Big updates in this episode! In this week’s podcast I’m going discuss the results from our first unit test, reflect on the completion of our first unit, and how I am going to adapt moving forward. I’ll also share review ideas that I used to help my students prepare for the unit test.
Resources I talk about in this episode:
- Polynomials Choice Board
- Radicals Choice Board
- Solving Equations Choice Board
- Blooket
- Polynomials Expressions Notes, Practices, Videos, and Exit Tickets
- Kate Gaskill’s Do Now
- Self-Checking Maze – Solving Multi-Step Equations
- Modern Classrooms Project – Free Course
Podcast Transcript
In this week’s podcast I’m going discuss the results from our first unit test, reflect on the completion of our first unit, and how I am going to adapt moving forward. I’ll also share review ideas that I used to help my students prepare for the unit test.
Hi, my name is Erin and welcome to Teaching Math in a Modern Classroom! I am a high school math teacher in my 12th year of education. For years I had been feeling frustrated and defeated when it came to differentiating my instruction to meet ALL of the needs of my students. I was able to differentiate my lessons in a way that helped most of my students but not all. I knew there had to be a better way than direct instruction and practice.
One day, while scrolling on my phone, I decided to download some random podcast episodes. The first one I listened to was titled How to Create a Self-Paced Classroom from the Cult of Pedagogy podcast. I was in awe as I listened to Kareem and Jennifer talk about the Modern Classrooms Project and knew this was the direction that I wanted to take and my journey as a Modern Classrooms Project teacher began.
If you are feeling the same way, I hope this podcast will inspire you to give Modern Classrooms Project a try! Each episode, I’ll share my journey of implementing this research-based teaching model and what I’ve learned along the way.
Unit 1 Wrap Up and Results
Let’s get into it.
I gave my first summative unit test in my Algebra 1 class that I am implementing the Modern Classrooms Project with. I could not believe the results. All of the students that tested, passed the test. I have NEVER had all students pass this unit 1 test. I was so happy looking at the results, I felt like I could cry. I literally danced down the hall after the class was over to share the news with one of my coworkers. The Modern Classrooms Project is WORKING. On top of this result, when my PLC met to discuss the data, my class had the highest overall average. I was blown away with these results. It makes me want to immediately start implementing this model with my other classes – but we will talk about that another time.
To prepare for the unit 1 test, I had students complete choice board activities. If you are unfamiliar with choice boards, they are exactly what they sound like. Students are given a choice as to which questions they complete. I tell them to pick x amount in each row or column. My students have been loving the element of choice and so this is something I will continue to use throughout the year.
The day before the test, we played Blooket for the first time this year and it was a hit! If you have never played Blooket with your students, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is similar to Quizizz and Kahoot! You choose or create a question set, then you select a game mode. My favorites are Gold Quest, Crypto Hack, and Battle Royale. Students will join the game using a game ID. Gold Quest gets really intense because you can steal gold from other players. It is a lot of fun. My students keep asking if we can play again before our next test.
It has been over a week since I gave the test and I am still in shock of how well my students did. I knew that this model was working but I guess I didn’t grasp, how well it is working. I just really hope it continues!
Beginning Unit 2
Unit 1 was all about Expressions so students learned about operations with polynomials and radicals. Unit 2 is our next unit and it is the largest unit of the semester. We will be working in this unit until the beginning of November. Since this unit is so large, my PLC has broken it up into smaller chunks. This unit is covers all of linear equations in inequalities. Last week, my students began this unit by learning about solving equations. This particular standard is review – something that they should have learned in middle school, however; with the pandemic, I am not sure exactly what my students learned and were able to retain of their 7th and 8th grade years.
Most of my students are really thriving in this unit. I can see their confidence growing – it is truly amazing to witness. Other students are struggling, especially when they got to consecutive integer word problems. These students will not fall behind this year because of the Modern Classrooms Project. I was able to work one on one and in small groups with many students last week. I created individualized graphic organizers for struggling students. We used different techniques and approaches to solving the equations, and I saw the light bulb and a-ha moments. This is why I became a teacher.
Reflections and Changes Moving Forward
In this unit, I have been more intentional about color coding my skills checks. I have 3 different versions of each skills check and I have a designated group in the middle of my classroom where students take these formative assessments. Each version has its own color – for the entire unit. All versions 1s are hot pink, version 2s are light pink, and version 3s are blue. There’s no rhyme or reason for these colors, it is just what I had available. When a student asks for a skills check, I can scan the table and see who has what color and give different versions. All the versions assess the same standard and have similar questions; the main difference is different numbers.
In Unit 1 I had been using a social-emotional check in, like the one Kate Gaskill used. I’ll link it in my podcast notes on my blog. I was also using a goal setting student facing tracker with students. This was asking students create goals for the day and to create goals for each lesson. Students were just like ok this is another box we need to check and let’s just write down whatever.
I was thinking about switching up the do now for unit 2, but instead I am going to change my student facing tracker. Instead of having the student tracker also have students create goals for each lesson, I will just have it be a tracker with the pacing of the unit. I have also broken it down into smaller, more manage chunks. This helps students not feel overwhelmed when they see the entirety of the unit and it helps me if I decide to make some changes throughout the way.
In the first unit, I was constantly at my desk, grading or answering student questions. Moving forward, I want to be moving around the classroom more and answering student questions in their groups. To help with this, I have decided to have some of my practice assignments be self-checking digital activities.
This past week, my students completed a self-checking maze on solving multi-step equations. When students typed in the answer, the box would light up green if it was correct and red if it was incorrect. If the answer was correct, the path to the next equation appeared. Students were able to go back and analyze their work to find their error. In a regular worksheet, they would have continued on, thinking they were correct until I checked their work. The problem with this is that they may have made the same mistake on every problem and therefore practiced this same mistake multiple times. With this self-checking activity, they had immediate feedback and I was able to work with students individually if they were unable to find their mistake. If you are interested in this activity, I will share it in my podcast notes on my blog.
I really have been enjoying sharing this journey with you. There is so much to share and tell as well as continuing to create the videos, notes, practices, and organizing my LMS Schoology, so I do not always have the time to do it all. I am going to release this podcast on a bi-weekly basis going forward so I can share more of the progress of the students taking part in the Modern Classrooms Project and provide better insight into their acceptance of this new learning strategy. I really think this will make for a more enjoyable podcast experience.
Let’s Connect!
If you are also implementing the Modern Classrooms Project with your students, please use #mcpteachers on Instagram and share the amazing things you are doing in your classroom with me so I can learn from you as well!
If you’re listening to this podcast within the first 24 hours of its release, please head over to my Instagram stories and participate the poll to choose the release day of the podcast in the future!
Are you a secondary math teacher struggling with student engagement? If you haven’t already, please visit my website, www.erinsessentialequations.com to download my free “Strategies to Keep Students Engaged in your Secondary Math Classroom” resource!
If you want to learn more about the modern classrooms project check out their website at modernclassrooms.org.
If you want to see what going on in my classroom, check out my Instagram or Facebook @erinsessentialequations
Subscribe to this podcast hear my bi-weekly updates.
Thanks for listening!
2 Responses
I’m super interested in how to make my own self-checking mazes! Is there a chance you’d give us a quick tutorial? I’m doing MCP with my 8th-grade math students. I will hopefully also do my 8th-grade Algebra class eventually.
Thank you for this podcast and website! 🙂
I learned how from the wonderful Lindsay Bowden! She has a resource starter where she sells templates and shows you how to input your questions. Her website is http://www.lindsaybowden.com.