Mrvaudrey

Author: mrvaudrey

  • NCTM Conference 2017 – Tips

    NCTM Logo

    In 2009, I had almost completed my second year of teaching, trudging toward the CST state-wide test in a small charter school in Pomona.

    The ruthless ass-kicking that was my first year as a [terrible] teacher was replaced with the draconian rule of a plucky 24-year-old who wasnbt about to be pushed around by some teenagers.

    Note: By year four, I had found a happy medium, where I could focus the class without yelling and still enjoyed my job more than 60% of the time. That jumped to 90% once I left that school.

    I packed my bags for the enormous San Diego Convention Center and spent two-and-a-half days meandering through sessions that were over my head and gathering free pens from the exhibit hall.

    image of a pile of pens and pencils
    image: Public Domain

    bTwas a simpler time.

    Eight years later, the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics and its selection committee have selected my co-author and me to share what webve learned about classroom assessment, a topic that certainly was mentioned to me in 2009 and immediately forgotten. Forty copies of my book are riding beneath this plane as I type, and teammates b many of whom Ibve never met b will chat in an exhibit booth alongside me, attempting to evangelize new and veteran teachers to share the awesome and improving snapshots from their classrooms on Twitter.

    Did Twitter even exist in 2009? [UPDATE: Yes.]

    Regardless, I feel a calm sense of purpose and this 700-series jet barrels toward Austin1 for NCTM. My innards churn with an amalgam of excited wonder and professional urgency.

    With that sense of urgency, here are some conference tips Ibve learned from attending a bunch in the last ten years, both as an attendee and a presenter:

    Plan

    Early in my career, I attended CMC South, where I had this conversation with two of my teammates, who Ibll call Diane2 and Chiara:

    Vaudrey: Okay, webre here, webre caffeinated, webre registered. Where are you two headed for the 8:00 session?
    Diane: Oh, man. I havenbt even looked at the book yet.
    Chiara: Me, either.
    Vaudrey: Did yball see the link I sent you last week? Therebs a digital book with all the sessions, and you can filter them… want me to show you?
    Chiara: I didnbt bring my computer, Ibll just sit at one of these tables and plan out my conference.
    Diane: Ooo! I’ll join you!
    Vaudrey: …Okay. Well, Ibll be in the San Jacinto room if you canbt decide and want to join me.

    Do your homework. You can burn an hour of conference time figuring out where to go. If youbre unsure, pick a stranger and follow them; youbll likely stumble into something interesting and unexpected.

    And if that workshop ainbt your style, you can go through the schedule and plan out your next few sessions.

    Snacks

    My pastor wife once mentioned from the pulpit that she keeps granola bars in her purse, just in case her husband (me) gets hungry and cranky. She may have referred to me as ba grumbly bear who really needs a salmon,b which the youth group in the audience thought was hilarious.

    True story; I keep snacksB in the glove boxes of both our cars and myB purse, too. Especially at conferences.

    granola bars in my purse

    At most conference venues, there are a limited number of food locales for breakfast and lunch and the lines are likely to be enormous. Plus, what if I want a snack at 10:00, but really want a good seat for the 10:15 session?

    Then Clif bars are my friend and I can power through until 12:30.

    Meals

    This tip I mooched from David Theriault, an ELA teacher from Southern California. He does his homework picking outB a great place to eat, and then b rather than listen to an admired speaker give their usual 60-minutesB b he’ll take them to lunch and get some quality time with them.B Ibll quote him directly:

    Paying for someonebs lunch or dinner is the bcatch and releaseb (fishing term) of spending time with someone. Even if the conversation goes south at least they got a great free meal. Not just a free meal, a great free meal.

    …Itbs not enough that we talk as teachers and friends, itbs not enough that we eat together, we need to take the time to make our bhobbyb (teaching) something worth celebrating. Sean Ziebarth and I always joke that teaching isnbt just our job, itbs our hobby.

    In addition, dinnerB and drinks are a great time to have candid conversations with like-minded folk from outside your sphere of influence.

    Even better if theybre unlike-minded. What a great time to challenge your perspective and learn new things than to have a martini with someone who doesnbt work in your district. Or your state.

    Bonus if youbll never see them again; theybre sure to be honest with you.

    If your 8:00 session on Wednesday is free, come see John and me talk about Dessert.
    Webll be in costume.

    ~Matt band wear comfy shoesb Vaudrey.

     

    1. Yes, Austin. Even though NCTM is in San Antonio. I booked a flightB to the wrong airport andB itbs more than a little embarrassing.b)

    2. If the real Diane and Chiara read this, thanks for being pseudonyms. You b of course b were always well-prepared for literally everything, including CMC.b)

  • Guest Post – Taking a Cut at the Mullet Ratio

    The following is a guest post written by Dianna Gallagher. Links and formatting added by me, all else is her work, including the cute pun in the title and this entire Google Drive folder.

