I need some ideas from all of you out there. What do students have to do to pass Algebra at your school? My school requires students to pass both semesters. By pass I mean the average of the two quarters and exam that make up each semester must be 60% or greater. The problem we run into is what to do with students who don't pass the first semester.
When I first started working at this school all students who didn't pass the first semester retook it immediately instead of moving on with the rest of the students who passed. The idea being that if they didn't pass first semester they will would not be able to pass second semester. This was a scheduling nightmare for our counselors. They couldn't complete the final versions of the second semester schedule until the math teachers all turned in the names of the students that didn't pass.
Last year we allowed students who failed first semester to continue on to second semester with the rest of their peers. This made things easier for the counselors and didn't put students behind. However, students would have to take summer school to make up the first semester course.
I'm not sure which way is best or if passing both semesters is the best way of assigning credit for Algebra.
Both teachers and administrators at my school are struggling with how to solve this issue. What do you do at your school? Thanks for your advice!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure
As with the custom of many families, my husband and I will periodically clean out our children’s toy boxes, getting rid of any broken or unwanted items. (Here’s a word to the wise. Clear out the toy box when the children are asleep or gone at a friend’s house. This will alleviate any drama and hard feelings. The funny thing is that your child won’t even notice those toys are missing.) Anyways, the holidays are usually a good time to do this when new toys and treasures come in. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I must sort through these toys personally myself before he’s allowed to box them up to pass along to Goodwill or throw away. Why, you ask?
Starting with my first year of teaching, I have always used my children’s toys to either introduce a lesson or use them as a pivotal component of the math lesson. Talk about capturing your students’ attention! Not only elementary-aged children but also teenagers in middle school. If I ever teach high school or even college, I envision myself continuing to use this practice.
Being a garage sale junkie, my step-mom had found a $1 toddler remote control robot for my son. I innocently decided to use this robot to demonstrate to my students how a Texas Instrument CBR can collect and graph functions comparing distance to time. Oh, my! I had never seen my 7th graders so jovial about a math lesson before! What a discovery I had stumbled upon! Ever since then I have looked at children’s toys in a whole new light.
When I taught 3rd grade, I used my son’s 200 Hot Wheels collection to teach the multiplication facts. Every year, his old Transformer toys help me kick start my transformation lesson. The possibilities are endless!
I must admit that my husband is a pretty good sport for appeasing me and going along with my eccentricities. What treasures do you have buried in your closets, basement, or attic?
Starting with my first year of teaching, I have always used my children’s toys to either introduce a lesson or use them as a pivotal component of the math lesson. Talk about capturing your students’ attention! Not only elementary-aged children but also teenagers in middle school. If I ever teach high school or even college, I envision myself continuing to use this practice.
Being a garage sale junkie, my step-mom had found a $1 toddler remote control robot for my son. I innocently decided to use this robot to demonstrate to my students how a Texas Instrument CBR can collect and graph functions comparing distance to time. Oh, my! I had never seen my 7th graders so jovial about a math lesson before! What a discovery I had stumbled upon! Ever since then I have looked at children’s toys in a whole new light.
When I taught 3rd grade, I used my son’s 200 Hot Wheels collection to teach the multiplication facts. Every year, his old Transformer toys help me kick start my transformation lesson. The possibilities are endless!
I must admit that my husband is a pretty good sport for appeasing me and going along with my eccentricities. What treasures do you have buried in your closets, basement, or attic?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Snow Days!
So this past week was really crazy at my school. All of South Eastern Michigan was covered in snow Monday morning resulting in a snow day for most schools in the area. Tuesday morning I woke up to icy roads (it was too cold for the salt to melt the snow and what did melt turned to ice!) and another snow day. Wednesday is my lab day. This gave me a day to reorganize and revamp my lesson plans. Thursday we had our winter performing arts assembly. This was a chance to see our band, choir, and dance groups perform. They did a great job and put on a great performance (especially since they missed two days of practice due to those snow days!). Friday we had building problems and school was canceled again. However, this time the staff still reported. My fellow Algebra teachers and I worked on updating our pacing guide. Our courses we are off track from where we wanted to be. Some topics took longer to get students to master and other topics went faster than we anticipated, but we are still behind schedule. We used this day to plan the rest of 1st semester (which ends the first week of February for us). Now instead of worrying about how far behind we are we can focus on the new pacing plan which we will continue to update throughout the year.
