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Life In Intervention. Welcome! Please find a seat anywhere in the room Please grab a notecard from the table and write the following: Your Name Where you teach & Which courses If you teach an intervention class, how many students are in it?
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Life In Intervention Welcome! Please find a seat anywhere in the room Please grab a notecard from the table and write the following: • Your Name • Where you teach & Which courses • If you teach an intervention class, how many students are in it? • A question that starts with “How do you handle it when a student …?” • The most important thing you’d like to walk away with from today and bring back to your classroom
Introductions Let’s Get Started… I Am: Dan Schneider I Teach: Math Intervention @ Amphi High School I Graduated: U of A Secondary Math Education Program, class of 2011 I Write:http://mathymcmatherson.wordpress.com
Introductions Let’s get to know who’s in the room too… Please be ready to share: • Your Name • Where & What you teach • Your “How would you handle it when a student…” question
Introductions Moving forward in our time together, I’d also like to know your students – the ones who need the most help or who are the most challenging. Right Now Think about these students and their behaviors, the content that they struggle with, and things you hear them say to themselves or to you (their quotes)
Introductions The Activity At your table are stacks and stacks of post-it notes. Start writing down your thoughts on these post-its. Write as many as you can come up with. Once you’ve exhausted your brain, walk around the room and put them on the posters labeled Behavior, Content, and Quotes After you’ve placed your own, start reading what others have already written
An Intervention Student • Low Skills • Makes mistakes with the fundamentals – positive vs negative, multiplication tables, etc • May feel like they understand the lesson during class, but when they do the homework, they get every question incorrect • Usually also has low confidence in math • The Strategy: Give them a model to fall back on that they can use for their fundamentals
An Intervention Student • Low Effort • Afraid to take risks • Has lots of deflection strategies to avoid doing work • No pencil, no paper, “Can I use the bathroom?” • Needs a lot of hand-holding through problems • Doesn’t know how to use notes/resources for help • Can’t see how problems are related; feels like every problem is ‘brand new’ • My Strategy: Be firm & patient; Use questions when working together; Consistent Expectations
An Intervention Student • Answer-Getting • Blurts out answers • Turns in assignments incomplete or incorrect • Is compliant when taking notes or doing problems with a teacher; disruptive during ‘investigations’ or ‘class discussions’ • Doesn’t show work • “I’ll do it because the teacher told me”; learn for the test, then forget • May have passed their math classes, but their skills aren’t where they need to be • My Strategy: Force this student to come to terms with what they know and don’t know through my grading & assessment system
Outcomes for Today • I hope you leave here with: • Classroom strategies you can start trying tomorrow • Resources you can start using in your room tomorrow • Grading strategies for you to consider this year or next year • Ideas to take back to your administration on how to better create & fill intervention classes
Structures for Today • Content Resources • How I’ve taught: Integers & Algebra • How I think about teaching other fundamentals • Process Strategies • How I work with students 1-on-1 • Lesson structures I use to discourage passive learning • Culture Shifts • How I use my classroom space to encourage success • How I use grading & assessment to promote shifts in student effort & motivation
Mindsets Consider the following two statements: “Intelligence is something that can grow or change with effort” “Everyone has a certain level of intelligence – the best I can do is already fixed for me and, no matter how hard I try, it can’t be changed” By Yourself: Which one do you find yourself agreeing with?
Mindsets With Your Table: How do the people at your table feel? Anyone have a story that seems to support one or the other? “Intelligence is something that can grow or change with effort” “Everyone has a certain level of intelligence – the best I can do is already fixed for me and, no matter how hard I try, it can’t be changed”
Mindsets Growth Mindset • Belief that intelligence is dynamic • Belief that, with effort, we can learn new things • “The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts” Fixed Mindset • Belief that intelligence is static • Belief that we either know something or we don’t • “Believing that your qualities are carved in stone – the fixed mindset – creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over again”
Mindset Reading • The modern idea behind Mindsets was established by Carol Dweck & her book Mindset • There are both neurological studies and research-based trials that support the idea that a believing in a growth mindset can fundamentally change how you learn • Let’s do some reading…
Mindset Reading • Here is a sample from parts of Dweck’s book. Please read the following sections: • P. 16 – Is Success about Learning – or Proving you’re Smart? • P. 17 – Beyond Puzzles • P. 18 – Brain Waves Tell the Story • P. 32 – Mindsets Change the Meaning of Failure • P. 42 – High Effort: The Big Risk • P. 57 – Mindset and School Achievement • P. 58 – The Low Effort Syndrome • Underlinefour passages that you think help explain some of the behaviors or quotes we have on the wall
Table Sharing The Task As a table, decide on 2 quotes that you think are the most relevant for working with an intervention student. Once you’ve decided, choose someone to write them on one of the large whiteboards around the room
Mindsets in My Class • As I was preparing this presentation, I realized that this idea of a ‘growth mindset’ is underlying every aspect of my class: • How I scaffold content • How I give feedback and praise • How I structure my bellwork/homework procedures • How I structure my gradebook • How I work with students 1-on-1 • I do this purposefully – I want to change the mindset of my students
Mindsets of our Students • “I think that the smart people are just born smart. The people who have trouble with math – I guess we weren’t lucky. I guess we were born with less intelligence. I just wish I was smart” • “My self motivation is actually low. Because I thought I was so stupid, I didn’t give myself motivation. My grades were good but my test scores were horrendous” • “I’m always that student who has a question but is too shy to ask because of fear that people will think I’m more stupid than I already am” • “The teacher expects us to understand it in our first try”
