Report Card Writing

Report card writing has always seemed pretty daunting to me. It's one of those things that we talk about a lot, but don't get a ton of practice in. Don't get me wrong, it's difficult when every board uses a slightly different program for their report cards. However, it seems like a pretty large gap in my education as a teacher candidate.

Luckily for me... webinars to the rescue! This week's webinar was on report card writing, and was possibly one of the most helpful 45 minutes I've had in a while! Not only was it explained well, but we got time to practice.

Let me explain further.

First we got to practice how to determine a student's grade based on a number of assessments that we had theoretically collected. The great part about this exercise was that some of the assessments were on the organization of the student's notes and on how many times they had completed homework. Trying to trick us eh? Thankfully, we all pointed out that these marks shouldn't be taken into account for the mark of the student, as they are a greater reflection of his learning skills and work habits, and not his understanding of the content. The next interesting thing about the marks we had "collected" were that there was a huge jump in marks from the first assessment to the last few assessments. We all decided that the student had made great progress, and that the first quiz was more of a diagnostic assessment. It allowed us to see that over the course of the unit, the student's understanding of the concepts had increased, and by the end of the unit, the student had grasped considerable knowledge of the subject matter. Therefore, as a group throughout the webinar, we were able to discuss what mark we would give the students and rationalize why we would give that mark. The following photo is the activity that we participated in, along with our notes.

Elizabeth O'Brien. (October 2017). Activity 1: What Would You Do? [Screen Shot].

Then we were taken through some activities with writing report card comments. First, we were shown some of the different strategies that should be used when writing effective report card comments. These strategies were clearly laid out for us, and were super helpful when we came to the practice section. We were given ineffective report card comments, and tasked with rewriting them. I think this was a great way to do it, because it allowed us the opportunity to see what to do and what not to do. We were able to work from something that we knew needed to be change, and add our own flavour to the comment.

Overall, I think that this webinar was one of the most helpful ones we've had. I think the topic is extremely important and often overlooked in our classes. Luckily for us, our presenter also provided us with so many opportunities to practice and learn, that we all took a lot out of it. And just like that, I feel a little more confident in writing report cards!

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The A Word (Assessment)

CBC (Dec. 16, 2011). Mr. D | Mr. D | CBC. Video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fn_vAhu_Lw.

Mr. D clearly knows what he's doing. Just scribble some numbers and words on a page, maybe circle a few things, and throw a number on the top. Marking is so easy, am I right?!

Hmmm... not quite....
Assessment is a whole lot more than just throwing some numbers and words on a page for students. Assessment is how students learn, and how students grown. So how exactly are they going to develop if we just give them a 75%? Like I said, there's way more to it.

The most important part about assessment is descriptive feedback. Giving students the tools to learn from what they have completed is possible only if you tell them how and where to improve. Descriptive feedback incorporates a couple of different key components. There are a number of important factors for assessment that are outlined in the Growing Success document. First, outline what the students have done well. Make some direct links to what students have succeeded in. Not only will it help to develop their confidence, but you're also telling them what to keep doing in the future. Second, let them know where they can improve. This doesn't mean tearing their work to shreds and outlining every single detail they got incorrect. Show the students that there are always things to work on, and help them see what they need to keep working on. One of the most important things we always talk about in math is the ability to make mistakes and struggle - this means that you're learning. So if students are guided on how to improve their work in the future, they will also continue to learn.

No, descriptive feedback is not as easy as throwing a number on everything. But you don't have to do it for every little thing your students hand in. It's about quality, not quantity.

While I was in my placement last year, my students were working on graphing. I got them to create some bar graphs and hand them in to me. I took some time to go over the graphs and provide descriptive feedback based on the success criteria we had co-created. Don't get me wrong... this took a fair chunk of time. However, I wanted to see how the students were doing, and where they needed to go. So, after writing what seemed like a novel (not actually of course!) for each student, I handed them back their graphs so that they could read the feedback. The next day in class, we continued to work on creating graphs. At the end of the class, I got the students to hand their bar graphs in again, and what happened was magic. Almost every single student had made a perfect bar graph!

