makes me panic! So, I promise to myself to create 'Classroom Jobs' so that students can take ownership of the classroom.  I also promise to not redo a job at the end of the day because students won't benefit from that!

Goal 4: Learn to really do the Rubik's cube.  I can do it about halfway but I would really like to dazzle the new kids by completing it without aides.  In addition to the 'cool' factor associated with this(yep, kids still think it's cool!), it sparks interest in transformations which relates back to incorporating real like mathematics into the classroom!  Double Bonus.

I will update my goals as I continue on into the summer.  Do you have any goals for next year?  I would love to hear about them.  Thanks for reading!

A Teachers Dream!

Since implementing Standards Based Grading in August,  I have been looking forward to the day that my green marker runs dry.  It finally happened!  One of the numerous green markers I use to grade has run out!   Not only do that  mean that students are excelling but it also meant that I got to contribute to the ColorCycle initiative that some students and I started at he middle school this year.  Double win for me today!

I guess I should explain now the significance of the green marker.  Annie (my fabulous curriculum partner) came up wing he idea to grade quizzes in three different colors.  Red, Yellow and. Green, like a stop light.  If a problem has a green check/mark next to it, that means that the student did a great job on the problem and showed understanding of the concept.  If a student started the problem correctly but could not complete the problem, they get an orange mark (yellow did not show up, so orange was substituted)  with some hints written in orange.  Orange signals that understanding is developing.  If a student showed no work, wrote an erroneous answer or left a problem blank, they receive a red mark of some sort.  So when a student receives a quiz back, there is no score on top of the paper, just a color coded guide to their understanding.  The poster below hangs in the classrooms to help students track their progress.

Before I enter grades,  I look at the questions that address each learning target.  I decide what level of understanding is demonstrated based on which questions students have answered correctly.  When I go to enter grades for the learning targets in my grade book,  I use the color codes as my guide and can quickly assign/record grades.

It has been interesting to see the progression of students thoughts as they receive quizzes back.  It started off as students counting the total number of green marks verse orange/red marks and figuring out their "percentage".  Now I can say that students look at the green but concentrate on the orange and what they did wrong and how they can fix their mistakes.

I am quite happy with this system.  At first, it was a little tedious to grade papers with three different colors but now it is much easier.  With anything, change takes a little time getting used to it.