Mindsets of our Students • “Sometimes they are taught too fast. I always struggle with math but I think if I put effort into it I will learn it” • “With effort, determination, and time your math skills can improve” • “I know I’m capable of doing it, it’s just a matter of effort I put into my work. I know I need dedication & faith” • “I want to try my hardest to prove to myself and everyone that I’m able to do it”
Shifting Gears • Let’s start talking about some math that we probably all teach: Integers -5 – 8 -6 + 9 3 + (-6) 7 – (-4)
Questions I Wrestled With • How do you teach integers with a foundation that isn’t just a series of rules to memorize? • How do you explain your reasoning in a way that doesn’t rely solely on a rule or a “me vs you” argument • How can I give students a scaffold to rely on so they can check their answers without confirming it with me? • How do I navigate the conceptual waters of “negative” vs “subtraction”, especially knowing what they will see in coordinate geometry and algebraic manipulation
Number Line Model • Numbers Are: Movement on the Number Line(Forwards & Backwards) • Operations Are: Directions you Face when Moving • You Solve problems by: Drawing on a Number Line • Real-World Counterparts: temperature, traveling between places, altitude
Number Line Model -5 – 8 -6 + 9 3 + (-6) 7 – (-4)
Physical Model • Numbers Are: Physical tokens with ‘opposite’ values • Addition Is: ‘Bringing Objects Together’ • Subtraction Is: ‘Taking Objects Away’ • Solve Problems By: Drawing pictures & crossing things out • Real-World Counterparts: Money, holes & piles, tokens, physics (electrons vs protons, hot vs cold)
Addition: “Bring Objects Together” 3 + 4 -3 + (-4) 2 + -5 -6 + 2
Subtraction: “Take Objects Away” 7 - 2 -7 – (-2) 1 - 4 -2 – (-5)
Some Comments • Pros: • Visual model with dedicated procedure for students to get the right answer every time • Both lead to same set of ‘rules’ that we eventually memorize • Cons: • Two different meanings of negative sign (subtract vs negative) – need to remember which one to use
Additional Issues • Our students are not blank slates: they walk into the classroom already having seen these problems before • And, even worse, they have incorrect rules halfway memorized Integers Algebra Fractions Multiplication Tables Long Division Me!
Teaching Sideways • When I want to design a coherent curriculum to tackle these issues, I find myself using the term ‘Teaching Sideways’ • The Goal: • Present a task or situation or puzzle that seems unrelated to anything a student has ever seen before • Investigate the problem in such a way that it would seem like there’s a strategic way to solve the problems • In trying to discover this strategy or represent the problem precisely, discover the math hidden underneath
Teaching Sideways • When I want to design a coherent curriculum to tackle these issues, I find myself using the term ‘Teaching Sideways’ • Advantages • Cuts out the ‘I know how to do this already’ dismissal • Cuts out the ‘I remember doing this and hating it’ dismissal • Cuts out the ‘I HATE FRACTIONS MATH’ dismissal • Builds a new foundation that will eventually override and replace the old, incorrect foundation
Putting Practice into Action • Here’s what we’re going to try: I’m going to teach you integers – how to add & subtractthem. • I’m using the exact lessons & worksheets that I use in my own class. I’m going to teach it just like I would teach it in my own class. • You can download all of these from my website at the end of the day
Putting Practice into Action • The Purpose: • Create some discussion points around ‘How would you handle…’ • Lead into some talking points about the process that I use for certain things • Lead into some talking points about the culture I create in my class around these lessons • Demonstrate some of the strategies I use to avoid ‘passive learning’ or ‘non-responsive’ learning • Your Job: • Stop being a teacher – start pretending to be like your students
Things to Notice • There is always a procedure students can fall back on to guarantee they get a correct answer • Questions ask for explanations rather than answers • Questions require students to display their thinking in their answer • Answer Banks for immediate feedback • Complete some problems, but they must be correct • Really effective for the ‘answer getting’ student • Displaying independent work expectations • Asking them to reflect on comfort level before and after lesson • Analyzing mistakes is explicit in the curriculum • Bellwork procedure helps normalize mistakes
Lesson & Problem Design • Choosing which problems to complete, how many, and in what order is a big deal, especially if I want to create a catalyst where a student has the opportunity to really learn something and shift their mindset. • The Question: How can I design a task that: • Teaches students how to complete a problem • Make sure they know it before continuing? • Let’s the student receive feedback and feel confident in themselves?
Lesson & Problem Design • A Video! • Edmund McMillan discussing how he designs levels for his game Super Meat Boy • Every time he says ‘level design’, consider: ‘task design’ or ‘lesson design’
Questioning • If I’m on my A-game, then I should have asked a lot of questions during these lessons • Asking good questions is something I work really hard on. None of it is accidental. • I want to share one of the more influential things I’ve read that informs how I ask questions and work with students 1-on-1
Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say Right Now Read from Questioning Strategies that Work for Me, but stop just short of Participation is not Optional Underline any strategies that you saw me do or any strategies you’d like to steal for your own use
Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say Discuss What lines stand out to you as especially important or insightful? Do any lines help answer a ‘How would you handle it when…” question?
Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say Right Now Read the rest of the article on Participation is not Optional Underline any strategies that you saw me do or any strategies you’d like to steal for your own use
Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say Discuss What lines stand out to you as especially important or insightful? Do any lines help answer a ‘How would you handle it when…” question?
Questioning Practice The Activity I’m going to pretend to be a student in your class You’ve given me an integer problem to complete and I’ve made a mistake The TaskWhat questions would you ask to help understand what I’m thinking? What questions would you ask to help me realize my mistake?
Questioning Practice -3 – 5 = -2
Questioning Practice -3 – 5 = 8
Questioning Practice 5 + 7 = 13
