In this week’s podcast I’m going discuss the results from our solving equations quiz and how I am handling students that are really ahead of pace.
Resources I talk about in this episode:
- Modern Classrooms Project – Free Course
- Khan Academy
- Khan Academy – MAP Recommended Practice
- YouTube Channel
Podcast Transcript
In this week’s podcast I’m going discuss the results from our solving equations quiz and how I am handling students that are really ahead of pace.
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.
Starting Unit 2
Ok, so when we last spoke, my students had began Unit 2 which is on Linear Equations and Inequalities. This is by far the largest unit of the semester. We start the unit off by solving equations and word problems. In a typical year, and we all know that there hasn’t been anything typical in the last 18 months, students either have a STRONG understanding of solving equations when they get to high school or they are completely lost. The biggest struggle that I see as a high school teacher, is when students are taught a trick for solving equations. They will try to apply this trick to any type of equation, but as soon as the variable is on BOTH SIDES of the equation or you have to combine like terms to start, the trick doesn’t work and then the students feels frustrated and becomes overwhelmed.
In anticipation of this, I made my videos short and sweet. I began with just one step equations. On the mastery checks, students were required to show their work as to how they arrived at their answer. This helps the students that struggle because they learn HOW to show their work when the equations are simple, and then they are able to apply those steps when they get more involved equations. I slowly progressed them through one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations. If a student struggled with using inverse operations to solve, I had them use highlighters to highlight the variable they needed to isolate and showed them how to use the “undo” method for solving equations.
By taking our time through solving equations, my students were ready when it came time to complete word problems and at the end of the week, we had a quiz. I am incredibly happy to report that I once again had a 100% passing rate. I am blown away by how well the Modern Classrooms Project is working – the data truly does speak for itself.
Student Voice
Yesterday I had a student ask “Will we be learning through videos this whole school year?” and I couldn’t tell by her voice how she felt about learning through the Modern Classrooms Project model, so I asked her and her respond was “I LOVE IT!” Another student chimed in about how she didn’t have to stress about missing my class when she was absent because she was ahead of pace when she left and was able to pick back up on the on pace lesson when she returned. Another student said he loves that he can rewatch the videos and that he wished his other classes were taught in this method. It was great to hear their feedback and how they were enjoying this way of learning.
Students that are Ahead of Pace
In this unit, I have had many students – we are talking like 6 or 7 out of a class of 21, that were able to consistently and successfully complete 2-3 lessons per class period. They were getting to the point where they were waiting for me to post the next lesson. I felt like I was holding them back because I didn’t have the next lesson ready for them. I had been thinking about something that I could do with these students that were 4-5 lessons ahead of pace that would help them grow and improve their mathematical skills. To do this, I started using Khan Academy.
Khan Academy has a free program that uses NWEA MAP Test scores to generate personalized study recommendations. In my district we gave the MAP assessment earlier this month and so I was able to give students their current scores and had them focus on one of the strands. Khan Academy gives them videos and practice assignments and when a student feels like they are ready, they can take a quiz on the standard. On the teacher end, I can see what skills my students have improved upon, and which ones need more practice and remediation. This is a HUGE way that I can differentiate for my students that are ahead of pace and help them grow in areas that they are struggling in. I will link MAP Recommended Practice from Khan Academy in my podcast notes.
Connect with Me
Did you know I have a YouTube channel? This is where you can find ALL of the videos I am using in my classroom. If you are a math teacher definitely check it out. It is my goal to help as many math teachers that I can. Teaching in a pandemic is hard, and this is just one way that I can help my fellow educators!
I upload my YouTube videos to EdPuzzle to assign to my students. This means that you can search for my videos in EdPuzzle and be able to pull up the videos that already have the questions embedded.
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.
Connect with my on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube @ErinsEssentialEquations
Subscribe to this podcast hear my bi-weekly updates.
Thanks for listening!
