0 My Favorite Partner Practice

I am a fan of anything cooperative, as long as it is structured in such a way that everyone participates. I spent a lot of time last year seeking out new cooperative practice ideas and trying them out.

I am an even bigger fan of partner cooperation. There is something about a group of three or four that makes me feel like someone is probably getting lost in the interaction. When you are working with a partner, you are directly accountable to one other person. I even have my students seated as partners.

I learned my favorite partner practice from another teacher in my grad program a few years ago. I found out later that it is a Kagan cooperative learning structure called boss/secretary.

Student 1, Boss:  This student's job is to watch and tell. Student tells how to solve the problem, and describes each step with enough detail that the partner can get it written down. This student should be talking and watching, but not writing.

Student 2, Secretary:  This student's job is to listen and write. Student writes down the solution as the partner describes it. This student should be writing but not talking. The exception is if the partner gets stuck or makes a mistake. Then the student can coach and assist with the solving.

What I like about boss/secretary:  It can be done at any time at the drop of the hat. It can also last for any length of time. I will often stop in the middle of a lesson and check for understanding this way. I will just throw out two problems and tell the person sitting on the right (or wearing the most green, or the biggest feet, or the oldest . . .) to be solver of the first problem and then switch roles. I also just used it for a unit review that lasted a whole class period. We used white boards and I signed off on each section as it was completed.

What I don't like:  Students have to stick to their roles in order for it to be a meaningful interaction. I have seen students who are responsible for listening take charge of the problem, or students who are in charge of talking to take a passive role. It is helpful to have students switch roles with every problem.

Detail: My Favorite Partner Practice

0 I Need Adventure (also my trial run of Solve, Crumple, Toss)

Yesterday I tried another goodie from f(t) . . . Solve, Crumple, Toss. Just in case you've never read that post, make sure you read the part about how you should use "6-8 problems with somewhat lengthy solutions". I either skipped or disregarded that part of the description, and it was the downfall of the day.

My students are working on writing linear equations in standard form, given different types of information. I just printed up twelve problems, six per page. Students cut them apart, worked them out (one at a time) and brought them to me to check. If all was dandy, then they got to take a shot for points.  If not, I sent them on their way to keep trying and encouraged partners to check each other's wrong answers and help find the errors. I had no time to coach and help find errors myself, because I had a line of students waiting for me to check their answers. I expected them to finish all twelve problems and make twelve shots. Fine as long as I have a student shooting, like, every eleven seconds. Note to self: Fewer, more complex problems next time!!!

The student response ranged from a few who acted totally tortured because they had to get up out of their seat twelve times, all the way to enthusiastic participation by many. This was fun and productive, and there will definitely be a next time.

In related news, I realized how much more I enjoy my job when I am trying something new. I have been teaching the same classes in the same school for 6 years now, so it is super easy to just pull out what I did last year and do it again. I don't want to take that approach to teaching, so I am always looking for ways to improve on what I have already done. Still, I think my best lessons are the ones that I create from scratch with a fresh perspective.

So today I am just thinking about the payoff for extra time spent trying something new. Sometimes these things work, and sometimes they don't. Still, I am happiest when I am being adventurous.

Detail: I Need Adventure (also my trial run of Solve, Crumple, Toss)

0 Scavenger Hunt

I got the idea for a scavenger hunt from some friends.  They created a proportion activity that I use in my math strategies class. I hadn't tried to use it for anything else, until recently.

The setup is pretty simple, you just make up a bunch of cards with questions on the bottom half and an answer to a different problem on the top half.  Each card has a distinguishing feature like a symbol or something, and you tape them all around the room.

I had students stick with a partner, to help answer each other's questions. Students are supposed to choose one card to start with, and work out the problem on the bottom half of the page.  Then they look around the room for the answer.  When they find it, they record the symbol in the answer key and work out the next problem and so on . . .

Remember my Rock Star intern? I asked him to create a scavenger hunt to review in the middle of my basic trig unit for Algebra 2. The topic was finding sohcahtoa, given different types of information. He wrote all the problems himself, and created a page for students to show their work and record the corresponding symbols.