After this experience with my students, I talked to them to see how they had improved so much, so quickly. Every single one of them said that it helped to have had me look closely at their graphs, and go through what they succeeded in and what needed to be improved on. Essentially, the students used my feedback as another checklist help them through their work.

So, to wrap it all up, don't be a lazy marker. Give your students assessments that will help them grow as learners. If you put the effort in to marking and caring about your student's success, then they will be successful. It's (almost) as simple as that!

The Trouble With Unit Planning

It's been a while since our last math class, nearly 2 weeks to be exact! Just because I haven't been in class, doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it. I want to dedicate this post to some of the ups and downs I've had with unit planning in math.

When we we tasked with creating a unit plan for math, we were allowed to choose whatever grade and strand that we liked. Now, when I'm usually faced with this position, I tend to choose something that I'm familiar with because I know better how to complete the task successfully. However, in this case, my group and myself decided to challenge ourselves with a grade that we weren't as comfortable with. All of us agreed that the idea of intermediate math seemed a little bit more daunting, so we went ahead and chose Grade 7 measurement.

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Grade 7 measurement definitely seemed like it had possibilities to be a successful unit, but having no experience of creating a math unit plan, the process seemed difficult. So we started like I start every unit plan, and came up with a theme and big idea for the unit. We came up with the idea of having the students create their own buildings for a green space; an idea that we were extremely proud of! But the concept of the unit was just the beginning, and there were definitely some hurdles to come.

First up was the length of the unit. How long should the unit be? How do we make sure that we teach enough in the unit given the time frame? How do we know how much time to give to each lesson? Ahh and the questions continued. Luckily for us some of these questions already had answers. Based on our outlines, we were to make our unit plan for up to 15 days. However, the next questions of how much time to give the students on topics within the lesson still remained. I think that in the classroom, this might be easier to judge because you know your students and their capabilities. However, it is still difficult to gage how much time will be needed to get through certain topics, and we didn't want to give too much/too little time. Despite having been able to come up with a good sequence of lessons, it is an ongoing struggle of unit planning.

Next up we had the trouble of making sure that the unit actually followed the expectations. This seemed like an easy task, but was actually trickier than we expected. We had this great idea of creating the buildings, but we had to make sure that the lessons all fell in to the curriculum. We had to make sure that the students were actually learning what they needed to learn and developing the new skills necessary for Grade 7. It's easy to get wrapped up in the excitement of a lesson or unit plan, but it's important to make sure not to stray so far from the curriculum. At some point, as we found out, you have to dial back on the extravagancies and make sure the students are fully understanding the actual concepts.

Needless to say, these few struggles that we went through were worth it, because now our group definitely feels like we have a successful unit plan. It was not an easy journey to get to where we are. I can definitely see how it would be easy to fall into the routine of just following a textbook. We were able to create a unit that we thought ties in a lot of good concepts of math with real life application. A unit that, after some hurdles, we are proud of.

Which One Doesn't Belong? Nah, We All Belong!

For those of you who sit with me in math class every week, you'll know how much I LOVE Which One Doesn't Belong? (WODB) It is quite literally my favourite site to use for math!

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Essentially, this site has different images, which are made up of a quadrants. Each quadrant contains a different image, number sentence, or shape. In some way or another, all of the quadrants are related to one another, but have some slight differences. Students can be shown the whole image, and then have to choose which of the quadrants doesn't belong with the others and give a reason for their answer.

Andrew Gael. (n.d) Map Shapes. [Online Image]. Retrieved from http://wodb.ca/shapes.html.

The thing I love about this site is that there are so many different puzzles that fall into all of the different strands in math. Additionally, there are tons of puzzles that use real life photos, rather than just drawings or numbers. For example, the image above looks at what the differences are between the different subway maps from different cities. Relate math to real life? Can I get a "YES PLEASE"?!

