Hope - It's a Beautiful Thing

So, I'm teaching this Pre-Calculus Trigonometry class for a local community college. As I mentioned in my previous post, it is scheduled for one night a week, 4.5 hours. There are 9 class meetings and the exam.

I have a lot of material to cover in 9 class meetings.

After the first test, we have a test scheduled for every other week until the final. That means a whole unit of material in about a class and a half.

It's overwhelming (for students AND me).

Even with the flipped format - which, I'm sure, makes the situation more bearable - it is hard to make sure material is covered AND students understand it in a class and a half. I still feel I am throwing material at my students and hoping some of it sticks.

Our second test covered trigonometric expressions, identities, and equations.

Yikes. Learn all these trig concepts AND use every algebra skill you might have ever been shown.

Students were nervous and unsure as they came to class. Watching them take the test was hard for me. I made the test as straightforward as I could, and I gave them a reference sheet to use, but it covered. so. much. stuff.

I graded the test as a few students took a retest of Test 1. They were not pretty. A few knew parts of the material well, no one really showed mastery of all of it, and a few were completely lost.

After I returned Test 1 a couple of weeks ago, I told my students I was a big believer in hope.

I've been giving retakes in my 8th-grade classroom for several years, and I wanted to do something similar in the college class. I told students if they'd correct their original test, they could retake it the following week after they finished the scheduled test.

I plan to do the same thing for Test 2.

I was able to talk to a few of the students about the retake for Test 2 before they left.

As I gave one student his test, telling him to begin working through it this week and making corrections, another student asked, "We're going to get to retake that test?" When I said, "Yes," the look on his face was one of complete relief. Of hope.

I reminded them I was a big believer in hope.

The first student said, "I'm so glad you have hope in us." I think he meant "faith," but the thought is the same. These students can keep trying because they have hope.

I talked to another student who was extremely frustrated after the test. But he looked at me and said, "I'm not going to quit. I will not drop this class."

And I was able to tell him he didn't have to. He can work on the material he found difficult, work with me in class, and learn the material.

I'm still trying to figure out how to "do" this summer class format. Flipping instruction was the way to go, allowing retakes is the way to go, but there are a lot of things I'm still not sure I've approached correctly. Or how to approach things so I am better assured of students' grasp of the material. I'm hoping to get some feedback from the students by the end of the summer to see what worked and what I could have done better.

But I'm pretty sure of this: these students know I care, they know I want them to learn, and they know I'm going to give them time and opportunity to do so.

At this point, no one has dropped the class, and everyone is still working and trying.

All because of a little thing called hope.

Taking My Flipped Game to a New Level

Last spring I was asked to teach two classes for our local community college. I agreed (spring is a blur, so I'm not sure I can be held accountable for my actions, LOL). Only one of the classes made: Pre-Calculus Trigonometry.

The class meets one night a week for four and half hours.

That's right. Four and a half. Hours.

This flipped teacher can't stand to listen to herself for more than 10 or 15 minutes anymore.

And I'm supposed to teach for 270 minutes?

And my students. My poor students. They're supposed to listen to me (and absorb) for 4.5 hours?

I knew from the get-go I would be flipping my class.

Everything about this - the class structure, the students, the material - is completely different from my 8th Grade Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 classroom.

But I took what I know and ran with it.

I decided what I needed to cover each week - with only 9 class sessions, it's a TON - and split it into topics for videos.

I decide what to give as practice for material.

I give students a list for each class session with the videos and suggested practice. I give this list a week ahead of time so students can be watching videos throughout the week.

I told them the idea of the flipped classroom: they can watch videos to get the instruction whenever they want, and then they can practice with me so that I can help them.

It's been interesting. Time in class is mostly quiet. Not at all like a group of 20 or so 8th graders. Granted, the class is made up of 7 college males, but it's still pretty quiet. Students don't stay for the full scheduled time. Some leave after an hour; a few stay 3 hours.

The first night after a week of videos was particularly quiet.

The second time of flipped lessons was more of what I was hoping for and expecting. A couple of students worked together, everyone was working on something different, several asked me questions and I got to work one-on-one with students.