    Enjoy.

    Hi! Ibve been asked by Matt, a guy I sort of met virtually last month, to write a post for his blog on my experience presenting The Mullet Ratio to my seventh graders. I learned of this lesson from a fellow #MTBoS member, Kathy, who was generous enough to share ideas with me as I planned this current academic year. I wasnbt really sure what The Mullet Ratio was, but the name was certainly enticing and upon a quick google search, I couldnbt imagine a more entertaining and hilarious way to pass the 100 minute block period with my squirrely 7th graders on a very rainy Tuesday.

    Intro

    The lesson started with the intro question, bhave you ever had a bad haircutb. Kids love tangents, so that was a great way to reel them in. I opened the Mullet slideshow with the first of our mullet-y friends, Bayley and Vladimir.  One glance and the kids were howling. We flipped through the first few slides and giggled together, laying down the vocabulary and idea of bbusiness in front and party in the backb.

    Comparing the mullet ratio between John Stamos and a 1980s couple at the prom. His mustache and mullet are both... substantial.When we arrived at the John Stamos and mustachey prom date slide, the first of the slides with the displayed measurements, we recognized that the party and business were not measured in inches or even centimeters, but rather bdreamy eyesb and bmustachesb. This threw the kids. I found this a perfect chance to discuss units with them. We measured Dreamy Eyesb party and business in different units (cm, inches, thumbs, post-it notes), and explored the ratios from those measurements as well as a cartoon character I drew on the white board. Students discovered that as long as the unit is the same for the party to business ratio, the mullet ratio will be the same.  This was a big and very important discovery for most of the kids.

    When we arrived at the Dwayne Schintzius/Andre Agassi slide, not only was I reminded that Andre Agassibs mullet was actually a wig, we all learned that the mullet ratio of these two athletic icons was nearly identical. This was a great place to stop and let the students figure out why and how. We then went back to my cartoon figure drawn on the board and I asked how I could make another figure with the same ratio. Trump's hair is windswept up and off his head. The picture asks for his mullet ratio in terms of "electoral votes."They looked at me with a blank stare. No clue. So I drew a head and some party. We knew the first cartoonbs MR was 5. They told me to measure the new party b I got lucky with 10 inches. Ding! Ding! They got it b business needs to be 2.

    So far, good progress with the units discovery and now equivalent ratios. Added to the slide deck, the grand finale was the newly trending bPresidential Reverse Mulletb b Donald Trumpbs party on top and business in the back. The hysteria was as alive with this slide as it was with the first 10.

    Gallery Walk

    A worksheet, filled in with student's measurements of the mullets posted around the room.

    I redesigned the gallery walk handout for the kids to use as they worked in partners (with calculators). I passed the handout out at this point, when I should have passed it out at the start of the opening presentation because instead of them working on white boards to find the MR, they could have been recording on the spots that I had on the handout. They breezed through this part of the activity. I noticed a couple of pairs were not recording business and party, but just the ratio.A worksheet with four celebrities, for each, the student is asked to calculate their mullet ratio.

    Homework

    My 100 minutes was winding down, so I gave the kids a couple of homework tasks due after a long weekend. One was to measure the MR on my reformatted famous mullets handout.  This task, unlike the Gallery Walk, required the students to take the measurements of the party and business. Another was the Andy Warhol self portrait with a double MR, B= MR and the ideal MR. The students took the most time with the Andy Warhol self-portrait, but unfortunately many didnbt actually figure out the mullet ratio. They only identified the party and business.  The final task, done with a sub the following week, was a Mullet Extension activity, which was a nice way to take their thinking one step further and btie upb Mullet Madness.

    Thoughts

    A bulletin board with the various mullet-themed arts posted.To say the Mullet Ratio lesson was engaging is an understatement. The kids had a blast while learning about equivalent ratios, graphing ratios, as well as units of measure and how they relate to ratios. I would have preferred to use another 50 minute period after the initial 100-minute block period for the other activities that I had assigned as homework. Looking forward to showing off my Mullet Madness bulletin board to the parents at Open House next week, and even more excited to revisit this lesson next year!

    ~Dianna

  • Betsy Who? Why do I care?

    Image: Salon
    Image: Salon

    Today, the Senate voted 50-50 to confirm Betsy Devos as secretary of Education. It was so close and so contested that VP Mike Pence was brought in to cast the final vote.

    Maybe you’re not a teacher; here’s why you should still care and what that means for you.

