Four Things We Should Keep In Mind..

 

Today, I'm looking at four things we should have in every lesson since many of us have been struggling through switching from in person to distance learning on a regular bases.  In Alaska, most of us ended up sending home packets that never got done or even returned so many of the students are way behind.  Unfortunately, our fist instinct is to want to start at where they are, not where they should be.  

The first thing to keep in mind, is to teach on grade level. Instead of going backwards, start where they should be and integrate the missing skills into the lessons as sidebars, or using techniques to help scaffold students abilities while allowing them to manage math at their grade level.

There are several easy ways to do this.  For instance, you might include similar problems to remind students of the process such as finding common denominators for regular fractions and then repeating the process for algebraic fractions.  In addition, it is easier to break larger topics into smaller chunks to give students a chance to really learn the material.  Choose topics that allow you to focus on additional skills so they can practice skills associated with the topic to strengthen their foundation. 

Rather than giving a test to cover the whole topic or chapter, look instead at using lots of mini-assessments.  This could be a small two to five question quiz instead of a warm-up.  It might be a thumbs up or down, a show with fingers of one to five where one is that you still have no idea what to do up to a five where the person feels as if they can teach it.

When teaching, don't rely on only one way to do things.  Use as many different representations as possible or show multiple ways to do it. For instance, many books and teachers rely on teaching the FOIL method for multiplying binomials.  I have four to five methods I teaching including a visual one that is a drawing they fill in as they do the multiplication.  This visual method works well for multiplying two digit by two digit numbers and for binomials. It can also be used to help factor a trinomial.

If you are teaching fractions, don't always use pizzas or circles.  Show the same material using divided rectangles, beans, etc so they see more ways fractions appear.  The multiple ways of doing things and multiple representations allow students to find the way that works best for them and allows them to "see" things so much better. 

Finally, see if you can collaborate with other teachers at your school or district so you can learn more, share best practices, become more aligned with others, and the lessons themselves become more interesting and engaging for the students.

In summary, teach at grade level while incorporating unfinished learning into the lessons. Consider using tasks to help students fill in their gaps.  Allow time for mini-assessments and student reflection. Use multiple methods when teaching material.  Finally, collaborate with others.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great weekend.