WODB is an amazing way to get all of your students thinking at whatever level of comfort and confidence that they want. As long as your students can come up with a description or an explanation for what they chose, they've got the right answer. In other words... there are no wrong answers! We spoke a lot about rich math tasks this week, and I think that these puzzles are great examples of rich math tasks (when used in the right context). Obviously, these puzzles can't be your whole lesson, but they provide students with great practice and thinking about math. WODB has open questions, that are related to real life, and allow for all sorts of different answers.

I had the opportunity to use this site during my practicum, and it was great. A couple of times a week, we would throw up a puzzle from WODB for the minds on section of our math class. We chose puzzles that fell under the strands that we were teaching at the time. Students wrote down all of the different explanations for which one didn't belong, and after about 5 minutes, we came together as a class to discuss our answers. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about my students from this activity. Some of the things that they noticed in the images and numbers gave clues to what kinds of learners they were. Additionally, there were times when they would notice differences that I hadn't even thought about! It was pretty awesome to see how all the different students in my class learned.

All in all, I think that WODB is a great way to get students talking and thinking about math. It gets them to work at their own level and challenge themselves as they need it. It's one of the coolest sites that I've come across in my short time teaching.

Use this resource. Trust me. Use it.

Parallelism

Another week, another math class, and another blog post to get my juices flowing! This week's topic of parallel tasks is one of the most important things that we have touched on in math so far. To be honest, this topic goes further back for me than just math.

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Let's take you back to the beginning... When I first decided that I wanted to start working with children, I took up a position as a one on one integration counsellor for a summer camp. I worked directly with one child per week, who had special needs. This job gave me the most experience of any job I have ever had. Period. The whole idea about integration, is exactly in the name. We integrate the campers in to the larger group activities by using their strengths, and being there to support their needs. I learned more from those children, then they would ever learn from me.

One of the important parts of the job though, was something called parallel play. This allowed the campers to play alongside their peers based on whatever their needs were. Parallel play didn't always mean that they were playing the exact same game, but they were still interacting with their peers, and participating in the group.

This job taught me (almost) everything I know about adapting activities. I believe that every single child can participate, in some capacity or another. It was up to me to figure out how to adapt the situation so that my child could participate. Parallel play, or parallel tasks, are so important to integration, inclusion, and overall development of children. Give them the choice and the option to do what they're comfortable with. Exceptionalities, no matter what they are, make people just that: exceptional. Provide for kids, adapt for kids, and integrate kids, so we can allow all of them to be exceptional.

This brings us to the important topic for this week... *drumroll please* ...parallel tasks in math!

Like I said, parallel tasks hit home for me because I believe that every single child is capable of greatness, whatever that greatness means to them. By creating parallel tasks, you allow the students the opportunity to work with their peers at whatever level they feel most comfortable at. They're still doing math. They're still working through a problem. But they're doing something they feel confident in because they chose it, and they can do it.

Differentiating, adapting, and providing appropriate tasks is the most important part of being a teacher. Yes, math gets a bad rep, but it doesn't have to be that way in your classroom. When you learn to differentiate in your classroom (see this article on differentiation in math) then students are given opportunities based on their comfort level and capabilities.

I said in my last post, that every single person is different. If every single child is different, why would we only use one question with one possible answer? It doesn't seem very sensible if you ask me. Allow your students to choose from a number of similar, open-problem tasks. This allows them options for the question, but also options for the solutions too. All of these aspects can be varied depending on the comfort level of the individual. Students are then working and challenging themselves at their own speed.

All in all, parallel math tasks will get all your students feelin' like...

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All About That Growth Mindset

Ahhhh the growth mindset. It seems like this has been something that's been drilled into our brains since we walked through the doors to teachers college exactly one year ago. That being said, I get it. It's SO important for what we're doing.

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Teaching children is no easy task. Especially when every single child is different. You stand in front of a class every single day and talk to 30 different humans, with 30 different personalities, and 30 different interests. Easy right? WRONG.

However, teaching is a challenge that I have happily decided to accept. Through this challenge though, there are a couple of different strategies that will help me. It's not necessarily about teaching each child something completely different, but providing them with the tools to be independently and collaboratively successful, no matter what challenge is thrown their way. And that's where our little friend, "growth mindset" comes in.

