I pushed my Algebra 1 students through our introductory chapter on functions quickly. It's a lot of review for 90% of them, there's not much actual computation to do, and in the past students seemed to understand the concepts pretty quickly. So, after a few whirlwind days of notes, we were ready for an activity.
Today we reviewed for their unit test. The first half of class, students worked on a review worksheet in groups. It went better than most other reviews - many students asked each other very good questions, and because it was low pressure (AKA not part of a game), students took their time to check their notes and help their peers understand.
Near the end of class, we had a function auction. I was so grateful to Sarah at Math=Love for the idea at just the right time. The students loved it! They were so determined to find the actual functions that they pulled out their notes and compared techniques. The auction portion took longer than I expected, even with only 9 relations to bid on. One group had an interesting strategy - they decided to bid on several non-functions for the opening bid just 'in case' they were wrong and it was actually a function! Once other groups started driving up the price for them, they abandoned the non-functions.
Overall, it was an activity that I will use again. The pace and excitement did not lend itself well to review as a class, but groups did a great job of helping each other understand. They had to make sure everyone was on the same page, or a bid paddle might go up without the whole group's consent!
Showing posts with label group work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label group work. Show all posts
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Friday, July 31, 2015
Group Work Expectations
My students work in groups almost every class. I teach on a modified block schedule, so all my classes with them are 85 minutes. We can't take notes for 85 minutes. (Or is it that I can't give notes for 85 minutes).
So, we work in groups and it generally goes really well. My first year, I chose groups which we changed about once a quarter. They were set up to be people that would work together well, quiet people with friends who would help them, slow workers together, etc. It was great and it helped a lot of students. Last year, for some reason, a lot of the time the students picked their own groups. I let them choose at the beginning of the year, and they just worked really well in their own chosen groups. I'm going back to hand-chosen groups this year. It cuts down on the drama, and I think it reinforces that we're in this group for a very specific purpose, not just hanging with friends.
I do want to be really clear with my students what I expect from them. So, I'm going to reference some 'expectations,' which I'll hang on the wall. Here is a link to an editable dropbox file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6y199i01c3y1lw/Group%20Work%20Process.docx?dl=0.
And here are images of the poster (both pages). The font I used is Hello Just Sayin.
The cups are traffic light cups to help me understand where groups are. I like it 1) as a group self-assessment tool, 2) as a way for the group to have to talk to each other, not just to me, and 3) as a quick way for me to see how we're doing. Too many red cups tells me we should regroup and review.
I got the idea from Sarah at Math=Love, and I'm excited to use it.
What do you think? Are my expectations clear? Do they cover the basics?
So, we work in groups and it generally goes really well. My first year, I chose groups which we changed about once a quarter. They were set up to be people that would work together well, quiet people with friends who would help them, slow workers together, etc. It was great and it helped a lot of students. Last year, for some reason, a lot of the time the students picked their own groups. I let them choose at the beginning of the year, and they just worked really well in their own chosen groups. I'm going back to hand-chosen groups this year. It cuts down on the drama, and I think it reinforces that we're in this group for a very specific purpose, not just hanging with friends.
I do want to be really clear with my students what I expect from them. So, I'm going to reference some 'expectations,' which I'll hang on the wall. Here is a link to an editable dropbox file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6y199i01c3y1lw/Group%20Work%20Process.docx?dl=0.
And here are images of the poster (both pages). The font I used is Hello Just Sayin.
The cups are traffic light cups to help me understand where groups are. I like it 1) as a group self-assessment tool, 2) as a way for the group to have to talk to each other, not just to me, and 3) as a quick way for me to see how we're doing. Too many red cups tells me we should regroup and review.
I got the idea from Sarah at Math=Love, and I'm excited to use it.
What do you think? Are my expectations clear? Do they cover the basics?
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