Rock Star thought about everything! He made sure that the answers to every problem were different, but yet similar enough that it wasn't a dead giveaway. He proofread his solutions carefully and there were no mistakes (well, I had to make two teeny tiny corrections). The number of problems he selected was the perfect amount. Everyone finished, but there wasn't a ton of extra time at the end of the activity. I couldn't have done it better myself.

This was my first time entrusting my intern with the creation of an activity. I will admit that I was fully expecting cautiously preparing for the day to be a disaster. But it couldn't have been more perfect. I loved this activity and I will definitely laminate it and use it again. Students were up and moving around, and they were pretty focused.  Even my class with focus issues worked really hard.

I am thinking of how nice it would be to continue to utilize Rock Star's help, and I have decided:  This kid is not allowed to graduate.

Detail: Scavenger Hunt

0 Super Speedy Quiztastic Fun

A couple weeks ago, I did a trial run of Kate Nowak's speed dating. It was a great way to set students up for coaching each other, and students love the social aspect of the activity.

That got me thinking of a faster version, for practice of basic skills at "lightning speed". I am thinking it could work for identifying properties, factoring a quadratic where a = 1, or anything that is not so paper-and-pencil problem solve-y and more flash card-y. I tried it with converting logs to exponential form, and for evaluating logs.

For the fast version, students stand in two rows facing each other. Everybody has a flash card with the answer on the back. Students quiz the person facing them, and provide coaching as needed. We talked about what appropriate coaching (helpful hints) looks like vs. inappropriate coaching (name-calling, answer telling, etc.). Then, students trade cards and one row moves so that everyone has a new partner and a new question.  I ended up rotating every 15-20 seconds. It worked great, students got reinforcement on these concepts, and the whole activity took less than five minutes.

As a warm-up, I used one set of cards (the 1st and 3rd pages front/back from the document below) for converting logs to exponential form. I made them so that if you copy them front-to-back, then the right answer is on the back of the right card. At least, that was the goal. (I wish I had included some with negative exponents). Then we moved on to another set of cards (2nd and 4th pages), where they had to identify what number goes in place of the '?'.

log flash cards






And, I have to mention, the beauty of the moment when I had this on my board as part of that same lesson:  (When will my brand new fantabulous technology cart function properly??)

No one asked me who had too much time on their hands and thought this stuff up.  No one asked me why they have to learn this stuff.  They just got it.  And they came to class the next day asking if today's math would be as easy as yesterday's.

Thanks (AGAIN!) to Kate for suggesting the use of the word "power" before "log".

Detail: Super Speedy Quiztastic Fun

0 Trial Run: Speed Dating

Today I test drove another fantabulous idea from f(t).  I spent the week on rational expressions and complex fractions, so I wanted to review all of that.  I won't go into all the details, because I pretty much followed the activity exactly as Kate describes it.

So here's my reflection . . .

What I liked about speed dating:  At any given moment, all the students were doing math (well, almost).  And they weren't just watching someone do math, they were actively participating by either doing a problem or helping someone else do a problem.  I love empowering the students to coach each other.

What I didn't like:  I must admit, the noise level was a little out of my comfort zone.  But I am trying to stretch myself as a teacher and I can definitely learn to adjust.  I also need to learn how to tell the difference between goofing around noise and the sound of good productive math conversations.  I would say that the noise was 90% productive today, and I think that is pretty good.  Also, the room getting loud was a really good indication that it was time to move on to the next problem.

I think I need to spend some time teaching students what good coaching looks like, but I am doing this activity again for sure.

By the way, I didn't use the term "speed dating" with my students.  However, it took about five minutes in each class before someone says "this is like speed dating".  And then they started being cute and saying "Hello, my name is ____" when they sat down with a new partner and "It was nice to meet you" as they moved on to the next partner.  Oh, I love high school students!

Detail: Trial Run: Speed Dating

0 Math Dominoes

Here's another review activity that I like:

To create the dominoes, you set up a table in a word document and then fill in the first box with the word "START".  Put a problem in the next box, followed by the answer in the next box, and so on.  The final box will contain the word "END".  Cut them apart domino-style, and you have a puzzle for students to assemble.

It is self-checking, because students should get to the end without any extra pieces.

What I like about Math Dominoes:  Students can manipulate the pieces as they solve.  You hear things like "Wait a minute, I already used such-and-such answer", followed by students going back to find the mistake and rearrange things accordingly.  Most students like the puzzle-like nature of the activity.