Happy Holidays to everyone! Enjoy your winter break and some much deserved time to relax!
Happy Holidays to everyone! Enjoy your winter break and some much deserved time to relax!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Finals are Over
Fall final exams are finally over! Hallelujah!!
At my school, science and pre-algebra finals are always given on the last day of finals week. On top of that, my 7th period, the last period of the day, is usually a pre-algebra class. As soon as the bell rang at 3:40 PM this past Thursday, a great sense of relief came over me. Teachers and students alike are exhausted and are ready for the long winter break, allowing us to relax and rejuvenate for the upcoming new semester.
My district still has school the following day. Friday is an early release day where students are dismissed after lunch time. At times during this four-hour period, it could feel like we teachers are frantically trying to control the mayhem. Before you feel sorry for me (or not), let me reassure you that it’s not all a bad thing.
Luckily my campus has a plan with scheduled events and activities. We spend this time having fine arts assemblies. I like this tradition because it gives me an opportunity outside my classroom to see my students shine in areas that they are good at – REALLY good at. I am always amazed and impressed at the array of talents these middle schoolers possess. Who would have ever guessed that the lifeless heap in the corner of my classroom had so much energy and passion? Why am I so surprised every year? Beats me! One of my goals this next semester is to find a way to tap into and showcase these teenagers’ incredible talents.
Well, my husband and I still have a little bit of more shopping to do for the kids. Then there’s a friend’s birthday party this afternoon. Although I have so much more to share with you, I will end it here.
May you and your family find peace and joy during this holiday season. Merry Christmas!!
At my school, science and pre-algebra finals are always given on the last day of finals week. On top of that, my 7th period, the last period of the day, is usually a pre-algebra class. As soon as the bell rang at 3:40 PM this past Thursday, a great sense of relief came over me. Teachers and students alike are exhausted and are ready for the long winter break, allowing us to relax and rejuvenate for the upcoming new semester.
My district still has school the following day. Friday is an early release day where students are dismissed after lunch time. At times during this four-hour period, it could feel like we teachers are frantically trying to control the mayhem. Before you feel sorry for me (or not), let me reassure you that it’s not all a bad thing.
Luckily my campus has a plan with scheduled events and activities. We spend this time having fine arts assemblies. I like this tradition because it gives me an opportunity outside my classroom to see my students shine in areas that they are good at – REALLY good at. I am always amazed and impressed at the array of talents these middle schoolers possess. Who would have ever guessed that the lifeless heap in the corner of my classroom had so much energy and passion? Why am I so surprised every year? Beats me! One of my goals this next semester is to find a way to tap into and showcase these teenagers’ incredible talents.
Well, my husband and I still have a little bit of more shopping to do for the kids. Then there’s a friend’s birthday party this afternoon. Although I have so much more to share with you, I will end it here.
May you and your family find peace and joy during this holiday season. Merry Christmas!!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Student Resource Center
Have you heard about the latest and greatest in the Carnegie Resource Center? Students can now have access to their own resource center account! Teachers must first log in to their own resource center account and download the access code for their school. Next students go to the resource center and create their own account. There is a PDF file that you can download to give your students to walk them through the registration process. It's really simple and only takes a few minutes.
I had my students register this week while they were in the lab and allowed them to explore the resource center for a few minutes before logging into the tutor. Students now have access to digital copies of the text, homework helper, assignments, and skill practice books. The student resource center also has videos for students to watch if they are having trouble launching the tutor and gives them access to Carnegie Support contact numbers and emails if they are having trouble.
At first I wasn't sure if I was going to have my students register for the student resource center. Many of them do not have Internet access at home and I was not sure if they would actually use it. However, many of them were very excited about having access to digital copies of the assignments and text. Students will now be able to print their own copies of assignments they are missing and can print out assignments from home when they are absent. I love this! One of my students said he was going to use it to look at what we are learning next. As the year goes on I'm excited to see how my students use this new resource.
I had my students register this week while they were in the lab and allowed them to explore the resource center for a few minutes before logging into the tutor. Students now have access to digital copies of the text, homework helper, assignments, and skill practice books. The student resource center also has videos for students to watch if they are having trouble launching the tutor and gives them access to Carnegie Support contact numbers and emails if they are having trouble.
