2014-15 Reflection #1: Flipping Out...

So...I'm a 2.5 weeks into the school year and my flipped classes are taking their first tests today while I reflect.  This year is my first foray into the world of flipping and I'm totally in love.  For those who aren't familiar with the flipped classroom, it's a method of teaching where the students watch a video lecture and take notes at home and the majority of their practice and application is done at school with the support of the teacher and their peers.  After doing tons of research over the summer, I asked Crystal Kirch if I could use her format and she graciously agreed.  You can find all of her info here.  I've loved the structure and foundation that it's provided me to get started since I'd never done anything like this before.  I'll be tweaking it to fit my personal style as I go and realize what works for me and what doesn't.

Things I'm crazy about:

- Quizlet.  The students LOVE racing each other and practice over and over and over.  It's been fun to watch them ENJOY their math practice.

- Having the MAP problems numbered continuously makes it easy to "grade" their homework for completion.  Ch 1a had 200 points - 1 for each problem (190) and then 2 pts per concept for notes.  They had to really leave a lot blank to lower their grade.  A couple of them did get a B or a C on this for their weekly homework grade, but I still felt that it was appropriate for them.  Most got As, even if their packet wasn't perfect.  I like that it's a grade for how much they practiced, which is exactly what a homework grade should be.

- Every. Single. Student. Passed the first test!  I'm so stoked about this.  I want them to be confident and really feel in their soul that they CAN do this stuff so starting out with such a great overall performance is exciting.  The class average grade for the first test was 79.9% which I think is really great.  WAY better than my tests from last year which were a bit all over the place.

- A couple of students had a hard time getting started with the homework.  Checking it each day (on a checklist, not for a grade) helped me to know who needed a phone call to home, but I didn't hold them accountable until test day.  I had a few students who really worked hard to get caught up after faltering initially.  I was very proud of them and I think they were quite proud of themselves which is even better.

- My tests last year took FOREVER.  This year, they were done with the test in 30-ish minutes!  This means I can either give them a test on a regular (non-block) day, or I can give them longer tests with more questions which means their grade will be even more accurate.  I love that I have options.

Things I'm not crazy about:

- I'm not really sure where to put their summary and HOT question grades in.  I'm thinking I can check these 2 things each day and then give them as a participation grade since that's largely what our work the next day in class is built around.  What are your thoughts?

-  Alg 1b seems to be struggling a bit more with the material than 1a.  I wonder if it's tough for them to change from what we did last year for Chapters 1-6.  They are much more consistent with the homework and are prepared and ready for class, but their discussions aren't as deep as 1a for some reason.  Maybe they're afraid of taking risks?  This is such a different way of thinking about math for them.  They are a great group and really want to do what I ask and make me proud so having open-ended conversations about concepts is throwing them for a loop a bit.  Hopefully this will improve over time.

- I wish that the starting out had been smoother.  We did a lot of WSQ-ing in class and then we gradually transitioned to where they were supposed to do it at home, but the number of students who'd done it was inconsistent so there were a few days where it was clunky in class trying to get everyone working in a way that was appropriate for what they'd done the night before.  I DID love that everyone was ALWAYS working - never any down time.  Some were WSQ-ing in class, some where discussing HOT questions, some were practicing with Quizlet.  I think this was just a result of me not knowing what to expect.  Next year, I'll have a poster or something where the students can see what they should be working on based on where they are in the process. 

Ideas for next year:

This will be a running list of things I want to remember as I go along...

- "What should I be doing?" poster for the first few weeks.  As students learn what to do with this method, there will be hurdles and excuses in the beginning.  No matter what happened the night before, I want them to feel confident coming in to class that they can begin working right away even if I can't hold their hand to get them started.


So there you have it.  There are more things rattling around in my brain...more reflections to come.  Please, whether you are an experienced flipper or not, let me know what your thoughts are.  Questions, comments, ideas are so totally welcomed.  

Learning From Failure

*Warning:  This is a long post.  I get that.  But keep in mind, this is my way of reflecting for my own professional growth too and sometimes, there's just a lot of stuff to think through and remember.*

Tuesday was a total flop.  I gave a test in 3 of my classes and they all did SO badly.  There are a lot of teachers who would just chalk it up to "oh well, guess they didn't study hard enough" or "that'll teach them to sleep through my class".  I, on the other hand, believe that the average grade on a test is MY grade.  If the average grade for 19 kids who took a test on a chapter is 58%, then that's MY teaching grade.  Kinda depressing when I look at it that way, but I think it's the only way that I can keep myself on my toes and always wanting my kids to do better.

So, as I was grading the stack of tests in an empty room, I had "conversations" with the kids.  You know how it goes...

