Four BTC Strategies Earn their Respectful Place in the Top Six Learning Modes for RVMS Students

In our longer than anticipated solving equations unit,

We used the following learning activities.

⚝ Vertical white boards with random groups (BTC)      ⚝ EdPuzzle Video

⚝ Check Your Understanding Worksheet with answer keys for feedback (BTC)

⚝ Visualizing the problems with Algebra Blocks         ⚝ Whole Class Discussions (BTC)

⚝ Anchor Chart (poster) for solving equations                 ⚝ Notes for My Forgetful Self (BTC)

⚝ Clicker Quiz Review at the Vertical White Boards (MSM) ⚝ Finding the Mistake lesson

⚝ Analyzing the first quiz         ⚝ Escape Room practice problems

⚝ Fraction lessons with solving equations                                    ⚝ Simulation Trainer (MSM)

MSM - MidSchool Math Curriculum        BTC - Building Thinking Classroom Strategy

Students were to pick their top three learning activities

that best helped them understand how to solve equations.

OVERWHELMINGLY, the #1 learning activity

was VERTICAL WHITE BOARDS (Ch. 3) with 44 out of my 65 students choosing this learning activity.

Tieing for second was Whole Class Discussions/Consolidate Thinking (Ch. 10)

and the Escape Room.

Whole class discussions did not surprise me,

As these are year after year one of my students' favorite learning modes.

The Escape Room was ranked this high,

According to my students,

Because it was just plain fun.

They literally were doing about 20 problems,

But the challenge of moving levels made it fun and engaging.

Rounding out the top six was

Clicker Quiz Reviews,

Notes for my Future Forgetful Self (Ch. 11)

And Analyzing the quiz (Ch. 13).

In summary, out of the top six learning activities,

Four were from BTC strategies!

Students were also to pick the least helpful learning activity. And this came as no surprise either.

The online EdPuzzle Lesson ran away with the least helpful title.

Students don't want passive learning experiences.

They want to talk about the math.

They want to see the math.

They was guidance and feedback.

While an EdPuzzle does contain 3 of the 4,

It's the interactive conversation piece that's missing.

And that's an important piece in learning...

Being able to share and talk about it.

Overall observations from Quiz 1 to Quiz 2.

--> Confidence rose. Students were completing the quiz in a shorter amount of time.

--> Work shown was more organized, more complete, more accurate.

--> Students handed in the second quiz with a sense of pride.

--> Growth occurred. Some increased their grades by 50-60 points.

--> Quiz 2 was easier to grade. More correct answers. Algebraic rules were followed making it easier to find their mistakes.

Questions resulting from these very positive observations.

--> Did these changes happen from the activities used in reteaching?

--> Was quiz 1 a wake-up call and students paid more attention to reteaching?

Concern

We won't have time to always allow a week of additional teaching. I chose to do so with this concept of solving equations as this is a skill that will follow them their entire mathematical education.

What happened today...the day after the quiz.

A student asked, "Are we at the boards today?"

With a total begging look in his eyes.

When I answered yes,

The entire class cheered.

They cheered.

Let that sink in.

They were excited about doing math together.

Using Self Reflection on Assessments (Ch. 13)

After several weeks of solving equations,

We took a quiz to show off what was learned.

In some cases, the results were dramatic.

Students walked away proud of how their hard work paid off.

For others, my hope is that it was a wake up call.

A call to pay attention,

To take our learning activities seriously,

And to stay engaged.

To help with the self reflection,

We used a navigation tool mentioned in Chapter 13

To chart where our work needed to be for future reteaching lessons,

Students analyzed and reworked the problems on the quiz,

And made notes using the notations outlined in the picture.

By charting their progress on paper,

My hope was that they would gain a better picture of their learning.

To be able to see where their strengths were,

And the struggles that still needing ironing out.

I provided answer keys so they could check their work.

I also had them rework the problems on a piece of typing paper folded into 1/8s.

Definitely something we will continue to do.

