Student of the........What?....

Well, the first month of school is practically down! Going back to the end-of-the-year award ceremony last year, I remember that students were awarded for different things than they are normally awarded for throughout the year. I decided to make these types of awards monthly. At least going along with my class, I've decided to create the following monthly recognitions for students:

Staples is my new best friend. I think these recognition pieces will reinforce the types of thinking and behaviors that currently take place in my class, as well as those that we need more of. It's not that math isn't important, but we can get through more math and create a better learning environment by reinforcing this positive social structure in my class.

Master Participators - These individual students are always attentive, tracking the speaker, and always have their hand ready to share their knowledge and understanding with the rest of the class.

Best Teamwork - To the groups that excel at always being on task, working together to complete a problem, incorporate all group members and follow all group norms

Best Effort - To those that show an eagerness to try their best and learn

Helps Others - Helps others in any sort of way. This could be with a problem, with passing in papers, or even with picking up something that dropped. These students are those that always help someone in need.

Groups of the Month - The groups that exhibit all of the qualities above.

The 8 Mathematical Practices

I remember weeks ago when I made the following post: MP Posters. I found a sweet post on another blog that actually broke down the 8 mathematical practices into kid friendly language! You can check that blog here: MP.

Really awesome and helpful for students to refer to at any point of a lesson. I decided to use the same words but make/decorate my own posters using Word 2010. Here is the final product:

Hoping that staples did them correctly and that I can pick up the order tomorrow and have them up by the middle of next week!

A Class Discussion...

While I tend to be a perfectionist, I'll admit that no one has perfect days. Perhaps even veteran teachers do not have perfect days. Yesterday was the first day that I had to speak to class 605 about expectations. Let's face it: students are completely different when they walk into your classroom after lunch. Before lunch, you have angels. After lunch, you have kids that want to go back to finishing their football/basketball game or game of tag. At the end of class, we had a discussion about what we did wrong and what needed to improve. As a result, they earned no tokens yesterday and they understood that this course of action was fair.

You have to be firm with students, but you also have to be fair. As a rookie teacher, sometimes it's very difficult to pinpoint the source or cause of off-task behavior. My first question is always "was it MY fault? Was there something that I could have done better to prevent what happened?" Sometimes it is our fault. Perhaps lessons could be structured a different way. Perhaps we talk too much. Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the students are just rowdy after lunch. Sometimes they prefer to talk over getting their work completed. Sometimes they are bored. Sometimes they don't understand what to do, so talking to the person behind them is a sound plan. Unlike yesterday, 605 was spot on today. They were all prepared, worked well together and solved all of their questions while explaining their thinking.

They were able to earn the tokens they lost yesterday along with today's token. They were very excited that they made up for yesterday. I took advantage of this and made sure that we discussed as a class the difference between yesterday and today, so that they are more aware of the contrast in their effort. They were able to easily pinpoint these differences and I was very proud of them. I want kids to understand that we all work together and contribute to our classroom environment. If someone isn't doing the correct thing, it affects all of us. I have huge faith in this class and I know they will all succeed. Congrats 605!

Why Is Math Important? Starring VSC Staff

Another tool in my efforts toward increasing student motivation. Part 1 of the "Why is Math Important?" videos I'm choosing to make in order to try to get students motivated. Who knows what kind of effect it will have? When I was in junior high, nothing like this existed. But I know I would've been interested in knowing how some of my favorite teachers used math in their daily life. Thanks to Ms. R, Mr. C and Ms. M for being apart of this and sharing!

Note: I've chosen to make a series instead of one video because of issues with length and student (and even adult) attention spans. 

What does Mr. E think?

We've been doing a lot of learning about ratios and equivalent ratios for the past week. Stronger classes seem to be doing pretty well, but students that are below-level have had a harder time with proportional reasoning and concepts. I have recently started doing a "What does Mr. E think?" so groups can get a glimpse into how I would solve the exact same problem and how I would show my work. It is also happens to be entertaining and fun for the kids.