BigChange. (November 27, 2015). Growth Mindset [Online image]. Retrieved from http://big-change.org/growth-mindset/

Failure is okay. Change is okay. Challenge is okay. Yes, these things are going to be difficult, but it's how we face adversity that makes us learners. Challenges for one student aren't always a challenge for another. For example, some students in your math class might be working below grade level, some might be working at grade level, and some might be working above grade level. Challenges for these students all look completely different! Having this growth mindset among our students will let them know that no matter what gets thrown at us, we will always be able to figure something out. Teaching our students this is WAY more important than any specific part of a subject. Giving kids the ability to learn with a growth mindset doesn't just stop in the classroom. It follows them where ever they go with their lives. And isn't that what we, as teachers, are supposed to be doing? Preparing children for the roads and life ahead?

But there are still some important things to consider. Remember those 30 different humans, with the 30 different personalities, and the 30 different interests? It's the differences in each and every one of these students that makes them unique. So don't squash those personalities down. Help them rise up. Let every single student be the person that they want to be with the interest they want to have. Having a growth mindset doesn't necessarily turn them in to a "math person," or an "art person, or any other person at that. Having a growth mindset will give them to tools to be able to face difficulties in different subjects that may not be - for lack of a better word - their favourite. I don't think its about making every single student believe that they are going to learn or succeed in the exact same way. I think it's about knowing that each student is individual and unique, and the changes, challenges and failures they face make them who they are.

Give students the tools to succeed. Don't turn them in to something they might not want to be. Like I said, challenges and failures help us grow, no matter what subject we're learning in school. But help students grow and foster their individualities too. At the end of the day, it is those individualities that make them who they are, and who they are going to be when they grow up.

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As cliche as it might sound, people always say that it's not about the destination, but about the journey. So maybe every single students' destination is going to be completely different. But if they used a growth mindset along the path of their journey, then maybe that's okay.

And We're Baaaaaaaaack!

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It's that time of year again! The leaves are changing, the air's getting colder, the students are scurrying back in to school, and I'm heading back to math! It feels like an eternity since I've been in my beloved Brock Hamilton classroom, with a SmartBoard, some manipulatives, and the somewhat daunting task of teaching math ahead of me. There have been a lot of changes and experiences since the last time I was in my math class, and boy have they been tranformative!

First and foremost... I taught math! Like a real, honest-to-goodness math class to a bunch of eager Grade 5 students! I can't believe that I'm saying this (and I don't think that one-year-ago me would believe this either), but math was one of my favourite subjects to teach! There's something about getting up there and teaching a subject that you're relearning (because it has been a LONG time since I was in Grade 5), that just gets the juices flowing.

Now don't take all this excitement the wrong way - there were definitely some interesting learning experiences along the way. Take for instance, the fact that we didn't have a classroom... Yes, that's right! We took fifteen Grade 5 students into the library, with very few resources, and a rollable white board. Then, to make it even better, half way through the week we moved to a Grade 1 classroom that wasn't being used during the period. If that doesn't make you become creative, then I don't know what does!

It wasn't just last year though that I expanded my math experiences. I have the lucky opportunity to be able to have a Mum who is a teacher. This summer, she switched from Grade 8 to Grade 3 so she needed to completely redo her classroom.
*Cue me to swoop in to the rescue*
As I filled my daughterly duties to help my Mum, one of my jobs to set up the classroom was to set up math manipulative trays. I am OBSESSED with these. Each table group gets a tray, and filled in to each tray is almost every type of math manipulative you could imagine. Each time math class starts, you whip out all the manipluatives, and every student gets to use whatever their heart desires. How can you go wrong with such a phenomenal idea?!

Elizabeth O'Brien. (August 2017). Math Manipulative Table Trays [photograph].

Needless to say, it's been a long year, with a lot of learning. Math still definitely has it's challenges, but I don't think I look at teaching it anymore with this sense of total fear. For me it's more like a challenge like hiking - the top of the mountain looks really high, and you know it isn't going to be easy, but when you get to the top the view is going to be worth it.