    Who?

    Since Betsy Devos rose to prominence in November 2016, very little of the coverage has impacted my main concern, which has churned in my stomach since. As a teacher, I immediately Googled her, since I didn’t recognize herB name.

    I saw the same things many of y’all saw: never taught in a public school, sent her kids to a private school, worked with large educational organizations. All three of those areB alsoB true of Arne Duncan, the prior Secretary of Education.

    Who happens to look like Tim Curry.

    Untitled drawing (4)

    So what makes Devos scarier than Duncan? You’ve probably seen a zillion reasons to hate or praise her, some of which may be true for Duncan, also. For me, it’s one word that makes the educator and parent in me cringe:

    Vouchers

    In Michigan, Betsy Devos lobbied for the expansion of charter schools, even when they underperformed their publicly-staffed counterparts. As a teacher, I fight an uppity reflex when I hearB about classrooms that inadequately prepareB students for the future.

    I taught in a high school like that, and it was a grossB feeling when former students sentB me emails that said, “I am so unprepared for college. I’m in three remedial classes and I’ll probably need a 5th year to graduate.”

    The New Yorker is concerned that, if we begin to funnel public dollars into private schoolsB without holding them to the same standards, there’s no guarantee that our graduated students will have anyB minimum set of skills.

    That’s a fair bB and scary bB concern.

    "None of these books even have pictures?"
    “None of these books even have pictures?”

    As of this writing, there are 25 voucher programs in the country (14 states), serving some 176,000 students. That sounds like a lot, but we have roughlyB 50 million students in the country.

    What happens to the remaining 99.6% of our kids who still attend public schools?

    Even if vouchers are expanded and moreB US students attend private schools instead, what happens to those left behind in public schools with no money and poor teachers? And for those in private and charter schools, Devos has given no indication that they be held to the same minimum standards as public schools.

    All students deserve a quality education; I’m not convinced Devos will get them there.

    The world probably won’t implode,B my middle-class, white children will probably have a fine K-12 education, and I b the public education employee b will continue to ask tough questions and advocate for quality public education.

    And the silver lining to Betsy Devos gettingB confirmed: it’s gonna force us to have some hard conversations about what we want school to be.

    ~Matt “TryingB real hard to be objective” Vaudrey

    UPDATE: 15 February 2017
    Tweets like this can be read either way. I’m choosing to hope for the best.

  • Ten, Twelve, Ten

    Dear Claire,

    This year marks my 10th inB education. While the path of an educator’s career is murky and uncertain, I feel quite content with what I’ve accomplished in ten years.

    Rather than listing the recent wins (see the class Twitter feed and mine for those), I want to compare what I’ve learned in the last 12 weeks as a long-term sub in your classroom, and relate those things to my decade in public education.

    Teaching Muscles

    As you may recall, I was concerned before stepping into room 908 this year that my last 2 1/2 years as an instructional coach might haveb& witheredB my teaching muscles.

    I have vivid memories of my first year teaching, spending 45 minutes on the warm-up, yelling at students to be quiet, and marching them all outside to practice coming into the classroom quietly.

    wince2

    Those were my first few months in the weight room of education, and like actual muscles, teaching muscles take time to develop. Within about four years, I had muscles that most would consider average.

    Teaching muscles, not actual ones.

    Picture this guy, but with... nope, just like that.
    Picture this guy, but with… nope, just like that.

    Claire, stepping back into your class, I was pleased and surprised at how quickly my classroom management biceps awoke after a few years of neglect. And while I will always sacrifice “discipline” for an authentic classroom culture, I feel like I have arrived at a good balance, one where I can drive 36 freshman toward a learning goal for 54 minutes at a time.

    A Great Cloud of Witnesses

    During my first year teaching, I had to go door to door if I wanted advice. And a lot of it was garbage advice.

    "Don't smile until December."
    “Don’t smile until Christmas.”

    A decade deep into math education, technology and math and culture have all advanced to the point where I can have my thumbB on the pulse of tens of thousands of math classrooms, I can mooch lesson ideas, materials, and even common errors from other teachers’ blogs, and I can promote the sharing ofB awesome stuff, positively impacting classrooms of educators thousands of miles away.

    Claire, contrast today’s math-ed environment with 2007, me walking two buildings over to Kelli’s class, laying out my notebook paper and plan book, and asking, “So… how do I teach the distributive property?”

    My Instrument in the Orchestra

    Seventh graders, seniors, and most math classes in-between have passed through my door in the last 10 years. I’ve deconstructed hundreds of math content standards, and even built a pacing guide from scratch. A decade of public education affords me not only understanding of the part my instrument plays in the orchestra, but “vertical articulation” to understand how the timpani part takes over where my tuba solo ends.