I will have students work on an example problem:

As the students are working on the problem, so am I on the dry erase pad. After about 2-3 minutes of students working I have the students share. If the students get it, great, we will proceed as normal by discussing how they arrived at their answer. If not, I turn my dry erase board around and think aloud as well as explain my answer and my work.

Modeling my thinking has been somewhat useful for some of the struggling students, and students can also question my work, thinking and discuss their errors with their groups. As a rookie it's still a challenge (and unknown) to me to bring below grade level students to grade level or above.

Congrats! VSC Math Gold/Silver!

Gold Mystery Photos - Week 1

The Golden Mystery Prize

When I look back, I am happy that I made the prizes set up more like an MMORPG/RPG. It's very interesting that students (even those who were mostly in silver tier) chose the mystery prizes more than the known prizes. I know that a few of the students have checked out the blog and have gotten a sneak peek at what the mystery prizes are, but they seem to have kept the secret to themselves.

These prizes gave an element of excitement to the rewards because students have to spend an entire week just to figure out what the prize is. The golden mystery prize was the Wii U. I spent about 500USD yesterday purchasing a Wii U, the game, 3 wireless pro controllers, and tax. My efforts have not gone to waste (and neither have theirs).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

What I like the most about games like SM3DW is that the experience is different every time. The reason why a game like SSBM is so fun is that despite having the same characters and the same stages and the same moves, there are so many items that provide for a different experience almost every time. Have you ever eaten the same thing over and over and over and over and over again? (I have, which is why I added an extra two "over"s to emphasize my point). You literally cannot eat it anymore.

But there are so many worlds to explore in SM3DW and students have to work together to complete levels and progress in the game. Just look at the first video. What I liked the most about this was not only the collaboration aspect, but students took turns and were able to share the controller and the gamepad without any quarreling. We are off to a great start for the new year! I have created a system that inspires students to feel good about themselves and the EFFORT and hard work they have put into my class. It's not about being smart or being the best at math. It's about working as a team, being responsible for your actions, and trying your best.                                            

The Success of VSC Math Recognition

Success!

The first day of VSC Math recognition was a success. The plan I laid out from an earlier post worked:

1) Spend the first 5 minutes of class by having students cash in their tokens and recording the prizes.
2) Hand out any tangible prizes at the end of class, and keep record of intangible prizes for later.
3) Prizes that require students to come upstairs are either scheduled (and upheld) or take place during lunch on Thursday.

The key thing is that this reward system is manageable. There was only 1 issue:
I have 3/4 classes before lunch, so 1 class was left out today because I do not have them before lunch. The only fix I can think of is going to the class they're in during my prep and completing this survey, but this is obviously not going to work.

This class will have to get their rewards (the ones require students to come upstairs for lunch) on Friday. This is fine. When mail starts, that class will have double the rewards on the same day, so I think it balances out nicely. The fact that this system is manageable means that I can move onto mail (something far easier to manage) without revising, but most importantly I will give this system a little bit more time to settle in first before moving to mail.

VSC Math Treasure

                                                  Yep, it's real. What lies in the box?...

Memoirs of the 7th Graders Pt. 1

I have been extremely busy as of late but I've finally got a chance to post. This week I've had the experience of a few of the 7th graders I had last year come to my room before going to the cafeteria for lunch. It's interesting to hear their new experiences and how things have drastically changed. As a teacher that struggled with management last year, there is a gigantic shift between previous expectations from last year, and their current math teacher's expectations.

Because of those management issues, I didn't think I made much of an impact on those students at all. However, plenty of them wanted to have me back, recalled what it was like to have a teacher that explained the math to them, and even remembered their seat.

L: "Right here Mr. E! This was my seat. Right here!"

A former student has also come into my room for homework help.

S: "You always explained this to us!"

Maybe I wasn't the best teacher. But I was wrong. I provided them with a space to learn math, and served as a person they could go to with any question about math or trouble in school. And they know that they are welcome.

The VSC Math Time Bomb

The anxiousness of the process of students cashing in these tokens has seriously gotten to me. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. All I've come up with is:

A) I have 3/4 of the classes BEFORE lunch.
B) Perhaps I can bring up the reward page and give students about 2-3 minutes to discuss with their group what prizes they want. I'll remind them that if they have combinations such as 3 golds and 1 silver, they have to choose from silver prizes.
C) I'll record what each group wants on my clipboard.