I collected their charts, quizzes, and work (stapled together),

So we could do a comparison after our second quiz next week. 

My hope is that if they can start to see some progress,

It will continue to encourage a stronger work ethic in the classroom.

Observations:

Unlike some learning activities that I implement,

This was went better than I had even expected.

By "priming the pump" with my favorite mistakes,

Students were ready to analyze their own quizzes to figure out where they went wrong.

The conversations I heard in their groups,

Made my heart bubble over.

They truly wanted to know their mistakes.

They were taking ownership in their learning!

No Grades When Learning = More Thinking

I've never taken grades on practice problems. 

It didn't seem right to take a grade when one is learning something new.

BUT...

I did take a completion grade.

And now I see where that wasn't working.

When learning new material now in class,

There is no grade.

Not even a completion grade.

Students are working on problems for the way they were intended...

To practice.

Not to just get done with them.

When students complete problems just to get them done,

They hurry,

Thinking is decreased,

More mistakes are made,

And there seems to be less care in the final product...or overall understanding.

When students complete problems for learning,

Where grades aren't even factored in,

They slow down to talk about the process,

Thinking improves,

Mistakes are still made,

But are now corrected to help them make sense of the problem.

And above all,

There is pride in learning something new.

Now, is this happening for all students?

The research from BTC showed that 15%-25% of students 

still weren't doing the problems even with no grade attached.

But that means that 75%-85% were.

I haven't crunched numbers in my classes,

But if I had to estimate, I would say that is about right...

25% of my students are not engaged in learning the problems 

for the "right reason and the right person." 

"When completion is the goal, it encourages behaviors such as cheating, mimicking, and getting unhelpful help." (BTC, pg. 125)

My principal asked me a question.

A valid question.

If a struggling student is paired up at a vertical white board with a student that seems to be catching on,

How do I handle that?

Here's what I have observed.

I have seen students sharing the marker to allow the other student to give it a try.

I have heard explanations to questions on how or why the math works.

I have seen students request the marker so they could see how they do.

These are all examples of students completing the problems for the "right reason and the right person".

They are realizing the importance of understanding it themselves.

No longer can they scoot by with not doing and allowing others to do it for them.

Accountability has been added to the equation once again.

Becoming Habit

Today was the first day that I introduced what we were doing...

...catching up on unfinished business...

and when I set everyone free to get working,

it moved like a well oiled machine.

I didn't have to say anything. 

Students regrouped in their groups from yesterday.

They went to the vertical white boards.

As I took attendance and deleted assignment emails,

I sat and listened to the wonderful sounds coming from the students in my classroom.

I heard conversations about the steps of solving an algebraic equation.

I heard explanations.

I heard questions.

Yesterday when I announced when I announced we would be working at the boards,

One class actually cheered.

And then they got to work.

While both of these stories make it sound like its all sunshine and roses in here,

I will assure you that we have our exceptions.

Some students still have a hard time staying focused.

Some students still try to have other students do all the work.

But on the flip side,

I see students trading the marker so other students can give it a try.

I see encouragement.

I. See. Thinking.

Making It Our Own

Now that we are six weeks into the new year,

With implementing the strategies for Building Thinking Classrooms,

I can see how it is slowly evolving into something that fits us.

At this point we have implemented the following...with our style added to some of them as we find our way for what's best for us. 