    Knowing the skills students already have in their pocket and knowing the skills they will need before they leave makes me/anyone a better teacher, and this collaboration I recommend for any teacher, school, or department.

    Recent Twelve WeeksB

    At the CMC conference in 2007, the presenter flashed a problem like this on the wall.

    (Something like this. I forget what it was.)
    (Something like this. I forget what it was.)

    He then asked, “Who got negative one for their solution?” A dozen educators bB and I bB stood, in a room of 400. A grin crept across the presenter’s face as he pointed a bony finger at us and barked, “Wrong!”

    The room burst into laughter, and I sat down quickly with aB red face.

    I didn’t say another word the rest of the conference.

    My poor math-knowledge wasB exploited to score points in the room.

    Sadly, I took that idea with me into my classroom that year.B

    I entered the field tenB years ago with no formal training in mathematics or education. Due in part toB dogged pursuit of excellence, input from dozens of smart people, and aB willingness to take a risk and fail grandly, I’ve had some meager success as a math teacher.

    Thankfully, I tookB those ideas into my class, too.B I’ve made my class a place where no bony fingers will embarrass students with the wrong answer.

    It is my pleasure and honor to now encourage other fresh teachers to take a risk and try something new.

    The uncertain deserve an outstretched hand, not a judgmental, bony finger.

    Claire, it’s my hope that your students felt that in their twelve weeks with me.

    The Next Ten Years

    In the car today with my wife, I expressedB my surprise that other math teachers value my input. As usual, she encouraged me, saying, “You understandB students and you understandB adolescence; that’s what makes your math class different. It’s not the math part.”

    I know. She’s great. That’s why I put a ring on it.

    Ten years from now, it’s highly likely that the emphasesB of math educationB will have shifted.

    Because, you know; that’s what a pendulum does. ItB swings.

    It’s my hope that my strong suit will still be something that makes math education better. I will still be interested in broadening my perspectiveB and learning about how to build better students, better teachers, and better schools.

    And I hope the next 10 years will allow me to pursue that passion with the same fruition of the previous decade.

    ~Matt “The Long-Term Non-Sub” Vaudrey

  • Tiny Polka Dots

    My daughter, Pickle,* and I got a package in the mail today.

    img_6552

    Developed by MathForLove, it was a kickstarter… like… nine months ago, and it arrived today.

    Immediately, (after we clocked the little brother with the box, denied it, got sent to time-out, confessed, and pledged to be truthful hereafter) we sat down to play the game.

    The box, as you can see, is a cute size, and the rules for the various games are also printed on cards within the box. Which is good, because I wasB hella stoked to play, but unsure where to start.

    First up, “Hungry Numbers” for ages 3 and up. The purple numbers will only eat cards with the same number of dots as their value.

    img_6553

    Pickle: Hungry Numbers? That’s a silly name!

    Next, we matched cards with the same values to their buddies with the same number of dots. It was a good chance to get PickleB acquainted with ten-frames, which she hadn’t seen before.

    img_6557

    This was a good time to teach my wife why aB ten-frame (the blue cards) are important for counting and cardinality development.

    I should note, my wife had surgery last week, is hopped up on Oxy, and didn’t really care about cardinality development. She went to take a nap shortly after we finished playing.

    Both those games were for ages 3 and up, so I figured we could take it up a notch with something more her level (Pickle is 4).

    We played PowerDot (which is essentially War, but for with a different name for children/people in nations besides the U.S.). For this game, we added in the Orange cards (circular numbers).

    img_6554

    This led us into some great chats about what makes a number “greater,” a term she hadn’t heard yet.

    Then we were interruptedB because her brother had gotten stuck by the ottoman.

    Fig. 1: Pissed

    Next, good-ol-fashioned Matching.

    Then, we took it up a notch.

    Vaudrey: Pickle, the next game is forB big kids. Ages five and up. Do you think you can handle it?
    Pickle: (blows out tongue) I can handle it! I can do a hard game!

    In the Dot Fives game, we matched ten-frames with other dots to make five. “This one has three, how many more to make five?” She, of course, crushed it. My wife and I were both impressed.

    img_6558

    Then, in a moment out of a sitcom, she cheered and cried, “Yay! I can do tough things!” Then gave me a hug.

    This… doesn’t happen often in my math classroom.

    Letting students struggle and asking probing questions has been the focus of my career for the last decade, so I felt well-prepared to lead Pickle in this game. Even for parents who areB not math-education geeks bent on patient problem-solving, this game is a great place to start for Pre-K kiddos.