"WHAT?!  Why would you do that?  We talked about this a million times in class!"
"UGH!  I told you to be careful of this..."
"Forgot to reduce here - how long have you been taking math classes?!"

Those were my outer conversations.  They dealt mostly with the students' failures.  My inner conversations focused on my own failures and went more like this:

"Okay so obviously the foldable we did for these wasn't very memorable...need to rethink it."
"UGH!  How can I get more practice in for that..."
"What crazy thing can I do to help you remember this step that you forget EVERY time???"

By the end of it, I knew the lesson I had planned for the next day was simply not going to work.  I couldn't just pass back a bunch of failed tests, shrug my shoulders, and wish them better luck next time.  I knew I couldn't do that, but honestly...I wasn't sure what else to do.  I knew I'd taught the material once already.  I didn't have time to reteach it, but it obviously didn't stick.  Going over the test as a whole group would probably but the students AND ME to sleep and they wouldn't hear most of it anyway...

I just kept wondering "how can I quickly review this material in a way that they can learn from their mistakes and not be falling asleep in class while we do it?"

So like any decent scholar, I googled it.  Straight up.  "What to do when almost the entire class fails a test."  Check my browser history.

After reading some really great advice (and some really dumb advice), I had a plan.

I strategically paired the students based on their scores.  I printed up blank tests.  For the next class period, they could use our small whiteboards, their partners, their books, and their notebooks to learn from their mistakes.  They had to write what mistake they'd made on the old test, and show the correction on the new test.  For their efforts, every correction would earn them back 1/2 a point. 

Here's WHY I did it this way:
           - Strategic pairs:  The higher performers could teach the lower instead of staying clumped up with the people they always work with.  Also,when you work with the same people all of the time, you communicate the same way all of the time because your little group "gets" you.  I wanted them to be stretched to really think through and communicate what they were doing on a deeper level.
           - Whiteboards:  Students love writing on whiteboards.  It's a fact of the universe.  Also, it allows them to make and fix mistakes quickly.  It also allows them to "duke it out" when they disagree about an answer or a method.  It can be fast and messy - at the same speed as their thoughts - and can be quickly erased if needed.  It lowers the risk factor tremendously.
           - Books and notes:  Students needed to PRACTICE looking into their resources when they got stuck.  They kept wanting to just stop when they got stuck.  I wouldn't let them.  Having a partner was nice with this step too, because they could look things up together which is faster and it's easier to stay focused when working with someone else to find information in a book.
           - Writing the mistake:  It wasn't enough to just make the correction.  That had to identify the mistake so they would be less likely to make that mistake moving forward.
           - Correct it:  Practice makes permanent.  They did it wrong once and I want to give the correct way (at least) as much attention as the wrong way, so once they identified the error, they had to do it correctly.
           - 1/2 credit back:  I want there to be some record of the fact that they struggled because it gives them a starting point from which to grow.  That's why I only give 1/2 back for just making corrections.  Plus, if they could always just make corrections for 100%, they would lose the motivation to try in the first place. 
          -  In class:  Submitting test corrections for 1/2 credit back is something I allow for the entire year, but in order for that to work for them, they need to buy in to the idea that this is a beneficial way to spend their very limited time.  Doing this in class with a partner for the first time shows them a few things - a)it's not super hard to figure out what you did wrong, b) most of the ones you missed were simple mistakes that are easily avoidable if you know what they are, c) it doesn't take as long as you might think, d) it really does help your grade quite a bit.  Once they walk through this process, they believe these things and are more likely to do the corrections on their own next time, but if I just TOLD them about it, most would never try it.

Final thoughts?  It was glorious.  All of the failure that I'd felt on Tuesday as I graded the tests melted away as I spent the class period on Wednesday going from table to table, listening to 19 juniors and seniors talk, argue, teach each other, encourage each other, and "get" math.  I got to teach several different mini-lessons at each table targeting the specific needs of the small groups when they got really deadlocked about something.  During the last 10 minutes, as they were turning in their corrections, I'd ask "so how do you feel about this test now?"  The responses were like candy for my soul!

"Oh man, Mrs. C.  I totally could have done so much better.  My mistakes were all dumb little things that I KNEW but just overlooked."

"I feel so much better about this test.  I thought I just didn't get it, but it makes so much more sense to me now."

"I feel way more confident.  I know this stuff..."

"I totally didn't realize I was doing the order of operations wrong.  Now, I know I won't make those mistakes again."

In giving them an opportunity to learn from their failures and redeem themselves, I learned from mine and was able to redeem myself as well. 

I seriously have the best. Job. Ever.