The Struggle is Real

How do I help students see that by struggling they are learning?  That you don't need to know everything. That in the game of life you don't have the answers you'll make lots of mistakes and you will forever have to learn something new.  That even when you feel like you've got it, life throws you a curve ball and you've got to regroup and start over.  That's what the best mathematicians do.  There are seldom easy answers if you are continually choosing to learn or branching out.  I used to wonder why weird things always happen to me.  My mom made a keen observation that it's because I'm constantly putting myself out there.  Whether it be through taking on a new job/role, trying a new workout or speaking up for something that matters to me, I find myself having to clear lots of hurdles.  It's tiring, but looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

This year I've had a few case managers reach out to me about their students feeling lost or worried about math class.  One such email detailed a student feeling like she wasn't doing well and that students around her were working at a faster pace, making her anxious she wasn't getting it.  Here's how I ended up responding. (The student's name has been changed.)

Thanks for touching base.  A couple things about class.  I create teams of students with a variety of levels so there will definitely be a mix at each table/team.  Often when all teams are putting their heads together on a single problem it is meant to be difficult for all students and that might be when Jenny really feels like she doesn't get it.  It is when they work in partners or solo that Jenny should use as a gage on whether or not she is keeping up in class. Homework is another good gage. I've learned this year that I need to be more explicit about this and have tried to reiterate that when they are working as a team on one problem that they will never see that difficult of a problem on an individual test, but that sort of problem is meant to stretch their abilities and get them talking about their thinking.  If Jenny feels better listening versus sharing her thinking, that is ok.  The only thing I'd encourage her to do is use the "question of the week" to ask her peers to better explain themselves.  Students are asked to use that question two times a week during class.  This is an easy in for her to hear more of her peers explain, in effect creating more teachers in the classroom and helping a student like Jenny learn more.  It won't seem weird when she asks the question because it is expected of them for credit during the week. (Granted, I am having difficulty getting kids to ask the questions so I am going to create a better incentive to do so this coming week).  

Also, I do grade classwork at the end of class based on "completion" I haven't noticed Jenny not being able to finish in time, but if that happens and she was working and it was an ability limitation versus a result of being off task during class, I make my best judgement and still give kids credit.  Jenny is rarely off task, but she doesn't often ask me questions when she doesn't get something.  So my only advice, if it is time in class that she is worried about to finish something, is to not be afraid to ask me a question.  I am constantly circulating during work time so it's not like she needs to ask it in front of the whole class or walk up to my desk.  

I hope that helps and I'll be sure to stop by Jenny's desk more often to encourage and steer her in the right direction if she gets stuck. 

 This email and the other conversation with a case manager made me realize the fear some students have about struggling.  Struggling is seen as bad.  How do we change this tide? I can say: "Confusion is part of learning." I can say: "productive struggle is part of learning" but that doesn't mean the students feel ok struggling.  Trauma informed educator training has taught me that some of this might just have to do with their lives outside of school.  I, personally, can handle struggle because my life, all in all, is good, stable and not to mention the success I've seen through struggle.  Students who have had trauma might shut down when it's difficult.  I equate it to being hit where you already have a bruise. It hurts twice as much making you steer clear of that struggle for fear of perpetuating the bruise that already exists.   While knowing this might create compassion and empathy, it doesn't help me create a culture of valuing struggle.  How do I do that?

For now I'll keep focusing on living the values of struggle = good in class and ensuring they see success through the struggle. Because by finding success through something hard they will be more willing to struggle another day and push through the difficult times to find the success on the other side.

Integrating Norms Into the Classroom

Last year I discovered these norms from Sarah at MathEqualsLove.blogspot.com that I did a mediocre job of teaching and reinforcing throughout the school year.  I appreciate that they reinforce what makes a good mathematician and what makes a good math class.  This year I made an early commitment to properly introduce each one and let them be a part of my language in class.  Week two I chose the following norms to reinforce and thread throughout the week.

Confusion is part of learning.
This one was a welcome surprise to reinforce.  The name tents each day during week one gave space for students to reflect on the activities we did each day.  Naturally, students in each class made a remark saying something to the effect of: "the class was confusing today, but our team got it".   Jackpot!  I started Monday discussing this observation and introducing the three norms for week 2.  Be ok with confusion, I told them. It means there's something to learn.

