Critical Thinking on the First Day of School

By: Rachel Barry

Following up on yesterday's post on the ways teachers build relationships with and among students on the first day of school, I wanted to share a more in-depth look at my first day of classes.  

This past spring and summer, numerous math teachers around the district embarked on an opportunity to take a massive open online course (MOOC) from Stanford University called How to Learn Math for Teachers.  This course focused on how to change student mindsets towards mathematics, pedagogical strategies to promote active learning, and build critical thinking skills.  (Small plug...there were about 80 teachers across the district - math, science, special education - who took this course, and it was AWESOME!).  Prior to taking the class, I felt that I had a strong understanding of how to change the focus in class from grades to learning, however, this class gave me numerous more strategies to emphasize this more through how I communicate and how I create effective classroom activities.  Here are some activities that I did on the first day of classes to both build relationships as well as challenge students to think critically.

Would You Rather...?
In groups, I had students develop a "Would You Rather...? statement, one per group, and wrote it on their tables (see whiteboard tables here).  Then, the students rotated around the groups and voted at each table.  

In my AP Statistics class, I took this a step further and had students discuss the expected outcome prior to voting.  This is a key concept of statistics, so I loved being able to bring it up on the first day.  In this class, we continued the first day by performing a simulation where they worked in groups, getting to know one another, and getting introduced to statistics.

In my regular Algebra classes, I had the students calculate the percentages of tallies for each.  It was interesting to see the various methods that students used (proportions, decimals, etc) and whether or not the set up two equations or if they calculated one and then subtracted that from 100 to get the other.  We then had a class discussion on how many math problems can be solved using different steps or methods.  

This lead perfectly into my next activity...

Number Sense Activity
For this activity, I put this problem on the board and showed students how to solve this using traditional methods.  Then I challenged them in their groups to come up with FOUR other ways to solve this problem.  

Some students hit the ground running, while others sat back.  It was interesting when most groups got two right away (15 + 15 + 15 + 15 and 4 + ... + 4), and then they hit a road block.  Some students immediately started drawing (a grid of 15 x 4, four circles with 15 dots in each), and others sat back and observed.  Many students also separated or broke down the numbers (10 x 4 = 40, 5 x 4 = 20, 40 + 20 = 60 or 15 x 2 = 30, 15 x 2 = 30, 30 + 30 = 60).  The last method, though only two of my three classes saw it, was time.  

As groups were finishing up, I was having students share at the front of the board.  I have always struggled getting students (probably me coming up with excuses as to why it may not work) to do this regularly in class, so I decided to just start it on the first day, as a class norm.

I repeated this method with 25 x 7, and the students were much quicker, using other groups' methods.  Many students then saw the connection to money.

Rectangle Activity

For the next activity, I drew this figure on the board and asked students "How many rectangles are in this figure?"

Now that students were acquainted with one another, the brainstorming started much quicker.  In each class, after about a minute or two had passed, a student asked "Is a square a rectangle?"  YES!  Exactly what I'd hoped!  We then had a (short) discussion about the importance of asking questions and challenging me throughout the course by asking "Why?"  Then students continued working.  It was very cool to see students using colors, breaking down the figure, etc.  (If you want to know, there are 18!)

Fractions Activity

The last activity was for me to formatively assess students' prior knowledge of fractions.  Our first unit focuses on simplifying exponents and radicals, and if students do not fully understand the basics of fractions, they will struggle when we throw in variables, exponents, and square roots.  

I wrote random fractions on a bunch of notecards.  Each student was given a notecard and a partner.  Each pair was given a die.  Students were to roll the die, and if the die landed on an odd number, they added the fractions, while if it landed on an even number, they subtracted the two fractions.  Once they solved for the correct answer, one person traded their notecard with one of another group.  They repeated the process.  Next, they used the same notecards and rolled the die with an odd number meaning that they would multiply the fractions, and an even number would mean dividing the fractions.  They switched cards, and repeated.  

