Trying something for the first time

Over the summer, I had the chance to see Darius Rucker (and a few other country artists) in concert and one particular song lyric stuck with me. The song lyric goes "When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

Learning a new skill or idea always starts with doing something for the first time. This happens frequently in my classroom when I introduce a new concepts to the class. Students try things for the first time almost on a daily basis in the classroom when they are in school.

However, it can be challenging to try something new. Doing the same thing is comforting. The fear with trying something for the first time is that I might not be good at it or I might fail at it. People often resist change which can be thought of as trying something for the first time. What if its challenging to do? What if it takes a long time to master? What if everyone else is better than I am? What if?????

Yet as a teacher, when was the last time I put myself in their shoes and did something for the first time?

I kept that in the back of my mind for the rest of the summer. As a self-proclaimed life long learner, it was important to keep trying things for the first time.

So this summer, I had the chance to try SUP yoga for the first time.

I also had the chance to run a trail race for the first time (I've actually run 3 so far this summer).

In both activities, there was some anxiety of not knowing what to expect. But with support from the yoga instructor and friends, both events were enjoyable and I would do both again. This support system made the activities successful to me - and success was defined by me. I deemed myself successful in SUP yoga by finally standing on the board at the end of the lesson and not falling in. I deemed success in the trail run with not winning the race but simply completing it and still smiling.

As the summer holidays wrap up and I prepare to return to the classroom, I am making it a goal for the year to keep trying things for the first time. Be it trying a new activity in my classroom or trying a new assessment tool or trying a new sport, I want to make sure that I keep in mind what it is to be a student of life and keep learning! I want to remember that success, however the individual defines it, seems to always be attainable with a good support team.

So when was the last time you tried something for the first time? 

Demonstrating Thinking on Assessments in Mathematics

As we near the end of another school year, I find myself reflecting on my teaching practice over the last 10 months. A piece of "homework" we have been asked to complete has centered around assessments - reflecting on what we have done in our courses this school year. I know that one of my goals for next year is to investigate (and try) alternative ways to assess in mathematics, beyond just using a test. But before we get to that, I want to highlight a success I had on a test this year in my grade 9 (MPM1D) math course.

The unit we had just completed was on linear equations with a focus on graphing lines and determining the equation of a line given different pieces of information (2 points on the line, the graph, a line parallel and a point, etc.). The test addressed the main concepts/skills of the unit and we usually have 1 question that asks students to extend their knowledge in new ways.

Here is the example of the last question on the test.

Note: we had not discussed collinear points in class before the test - hence the definition of the word in the question.

I was amazed at the variety of solutions that students presented and how their thinking was visible but may not have matched the solution I had in mind. There were multiple ways to show their understanding!

Here are some examples of student solutions to this question:
Student #1:



Student #2:



Student #3:


It is clear in all of these solutions that the students have an understanding of what the slope of a line represents and they have not simply memorized the definition/formula. They were all able to apply their knowledge and clearly demonstrate their understanding of points on a line in relation to slopes.

Using VNPS in my classroom, I have been able to observe student thinking throughout the year. This type of question on a test shows that thinking is also possible to be seen on assessments. Furthermore, I sometimes get stuck trying to create "thinking" questions on test attempting to make them the "hard" questions on the test. This particular question helped clarify for me that these "thinking" questions do no have to be particularly harder than other questions. They should, however, be open-ended enough so that students have different entry points to the question that allows them to showcase their understanding of the content. This will be a lens that I will use when creating assessments next year!

Random groupings - allowing voices to be heard

I'm fortunate to teach in classrooms that have white boards around the room. This means students in my classes are often working at Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces. I've blogged before about the wonders of VNPS but have recently discovered the power of using randomness for assigning groups.

Last week, my department head came to observe one of my classes and he happen to come by as the class was getting started. Students were working in groups and were solving several non-right triangles. It was a review class for their upcoming test. In this class, I assigned students to groups based on ability level - I created mixed ability groups. Because this was a review period, my purpose for assigning groups in this way was to make sure that each group had an expert in the group to help support each learner.

During my debrief of the lesson with my department head (@Domanator19) asked why I chose groups in the way I did and we had a good discussion about the benefits of random groupings. I know they are beneficial and look forward to hearing about them even further at OAME2018 however I was reluctant to use them in this class. I wasn't sure they would be beneficial for every learner. At the end of the debrief, I made a mental note to try using them in an upcoming class.

Today, I used random grouping for the second time in a row with the same class and had a powerful "AHA" moment.

For information purposes, groups were working on problem solving with the midpoint and length formula:
1. Find the length of the line segment from A(-3, 15) to B(5, 12).
2. Find the midpoint of the line segment from C(6, 10) to D(17, -4).
3. G is the midpoint of the line from F(-6, 8) to H(4, 19). Find the length of the line segment from G to H.
4. Point M(-8, 15) is the midpoint of the line segment from L(-15, 2) to N(x,y). Find the coordinates of point N.

My "aha" moment came when I noticed students that were often quiet in class were now contributing and talking to their group members. When I purposefully make groups of mixed abilities, the strong students often spoke up and directed the conversation. They sometimes took over the problem and presented their solution as the one and only solution. In these situations, quieter students or students that did not have as much confidence in their ability often had a more passive approach to learning. They didn't have time to digest the problem before the solution was on the board. Today, using random groupings (I generated my groups using https://www.randomlists.com/team-generator) these students were randomly placed in a more uniform ability group and had their voices heard. Today, these students had the chance to lead the solution and present their understanding. All students walked away from the lesson with a deeper understanding of midpoint and length.

I guess you can now say I'm converted to using random groupings!

How am I resilient?

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." - John Powell

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." - Thomas H. Palmer

These are all famous quotes that I often hear and have often said. I've often read about and heard talks on helping students in our current classrooms to be resilient. Merriam-Webster defines resilient as "tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change".

However, making mistakes, failing, rejection... these concepts are often associated with negativity in our own lives. How many people are anxious just reading these words? How many of us are resilient when faced with these ideas?

I write this post as I ponder on my own resilience. 

Today, the 3rd cohort of the Desmos Fellowship was announced and I was not one of the lucky 40. I am disappointed and wonder what I could have done differently in my application.  So how am I going to be resilient? 

I fret hitting the "Publish" button on this post. How will I be resilient if someone challenges one of my ideas? 

If I want my students to be resilient, should I not be modelling resilience as well? In my teenage years, my father would often be heard saying "Do as I say, not as I do." This was especially true when I was a young driver and my dad was nervously sitting in the passenger seat. If I am not able to be resilient, am I not just telling my students "Do as I say, not as I do."? 

So what does resilience look like for me? Just a few things would be...

I will re-apply next year for the Desmos Fellowship and for other PD opportunities. There is still great learning from the application process and reflecting on my teaching practice. This would be similar to a student not making the team and trying out again next year.

I will teach with my classroom door open and invite colleagues to visit my classroom as often as possible. I don't just want feedback when I think the lesson is perfect - I want continuous feedback along the journey. This would be similar to students showcasing their work and not just focusing on the perfect product. Using VNPS in my classroom allows this to happen frequently.