That night, students told me they liked the flipped class. They thought my videos were helpful, they liked being able to watch and rewatch and go at their own pace, they liked the class structure. They particularly like that they don't have to listen to me for 4.5 hours.

I think the students are still trying to figure out how to get the most out of the flipped environment. I think they like that they can stay with me for as long - or as little - as they feel necessary, but I'm not sure they're all staying long enough to get the help they need. That might change after they get their first test back. :)

I have learned something about videos that I think I'll implement in my middle school classroom this fall: smaller chunking of videos. One of the first videos I made for Trig was 18 minutes long. Now...these are college students and not 14-year olds, but still. I decided videos needed to be about topics, not entire lessons. That 18-minute video should have been 3 videos. Since that first week, the videos range from 7 to 10 minutes long.

It's time to rework my Algebra 1 videos this year, and I think I'm going to make videos by topic, not lesson. That will potentially mean more than one video per lesson - something I've fought against - but I think it will work nicely into self-pacing. It will also allow students to work with one thing at a time and give me more opportunities for formative assessment.

So...I've graded the first test, and students did about what I expected (there's that benefit of knowing who is where with grasping the material).

The student who obviously doesn't need me and loves the flipped format demonstrated understanding.

The student who stays and works and asks questions also demonstrated understanding.

A couple of students struggled.

Next task? Figure out how to structure a retake opportunity at this level.

Thoughts on End-of-Year Reflections

OK...so school's been out over a week, and I gave my end-of-year reflection Google Form over two weeks ago, but I did want to jot a few thoughts to help me remember what I wanted to continue to work on next year.

WIN: "Mrs. Gibbs provides opportunities to work together" got 100% "agree" or "strongly agree"! Partner work/group work/working together/working with friends was probably the most-mentioned in "Things I enjoy about this class."

Flipped lessons/videos were a close runner-up, and one student said s/he would probably use my YouTube channel in the future.

Students wished we did more activities involving food (the Pythagorean Theorem activity with Cheez-Its was a favorite with my Pre-Algebra kids).

"Cheat sheets" and partner tests were a plus, according to my Algebra 1 kids. (As I blogged here, this is an area I continue to explore.)

The Pythagorean Theorem was once again the winner of "What is one thing you learned you will remember or use?" Slope-intercept form was an unexpected runner-up (Yea!).

One student said s/he learned to be patient with finding solutions (another win!).

Several students said they should have retaken more tests and would advise next year's students to do the same.

While many answers to questions were similar and not unexpected, I looked through for little nuggets of information that might be helpful.

One student marked "Disagree" or "Strongly Disagree" to almost every question. I collected email addresses on the Google Form (due to some inappropriate answers to an earlier questionnaire), and I never knew that this student had an issue with me. I'm not sure if the answers were serious or not, but if the student was being serious, I wish I had known something wasn't working. This student was also NOT a fan of flipped lessons. No details or reasons were given, but it was mentioned more than once by this student.

"Punchlines" were mentioned numerous times in the reflections. Students either love them or hate them. I believe I did better in not over-using them this year, but, for some students, there were still too many.

It is important to me that students be able to self-check as they work. I want students to know as they practice if they doing things correctly or if they need help. Punchlines allow for that.

I had started giving students choices for their practice as the year went on. I would allow students to choose between a Punchline or a "normal" worksheet (with answers attached, of course) or some other form of practice.

I obviously need to work on that more. I'd like to learn how to use Formative or Quizziz or something similar to give more options for self-checking practice.

One student mentioned the need for more spiral review (I agree!).

A couple of students wanted more of the self-pacing (planning on it).

One student mentioned the need to go over tests after they were graded. This is an area I KNOW needs improvement.

In fact, I've been giving thought to - and we've discussed in our department - giving more time to the day after a test (or when it's graded) than the day before the test (review). I believe it is important for students to have time to "tie it all together," but maybe there's a better way than taking the day before the test?

I'm considering giving tests back with no grades, just problems marked that were worked incorrectly, and letting students correct their papers. I think this could lead to more student learning than a review day.

I'm not sure how that would change my retake policy (test corrections are part of the procedure). Would in-class test corrections be worth some points? Then complete the process and retake the test if you want a shot at improving your grade even more? Do in-class corrections take the place of retakes?

Lots to think about.

And all part of the process.