Asking the right questions, and filming my class

Something that I've been trying to come to terms with as a teacher is the idea that the best teachers aren't those with the best answers or best explanations (although that helps), but those with the best questions.

So, in all my honors physics classes I've been using the same systematic progression of questions to more fully explore an idea. Now, whenever my students learn about a new concept (vectors, conservation of energy, Newton's first law) or a new variable (acceleration, normal force, kinetic energy) we always fill out one of the following sheets.

The new concept sheet looks like this,
(click on the picture to read the details)

The new variable sheet looks like this, 

(click on the picture to read the details)

I've also started to record videos of us going over these ideas as a class so that those students who are absent, or need extra help can refer to the videos. So far, students have appreciated having access to the videos and I've seen them using them to get caught back up.

To put my money where my mouth is, I have also started giving interview tests. During the interview tests, students have to sit down with me, one on one, and answer questions about the physics they have learned. Based on their answers I ask follow up questions to figure out whether they really understand or not. I'm doing this because I think sometimes students can figure out how to do well on tests or quizzes and not really understand. But during the interview test if they say something vague, or try to fake a canned answer, I can ask "what do you mean by that?"

Hopefully by doing this, I can convince more students that it isn't enough to just get the right answer. You have to also understand why we consider it right.

For the first interview test my blended class averaged an 88.8%. My other traditional classes averaged an 85.1%. So the students in my blended section appear to be understanding the material as well, or better than the students in the traditional classes.

I'll be interested to see if this trend continues on the next interview test that I'm giving this Friday.

Group Dynamics

My observation for the last two weeks has been interesting with the way the classroom divides itself.  After assigning Khan Academy homework with the content delivered at night, the students come in the classroom prepared to start an assignment on the concept.  There ends up being different levels of groups learning daily without any type of direction on my part.

The students begin with an assignment with the answers posted in the room.  They complete this at their own pace and may work with a partner if needed.  Most students do not have much trouble moving through the first assignment on their own and checking their work.  I am always available for any trouble spots they may encounter.  Notes may be used or they may look back at videos that would be helpful to them successfully completing their work.  

After the first stage, students move in groups of 3 or 4 as they finish.  The problems are posted on the board or from their textbook.  These problems apply the concept they learned about in their homework.  In the group setting, I encourage interaction between the students to try and discuss each problem.  Students that complete this task move on to enrichment problems that add another level of challenge.

The division in the classroom happens naturally.  By the end of the period there are 3 different levels of learning happening simultaneously.  Everyone is engaged but not always at the same level.  

Another point is that the groups are never the same.  The groups are formed based on when a student finishes the first assignment.   Some days one student might require more practice with the first assignment.  The dynamics of the groups are different each day which keeps the classroom interesting!

Questions Change

One to two times a week I have been assigning Khan or Braingenie as homework. Since I have them write questions as they go along I get to see how their question changes as they work or how they figure it out on their own. I asked my students how they felt about the online homework and here is what they said:
"I really like it."
"It lets me know what we are about to do the next day and that helps me get my mind set to ask the questions I really want to ask."
"If I get stuck, it is nice to be able to rewind the movie and listen to the lesson again."
To piggy back off of Friedman's I also like to see who is struggling and am able to direct the discussion in that direction.

Utilizing the Data

I'm still noticing that my students are really enjoying using Khan for assignments.  I find that my students practically jump for joy when they see that the math homework assignment is from Khan as opposed to the text book.  My initial thought was, "Wow, maybe I should give Khan homework more often because they are so into it." Then I thought about it and maybe the novelty will wear off if it becomes daily or expected. With that, I decided I will keep them on their toes and mix it up.  I have been doing just one homework assignment from Khan and find that all of my students are completing the video and practice that have been assigned.

I have really come to enjoy being able to view the class and individual student data in the morning, before the school day starts.  Every time I teach a new lesson in any subject, my goal is to make sure that when I send my students on to do independent work, they are prepared to be successful in that day's assignment.  I use many types of informal assessment throughout the lesson to gauge students levels of understanding.  Khan enables me to have a preview of how students are going to do on a given lesson.  By checking the data in the morning (about the previous evening's homework), I can see who may still be "struggling" or "needs practice" and I am also able to see how long they spent on the practice problems and how many attempts were needed to get five correct in a row.

Now, as I go into my lesson, I can direct additional questions toward those students that need it.  I always try to praise my students for being the brave one to speak up and ask a question when no one else is, but I understand that sometimes they don't want peers to think they are having a hard time.  The Khan data puts the ball in my court, so I can direct my instruction accordingly.  I have really been able to utilize this data to help get each of students to a solid level of understanding and mastery.  Also, I am able to "Make Recommendations" for students as to additional exercises I may want them to complete on their own time or during seatwork time to practice and improve.  The data provided by Khan is detailed and easy to analyze.

Survey says...?