What I don't like:  If students are working in pairs, it is possible for one person to dominate and the other to coast.  I sometimes accompany this with a sheet where both partners have to show calculations.  The biggest problem I have had with this in the past is the huge variation in how much time it takes to finish.  Depending on the complexity and so on, students will finish in anywhere from 5-45 minutes.  So if you are using this for the first time you will want to have something in your back pocket for the kids who finish in five.

Helpful tip:  Make sure each set of dominoes has a distinguishing feature.  Make them in different colors, or put colored dots on the backs of them or something.  That way when you see one laying on the floor after class, you won't be pulling out your hair trying to figure out to which set it belongs.

Detail: Math Dominoes

0 Trial Run: Add Em Up

This is a teeny tiny modification on f(t)'s Add Em Up.  By the way, I am not sure that I am going to have an original idea for awhile . . . I have found a ton of ideas over there that I can't wait to try.  So, I'm all booked for weeks with my stolen borrowed ideas from Kate Nowak.

For myself, I want to keep track of how these things go by writing about them here.

Today in physics, I had some problems straight out of the book that I wanted my students to do for practice.  My students are always sitting in pairs, so I put the problems in groups of 2.  The idea was that each partner would complete one of the problems and then they would add their answers together.

I had the sum of the answers written on the board, like this:

Partners check their sum to see if it matches.  If yes, hooray!  If no, they must examine BOTH problems to try to find the error.  And, hopefully, productive discussion happens.

What I love about Add Em Up:  The students were working harder than the teacher!  It is super easy to implement.  I didn't have to create anything new, all I needed was the set of problems that I had already planned to use for practice.  Most of all, I love how it allows the students to self check and correct without directly telling them the answer.

What I don't love about Add Em Up:  Nothing, really!  The only problem I encountered was that one student ditched his partner part way through.  He got the idea that he was only accountable for the problems in his column and he started checking with the person behind him and letting his partner (who was having trouble) fend for himself.  I blame that situation on myself, since it was more of a classroom management issue.  I realized it was happening when the ditched partner started asking me for help.  So I talked to the first student and hopefully got that straightened out.

This one is going to be a regular in my bag o' tricks.

Detail: Trial Run: Add Em Up

0 Stations Review and Practice

I saw this method of review for the first time at an NCTM conference a few years back.  The presenter was Heather Hart.  Since then, I have seen several different versions.  Here's how it works for me:

Print up some cards with 2-3 problems each.  Make two copies -- one to leave blank and one to write out the solutions.

Write out the solution to each problem, and attach the solutions to one set of problems to the back of the next consecutive card.  (See below the solutions to #13 and #14 are on the back of the #15 and #16 card).  I like to have the answers on the next card, so students can't just flip over the card to see the answer right away.

Then you are ready to roll.  Just set up your stations around the room.  Start with 2-3 students at each station to work out their first set of problems.  Set the timer for 3-5 minutes (or whatever seems appropriate).  When time is up, students rotate to the next station where they check/correct what they just did and then work out the next set of problems.

After the first time using this activity, my students asked me if they could just stay in their seats and pass the cards from table to table instead of getting up and moving around.  I was surprised, but it was fine by me.  If I am being honest, I kind of prefer students sitting in their seats.

Why I like stations:  It takes some time to create the cards, but they can be laminated and re-used a ton of times.  The actual execution of this lesson could not be easier.  I just pass out the cards and set my timer, sip some diet pepsi, and holler "rotate".  I also think this would be a great lesson to leave for a sub, since it doesn't require any mathematical knowledge to pass out cards, set a timer, and yell "rotate".  So most likely it wouldn't get messed up.

Why I don't:  You have to have the timing just right.  If students finish their problems and then have to wait more than 30 seconds to move to the next station, then they have time for shenanigans.  I started pairing this activity with a page of bonus problems that they can work on if they have to wait at any time during the activity.  Also, after awhile, this activity becomes mundane.  Students start to look like little robots:  Work problem.  Pass card.  Check answer.  Repeat.  A few of them will try to beat the system and just wait for the solution card to show up instead of trying to work out the problems on their own.  You will want to be careful not to over-use this one, but I guess that is true for a lot of activities.  

Detail: Stations Review and Practice