At first I wasn't sure if I was going to have my students register for the student resource center. Many of them do not have Internet access at home and I was not sure if they would actually use it. However, many of them were very excited about having access to digital copies of the assignments and text. Students will now be able to print their own copies of assignments they are missing and can print out assignments from home when they are absent. I love this! One of my students said he was going to use it to look at what we are learning next. As the year goes on I'm excited to see how my students use this new resource.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Expertise of Those in Authority
As some of you may already know, my school is fortunate enough to be located across the street of a major university specializing in agriculture and engineering. TAMU is a wonderful resource with many experts in a plethora of fields. We public school teachers are lucky enough every semester to get these professors, researchers, graduate students, and in-service teachers into our classrooms.
What do you though when one of these experts disagrees with the fundamentals that you teach, or presents a different mathematical concept to your students? Are these experts automatically correct because they are “higher on the food chain” than us public school teachers?
This doesn’t happen very often, but this present school year has continually brought up the debate about simplifying algebraic expressions containing exponents, particularly those with negative integers. My whole life I have believed the following:
(–3)^2 = 9 but –3^2 = –9
This has been questioned by different authorities in the science and mathematical realm. They are exerting that –3^2 = 9. I am totally baffled!
As my students work on Cognitive Tutor, the software doesn’t allow 9 as an answer to –3^2. At first they are frustrated because of the misconception. It’s a good learning lesson for my students. I ask them that if they were to follow the order of operations, would they apply the exponent first, or calculate the negative multiplication?
I believe that young people should have healthy respect for those in authority. At the same time, I am glad that I live in a time and place where we can also respectfully challenge and question experts. Every once in awhile, I am wrong and have to go to my students and confess. Hard to believe, I know! :-) On the plus side, this allows for rich discourse to occur in my classroom.
So, the next time someone tells you that half a tablespoon is equivalent to one teaspoon, my advice is to do your research and decide for yourself!
What do you though when one of these experts disagrees with the fundamentals that you teach, or presents a different mathematical concept to your students? Are these experts automatically correct because they are “higher on the food chain” than us public school teachers?
This doesn’t happen very often, but this present school year has continually brought up the debate about simplifying algebraic expressions containing exponents, particularly those with negative integers. My whole life I have believed the following:
(–3)^2 = 9 but –3^2 = –9
This has been questioned by different authorities in the science and mathematical realm. They are exerting that –3^2 = 9. I am totally baffled!
As my students work on Cognitive Tutor, the software doesn’t allow 9 as an answer to –3^2. At first they are frustrated because of the misconception. It’s a good learning lesson for my students. I ask them that if they were to follow the order of operations, would they apply the exponent first, or calculate the negative multiplication?
I believe that young people should have healthy respect for those in authority. At the same time, I am glad that I live in a time and place where we can also respectfully challenge and question experts. Every once in awhile, I am wrong and have to go to my students and confess. Hard to believe, I know! :-) On the plus side, this allows for rich discourse to occur in my classroom.
So, the next time someone tells you that half a tablespoon is equivalent to one teaspoon, my advice is to do your research and decide for yourself!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Building Confidence
I had an awesome experience with one of my students this week that I just have to share. This particular student had been absent from my class a lot during the first quarter. Despite his absences he was still able to get a C because he came for tutoring and did the best he could to catch up.
This quarter the same student has improved his attendance. While at tutoring he told me that he never liked math and has always struggled with it. This week, however, something changed in this student. He came in twice this week during lunch for homework help and even came one afternoon for after school tutoring. He really wants to do well but has convinced himself that he is not good at math. By Thursday of this week he had done such great work that he now has an A in my class. I printed a copy of his grade for him and he told me that he was going to show it to his mom and hang it on his refridgerator. He was so excited about it that he told anyone who stopped by my room that afternoon.
Honestly, I think he simply needed to boost his confidence in math. I attribute most of his improvement to Carnegie. The Cognitive Tutor has allowed him to work at his own pace in catching up on the material he missed during 1st quarter. He does not have a computer at home, but really wants one so he can do Carnegie outside of school. His mom told me he asked for a computer for Christmas so he can work on the cognitive tutor! How great is that! A student who believed he "couldn't do math" now wants to do extra math at home!
When I was teaching without Carnegie materials (using a traditional textbook) the way I was teaching was only working for some of my students. Students like the one I mentioned above were still convinced they couldn't do math. The Cognitive Tutor helps me to differentiate instruction for each student. Also, the real-life scenarios in the text make sense to students. I'm so proud of this student. Now that he has built his confidence I know he will be doing even better. This is a great example of those "Ah-ha" moments that teachers live for. I'm really excited to see what he can do now that he has seen he can do math!