Survey

Finally, students opened their iPads, logged into Schoology and pulled up a Google Form survey.  In this survey, I ask them both routine questions (when is your lunch/study hall, who is your counselor, when is your birthday, etc.) and getting to you know questions (what are your future career goals, is there anything that I should know that would help me better teach you?)

#214EdPrep: Spark Sessions for Engagement and Pre-Assessment Strategies

By Rachel Barry

This is the third in a series of blog posts discussing the collaboration of the Collab Lab and our EG Ed Prep students.  Please follow along on our journey using the hashtag #214EdPrep or clicking on the label #214EdPrep in the word cloud!

In yesterday's blog post, we discuss the background behind these Spark Sessions with our Elk Grove District 214 Ed Prep students.  

On the second "Spark Sesson" day, I presented students with a game to practice or review class material as well as using Google Forms to pre-assess students.

Spark Session 3:  Play Basketball to Engage Students in Practice or Review Concepts

The game is typically called "Mathsketball" in our department, however, I wanted to show students that they can play this game with any subject area.  To view the game the students played, click here.  

How to Play:
- Students are each given one piece of paper.  They must use this piece for all 6 questions.
- Once the PowerPoint displays the problem, you have 30 seconds to complete the problem.
- Students must show their work, and circle their answer.
- Before the buzzer, students will crumple their paper and toss it into the recycling bin.

Then we discussed potential adjustments to the game, including:

- passing out pieces of paper with the problem write out (if graphs, tables, or diagrams are needed)

- increasing/decreasing the time limit

- wait to provide answers until the end of the game

Additionally, we brainstormed other games that can accomplish similar practice or review:

- Kahoot

- Jeopardy

- Quizlet Live

- Battleship

- Scavenger Hunt

- Last Man Standing

*Stop by the Collab Lab if you are interested in learning more about any of the above!

Spark Session 4:  Pre-Assessment through Google Forms

The purpose of this part of the lesson was to provide these students with a method of pre-assessment.  Due to technology issues, students couldn't access the Google Form, and instead, I had to transition this focus into a lesson on flexibility.  For reference, here is the Google Form that was given to students to pre-assess their understanding of slope.  I displayed this for them, and we discussed how to use the feedback from the form to drive instruction.  Then, I changed the focus to discuss the importance of being flexible.  I explained to students that sometimes things don't go as planned, and we discussed the importance of being prepared with back-up plans in the classroom.  For me, the last question on the Google Form was the most important: "Of the four examples (Classkick, Socrative, Basketball, Google Form), which do you believe is the most applicable for your current placement?  Why?"  Because I still wanted the feedback from these students, I had students open up a new e-mail, address it to me, and answer the question.  I expressed to that that this was part of my goal for the day, I talked them through my thought process of how to still obtain this feedback.  

Student Thoughts

"I also really like the games like the math basketball because it something to do when it is kind of a relaxed day and there is not much to do or it is the day before break. I think I will use both of these things in the future as a teacher."

"I like the math basketball game because I really never heard of it till now but kids can easily copy off each other. I do think it's a really really fun game and a change. Plus it gets boring do the same thing everyday."

"I feel like the elementary kids I'm working with would love that."

More blog posts to come.  Follow #214EdPrep and @EGCollabLab for more!

Building Positive Relationships Early

By: Rachel Barry

This year my focus in the classroom is building positive relationships.  I believe that I have always worked on creating a relatively positive environment for students to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with me, whether these thoughts were personal or academic in nature.  The problem with that last sentence is 'with me'.  Yes, it is incredibly important for teachers to get to know their students, build a positive rapport, and care about them as an individual.  Towards the end of last year, however, I realized that I have never set an expectation for my students to build relationships with one another.  I decided to change that going forward.

The first change was in the works during second semester of last year.  No more desks!  If I expected students to work together by communicating and collaborating with one another, I needed to have a physical environment that would foster this teamwork.  I now have whiteboard tables (which are amazing!), and there will be more blog posts about this resource in the future.

