180 Blog: Day 1

I fully intend to fail at maintaining this 180 blog, however, today is not my day of defeat. Today was Opening Day, and I was just as excited for school as I would be for the SF Giants home opener. I had a big ol' goofy grin on my face as I drove to work until I turned down the street to get to school. I was nervous, I was nauseous, but there was no turning back. I had a flash of panic when I saw all the cars in the parking lot and thought "Oh, crap! Did I miss daylight savings!?!" What a ridiculous thought, but our parking lot is never that full that early. I managed to compose myself and had a pretty great day. And now to the highlights...

AP Stats
We did the Hiring Discrimination activity from TPS. The students executed the simulation well and talked it over with each other, but I was pretty disappointed with the class conversation. I think that I am too eager to respond to students' comments and so I take up too much of the conversational space, even though I am trying not to. I also didn't do a good job of eavesdropping on the groups' discussions so I could say "I overheard such and such" or "Jimmy had a really good point." I do use equity cards to call on students but I don't use them frequently enough. Hey, maybe that can be a focus this year. The other issue is that I have the type of desk with chairs attached and they are arranged in groups of four. That means that many people have their backs to each other and that may restrict whole class conversation. I'd really like to have desks with detached chairs. I don't know if that would make it any better, but I'd like them.

Here's the dotplot that the class produced. Their homework is to write up the results. We will go over it and I will introduce them to the 4 pt. FRAPPY scale.

Hat tip to @gwaddellnvhs and @druinok for ideas and resources.

Algebra II
This was the most engaged day of Algebra II I've ever had. We did the Wolf, the Goat, and the Cabbage problem and the Mutilated Chessboard problem. They talked well. They stopped talking well. I love the wrong answers they came up with; throw the cabbage across, knock out the goat and the wolf, throw the cabbage in the river. Good stuff.

I have three students in my Algebra II that I have been trying to keep an eye on for the last couple of years. Now they are in my classroom everyday! Good luck keeping a low profile.

Algebra I
I did the same activity in Algebra I as I did in Algebra II. I would say it went well, but not as well as Algebra II. It was hard to keep some students on task or motivated when their first idea didn't work. I forgot how challenging Algebra I can be. I haven't taught it since my fist year (currently working on year four).

A junior in my class was sitting slumped down in his chair not doing anything. I went by his desk a couple of times and prompted him to get started and asked him questions about the problem. The third time I asked to talk to him outside and he complied. We talked a little bit about his history with Algebra. He said he knows the stuff but didn't like his teacher last year. I told him that if he knows the stuff, then he won't have any problem with me this year. I asked him to trust me and to give me a chance. He agreed, we shook hands. He still didn't get much done, but his posture changed. I hope I can make a connection, but it may be too little, too late since he's a junior in Algebra I and in serious danger of not graduating.

I really should have had manipulatives for the Mutilated Chessboard problem.


You can find any and all day one materials here.