I gave some anonymous student surveys today to my blended physics section. I asked three questions. Here are some of the responses,

1. What do you like most about the class?
 "I can get work done for this class with a more flexible schedule (library days and brain genie, etc) and if I miss school there are videos available to help me get caught up "
"I like the blended style. It works very well for me, having one day of independent study and then the following day come in for help or a new lesson."
"Braingenie and that in-class time reinforces the concepts we learn online so we are not completely alone in learning new concepts"

2. What do you like least about the class?
"We already have a fair amount of freedom to progress at our own pace in this blended class but, on days of new lessons I would like to be able to move on if it is all making sense, rather than hang back with the others who need further help and explanation."
"to be honest, the videos don't help me as much as i hoped they would - learning things in class is what's really helped me so far"

3. What could we do differently to improve the class?
 "More demonstrations is always good. Also anyway to personalize the learning experience for people to move at their own pace is great too. Not much else to change, all is good."
"i think just doing more experiments sounds good! and maybe more helpful videos? but since we go over it in class i don't really see that as totally necessary"

Here is my takeaway.

• Some students would like to see more self pacing, so I am going to allow more of that next quarter and see how they respond.
• Some students don't necessarily like watching the Khan Academy physics videos. They told me they "take too long". I am going to keep assigning the videos. Maybe when the concepts get more difficult students will respond better to the length of the videos.
• Students want more labs and experiments, so I am going to incorporate more experiment days for second quarter.

Otherwise, my blended section of physics is doing great. Their quarter 1 class average is currently 7% higher than the quarter 1 class average for the traditional physics sections. The work they are doing is the same, so something seems to be working well.

Modified-Flipped Algebra

For the last two weeks the Modified-Flipped Algebra class has been working on solving all types of equations.  The lessons were flipped for the first five days of this chapter.  I used Khan Academy videos with the practice problems that followed the videos.  I would assign about 10 minutes of videos and 10 minutes of practice problems for homework each night.

The data Khan provides on each student allowed me to identify weaknesses before the next class period.  I would review the problems on Khan that each student tried before they came to class.  The information is broken down by problems each student tried to complete.  I have access to how long each student took for each problem as well as the answers the students inputted.  This provided me with the knowledge of which students were struggling before they entered the classroom.  In addition, if I noticed many students struggled with a certain type of problem, I began the class with a review of that particular concept.  This is a great tool for me to focus on what the individual student needs extra help with.

The students did very well with the mechanics of solving all levels of equations (including literal equations) by having the content delivered as homework.  The mechanics were all there, however, the missing piece was the problem solving.  There are word problems the students viewed on Khan but they had difficulty applying the concept if I gave them a word problem that wasn't exactly the same.  To fill this void, I covered the problem solving techniques in class but all mechanics were covered with Khan.  The combination seems successful.

As you can probably guess, the con for me was the immense amount of time I spent looking at each students individual problems they tried on Khan.  In order for me to be the most effective in class and help the most students, I would review the problems each student practiced the night before.  The benefit of me knowing the problems each individual student encountered allowed me to be efficient when helping those in need and push those ahead who mastered the concept quickly.

In conclusion, the lesson on solving equations has gone smoothly and successfully with the Modified-Flipped version of my classroom.  But the new technology has become a time management struggle which both the student and teacher must overcome.

Organic Chemistry

For the 2013-14 academic year I am teaching Organic Chemistry as a blended class at The Meadows School in Las Vegas.  All the students who enrolled in the class are seniors.  Since organic chemistry has both a lecture and laboratory component, I have chosen an initial structure of having the students work collaboratively in our Student Learning Center on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s.  On the other three days, the students come to a traditional classroom where we do laboratory activities and we discuss what they learned and how it integrates with prior knowledge.

The class has the following fixed resources:

1.   Khan Academy videos on Organic Chemistry

2.   Mastering Chemistry Website containing an e-text and a study area

3.   Marvin Sketch software for drawing molecular structures

4.   Myself as a coach to guide and encourage them through personal and/or group discussions and as a ‘provider and director’ to other instructional materials such as Brain Genie, other internet videos and problem sets.

As with any new endeavor, the first week or so of the course followed the principles set forth by Murphy’s Law. In spite of these issues (most of which were technology related), the students were excited to work in this modality which they felt would better prepare them for college.  They were and continue to be collaborative in their efforts.

In the very beginning, we skipped around in the Khan videos in order to review material which lays the foundation for organic.  Now we are moving through defined sections for the videos in the sequencing suggested by Khan Academy.  I have found that the review material was an effective mechanism of review for the students and I will keep you updated in the mastery of new material as we progress.

Blending Trade Matrix Skills- 10th-11th grade

In my Money, Banking, and Finance class, students have been working on completing International Trade Matrix problems.  This skill requires use of division and then application of two economic concepts: opportunity cost and comparative advantage. I've provided students with objective and task lists for days they are not with me in class.  Days students are in the learning commons they work independently, reading assigned texts and watching appropriate Khan Academy videos.  On classroom days, they are with me and we focus on problem solving activities.

