Reflections on a Surprising Unit

First: I am not happy it has taken me more than a couple of weeks to get to this blog post. I like to blog while things are fresh and I remember all of the little things.

I probably shouldn't even be blogging today. There are so many other things I need to be doing.

But this is a post that needs to be written, and it needs to be written before I forget EVERYthing (and I know I've already forgotten a lot of the things I wanted to write about).

It was just systems of equations. Nothing special. I teach it every year. I didn't expect anything too different.

But the unit surprised me.

This was the first unit I attempted some self-pacing. I have always struggled with how to handle the kids who "get it" quickly, finish the work I need them to do, and then have time to spare.

I don't want them to feel punished with extra (or busy) work.

I don't want them wasting time.

I don't want to lose whole class activities and discussions.

But I decided it was time to experiment some.

The way I approached it was having the "next thing" - the next video, the next activity - ready, and if anyone finished the day's work, I gave them the "next thing."

It worked well. No one got too far ahead. In fact, one day I had several ahead, and I knew there was a big thing for their English class they were working on, and I was able to give them time to work on it.

When it was a "whole class" day, we did whole class activities.

We all tested on the same day.

Overall, I was pleased with the process and plan to implement it some more. I would like to do as other self-pacing teachers have suggested and map out an entire unit with what needs to be done and give it to students ahead of time. I still have much to figure out about self-pacing, but I am happy I took the plunge and tried it.

The second surprise of the unit came when we looked at applications of systems of equations. Systems applications are so contrived and have little relevance to students. But they are a standard, and students need to know how to do them.

I began an Internet search for how to approach them differently, and I found these two gems:

Those Horrible Coin Problems (and What We Can Do About Them)

Piling up Systems of Linear Equations

I did the coin problem first. Rather than work an example (or three) of "how to work a coin problem" I showed Dan Meyer's video and gave guiding information and questions to lead students to the system of equations AFTER they had done some "guess and check" to find the solution. We got to talk about the number of solutions, which we later verified with Desmos.

Third Period (my first Algebra 1 class of the day) was magic. The students were making so many connections, and the light bulbs I was seeing all over the room were exciting. I am working on renewing my National Board Certification, and I kicked myself at the end of class for not recording the lesson.

Full disclosure, though: Fifth and Seventh Period were not as successful. It was a Friday afternoon, and they are tougher crowds to begin with. We completed the lesson, and some of them saw what I needed them to see, but I felt those two classes were more organized chaos than genuine learning.

I followed the Friday coin problem with the glue problems on Monday. Students were successful taking the information from the video and creating equations.

But after the two "Three Act" days, I found students struggled with written problems similar to the coin and glue problems. I did not do a good enough job of connecting what we had done as a class to how these problems would be presented in classwork and on assessments. I have an instructional video about how to solve systems of equations application problems, and I told students to "watch it if you need to." While I try hard to give students options and not make students who don't need to do things do them, this doesn't always work with the eighth-grade brain. Many students who do, in fact, need the extra instruction opt out and then struggle later.

We had a day with an altered/shortened schedule, and I chose that day to introduce Desmos linear "marbleslides." While not exactly connected to systems of equations, it was a way to review and reinforce why linear equations behave in a certain way. Many students found it enjoyable, and several worked on at home, even though it wasn't required.

I gave a reflection at the end of the unit. Student responses let me know how to change up the unit next year. Students told me they struggled most with solving systems by substitution and the application problems. I already knew the application problems were an issue, and I know why substitution probably presented some difficulties and how to do it differently next time.

The unit was a roller coaster (which is really not any different than this entire school year). There were days I was so excited at what I was seeing my students do and days I felt I had failed them completely. There were days I thought, "I have got to blog about this!" and days I thought "Maybe this unit isn't worth blogging about" (probably one reason I kept putting off the blog post).

But I did hear great things from my kids. When students use words like "magic," "math-gic," "cool," and "fun" over the course of a couple of weeks, the unit can't be all bad.

I'm Liking What I See

Wow...where to begin? How do I organize my thoughts and observations?

There are lots of good things happening in Room 12 at Arab Junior High School!

I'll start with the easy stuff. All the technicalities of watching videos at home are working. No one is having problems accessing the lessons.