This quarter the same student has improved his attendance. While at tutoring he told me that he never liked math and has always struggled with it. This week, however, something changed in this student. He came in twice this week during lunch for homework help and even came one afternoon for after school tutoring. He really wants to do well but has convinced himself that he is not good at math. By Thursday of this week he had done such great work that he now has an A in my class. I printed a copy of his grade for him and he told me that he was going to show it to his mom and hang it on his refridgerator. He was so excited about it that he told anyone who stopped by my room that afternoon.
Honestly, I think he simply needed to boost his confidence in math. I attribute most of his improvement to Carnegie. The Cognitive Tutor has allowed him to work at his own pace in catching up on the material he missed during 1st quarter. He does not have a computer at home, but really wants one so he can do Carnegie outside of school. His mom told me he asked for a computer for Christmas so he can work on the cognitive tutor! How great is that! A student who believed he "couldn't do math" now wants to do extra math at home!
When I was teaching without Carnegie materials (using a traditional textbook) the way I was teaching was only working for some of my students. Students like the one I mentioned above were still convinced they couldn't do math. The Cognitive Tutor helps me to differentiate instruction for each student. Also, the real-life scenarios in the text make sense to students. I'm so proud of this student. Now that he has built his confidence I know he will be doing even better. This is a great example of those "Ah-ha" moments that teachers live for. I'm really excited to see what he can do now that he has seen he can do math!
#1 Technical Support
When I made it a requirement this year for my algebra students to put in some Cognitive Tutor time outside of class, I wasn't sure what obstacles would surface. Beyond the grumbling of a few students that is!
Although I was a computer science major for two short semesters a couple of decades ago (prehistoric time in computer years), my knowledge of operating systems is extremely limited. So when one of my students for weeks kept telling me that he couldn't get access to the software online using many different computers at his father's workplace, I wasn't sure where to start troubleshooting. "Adam" was able to log in at school but why not else where? The cynic in me wondered if this was a ploy to get out of doing the work. That sounds awful for a teacher to express! Mind you, I was getting a lot of excuses from many students at the beginning of the year why they weren't able to clock in some CT time.
Adam's mom had him come to my tutorials to work on CT while his father and I emailed back and forth, trying to get this issue solved. During this time I learned that Adam was using computers with a Linux operating system. I contacted my district's technology department. I forwarded their suggestions to dad, keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. No such luck! Arghhh!!!
What do I do now? I then had an epiphany to contact Carnegie Learning themselves! Duh! Why had I not thought of this before? CL knew exactly what needed to be done to resolve this issue. I am happy to report that within two days, CL helped dad install CT and Adam has been "happily" working on CT ever since!
What a great sense of relief to have taken care of this! I am forever grateful to CL's technical department. They are accessible, accommodating, prompt, and professional. What more can you ask for?
Carnegie Learning's Technical Support
Service Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM (EST)
E-Mail: help@carnegielearning.com
Phone (Toll Free): 877-401-2527
Although I was a computer science major for two short semesters a couple of decades ago (prehistoric time in computer years), my knowledge of operating systems is extremely limited. So when one of my students for weeks kept telling me that he couldn't get access to the software online using many different computers at his father's workplace, I wasn't sure where to start troubleshooting. "Adam" was able to log in at school but why not else where? The cynic in me wondered if this was a ploy to get out of doing the work. That sounds awful for a teacher to express! Mind you, I was getting a lot of excuses from many students at the beginning of the year why they weren't able to clock in some CT time.
Adam's mom had him come to my tutorials to work on CT while his father and I emailed back and forth, trying to get this issue solved. During this time I learned that Adam was using computers with a Linux operating system. I contacted my district's technology department. I forwarded their suggestions to dad, keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. No such luck! Arghhh!!!
What do I do now? I then had an epiphany to contact Carnegie Learning themselves! Duh! Why had I not thought of this before? CL knew exactly what needed to be done to resolve this issue. I am happy to report that within two days, CL helped dad install CT and Adam has been "happily" working on CT ever since!
What a great sense of relief to have taken care of this! I am forever grateful to CL's technical department. They are accessible, accommodating, prompt, and professional. What more can you ask for?
Carnegie Learning's Technical Support
Service Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 9:00 PM (EST)
E-Mail: help@carnegielearning.com
Phone (Toll Free): 877-401-2527
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