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My latest resource is the first unit of a digital series for Geometry.
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Have a great year!!
~Cheers~
Mathberry Lane
It is easy to get into the habit of always calling on the same students who have raised their hands to volunteer an answer. One way to make sure that you are including all of your students is to use Popsicle® sticks when selecting students to contribute to class.
Materials:
The task of writing all of your students names on Popsicle® sticks may seem a bit daunting. (I know; I had 145 students one year!) You can always give each student a stick and instruct them to write their names “legibly” on them. Or, wait until your favorite show or sports team is on television and complete the task while kicking back a little. I usually group the Popsicle® sticks by class and wrap a rubber band around them.
When it is time to go over homework, I usually select a couple of problems that I want to go over with the class. I will have the students present their solutions on the board. I use the Popsicle® sticks to select a student. I never want to put a student completely on the spot, so I always let them choose a classmate to work with for this task. The two students would then be responsible for writing the solution to the homework problem on the board and explaining it to the class.
Homework is a learning process, so sometimes the solution is not correct. Wrong answers are wonderful to review! It is important that students know that it is okay to make a mistake when they are learning new material. Students create genuine error analysis problems when the solution is not correct. As a class, we can work together to find a viable solution. It is important to review classroom expectations and create class rules/norms so that everyone is respectful and understands that making mistakes are part of the learning process.
I hope to be watching the Red Sox this year as I make this year’s set of sticks! What will you be watching?
Maybe you aren’t ready to give up paper and pencil activities altogether yet. If this sounds like you, then you may want to check out Unit 1 – Introduction to Geometry for my blended curriculum of paperless lessons combined with paper and pencil labs. Click HERE to grab my free Getting Started with Geogebra Guide.
Note: Lessons compatible with Google Slides
One of my favorite ways to check homework is to have students work in teams, while I do a quick check-in with each student. Each student is assigned to a team of 3-4 students. I spot check a couple of problems and ask students if they had difficulty with anything. I write down the problems #’s on a post-it and tally how many students had a tough time with each problem mentioned. This gives me a good sense for what to go over with the class or re-teach. If I see a great solution, I will ask that student to share the solution on the board with the class.
Now, sometimes, not everyone comes to class prepared with their homework completed. If this is the case, then the expectation is that they need to be working on the assignment during team time. If a student misses a couple of assignments, then I usually reach out to parents to see if they can help encourage students to complete their work for class. If a student was absent, they use this time to catch up on notes.
This process does take a little more class time than collecting homework. However, I find this method extremely beneficial during the first few weeks of school. It helps me learn students’ names and is a good way to get to know them.
Homework teams is a nice way to start class, because it lets students catch up with each other socially while actively engaging in their own learning at the same time.
I believe that homework should be used as a learning opportunity for students and not graded for accuracy. Homework provides students a chance to process and reflect upon what they learned that day in class. It helps students retain information and practice transferring it to a new scenario.
When I check homework, I look for:
I track homework completeness as shown in the chart below.