    Thankfully, the designers also includedB a Guide for Grown-Ups (posted here, about 75% of the way down). This guide should be required reading for teacher candidates in college. It should be laminated and given, poster-style, to every new hire in a school district. It should be tattooed on the forehead…

    Okay, you get the point.

    I no longer live in the Pacific Northwest. The next time I’m there, however, I’m scheduling a visit to the MathForLove HQ. I really wanna meet these three people, who have advanced degrees in things I can barely pronounce. Here’s founder Dan Finkel on a TED Talk worth watching:

    “Thinking happens when we have time to struggle.” Oh, yeah. Finkel gets me.

    Since the last time I visited their website, they’ve added a free lesson plans page. Using your resources to empower math teachers for free? That — by itself — is enough to get me on your team.

    Also, the team at MathForLove also designed Prime Climb. Initially, it sounds like they were trying to cram math into a game where it doesn’t belong, but after reading the rulesB to Prime Climb, I really want it.

    In short, I recommend getting your own set of Tiny Polka Dot here as a PDF or clickB here to order sturdy cards early next year.

    ~Matt “I can do tough things” Vaudrey

    *Not her real name, but what I call her on the regular.

  • Port in a Storm

    Real talk: Autumn has been crazy in the Vaudrey household. Between prepping for CMC-South, traveling the country to talk about math education, and moving my family across town, this li’l blog has been neglected. The next several posts in the #DearClaire series will be weeks late, but I’m posting them anyway.

    Dear Claire,

    Monday, I attempted to re-create Guess My Rule to introduce linear functions. It’s a lesson starter from my first year teaching, and as such, is ten years old.

    It sure felt like something I hadn’t touched in 10 years. I give the lesson a D plus.

    Gross-face1

    Three years ago, I used a trial Mathalicious subscription and did the Domino Effect lesson with my class (then-results here). Two hours before class on Tuesday, I decided that’sB exactlyB what I wanted for the days’ lesson: a discussion about ordered pairs and what they represent, coupled with rate of change.

    Woulda been pretty cool if I’d have planned the period better. Instead, I took too long on the buildup and we scrambled the last 10 minutes to get to the grand reveal.

    C minus.

    Educator and genius Karl Lindgren-Streicher points out that anything can be done poorly b even one of my favorite tools for math teachers, apparently.

    Just before class, I tweeted this:

    Claire, teachers in the #MTBoS wear two identites all the time. For one of them, we are teachers who want to get better at our practice and are honest about our failings. Beneath the other hat, we write books about math education and travel the country speaking about math education and have Twitter followers from around the world listening to our thoughts on math education.

    Shouldn’t we have our actB together if other teachers on Twitter are listening?
    Shouldn’t we at least hide our struggles?

    No. No we should not.

    In that tweet above b one part modeling failure and one part fishing for encouragement b I was honestly and publicly reflecting about what to do when lessons bomb. Because they do.

    Claire, you’ve been very kind to me in my two years working with you as an Instructional Coach, but you’ve also been frank with me about which parts of my demo lesson didn’t work for your class and what you would’ve done differently.

    That honesty is important, as important as encouragement (which also came). Misty also saw that need in my tweets.

    Ugh. Yeah. Fine. But it’s not working for the class.

    Carly, for example b the studentB who respectfully pointed out “we shouldn’t be tested on this if we didn’t cover it in class” b called me over during test review last week.

    She asked, “Mr. Vaudrey, when are we going to practice more… like…B actual math? Like, I understand that all these things (she motions at the review problems printed on colorful “stations” around the room) are important, but like… are we gonna get more notes on, like, equations and stuff?”

    Ugh. Carly just loves when school is hard.
    “And can we please have more homework?”

    Students like Carly are accustomed to math class working a certain way. When their usual method of success no longer works, they get nervous.

    It’s not wrong to give students what they require to succeed in class; a variety of nutrients is necessary for a healthy diet. If they want notes, it’s okay to give them that for a meal sometimes.

    It’s wrong to feed them a steady diet of PowerBars, then wonder why their teeth fall out (educationally speaking).

    So where’s the line?

    Have I mentioned yet that Twitter is the best staff lounge? I’ve never even met Misty in real life.

    Wednesday, we took notes on expressing the same function four ways, thenB practiced in groups.

    The students needed some structure, so I provided it. Then, when they tackled the Desmos activity the next day, it went much better.

    While we’re speaking about the gap between theory and practice, between teaching teenagers and teaching adults, between modeling vulnerability and appearing an expert, let’s talk about Saturday.

    The San Gabriel Valley CUE affiliate held its annual mini-conference. Six hundred people attended, I had a great time modeling Appetizers for teachers, and one of my favorite teachers won the award for which I nominated her. The room full of her peers erupted with applause, praising her well-earned recognition.

