I generally tend to hate anything gimmicky. I feel like it's not authentic and loses focus on what's important. But there is a review game I play occasionally with kids and I find generally successful. I'll go over the bare basics and add my own twists. And as is true of most of my ideas, this one is stolen from another teacher. The concept is simple and I don't have to prepare any Jeopardy questions. I don't have anything against Jeopardy (yes I do), but I'm too lazy to organize all of that. Here it is: Print out one horse for each group and a review packet. On the board, tape (or magnet) the horse on a pre-drawn table. Each group is represented by a horse. A group gets to move their horse forward one space if they complete one page of the review packet (or topic or unit-- you decide). Whoever has moved their horse the furthest will be the winning group. Generally I would hate this idea because it feels a little gimmicky and it's competitive. Students often don't learn in competitive settings because they care more about winning than about learning. So I've implemented a few twists that make this game really worthwhile. While your horse does move up one if your group finishes a section, it also moves up for groups displaying excellent group work, perseverance, or patience with each other. Even if there is a group that is slower because they are helping each other, their horse still moves forward b/c they are working together. Horses can also move backward if all of them are unfocused, checking their phones for updates, etc. (This gets some groups quickly into gear). I make sure that the first horse moving forward is because of excellent group work. I say loudly what the reason for their horse moving forward is. Lastly, I have them choose (appropriate names for their horse). First group to start working gets to choose and name their horse. It's silly but for some reason oddly motivating. I will try to update this pic when we're actually in play*
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I've been hearing more about the importance of getting our students to develop character skills that will prepare them in colleges or careers. After all, what we really want after kids to graduate is not someone who can spout back all the sine and cosine values given an angle, rather someone who can persevere, be creative, and work well with others. Among the values, the one that gets pushed the most is GRIT “the tendency to sustain perseverance and passion for challenging long-term goals." Push for more work from these kids!
Then comes Alfie Kohn's piece in the Washington Post explaining a few reasons the grit craze might not be a cure-all and that it might even be damaging. There is something to be said about NOT working hard on a long term goal especially if the long term goal is unworthy. And sometimes we should quit what we're doing to stop and reassess. Part of what makes his case so compelling is distinguishing between desirable behaviors (like grit) and intrinsic motivation. He also argues that it's nothing new- this is the story/fable we've been telling students for years. "All you need is to work harder to succeed." Let's be honest, the behavior game has been played in schools for a long time. For kids of color and traditionally marginalized backgrounds, they're really told a new version of "work hard." Grit actually goes further to say "work hard at whatever the task." This gets into political territory, and by political I mean power struggle. In the words of Alfie Kohn: "Really? No antipoverty tool — presumably including Medicaid and public housing — is more valuable than an effort to train poor kids to persist at whatever they’re told to do? Whose interests are served by such a position?" Grit doesn't help students change the world they were born into (of the haves and have-nots, greed, racism, and privilege). Instead it says to buckle down and keep at it, without reflecting on the tipped balances. While I find it incredibly important for humans to leave their education being able to focus on something they love and find worthy, I'm not sure that I buy that they should be dedicated to a task blindly. That doesn't seem like the kinds of citizens of neighbors we should have. Then again, others might disagree. I bet those people have a lot to gain with a society full of gritty and non-critical people. I had the wonderful opportunity to think during winter break, think hard about what I wanted to do in the classroom differently. I've recently been meeting more regularly with a mentor (the resident principal at my school) who has given me a lot of helpful and thoughtful ideas for change. I also chatted with Kyle, a dear friend from my masters program, who gave me insight into his own classroom. With these people in my life combined, I made some interesting changes after winter break. 1. No paper. (kind of). Kyle told me he didn't give out worksheets. Instead he has kids continually working on white boards. So I tried it. I put up three questions to help students find distance between two points and a 30 minute timer. I never gave them the distance formula and instead asked them to apply the Pythagorean theorem. Students were generally engaged, able to show their work better to peers, and I was able to evaluate their work easier. I was able to pinpoint misconceptions quickly and some common errors. Afterward, I had students present the problems to the rest of the class. 2. BEFORE I just handed students boards and markers, I wrote on the board two sections: Questions I will answer & Questions I WONT answer. (This idea came through my mentor who came from another teacher Bill who may have gotten it somewhere else but that's as far as my trail leads). Questions I'll answer Questions I won't answer Does our reasoning make sense? Is this right? Here's what we've got so far, but we're not Where do I start? sure where to go next I don't understand why this is the answer I don't get it. Then we had a short (3 min) discussion about why I wouldn't answer the questions on the right. This helped them understand where I was coming from and gave them some rationale. Providing prompts also gave them tools to ask better questions and to see the kinds of thinking I valued. 3. Take-Aways. This was another suggestion by my mentor. I usually end class by letting the time run out. Oh okay! well, see you next time. This hasn't really been the best way to end class. Instead, at the last 10 minutes, we took out our notebooks and we wrote down the two main takeaways (about distance between two points and finding a midpoint). I was listening for students who had figured these out during class and asked them to share them at the end of class. I would write word for word what the student said. Afterward I would circle portions or add blanks to show that our takeaway wasn't complete. I asked students from the class to make our sentence more specific or more complete. Then I had them make a small drawing next to it that represented the sentence. It was a quick way for me to check student understanding (at least conceptually). A lot to learn, but it was... really an enjoyable class experience for me. Different ways students found the distance between two points. On the bottom right is an example of a common misconceptions students have. They see two points and automatically think they should plug it into the slope formula. On the top left, students use -18 and then square it (but keep it negative). This is a common mistake that they make.
I can't help but feel a little anxiety every winter break. Coming back... knowing that so much was lost in the two weeks... then immediately thinking if it was ever there to begin with. I also get a moment to reflect on things that went well and things that didn't go so well. What could change about this next half of the year? What could be better?
Time for some new years resolutions (teacher style) 1. I will ask for help (from teachers and colleagues) 2. I will find ways to keep students engaged when they feel challenged 3. I will create a classroom community 4. I will eat better. Will update on how these resolutions are going. :) |
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