Spiralling MDM 4U - a great first run through

I did it! I successfully revamped my MDM 4U course following an activity based and spiralled approach to learning.

Was it perfect? No.

Was it messy along the way? Yes - but change is always messy and you have to be flexible to adapt as  the unexpected arises (shortened classes, activities taking longer or shorter than anticipated, etc.)

Will I do it again next year? Absolutely, with some minor tweaks.

HIGHLIGHTS:
My biggest success of the year was the high level of student engagement in every lesson. I found students came into class excited to see what the next activity was. Each student had something to contribute to the discussions and students were more likely to disagree with each other and present their point of view.

I also found I was excited about teaching. After 13 years of teaching, it was a new challenge which was fun.


STRUGGLES:
On the teacher end of planning, one struggle was finding appropriate activities to suit the needs of the lesson. I was grateful for Twitter for ideas. I often took an idea from another grade level and had to tweak it to my content and ability levels. It was also sometimes tricky to know exactly how much time an activity would take.

On the student end, it was a struggle to help them properly document their learning on a daily basis without giving too much information before the activity. As I mentioned in an early post, students are used to filling out worksheets during a lesson which makes it very clear what the unit content is. Taking these worksheets away and not coaching them on how to take their own notes did cause some anxiety at the beginning of the course.


NEXT STEPS: 
I blogged last summer about the amazing Plinko board that my dad helped me build last summer. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to use it this year however my ambitious goal is to use it once a month next year (in a non-semestered school, this would be 9 - 10 times in a year).

I also want to provide more opportunities for students to show their knowledge and receive formative feedback on their skills. I picked up an idea at OAME 2017 about "Fast Fours" quizzes and hope to use this idea in my class next year. Once a cycle (every 8 days), students would start the class with a 4 question quiz - one question from 4 main strands of the course (Probability; Statistics; Organizing Data; and Collecting Data).

My plan for next year also involves being more clear on the specific learning goals of each lesson/activity. I now know that my students need more coaching, right from day 1, on how to create their own notes in a math class. By being specific on what the learning goals are for the activity, both as an introduction and a very clear summary, students will have more confidence in their understanding of the content well before summative evaluations.

After presenting at OAME 2017 (here are my slides from that presentation), I've had a few requests for more resources on activities that I've done in my class room. My goal next year is to blog more regularly - hopefully once a month - with details on how the 2nd year is going along with information on what specific tasks I'm using in my classroom.

Finally, I know I need to give more time throughout the year to the final project. Students are asked to pick a topic of interest and analyze data to hopefully prove their hypothesis. I did have to rush part of this at the end of the year and student feedback was that they didn't always understand what they were doing. My plan for next year is to tie it to our classroom activities but rolling it out earlier in the year - having them chose their topic by mid-October.

Happy summer!

A year in review - the value of student feedback

As a teacher, I am frequently giving my students feedback. It could be verbal feedback in class or in extra-help or in conversations. It could be formative feedback when taking up homework or on assessments or on quizzes. It could be summative feedback on evaluations.

As a teacher, I often have conversations with colleagues about the importance and value of good feedback for student learning. How can we learn from mistakes if not for feedback?

But as a teacher, how often do I receive feedback on my teaching practice? And how open am I to receiving feedback on my teaching practice?

I’m very fortunate to work in a school and a department where classroom visits are encouraged. My classroom door is almost always open (I am a loud talker and the door has been known to be closed by other teachers so not to disrupt their class either across or down the hall!). I’m fortunate to work with colleagues who I can throw an idea at and they will critique the idea so by the time it reaches my classroom, the activity is ideal for student learning. These same colleagues are also patient in listening to a lesson that may have flopped and have helped me improve the idea so that it is a success on the subsequent trial.

But how often do we ask students for their feedback? I sometimes fear getting feedback from students as it can often be biased depending on the time of year. But their input is the most valuable in my mind as they are the ones that see my teaching on a regular basis and know what my teaching truly looks like. A colleague could come in for a snapshot of my teaching for a particular lesson or topic but the students are in the room for every lesson. So their feedback is the most important feedback in helping me be the best teacher I can be.

It has been a custom of mine to ask for student feedback at the end of each course. I’ve done this every year of my 13 year teaching career. In the beginning it was done on a piece of paper where I would ask students to provide an answer to these 3 key questions:

1. What was one thing Ms Gravel did well this year?
2. What was one thing Ms Gravel could improve next year?
3. Any other suggestions for Ms Gravel?

I’ve kept most of this feedback and have found it helpful. However this was often rushed and done on the last day of classes.

Over the years, this practice of collecting student feedback has evolved to an electronic format and formalized to a department wide Google Form. The questions have become more elaborate and focused on key aspects of the course and not so open-ended as my paper version years ago. Ideally, I would collect student feedback a few times a year so that I could use the feedback and improve the course as the year progresses but in the very least, obtaining the feedback once a year is a success for me.

I’ve now collected this feedback from my students for this school year. As much as I appreciate the “Everything was great” comments, I actually enjoy reading the constructive criticism more. In a year where I have revamped a course, this feedback was most valuable. The feedback did give me insight that I need to be more clear in expectations and has given me more direction for next year. It has also given me a bit of insight on student learning in my class as well.

So as I wrap up this school year and start to look at next year, this student feedback has given food for thought just in time for planning for next year!