What I've noticed is this:

-Many students are producing results.  With the clear guidelines and instructor access on the classroom days, most students are applying the skills successfully.

-A mixture of Khan videos and supplemental material is proving useful at producing correct answers and students demonstrating understanding.

-The on/off model may not be the best for some students.  The beauty of this model is that I'm able to help them individually or in small groups on off days.  I'm having students who would like extra clarification work with me in mini study sessions on Student Learning Commons days.

Our next exam is in 2-3 weeks, my next post will address how this adjusted mini study session structure is working.

4th Grade Khan implementation

Before assigning videos I had my entire class sign on when they were in the classroom, to try to make sure we didn't have any issues signing in. I had two who were unable to, but later that day at home they were both able to sign on and watch the video I had assigned for homework.

I have had my students watch videos at home (after my lesson, so as a review) and in class (before my lesson, to give them some background before my lesson).

In an attempt to make sure I am putting the students' needs first with this entire process, I am asking my students to give me their honest feedback after watching each video. If they find it helpful, I want to know which aspects they found helpful. If they find it difficult/confusing/boring/etc., I want them to write specific reasons as to why. I hope this gives me a better understanding of the type of videos and exercises to assign that will actually benefit them/make them excited to go on Khan.

Overall, most of my students are pretty middle of the road about Khan. I have only had a few excited to go home and do extra exercises so far.

4th Grade - Khan

This school year I was looking forward to introducing Khan Academy to my fourth grade students, as well as implementing it in such a way that it would supplement direct instruction.  Technology is still new ground for many elementary students and I carefully thought out how the students might react/ respond to using online resources as well as how the parents might react/ respond.

I decided to start the implementation, by assigning Khan videos and practice as our Morning Warm-Up on a given day.  The way I would be able to troubleshoot any logging in problems, ensure that all of my students actually completed the activity, and also to get my students to become familiar with my expectation for use.  I, too, created a wikispaces page that my students go to.  From there are the links for the activities for a particular day.  I do not post things in advance because 1) I want to avoid confusion or accidentally doing the wrong assignment and 2) I don't want my overly eager child to go ahead, I want the info fresh in the student's mind for class that day.  After I felt as though my students had mastered the art of going to my webpage, finding their way to the assignment(s) for the day and completing them in their composition books, I felt that they were ready to do this completely independently as homework.

This week, I assigned one Khan homework assignment (video and practice).  I told my students that in addition to solving the problems, I wanted them to write a question or a comment for me about the assignment.  What did you like? What didn't you like? I don't understand why he did _______. I like how he explained _____.

All of my students were successful in getting that night's homework done and the next morning after reading comments, we had a discussion about the video and practice set.  My class seemed to enjoy that he switched out colors frequently and notes that it helped with clarity.  This is something that I can easily incorporate into my own lessons I realized.  Many noted that they thought he did a great job of providing them a review of something they had learned the year before, but didn't think there was enough explanation if this was the first time they were learning it.  I loved the discussion component because it allowed me to probe why they felt one way or another.  

Going forward I intend to assign a Khan homework assignment when appropriate to preview or supplement a concept we will be learning.  I will most likely be using it a homework assignment, but also think that I may occasionally use it as a Warm-Up still.  I look forward to getting into concepts that are newer to my students and not so much review, so that I can really see and pull from what they are learning from the Khan activity.

**On a side note, some of my students are so excited about Khan, they've been going ahead at home and watching videos on various topics, including advanced skills, and really pushing themselves and driving their own learning.  I love their excitement and enthusiasm!!

S.P.'s 4th Grade Online Math

This year to implement the Khan institute of 21st learning, I am modifying my math instruction. In the past all math content was delivered by lecture. This year as appropriate content comes up, I am having the students view a video for homework. They are then asked to practice some problems either using Khan Academy or Braingenie. Because many of these concepts are new to the students they have questions as they are working with the problems. I ask that they write down at least 1 of these questions to ask in class. If they get the concept they must explain how to do a problem as if to someone that doesn't know how to do the concept. We then go over it in class to ensure all students understand the concept. This approach means that students have some form of interaction with the skill 3 times before being graded on it the 4th time they see it. This is different than the 1 time they heard me lecture and then had to do work in class regarding it.

Is it working? To start out it was a bit rocky. Nine and ten year olds are not used to this type of learning and using the computer in such a way. To make it easier on my students I made a wiki spaces page that I post the url to the exact video or exercises I want them to practice. I've noticed they have been asking parents to help them learn the concept because they get frustrated with not being able to get the practice problems correct all of the time. I am still working on weaning the students off of asking for help on these concepts before I have given the lecture. Most students seem to be excited about it when we have online homework.

I am going to keep this routine and adjust as necessary.