    It was a great day for me as a coach, four days after a pretty gross day in the classroom.

    Contradiction? Very well, then it’s a contradiction. Teachers are vast; we contain multitudes.

    ~Matt “Walt Whitman” Vaudrey

    UPDATE: AB Desmos activity was dropped a few weeks later that isB much better for the purpose of getting students to understand functions multipleB ways. Dan writes about it here.

  • Vulnerability – Teacher Report Card 2016

    Dear Claire,

    You and I haven’t ever talked about the use of the Teacher Report Card as a way to get feedback from students, but lemme tell ya; it’s one of my favorite things I do.

    Every students’ face lit up when I mentionedbbefore giving them the test on Wednesdayb”After the test, you’ll be given a link. That link takes you to a Teacher Report Card where you will gradeB me.”

    Whaaaat image: Viewminder
    “Whaaaat? Awesome! That’s weird. You get straight A’s, Mr. Vaudrey! I’ma fail you.”
    image: Viewminder

    “Listen, though. I want to be the best teacher I can be, so I’m asking you howB you think the class is going because you know best. Be honest with me. You will not hurt my feelings, I can take it. Here’s your test.”

    And they were honest, as only teenagersB could be. Here’s what happened:

    snip20161007_3

    Good Stuff First

    Quite proud of my top six.

    Stuff toB Ignore

    In previous years, makes me feel importantB also been my lowest-scoring question. It’s notable that most students in the latter half of myB careerB feel that I respect each student (#2), praise good work (#4), and try to see the students point of view (#5).

    Yet I still don’t make them feel important.

    Let me get developmental for a moment; I thinkB teenagers will always have a need to feel important, one that we should encourage and affirm as long as it doesn’t encroach on the importance of others. This is a life stage where the identity is forming, which is why haircuts, hair dye, piercings, changes in handwriting, changes in clothing, changes in language, love interests, sexuality questions, and asking their teacher if he smokes weed…

    …will always be natural parts of being a teenager. It’s developmental.

    So that question will probably always be my lowest.
    (If you also give the TRCB to your students, affirm or disprove my theory in the comments.)

    Stuff to Improve

    Yes, my lowest is still 85% positive.
    Yes, I still want to be the best I can, so I’m looking at the bottom.

    The questionsB above that I’ve shaded … what color is that? … copper?… The shaded items are my focus for the second half of my long-term sub assignment. Plenty of free-response comments affirmed that my classroom management is frustrating the compliant students, especially when it comes to covering the material.

    trc-collage-2016

    Rick Morris, one of the first to dramatically impact my classroom culture, had a clear and consistent classroom management (which he modeled for us in full day workshop). As we debriefed, he said something that has stuck with me for years.

    Shelter and protect the compliant

    Claire, in 6th period, thereB are two students. One consistently arrives on time, completes all her assignments, and volunteers to answer questions. The other students made nothing but negative or disparaging remarks for the first two weeks of school. (He’s better now.)

    When the compliant student asked to move seats, I did. She deserves to be sheltered and protected more than the knucklehead needs an elbow partner.

    Other Stuff

    On the list of “Ways Teaching is Different in 2016 than 2013” is the obsession withB phones. About 25% of students mentioned “phone” in their response,B and we use them for calculators sometimes and that’s pretty much it.

    Also dabbing is new and kinda fun.

    On Wednesday, students gave me their opinions. On Monday, I was more …B demanding… with the class following instructions quickly. Sixth period (of course) felt my wrath first, but quickly fell in line.

    Nobody likes hearing their teacher use the Grumpy Voice.

    Claire, I’m not saying I’ve solved the issue that students mentioned; I’m saying I’m improving.

    Next up, content. Teaching RSP 8th grade in the hood requires a different skill set (and a differentB pace) than teaching these students.

    ~Matt “Farther Up and Farther In” Vaudrey

    P.S. Notable in the student responses is the preference toward math class feeling like it’s always felt. A few students mentioned a preference for the typical math class; one even sat me down yesterday and asked why we don’t take notes and do practice like math class is supposed to. Change is hard. Math reform can’t be done on an island.

    The yellow paper that students mentioned is a handout we use to tackle Appetizers as bellwork everyday. That one student who complainedB can suck it up; it’sB an important part of building number sense and it’s friggin’ fun.

    If you’re interested in giving the TRC to your students, click here to make a copy of the Google Form.

    Andbin the name of vulnerability and transparencybhere are all the student responses.

     

  • “Aw, He’s a Consultant.”