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A) Fruit snacks/Bronze Mystery prize will be given out at the end of class
B) Silver prizes (Lunch with Mr. E will be Monday) and other silver prizes will be accounted for
C) Gold mystery prizes given at lunch Thursday.

Let's see how it works!

Find Someone Who............

Before creating my seating chart and making groups, I decided to take an activity I found from a master teacher on betterlessons and use it. We've also played a similar game during a PD on Overcoming Obstacles. It's a game (or at least I framed it as such) called find someone who, in which the following sheet is used:

A lot of groupwork is going to be done in my class and students have to be able to work together and cooperate with one another. I wanted them to see that although they are all unique, they also have plenty of similar qualities and can get to know one another. Watching students get to know each other was fascinating:

Students go around asking their classmates to sign one of the boxes that applies to them until they get one full row of signatures, either vertically or horizontally. However, my goal was simply for students to get to know one another, so the goal was to gather as many different signatures as you can in 10 minutes. I think this goes a long way towards the students being able to work well with one another, and even if it has nothing to do with math, it does help them break the ice with each other and make a new friend in their first week of 6th grade.

The Effect of the Tokens

As with any system, it's important to note the pros and cons. I've made a list of pros and cons from Friday (Day 1) of the tokens and here is a write-up from what I've seen:

PROS

• Increased collaboration - Students are more motivated to work with one another, share their thinking and discussions are focused on the topic or question at hand.
• Students holding each other accountable - In an ideal world, we'd want students to correct or re-direct their own peers. I've seen students remind their teammates that they need to stay on task. For me, this is huge as this takes the responsibility off of my shoulders (and this is the goal, is it not? A classroom where the teacher just has to guide, but not completely take over). Not having to deal with behavioral issues and being able to teach is a dream to many current teachers.
• Feedback - The tokens are also a form of direct feedback on classroom and group performance.
• Tangible - Having something concrete and tangible makes things a lot more "real". Students are also responsible/accountable to their group for carrying these home and bringing them in.
• Students praise each other for their effort - I saw one of the groups of students cheer each other at the end of class when they got a gold token. Complimenting them goes a long way towards increasing their motivation. They will actually be happy to work with another and be excited to work as a team next class. 

CONS

• As mentioned in an earlier post, I still need a way to manage all of the students redeeming tokens all on one day.
• I saw one student upset at another student for earning silver instead of gold. The question becomes "What happens when students in a group aren't doing what they're supposed to? Will I be penalized?" I think acknowledging students who did contribute to the group is the right approach here. However, this is also an opportunity for the group members to have a conversation and be accountable for one another.

 

Side notes:  I saw some students deciding to split the work and coordinate what problems they will share! I was very happy that they were working together on a level that even I function on with my cohort and fellow classmates in college. I will remember to reinforce the teamwork aspect of this system at the end of each period, perhaps with a handshake or a 3 minute discussion where students can reflect on how they worked together that day. I think this will go a long way.

VSC Math Recognition

Here's how it works: Each day, groups can earn 1 token (gold, silver or bronze) depending on factors such as coming prepared, classroom behavior, participation, and working together with their group. The week starts on Friday and ends on Wednesday. Students can earn tokens on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday is the day where students redeem 4 of their tokens for a prize. I give them out at the end of class and the students coordinate which member of their group will take them home and hold onto them.

The following are the prizes:

Each tier of prizes contains a mystery prize. The students will have to figure out what these prizes are. I modeled it after RPG/MMOs. I think leaving it up to the students to figure out what the mystery prizes are contains some kind of value that I can't quite put my finger on yet. Students have a choice to pick whatever prize they want. Each member of the group will get a prize, and each member gets the same prize.

Gold mystery prizes: Playing Nintendo Wii U during lunch period on Thursday (once a week). Nintendo has tons of kid-friendly games that even adults enjoy and they are all multiplayer. I won't purchase all of the games upfront. Students can earn more games over time (I'll buy them and add to our collection). These include fun competitive multiplayer games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3d World.