• Give thinking tasks
• The tasks from the curriculum are usually the Data/Computation problem from the intro lesson
• Sometimes the tasks have been practice problems that vary in complexity
• Frequently form visibly random groups
• Most of the time, we have formed random groups.  Sometimes due to time constraints, they move to a board in their table groups
• Use vertical non-permanent surfaces
• We have varied this approach.  Sometimes using horizontal large group boards or even individual boards so everyone can work on the problem 
• Defront the classroom
• This was easy.  I already had two "fronts"...my large whiteboard and the TV.  Now I just added all the vertical boards into my teaching focal points.
• Answer only keep thinking questions
• Give thinking task early, standing and verbally
• We don't always stand anymore, but the thinking task is always given at the beginning of the hour. 
• Give check-your-understanding questions
• The Practice Printable from our curriculum has worked great for checking for understanding.  I do not take grades on these, but instead encourage students to check where they are at.  Would they be able to take a quiz the next day based on how they know the content we have been working on?  After getting feedback from the answer key, students code their work with a checkmark to show the correct answer, an X if it's incorrect, an H if the answer key helped them, a G if their group helped them.
• Mobilize learning
• Students are learning that they can use what they see on other boards to help them move their thinking instead of remaining stuck.
• Have students writing meaningful notes
• This is an area that needs a lot more practice!  We will continue to work on these skills of getting meaningful notes down in writing.  

Checking for Understanding (Ch. 7) Implementation

Today was Check-Your-Understanding day.

With the testing partitions in place

To help with individual thinking,

We went over the directions for what the day would look like.

"The assignment today is strictly for you to check your understanding on this new material.

It is NOT for a grade.

You will work out the problems and then check them at the answer keys taped around the classsroom.

You may check your work at any given point.

To help you get an idea of your understanding,

For every correct answer, mark it with a checkmark.

For every incorrect answer, mark it with an X

If you were able to correct your thinking with the help of the answer key, mark it with an H.

Finally, if you needed a group member to help you talk through it, mark it with a G.

Observations:

1. Some students were like popcorn...jumping up every now and then to check their work.

2. Some had a hard time even starting.  For these students, we talked about taking a risk to get something down on paper.  If it was wrong, it was okay.  This wasn't for a grade.  We could easily correct it and work on understanding it.

3. Some students still wanted my help, my assurance.  Using what I learned in Chapter 5, after giving the instructions, I walked away from the class, allowing them to get into the problems and removing myself as that automatic person for proximity questions.  When students did have questions, I would either answer with a question and walk away again with a smile and an affirmative "you can do this" statement. I need to work on my Keep Thinking questions.  Keep Thinking questions are those questions that are asked when students start to struggle.  I think my questions are too leading as far as cues and hints go.  Will need to reread Chapter 5.

BTC - Taking Notes (Ch. 11)

So....
I went out of the order of suggested implementation.

But, in my defense,

It was perfect timing,

And I would rather the students try the new approach for the first time,

Than get sucked in the routine of live/dead notes.

So we divided their first page in their notebook in half.

One half for Adding Integers and the other half for Subtracting Integers.

We reviewed the learning activities we had completed last week,

And I gave examples about what could all be included...

examples,

pictures,

shortcuts,

descriptions.

Some students got busy right away.

Many had no idea.

Proof that this is a needed activity to continue individual thinking.

After giving them time to think and write,

I walked the room to see what had materialized on their papers.

Few had examples,

Some had pictures of the algebra tiles.

Many.....were totally blank.

Because this was the first time of individually created notes for our future forgetful selves,

I used an example from one of the students.

They had drawn the Algebra tile mat complete with positive and negative tiles.

I drew it up on the board.

I had the students determine was the original problem was that was illustrated with the tiles.

We added that to our notes.

We then added another picture complete with arrows to show the flipping of the tiles.

At this point, usually a student would remember how that connected to the shortcut "add the opposite".

So we then added that to our notes with a numerical example. 

What was surprising is even with this whole group conversation,

Many students still did not write anything down!

In two weeks, students will have the opportunity to use these notes.

They will be able to choose from retaking a short quiz,

Or using them as they practice on more problems. 

We will then follow with a discussion of what they wished they had included for their 

"future forgetful selves".

Aaahhh....the learning process.

So much here at the beginning of the year! 

UPDATE:

So I've noticed this now in two classes.

Not with every student, but with a few.

Students with a little extra time asked if they could update their notes 

from today's lesson on Algebraic Representations.

One student wanted to copy what was on the white board for their notes.  

This is exciting!  

Now the question...how to get everyone on board?