    Dear Claire,

    Late last week, I tweeted this:

    The tweet itself got a couple thousand views and led to some good conversations last week and thatB weekend.

    Which is kinda what I’m talking about. I think…

    I think I’m a better coach than a teacher.

    That’s a weird thing to be sheepishB about.

    snip20161007_2

    ThatB Sunday, I went to the EdTech Team’s High Desert GAFE Summit to present on stuff. It went great. People commented about how helpfulB it was, how great that I’m back in the classroom since I’m so energetic and engaging, and I even sold a fewB books while I was there.

    Then today, I dragged two periods of freshmen through Graphing Stories and just… didn’t feel like a great teacher. Jack forgot his glasses, but insisted he got contacts this weekend. Katherine’s new seat in the middle of the room was a bad idea, since she can now distractB everybody in the back half of class, andB all of 6th periodbdespite being lovely as individualsbstruggle to get through anything as a group.

    In the gap since I was last a teacher, I’ve had my head in theB theory of teaching, waxing rhetorically about the death of homework or reading books about theB inclusion of students of color in meaningful waysB or sharing ways to increase student voice and agency in the classroom (including this on Wednesday).

    image: Ricardo Williams on flickr
    image: Ricardo Williams on flickr

    What a blessing to be an instructional coach and have the lowered stress level so I canB dream about education outside of the four walls of aB classroom, without worrying about the new seating chart that I promised them forB Monday and didn’t even start yet and lunch ends in 12 minutes and dammit I still have to make copies and I haven’t even erased the board from Friday yet.

    It’s easy to dream about big ideas, but some of the dailyB stuff is kicking my ass.

    And worse than that; I’m feeling like the stuffed-shirt, overpaid, abstracted Educator that presents at conferences about ideas s/he hasn’t tried.

    I’ve satB in those sessions and rolled my eyes and murmured to my teammate, “Aw, he’s aB consultant.”

    What can s/he possibly know aboutB real teaching?

    “Babe,” says my wife. “You’re your own worst critic. Your class is probably a funner place to learn than other places on campus. Many of those kids probably just sit silently the rest of the day, but they get a voice in your room.”

    While she may be right, I’m not convincedB yet that I’m doing anB excellent job.B Every day is a risk (which doesn’t scare me) and I’m worried that I’m not as good a teacher now as I was when I left (which scares the hell out of me).

    I’m curious to see what Wednesday’s Teacher Report Card results look like. Of course, I’ll post them here.

    ~Matt “No disrespect for subs. Your job is really hard.” Vaudrey

     

  • Dear Erin

    What follows is an email I sent back to Erin, a teacher who read the book and this blog and rightfully had some questions.

    I (and John) are thrilled that Classroom Chef has opened us to have these conversations more often.

     

    Hi, Erin.

    I’ve been sitting on this email for a few days. It’s ready for print now:

    First: Wow! You’re asking these questions in your second year of teaching?* I’m way impressed; my second year was full of some pretty terrible Direct Instruction lessons and not much else.

    Okay, in order:
    1. I get the idea of creating exciting lesson plans that engage the kids, but then what? Do you have them do traditional practice problems? On your blog, you mention that your students take out “today’s assignment” and you post the answers on the board. Does that mean it was yesterday’s assignment that they have all ready completed? Or the current day?

    If your department has policies on homework, quizzes, and tests, this is where they fall into place. I’m a long-term sub right now, so I’m doing what the Full-Time teacher wants to do, even if I don’t agree.

    Anyway, if you choose to assign homework, figure out the purpose of the homework before you assign it. That very question was kicked around on Twitter this weekend by teachers more veteran than I.

    Is the purpose rote memorization? Repeated practice? Extension and application? Or just a written response to the day? Of those four, I like the last two. When I have the option, homework was a couple practice, then an extension, then a written response to something. Four questions, 2-10 minutes.

    Later in my career, I’ve printed the answers on the back (reinforcing that I care more about the process of learning than the result, then had students check the answers with each other. If there were still questions after that, it was a good sign that the topic didn’t stick very well.

    2. In that same blog post (I know it’s from a few years ago), your board with your agenda says “magic brain, note, stretch, practice, challenge”….Would you mind explaining how that goes? You explain in detail your pre-class routine, but is there another post with the rest of your class schedule?

