When I look in my closet, I see my favorite shirt hanging up. The color, the fit is perfect, and it is so very comfortable to wear. But, when I look through the rest of my wardrobe I see several sets of pants and shirts that I rarely or never wear. Some of them may not fit anymore, others are uncomfortable or the style, color or fit is unflattering. I think it is time to clean out my closet. My collection of resources in Algebra is similar to my closet. I have a few treasured lessons and virtual activities that engage students and are quite effective in helping students make sense of complex concepts, but there are many that I occasionally use, even though they are not that interesting or effective. I think it is time to clean up my repertoire.
DON'T SETTLE FOR UNINSPIRING LESSONS
At the start of the pandemic I began my quest for interesting and better resources to teach my students virtually. I tried almost every virtual tool (that was free) before settling on a shorter list of resources that delivered the most effective experiences for my students. These are the tools that will make the cut and will continue to show up in my lesson plans every week.
You may have noticed I left Google Forms off this list, but that was not an accidental omission. Since I have started using Edulastic for most of my assessments (formative and summative), I have discovered that Forms is not the best fit for a math class. The time it takes to assemble and the lack of an equation editor for students make it more trouble than it is worth in most cases. I will probably continue to use some of the Google Forms quizzes I have already created, but going forward I will likely use Edulastic (and other district provided programs) for assessments.
I have also stopped using the Desmos Activity builder (except to make minor tweaks to existing activities), and that one was a hard one to take out of my rotation! I have discovered that the time it takes to build a quality, engaging, effective activity is better spent searching for ones that have already been created (I find good ones from #iteachmath on Twitter). There are many thousands of ready-made activities that have proven to be very effective. I don't have to build one from scratch to get the best learning outcomes.
What I have added to my rotation is creative projects! Instead of giving students pre-assembled elaborate activities in Slides, Docs or Jamboard, I start with a BLANK slate and have the students create something brand new! The results have been much better than expected. Students are showing a greater depth of understanding when they have to make up examples, graphs, and equations and explain their work. Below is an example of a project created by a student in Jamboard using Graspable Math and the Desmos graphing calculator. He was reluctant at first, but he did an amazing job!
I will continue to refine my lessons next semester as I learn more efficient ways to give students experiences that will make the learning last. The results on our district benchmarks during the first semester have convinced me that the textbooks, worksheets and other activities I had routinely used prior to the Covid 19 pandemic are inferior to the engaging activities made possible through virtual tools.
If you are not already following me on twitter, I invite you to follow my accounts
If you have interesting ideas for upgrading your repertoire and cleaning out those uninspiring lessons, I would love to hear from you!
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