I told students about this blog earlier this week. Thankfully, they are very excited about it! The other gold mystery prize is a feature on the blog! Silver mystery prize is 10 minutes of free time (thinking of 15 but I want to start small first). The bronze mystery prize is a plush toy. If students earn 4 gold tokens for 4 weeks in a row, they'll be added to a Hall of Fame section of this blog that I'll create. These are all subject to change depending on the kinks that need to be ironed out (as with any system).

So far, students have been holding up their end of things, so I hope things will run smoothly on Thursday. One of my challenges will be the actual process of students redeeming these as I can't have so many students in front of my room! I'm thinking of distributing bronze prizes in the lunch room, and take the students who will play or spend lunch with me upstairs.

VSC Math Token

I wasted no time to get these done at staples. They cost about 40 dollars for 20 of each. While they may not look as perfect as the original image does, they do look great and they're quite durable. I introduced the system to the students on Thursday and we began on Friday.

Our Classroom Sign!

BIG thanks to our new art teacher Ms. S, for helping us with our new sign that now hangs high in our classroom. It is the first step to filling up some of the empty space in the class. The others will showcase student work, which is the best decoration one could ask for.

I have some other things of the kids that I would like to post but it is 1AM. I put in so much effort. I really hope this will be a successful year.

Introducing: The Official VSC Math Tokens

I came up short spending a lot of time trying to find a site that will sell me personalized/engraved coins for my reward system. I needed Gold/Silver/Bronze coins that I'd keep in a treasure box that students would redeem later in the week. Unfortunately it's simply too expensive in addition to being a process that takes plenty of time (meaning I would have to push back the start date for my rewards by perhaps a month).

Courtesy of the Social Studies teacher for giving me the brilliant idea of creating custom dollars instead (really, I thought of this but I can be far too stubborn sometimes). I have created:

Welcome to Unit Rates/Price, Ratios and Proportions

While I haven't gotten into content yet, I've started to work on Unit 1 already and have been thinking about some activities (of course, ones that involve movement), that will likely be the first spotting of the kids on this blog. Going along with my battle (possibly career-long battle) to build student motivation, I decided to use introductory videos that showcase their teachers in the real world, showing the application of the unit/concepts being discussed. I will also create a "Why is Math Important?" video.

Students are familiar with Target even if it's not in their community, and helping their teachers find out which fruit has the cheaper unit price might be plenty interesting and motivating to some of them. There is an element of relevancy, prior knowledge, novelty, and entertainment that comes in making these types of videos. Students in 7th grade that I no longer have are familiar with me, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it. I look terrible!

The First Day of School

Last year, I was at a big disadvantage by coming in during the middle of the year as a blank slate with no time to set rules and expectations. Half of August has been dedicated to helpful and necessary PD's that I participated in for the first time along with our new staff. We have also done an immense amount of planning. There is simply no substitute for the large amount of planning that we have all been doing. After August, it was clear to me that given the circumstances, I did the best I could.


September 4, 2014 will be my own first "first day" of school as a teacher! I have never gotten a chance to start the year fresh with students until now. Trying to build a community (or do anything rather) from the ground up is extremely difficult work. I have shifted some of my focus to getting the new students on board with VSC values. I have also aligned the procedures of my classroom along with the VSC values. This is a fancy way of saying I want to get the students to recognize the specific ways VSC values apply to my class. If they can understand why responsibility, effort and collaboration are important to achieve our goals and build a positive classroom culture/community, then we have taken an important step in building a productive work environment.

Welcome to 6th Grade Math! by MR.E

I want to act out plenty of scenarios along with the students so we can see why certain behaviors do not help us achieve our goals or build our community. We will go over the questions on  Building Our Community after acting out some scenarios that correspond to each question. Students can share what they will be doing to help build our lovely environment. Day one homework consists of a student survey with questions that I will use to create groups. Day 2 is a review of day 1, getting to know all about the students and having them learn about each other, plus laptop procedures. Hoping that this will suffice.