I'm dusting off the old blog to help me reflect on my first unit of grade 9 academic math. I last taught this course in 2013 and was not happy with how the first unit went so I am making some changes this time around. My plan is to blog daily so that I have a record of what I did, how things went, and what I would do differently next time.
Unit 1 is all about polynomials. Like terms, distributive property, exponent rules. All mixed in with integers and fractions, which are pretty shaky concepts for many of our students. My plan is to work on integers and fractions as daily warm-ups and through the lessons to slowly bring everyone up to the level they need to be in order to be successful. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Today we started with a puzzle that I found in our textbook (McGraw-Hill Ryerson). I had students pick cards to form random groups of 3 and they worked at the whiteboards around the room.
I included a hidden extra clue but none of the groups needed it (yay!). They did really well, in terms of the mathematics but also working in teams. I had an extension ready to go for the groups that finished quickly - I asked them to work on creating their own magic square (still 4 x 4) but using some negative numbers. That was very challenging, so I think I might ask them to create a 3 x 3 one next time around.
With about 20 minutes remaining (our classes are 75 minutes long), we started our first visual pattern together. If you are not familiar with visual patterns you should head over to Fawn Nguyen's site by clicking here.
We came up with three different ways of seeing the pattern growing. For each one we came up with the rule based on the step number.
i was pleased with their willingness to work with the pattern and not jump to a table. We will do more tomorrow.
I also asked them to create DeltaMath.com accounts. They will be able to get extra practice there.
I have not blogged for a while and this post is about six eleven weeks overdue. On the first day of school I do the marshmallow challenge with my grade 12 classes. I do not know who deserves credit for this activity (if someone knows, please pass that along) but it's a great team-building exercise that requires collaboration to be completed in the time allowed.
I hand out cards to organize students into random groups. They start by introducing themselves to their teammates. I then have the groups brainstorm ideas before the clock starts. And then the fun begins. I love watching them try strategies and listening to their conversations. Inevitably they frantically try to finish before the time runs out only to see their structure tilt over when they place the (surprisingly heavy) marshmallow on top. I measure the towers to determine a winning group, but it's really not about winning.
What I did differently this year, which is really what I wanted to share, was to ask debrief questions after the activity that mirror the great things I see during the activity. I wanted them to think about how collaborating can help a group reach a goal. How it is important to listen and to talk and that it is important that everyone in the group is engaged. You can find the questions I asked here - I looked at ones that others have asked to get ideas so thanks to all those who have shared in the past. I want to focus on a small, but important part. I start by having them fill in this table:
Firstly, they needed to know the names of their teammates. Secondly, they needed to say something complimentary about each of their teammates who are often people that they have never really interacted with before. And they did. They did such a good job. They all found things that their teammates did well. This was important to me because I believe all my students bring positive things to my class. And that along with learning math, we will learn how to be good, kind citizens.