To begin cultivating relationships with and among my students, we first needed to begin with some introductions.  As the teacher, I need to provide students with opportunities to learn more about one another.  Here are some ways that I fostered this communication in the first week of school:

1.  Names
Every other day of class, I have had new groups using the Team Shake app.  This app randomly seats students into groups or pairs, based on how you designate the randomizer.  Then I ask my students to write their name on the whiteboard table and shake hands with the members of their group.  Over the period of two days, I am hoping that they are getting to know each new set of students at an introductory level.  (Note: This is also helping me to learn their names much quicker because I myself am a visual learner.)

2.  All About Me
This year, I created a new All About Me activity using the website Piktochart.  More information on how to create or use infographics can be found here.  

Students accessed this document electronically via Schoology and annotated using Notability.  Then, students were asked to share any one of their 'favorites' with their group.  At the end of the first day, they were then asked to share a different 'favorite' with the class.

What I learned about my students through this exercise:
- Who is strong and who is weak with technology (both Schoology and Notability)
- Who is willing to share easily and who needs time to feel comfortable sharing with me
- Who can follow directions and answer questions appropriately
- Who has internet at home (some students didn't finish and expressed that they wouldn't be able to submit this assignment tonight due to not having internet)


3.  Numbers of Significance
This idea I received from my colleague Eleanor Pattie.  I demonstrated with an example explaining 3 numbers of significance for myself and then had the students write out their 3 examples.  Then, they shared one of these examples with the class.  Here is a student example:

What I learned about my students through this exercise:
- Some students are incredibly creative  (i.e. 10 - age when received the first pair of Air Jordans; 2 - never like to go first; 10.5 - when I was first inspired to draw)
- Some students have had some really cool life experiences (i.e. played in a championship game in Cooperstown)
- Some students are very honest (i.e. number of suspensions; 9/11 - happened a week before I was born)
- Some students shared personal tragedies
- Lastly, I learned about my students' writing capabilities such as their spelling and grammar

4.  Academic Goals
In order for me to be an effective teacher, I need to know my students as both an individual and as a student.  Before the school year starts, I look up and pull a lot of data from our Infinite Campus information.  As much as this is helpful for me to best meet my students' needs, I'll be honest and say that it is also a bit creepy.  Therefore, I gave them a Google Form to answer the following questions:

1)  What were your grades last year in math?
2)  What school did you go to? (for my freshman classes); Who was your math teacher last year? (for my junior classes)
3)  What are your plans after high school?
          A.  Community College (i.e. Harper, etc.)
          B.  4-year College/University
          C.  Trade School (cosmetology program, nursing program, mechanics program, etc.)
          D.  Military
          E.  Other: _________
4)  What are your future career goals?
5)  What are your math goals for this year?  (i.e. getting into the Harper College Algebra course, staying eligible every week for a sport, etc.)
6)  What are your overall freshman/junior year academic goals? (i.e. getting a passing score on an AP test, getting into the Harper 103 English course, etc.)

I have looked over these replies and will have one on one meetings with each student over the next couple weeks.  During these meetings, I am going to have students fill out the following card, which will be stapled to their portfolios.  This way, every time we go over assessments, students will be able to look at their goals and reflect on them.  I am still brainstorming ideas of how best to document these student refections, so if you have any ideas, please share!

What I learned about my students through this exercise:

- Which students want to get into the Harper College Algebra Course (These students will need additional skills to pass the placement test to get into the course.)

- Which students may need interventions early on (These students should get into good habits early by being encouraged to come in before school, during lunch or visiting the Mastery Lab regularly for help.)

- Which students should be challenged to try to get into the Harper College Algebra course (Maybe they don't realize that it is an option for them.)

- Which students do not have aspirations for schooling following high school (I will need to learn more about these students as to why they do not want to pursue a continued education.)


This biggest component of all these activities was that I want students to be comfortable by allowing for student voice in the classroom.  They get to determine what they share with me and what they share with the class.  For example, I let them choose their 'favorite' with the class.  I could've said that everyone needed to share their favorite color, but instead I wanted to see what my students wanted to share about themselves.  I will be documenting more of my encouragement of student voice and building relationships throughout this year's blog posts.