I think there were three instances of students coming to class without their completed notes.  Each instance was addressed, and I don't see it becoming a big issue.  Several students watched all the videos for the week last weekend.

Things with the autistic student went beautifully this week.  As he would finish with the day's assignment or activity, I would give him the notes for the night's assigned video.  He is in my lunch period, which has 10-12 extra minutes, so he was able to watch (without listening, still) every video in class.  Once he begins something he feels compelled to finish it, and he dislikes having to take things home to finish, so this has worked out well for him.  The resource teacher and I have told him that new material (such as he will encounter this coming week) will really need to be listened to, and we have encouraged him to get some headphones to bring to class.

I'm loving the dynamic of the flipped classroom.  Students come in to some sort of warm-up/starter/before activity.  One day they prepared a foldable.  One day we played Kahoot!.  They get their notes out, and at some point I go around the room and check them.  This is when I've been answering questions they've recorded.  After the starter we do something to practice the lesson topic.  This week included a couple of days of practice problems and three days of different group activities:  an "Order of Operations Challenge," a writing expressions "Walk-About," and word problems.  I wrap up class with different kinds of exit slips/formative assessments.

I'm having time to do things I never had time to do in my traditional, go-over-homework-take-notes-start-your-homework classes.  One day our starter was creating quadrant cards/Frayer models for vocabulary introduced in the video.  I've never been able to give vocabulary the kind of emphasis I think it needs.

I mentioned last week on Twitter (and maybe my blog post) one of my favorite sounds is hearing students having mathematical discussions with each other and me.  In my traditional classroom I got to hear it every once in a while.  With all of the interaction between students in the flipped classroom, I'm hearing it almost daily!  It's music to my ears!

It's very freeing to be able to come to class and start DOING.  I love the kids knowing what's going on when they come in the door.  The pump is already primed, and the learning and demonstration of knowledge begin to flow.

Friday was a problem-solving day.  Last spring I asked my Algebra 1 students to reflect on the End of Course Test.  Several students said they wished they had had more practice with multi-step, complicated word problems.  So I resolved to do a better job this year preparing students for those types of problems.  The video students watched Thursday night was the longest one they had seen (15 minutes).  In it, I discussed and demonstrated the use of formulas and worked through a multi-step problem.  In class, students were put in groups and given a set of problems to work through together.  There were a few moans and groans ("a, b, AND c parts?!?!?"), but I told them they would thank me in April.  Most accepted that.  They worked together so well and everyone finished with the assignment and turned it in before the end of class.

When I thought about how that lesson would look if it had not been flipped, I knew the examples - while only 15 minutes on a video - would have taken most of a class period to get through.  Students *might* have had a few minutes to get started on a problem or two but definitely wouldn't have had time to get in a group and get any meaningful amount completed.  The assignment would have been taken home for students to work on by themselves.  Some of them would have finished, but many would have gotten frustrated and given up.  I probably would have seen many of them in my room the next morning with cries of "I don't get it!"

So, instead of students struggling alone at home, they were able to experience success in class.  And they will be more willing to try the next set of problems I give them.  Win!

Concerns at this point?

I detect a small number of students not listening to the videos.  While one of the benefits of video lessons is students being able to watch the videos at their pace and in their own way, I'm concerned students will miss things and not understand new material if they don't listen to what I'm saying as I work examples on the notes.  I guess I'll wait and see what happens as we get into unfamiliar topics.  I worry students won't really "get" the importance of listening to the instruction until after they are behind and confused.

I'm a little concerned about beginning the aforementioned new material (students will be introduced to functions this week for the first time).  I have fears of hearing a chorus of "I didn't understand any of that!" as students enter class.  So far, though, none of my fears have materialized; maybe this one will prove to be unfounded, too.

I'm beginning to worry a bit about my time.  I will need to start making new videos within the next two weeks, and maybe even this week if I decide to add a video I'm thinking about for the intro to functions unit.  I'm spending all my planning and after-school time in day-to-day preparation; I have no idea when I'm going to record videos.  I'm thinking about designating Sunday afternoons as video time and going to the school each week to record lessons as needed.

This week I'm going to ask students for their first feedback since actually watching videos and experiencing a flipped class.  I'm really interested to see what they think.  And I want to know their suggestions and ideas.  I have a few of my own, but I know they will think of things that I haven't.