    For the post in question, here’s how that lesson went:

    • Magic Brain – you may have seen the “Big X Method” to teach factoring. Magic Brain was my attempt to remove the “method,” and practice the skill of noting the sum of two factors and the product of two factors. I’d draw the X, like you see in that link, then tell the class, “I have two numbers inside my magic brain. Added, they make ____, multiplied, they make ____. Show me on your whiteboard if you can read mymind.” We practiced that for a bit, then…
    • Note – Usually, the agenda would say “Notes,” but this day had only one topic; factoring trinomials. We took a “note,” did a couple practice problems on their own in the notebook, then…
    • Stretch – We had 90 minute periods. This was before I used the “stand and talk to your neighbor” song, so we regularly took stretch breaks during class. Plenty of research shows the correlation between body activity and blood flow to the brain, but I now know that every 40 minutes is far too seldom, especially for middle school.
    • Practice – After the stretch break, whiteboard practice of factoring polynomials. Then…
    • Challenge – we returned to the Daily Doozy and tackled the college-level problem that we started with.

    3. Basically, I’m just trying to figure out a good solid routine that incorporates those fun and engaging things like “math talks”, and “estimation 180”, and “Would you rather”, and “3 act tasks”, but then what about practice problems and homework? Necessary or not? Will the kids “get” what they need without those practice problems? Do you just teach the barbie jump line and then they get it?

    This is my favorite question from your email; I’m thrilled that you’re interested in the most effective way to make a topic stick, and it’s my hope that teachers like you begin to fill the profession and dilute the negativity and status quo that contaminate teacher’s lounges around the country.

    Yeah, there’s some strong language there, but you’re clearly on the right track by asking the question, so here it goes:

    For now, the standardized test doesn’t ask questions the same way that research says kids experience learning. Instead of, “On a bungee jump, what is important?” the tests say, “Barbie is bungee jumping from a platform 80 feet above a bridge. Each bungee stretches 0.5 feet per 10 pounds of weight. How many bungees does Barbie need if she weighs 150 pounds?”

    Until standardized tests move the goalposts of math education, we’ll have to play on the field with terms they define.

    So you gotta use Barbie Bungee to whet their appetite, then move them slightly further and further toward abstraction. That might mean using practice problems for a homework assignment that use the language above, or doing a performance task that closer aligns to the SBAC or PARCC.

    In short, when students enjoy coming to your class, appreciate the effort you put into their learning, and respect you, they’re more likely to tolerate bad math problems without digging in their heels.
    ___________________

    Clearly, I can write for pages about math education and the subtle shifts that I think will make it meaningful. Infinitely more important than my voice in your classroom is yours, Erin.

    Keep asking questions, keep pushing on the fences.

    ~Matt “Not An Expert” Vaudrey

    * In a later email, Erin noted that it’s her 10th year teaching, second year inB this classroom.

  • Conflicting Values

    Dear Claire,

    I drafted this post, but never published it last week.

    This was a week of transitions, one in which I was very thankful for this blog, twitter, and my wife as a sounding board.

    On Monday, the air-conditioning in room 908 still wasn’t fixed, and the temperature climbed to 89B0 before 6th period ended. David (a student you’ll meet in a few months) suggested, “Why don’t we go outside? There’s a breeze.”

    So we did. We took our whiteboards and worked through literal equations outdoors. It was… pretty good. I took 7th period to the air-conditioned library to do the same thing. It was also… justB pretty good.

    I came home and wrote a post (that I didn’t publish) about how I wanted more traction with the students. We’re four weeks into the school year; surely by now there should be some sense of what a “normal day” feels like. Or worse, their chatty and tough-to-wrangle behaviorB is a “normal day,” but I’m too much of a softie with my classroom management to notice it.

    That’s a distinct possibility.

    Shibuya (who teaches next door) and I chatted about the need to be strict without being rough, stern without being mean, and… that’s hard for me. I’ve been telling new teachers for the last three years that “students can smell when you’re doing someone else’s lesson or someone else’s management style. Be genuine.”

    Now here I am, being genuine and realizing that I should have higher expectations for how we treat each other.

    All of those feelings happened on a shortened-schedule Monday with no air-conditioning.

    Fast-forward to Tuesday and Wednesday, where we did notes and whiteboard practice for solving and graphing inequalities. They were on-task, respectful, and we blew through plenty of content.

    Here’s my internal struggle. Not the oneB about being nice vs. stern. A different struggle.

    Students appear to want notes and whiteboard practice more than weird and innovative lessons.

    There. I said it.

    Not just in their collective compliance, butB out loud.

    “Your way is weird. Can I just use the formula?”
    ~Madi, period 7

    There’s more. The piece I’m realizing (right this minute, as I type) that I’ve forgotten:

    Of course, they will be quieter when they’re writing stuff down. And that looksB like compliance and desire.

    Claire, that post I drafted onB Monday was falsely correlating silence and engagement.

    The opposite is probably true.

    ~Matt “Robert, it’s Eric’s turn to talk. Go ahead, Eric.” Vaudrey