Getting Meaningful Feedback From Students

Written by Quinn Loch

Some of the best feedback related to my teaching and tools that I use in the classroom has come from my students. In the past, I have used short half-sheet questionnaires or surveys to get feedback from my students. This has always proved to be beneficial, but I feel that I get the most honest feedback from anonymous google forms. Because students know that their handwriting and name are not tied to their response, they are more likely to share their honest thoughts and comments.  

For instance, when I first started to use ClassKick for warm ups, the overwhelming response in class seemed to be negative and included a lot of groaning and eye-rolling, but several students mentioned later, through a survey, that they thought the warm ups were very helpful for their learning and wanted to do more.

Most recently, I asked my APES students about their preparation for the AP test and based on the responses have some changes in mind for next year.

Some of the questions I asked my APES students while the test was still fresh in their minds.

Google forms also provides nice visuals, such as graphs and pie charts, to help get a more global summary of responses. The results are also saved as long as you keep the form in your google drive.

Asking students for feedback gets you an array of responses - some that are well thought out, some that are brutally honest, some that don't help, and some that you might disagree with. As a whole, it's a process that I have found to be incredibly insightful and one that I will continue to use.

Collab Lab Happenings! A typical week of teacher-led professional learning at EG

Written by Linda Ashida

In case you haven't been to the Collab Lab lately, or kept up with recent Collab Blog posts, we thought we'd share some highlights of the many - and varied - professional learning activities that have happened in the Collab Lab during the last week. Read on to learn from, and be inspired by, our colleagues! 

Invitations to visit classes:  

We always enjoy when teachers invite us to their classes for us to see strategies in action and/or offer support.  In addition to the 16 class visits we enjoyed as part of our EG/BG Learning Exchange, we also were happy to have invitations from Eleanor Pattie and Joe Bush.

Eleanor invited us to her ELL classes to see open inquiry labs designed by her students. Check out her tweets @MrsPattieChem to learn more!






Joe invited us to join his students in a vision setting exercise. He challenged us to create a detailed plan of our preferred futures. Follow his tweets @josephdbush or his class hashtag #EGLTS to learn more. 

PLC Pull-Out Professional Learning Days

District PE teachers and Elk Grove Biology Teachers conducted professional learning meetings in the Collab Lab.  If you have a pull-out day scheduled with your PLC, we hope you will consider meeting in the Collab Lab.  Our ITF / DTC team enjoys learning with the teams, supporting any way we can, and facilitating interdisciplinary connections.  The Collab Lab whiteboard wall facilitates great team brainstorming and incubation of ideas!

Lesson Strategy Brainstorming Sessions:

Over the course of the last week quite a few teachers have stopped by or made appointments with us in the Collab Lab to brainstorm strategies for their classes.  We are always happy to support our colleagues and learn with them.  If you are inspired by the following examples, or have your own ideas to work through, we hope you'll contact us!

Andrea Izenstark (CTE): Social Curation Tools

Andrea is planning to engage her students in weekly Current Event Friday activities in her Intro to Business class.  We brainstormed ideas to create collaborative groups and have students curate current resources, and later present them,  using social curation tools such as FlipBoard, PopBoardz, Padlet or Google Docs.
Interested in learning more about Social Curation tools? Please come see us!  

Mike Radakovitz (PE):  Google Apps Integrated with Schoology

Mike is creating an impressive system with Google Sheets for his PE students to enter weekly data on their workouts to monitor their progress. He wanted to explore the best ways for students populate their own data in the Sheets and also to have them submit the data to Schoology.  Did you know that Google Drive is integrated with Schoology? This allows Mike's students to submit their data seamlessly.

Want to learn more about apps that are integrated with Schoology for streamlined workflow?  Please connect with us!

MaryBeth Khoury and Cindy D'Alessandro (Science): Twitter for Professional Connections
MaryBeth and Cindy stopped down for Twitter tutorials.  We discussed tips for creating a good profile, for establishing a professional following, for connecting with colleagues using hashtags. For example, Cindy and MaryBeth can connect with science teachers throughout the country - and the world - by exploring #biochat or #sciencechat. (We also may have shared strategies for voting in Mascot Madness!)




