This testing regimen has sure eaten up the better part of a month. For humanitarian reasons, I just cannot bring myself to assign homework when the kids are testing and schedules are weird. So for the last month, homework has been fairly sporadic: I've been sneaking it in when there isn't testing, but generally there has been some kind of testing.
So now that the testing barrage is behind us, for the next two weeks there will only be homework for items that students get wrong on their daily math reviews. What does that mean? Everyday when the kids come in, they have 4 math problems to do on the board. They have 10-15 minutes to complete them and then we go over the answers. Any that students get correct, they place a star on. Any that are incorrect they place a big H on it -- which means that problem is now a homework problem.
And so for this week and next, those will be the only homework problems students have from me. So keep an eye out daily! MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, your child should bring home a piece of notebook paper with four math problems on it and they should be marked with stars or with H's.
I will not be checking these homeworks in, myself. They are an expectation and an opportunity for practice and I hope that you will encourage your child to be diligent in practicing their math.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
LarrabeeSchool.Org and KhanAcademy.Org and Math and Literacy... oh my!?
I just wanted to let you know what we're up to this week in math. Testing is not yet done (though we are through with most of it), so we launched a few experiments this week.
LarrabeeSchool.Org
Before leaving, Eric Paige gave us the okay to experiment with Google Apps for Education, Google's suite of productivity tools free and branded with your school district. Because of district email policies, we have disabled Gmail, but students have a docs account, a sites account, and a calendar account. So we are experimenting with using these online tools and this online storage system. It's very exciting and the kids have started experimenting on their own with some of these tools!
KhanAcademy.Org
The KhanAcademy is a site that I've shared about this year before as a collection of hosted videos of "how to do math." Self-admittedly, Sal Khan (the creator) learned in a very traditional and algorithm-based method of mathemtatics which is what he imparts to students in his videos. I believe that these videos are a poor substitute for a proper introduction to the concepts behind the math, but they serve as great reviews and reminders of how to do the formalized abstract representational stuff on paper.
The innovative thing about the Khan Academy is that now we can log in with our larrabeeschool.org accounts. Students have added me as their coach (they can add you, too, if you have a Google or a Facebook username) and I can see what they have been up to and where they are struggling. For their part, students collect points and badges -- kind of like in a video game -- as they work through the lessons and practices at their own pace. It's a very cool resource and so we are trying it out this week.
I think next Monday sees the end of our testing windows (MSP is done, MAP is in progress for reading, and DRP is open until Monday) and we can get back to a more normal schedule by then. Until then, my plan is to get students up to where they are currently comfortable on the Khan Academy so that I can see how it helps me identify needs and differentiate for students.
LarrabeeSchool.Org
Before leaving, Eric Paige gave us the okay to experiment with Google Apps for Education, Google's suite of productivity tools free and branded with your school district. Because of district email policies, we have disabled Gmail, but students have a docs account, a sites account, and a calendar account. So we are experimenting with using these online tools and this online storage system. It's very exciting and the kids have started experimenting on their own with some of these tools!
KhanAcademy.Org
The KhanAcademy is a site that I've shared about this year before as a collection of hosted videos of "how to do math." Self-admittedly, Sal Khan (the creator) learned in a very traditional and algorithm-based method of mathemtatics which is what he imparts to students in his videos. I believe that these videos are a poor substitute for a proper introduction to the concepts behind the math, but they serve as great reviews and reminders of how to do the formalized abstract representational stuff on paper.
The innovative thing about the Khan Academy is that now we can log in with our larrabeeschool.org accounts. Students have added me as their coach (they can add you, too, if you have a Google or a Facebook username) and I can see what they have been up to and where they are struggling. For their part, students collect points and badges -- kind of like in a video game -- as they work through the lessons and practices at their own pace. It's a very cool resource and so we are trying it out this week.
I think next Monday sees the end of our testing windows (MSP is done, MAP is in progress for reading, and DRP is open until Monday) and we can get back to a more normal schedule by then. Until then, my plan is to get students up to where they are currently comfortable on the Khan Academy so that I can see how it helps me identify needs and differentiate for students.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
MAP Testing this week...
This week we are administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) computer-adaptive assessment to our students. The MAP is administered three times yearly.
The Orange group tests Monday 5/16 at 9:30 AM.
The Purple group tests Tuesday 5/17 at 1:00 PM.
The Orange group tests Monday 5/16 at 9:30 AM.
The Purple group tests Tuesday 5/17 at 1:00 PM.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Math homework this week:
This is yet another state testing week for our students at Larrabee!
Because I want them to have lots of energy, I want students to take the 20-30 minutes that they would normally have as homework and instead go to bed 20-30 minutes earlier... or read 20-30 minutes more... or spend 20-30 minutes more talking with their parents or playing card or board games with their parents and siblings as a family.
Take the time to destress the home and help your child be well rested.
Cheers!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Homework during testing...
Okay... MSP season is upon us and I wish I'd remembered to post this earlier. Sorry for any miscommunications.
On Monday my students had a graphing homework assignment [link]. But what about for the rest of this week and next week?
Nothing from me. I won't assign homework during the testing window because I want students to take that time out from math homework and use it to go to bed a little earlier... or eat a little healthier... or relax and read with their family.
So no math homework from me until Monday 5/16/2011.
On Monday my students had a graphing homework assignment [link]. But what about for the rest of this week and next week?
Nothing from me. I won't assign homework during the testing window because I want students to take that time out from math homework and use it to go to bed a little earlier... or eat a little healthier... or relax and read with their family.
So no math homework from me until Monday 5/16/2011.
Monday, May 2, 2011
5/2/2011 Tonight's Homework
I forgot to hand out planners this morning. So I'm going to post the homework assignment here.
Today in class the students collected data comparing two things (like right hand length vs. left hand length). They collected this data for each kid in the class.Their homework tonight is:
Today in class the students collected data comparing two things (like right hand length vs. left hand length). They collected this data for each kid in the class.Their homework tonight is:
- Graph your data [centimeter paper].
- Describe your data:
For each half of your graph (top and bottom) calculate the range, find the mode, and find the median [math dictionary]. - Analyze your data:
Does your graph say the two things are different, or does the graph say the two things are the same? What does the range, the median, the mode, or the shape of the data tell you about the two things you measured?.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)