No one is done until everyone is done.
On most Wednesdays and Thursdays we only see three of the six classes, making our classes 86 minutes long instead of the regular 57 minutes.  I often utilize this time in smaller chunks to keep the kids on task and give us all a breather during what feels like a longer school day.  This week I took the time to introduce a structure called "Find Someone Who".  We played structure in a fun way at first.  The instructions were to get a bingo, 5 in a row, by finding classmates who fit the characteristics.  Once you had a bingo, go back to your seat.  What was wonderful, was that the norm came out naturally in this activity.  One student finished quite quickly and took a seat.  Other students kept coming up to him to ask him a question and he participated.  After time was up, I debriefed with the students highlighting how no one is done until everyone is done.  Even though you might finish, you still contribute to your classmates.  We followed up the fun icebreaker by doing the same structure with solving equations which led us into the final norm for the week.

Helping is not the same as giving answers.

For the equation round of Find Someone Who, students got a card with an equation on it. (I made 12 different equations that resulted in one of six solutions).

Step 1: students had to find someone who had the same card as them and solve that equation together.  They then became the expert of the card they had and could lend support to their classmates.

Step 2: Find all six answers on their paper and solve the equation that matched the answers they were missing.  Get help from the person with the card if you are stuck.


The key here was to discuss how counterproductive it would be to just give the full solution.  Helping is not the same as giving answers. There were a few kids who were copying, but I just redirected them and reminded them that they would never cheat on a test so they shouldn't do this on a day of practice either. It was so fun to walk around and hear them explaining to their classmates a difficult step.  I effectively had each student become another teacher in the room for their problem.

While I'm proud of how the week turned out, let's not pretend it was all sunshine and roses.  I literally forgot to plan a lesson after having to be out Tuesday and no prep Wednesday and I had to scramble during my lunch period.  I had to be honest with kids that Wednesday that I just wasn't myself and forgive me for mediocre work. Not surprisingly, they rolled with the punches, so to speak, and we survived the afternoon.

New School Year: 2019-2020

Here we are...another school year.  This marks year 16 in education for me.  I'm excited; I'm terrified; I'm happy; I'm exhausted; I'm exhilarated.  I'm ready, I think.

Today I went to a TERRIBLE training provided by our district.  I can honestly say it was the worst training I've ever witnessed in the last 15 years of my career.  All secondary teachers spent two hours of our lives in an auditorium attempting to learn.  The content may have been valuable (it's hard to tell), but the execution and delivery of the content was bad.  Thankfully during the training I read the Marshall Memo and completed some housekeeping.

Books continue to provide such an inspiration for me and open me up to changing my teaching practice.  I've been reading Necessary Conditions by Geoff Krall and Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You Had by Tracy Johnston Zager over the last year and they get me excited to add on to my skills, to expand what I do with students to become even better year after year. I don't need a training when I have amazing books to improve my practice.

Commitments for this year  

None of them will be easy. They don't happen naturally, but I'll do my best!

1. Students will talk more than me in class (about math, of course!)
2. Students will truly work together on difficult math. 
3. I will reflect here, on the blog, monthly (at least).

Relationships and Expectations

Week one of school I will use the Name Tents and 1-100 activity as detailed on Sara VanDerWerf's blog to start the year off on the right foot.  The goal is to show students I care about a relationship with them and we will learn to work together and talk in this classroom. I want to actively care, not passively care as described in the book, Necessary Conditions. Geoff Krall thankfully explains the difference here if you don't have access to the book.

If I want students to talk I need to make opportunities to do so and teach them how. A quote that stood out in Necessary Conditions was a teacher reflecting on doing arithmetic Number Talks in an algebra class.  She stated "...I certainly find a through-line between the Number Talks we have regularly and the conversations that occurs while students are working on a more complex problem or in groups" (page 73)  By Friday we'll do our first round of number talks to make it a weekly tradition at the very least, with more occurring in the beginning of the year.

Each week I will introduce a few more norms that I adopted last year from Sarah Hagan's blog, Math Equals Love.  I want to build upon expectations (not dump them all on the students in a day) and reinforce them as I go.  I've learned that reinforcing quality group work and teaching expectations does wonders in the classroom.  I'll bring out the sticks by week two to reinforce the norms and create accountability as a team.

So there it is, my commitment to start the school year.  Onward! ~Sawubona~