Let us know if you are interested in learning how you can use Twitter for professional learning, to have your students share their work with authentic audience, or to do research.


Kasia Paplinski (Social Worker): Google Forms for student feedback and data analysis
Kasia met with us to brainstorm the best way to move to a paperless system for soliciting feedback from students for large group programs such as SOS, or even small group meetings. We examined Google Forms and Backchannel strategies such as Today'sMeet or Twitter.  Kasia was pleased with the way that the Google Forms streamlined her team's ability to connect with, respond to, and analyze the student feedback.





If you are interested in learning efficient ways to solicit student feedback and respond to student needs, let us know.  You might also refer to this previous Collab Blog post on Google Forms by Kirsten Fletcher.

We always look forward to connecting with our colleagues in these kinds of collaborative professional learning experiences.

Do you have strategies you'd like to explore?  Do you have successful strategies to share?  Please keep in touch with us!  

Using Google forms for feedback from students

by Kirsten Fletcher

Sometimes, the best ideas are born out of desperation. Recently, I gave a quiz over a topic that I thought we had really covered well. When I sat down to grade the quizzes, I discovered that many students had not mastered the material. I was willing to allow them to retake the quiz, but I wanted them to reflect on their study habits first. So, I decided to create a Google form asking them questions like:

• What was your grade?
• What did you do to prepare for this quiz?
• If you'd like to retake it, do you want to meet with me first?
• Can you identify one or two key concepts that you still need to practice?

While my intention was to make students reflect on their study habits, the result was that this exercise made me reflect on how I support my students. I almost always offer the opportunity for re-assessment, but I am not always organized enough to follow up with struggling students or direct them to take advantage of the Mastery Lab and other available resources.

By having my students' responses together in one spreadsheet, I was able to quickly assess who planned to re-take the quiz so I knew how many re-assessments I would need. I could also see who wanted my direct intervention. In moments, I sent those students an email to set up times to meet. Several of the students who requested extra help from me in the Google form would probably not have approached me in person to ask.

I know there are other ways of getting feedback from students and encouraging them to reflect on their own practice. For me, the use of Google forms not only gave me a quick snapshot of where students perceive their own skills, but it gave me a much-needed springboard for meeting their needs.

Getting Formative Feedback as a Teacher

By: Rachel Barry

Formative Assessment has been a focus of our Leader Learners, PLT, and Collab Lab meetings this year.  We have been discussing the importance of providing students written feedback and how that means more to students than a grade in the grade book.  In some of my graduate school courses, we discussed the importance of student input in their education.  When thinking about these two ideas, I realized that I need to ask my students for formative feedback in order to best meet their needs.

To obtain this feedback, I created a Google Form consisting of 5 open-ended response questions, with each question required to be answered.  I didn't take down their names so that students would feel comfortable in being honest with their answers.  Here is a list of the questions that I asked:

1.  What is your favorite part of math class?

2.  What do you dislike about math class?

3.  What motivates you in school?

4.  What are your feelings towards grades? (Are you more inclined to work hard? Do they discourage you? Would you rather not have a gradebook?)

5. Do you like working at your own pace? (Or would you rather the whole class move at the same pace, even if it means it is too fast for some and too slow for others?)

The question that I was most curious about was Question 5, as this is a new way of learning for many students.  You can learn about this individualized learning model that I have been implementing in this previous blog post.  I will be honest that I was apprehensive of this process, and I was nervous that students would vocalize their dislike of the model.  Upon looking at the data, 73 of my 90 students completed the Google Form.  Of the 73 students that completed the form, 51 responded positively to working at their own pace, 15 responded negatively, and 7 were indifferent.  

So, what should I do with this information?  Going forward, I have decided to find a happy medium.  For students that are comfortable working at their own pace, they can continue to do so, as the resources are available to them on Schoology.  For the students who would prefer to work as a class, I will pull them aside in small groups to go over the notes.  This hybrid format may work out positively for both groups of students.  My hesitation is that it may take too much time away from my answering of students' questions.  I am going to see how this works in the next unit and reevaluate then!