When Do We Say Enough?

I find myself struggling with a dilemma.  Over the past several weeks I have been furiously working with and encouraging struggling students to seek out extra help beyond what I can give them within the classroom.  My Algebra 2 students just finished a unit on Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities and I found that many of them are unable to consistently graph linear equations.  We spent many extra minutes each and every day working on graphing in Slope-Intercept and Standard Form.  Each passing day I was stealing minutes from the daily lessons and interactions with students to remediate graphing.  At what point does a teacher need to put an end to it and move on?  Is it appropriate to allow those struggling students to use a graphing calculator to do their graphing?

The past several days I have had a few breakthroughs with some students who have taken the initiative to come in after school for some extra help.  In a class of 33 students it is tough to be able to understand and assess what each and every student really knows.  Spend a few quality minutes with them one-on-one and they open up.  Not only do voices open up but so do their minds.  The thinking is obvious.  One young man stated as he left my room the other evening, "if I knew it was this easy to think about math I would have done it a long time ago!"  For many students "doing" math is a difficult task, but even if the task it self is difficult all students can spend time "thinking" about math and "talking" about math.

I have been reading numerous other blogs from some seemingly great teachers.  They talk about many of the same struggles that I am experiencing in my 16th year of teaching.  Just as the pressures of state testing and meeting AYP are mounting I am finding myself searching for a better or smarter way to teach.  I am drawn to the idea of teaching math from a true problem solving perspective and am excited to try new things.  I have expressed interest in this with some of my colleagues in the math department but no one seems to be sharing the vision.

I am currently working on a unit for Quadratic Equations and Functions that will include a problem solving activity to kick things off.  The activity is based on some clothespin catapults that other teachers have used and posted on their blogs.

NCTM Minneapolis

Spending two days out of the classroom may be a welcome "vacation" for some teachers but I was really worried about it.  I am glad that NCTM Minneapolis offered some really good workshops.  I managed to sit in on 10 different sessions, 9 of which were worth while.  I really enjoyed the Mathematical Lense session as I have always liked the column in the magazine and, as many of you may know, I also enjoy photography.  The sessions that were centered around problem solving and reasoning were great and the information/discussion sessions about the new publication "reasoning and sense making in high school mathematics" was really enlightening.

I will be out of the classroom one more day on Monday for another workshop (this one local) so I won't see my students until Tuesday.  I am excited to try some new ideas and get my students working on with while problem solving and reasoning.

Will Smith certainly understands what it takes to be successful...

Time...where does it go?

I certainly have been shirking my duties with this blog.  I don't know where all of the time goes.  Preparing for my classes, going to meetings, preparing for meetings, preparing sub plans for when I have to go to a meeting...and on and on and on.

This week has been an active week for my classes.  A lot of good discussions and interactions with students.  I think my students are getting more comfortable (as am I) with being active participants in the teaching and learning that takes place in room D216.  When students ask questions the now know that I will probably call on another student to answer it before I give any input.  I still need to find a way to get more students into the action as a few of them still passively make it through class as a mere spectator.

Algebra 2 - we are reviewing Linear Functions.  We spent this week discussing what functions are (and are not) and recalling how we graph them using slope-intercept and standard forms.  Students tend to rely on the short cut methods to graphing and when they don't remember it they are stuck.  Very few can fall back to making an input-output table to find several points.  Students need to have their HW done for Friday!
Here it is:  Workbook p. 15-17 1 - 23 all , Textbook p. 86 2-26 evens, and Workbook p. 20-21 evens.

Enriched Geometry students are undertaking REASONING SKILLS.  We have discussed both Inductive and Deductive Reasoning and looked at how we use both of them to make decisions.  What to eat for breakfast?  What to wear to school?  Should I do my homework?  Do I need to go to practice?  Should I drive 65 mph so I am not late?  Students have several assignments to be completing.  Students should have done Textbook p. 75 #1-18, 23,25: Workbook p. 25-27 #2-18 even, 20-24; and Textbook p. 90 #11 - 13, 15 - 17, and the Quiz on p. 93

Want some fun?  Try some logic puzzles at this site: Printable Puzzles

I promise I will try to post more often!
Math Rocks!
Mr C