It is now the end of February and I realize I have not added any new thoughts to this page this year. We have been so entrenched in just doing, that I have not taken time to reflect.
Today I had the opportunity to step back and think about the progress we have made in this transition of teaching and learning. My 8th grade Geometry class was working on a review for a unit test today. Four years ago before we became a Lighthouse School, I would have given the class a set of problems from the end of the chapter in the book one day or we would have played a Jeopardy game as a class. Book work can be boring. A class run Jeopardy game can be a good review for the handful of kids who are vocal and participating. The rest may get some benefit from listening, but they are not truly engaged.
Today as my students reviewed ...
I had several groups playing the Jeopardy Game which was posted as a PowerPoint file on a Lesson Tile in BCPS One. Each group was working at their own pace and since there were only a few students playing each game, everyone was involved in the discussion. The document will still be available to students who may want to go back and review the problems again tonight on their own as further study for the test.
Today I had the opportunity to step back and think about the progress we have made in this transition of teaching and learning. My 8th grade Geometry class was working on a review for a unit test today. Four years ago before we became a Lighthouse School, I would have given the class a set of problems from the end of the chapter in the book one day or we would have played a Jeopardy game as a class. Book work can be boring. A class run Jeopardy game can be a good review for the handful of kids who are vocal and participating. The rest may get some benefit from listening, but they are not truly engaged.
Today as my students reviewed ...
I had several groups playing the Jeopardy Game which was posted as a PowerPoint file on a Lesson Tile in BCPS One. Each group was working at their own pace and since there were only a few students playing each game, everyone was involved in the discussion. The document will still be available to students who may want to go back and review the problems again tonight on their own as further study for the test.
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There were two pairs of students working on practice with writing proofs using a ActiveInspire flipchart that was posted on the class web page in BCPS One. The flipchart allows the students to drag the proof steps to the two column proof and then move to another page to check their answers. These flipcharts were posted at the beginning of the unit and will be available through the end of the year so students can go back a practice again as needed or use the practice to prepare for the final exam.
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There was one student working on the book pages and researching Geometry ideas on Google.
There was one student who had been absent who was working on make-up work using the online textbook.
Two other students were able to complete a redo for a previous Learning Check in this unit.
I've been doing this job for several decades now. When I think back to the beginning of my career and the most exciting thing I could use was an overhead projector and we played Jeopardy using paper taped to the chalkboard, I realize how far we have come. Today I had four distinct activities going on in the same room. Activities that the students had selected themselves. Most of the options were possible because of the digital options available to us. I am so grateful for the learning opportunities available to us that were not even possible a few years ago. I know that we are still learning how to use the technology effectively, but today was an awesome day in math class.
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