Musings from Mrs. Galvan

T his year in geometry, I am striving for a more constructivist approach. Many concepts (like perpendicular or supplementary) are familiar. The challenging part is to write the definitions in polished, conditional form and then integrate them into two column proofs. Approaching new material this way is more engaging and promotes retention. Rather than announcing the definitions from on high, I have been having students discuss the terms and attempt the if-then form in small groups. Sometimes instead of discussion, they investigate the concept using geogebra or math open ref . Then we collect the attempts and discuss as a class. Once we agree on the ideal wording, they add it to their flash card deck with an accompanying diagram. Most lessons close with students using the new theorems along with ones they already know to write a two column proof with their partner. Starting class with more generative activities, making time for retrieval practice (with their flash cards) a...

So tomorrow is the first day of school. I am at the point in my to do list when it is time for me to let some things go - I can't do everything  I'd like to on day 1. I did make a presentation to explain Standards Based Grading. Inspired by Bowman , This prezi gives a basic overview of what SBG is, why I use it and how it will work for my students. Apparently in my post grad school haze I completely missed the TMC15 inspired month of blogging ( Blaugust ). I also missed discussion on all the awesome things people learned at TMC15, including using my favorite read of 2014 - Make It Stick  both to structure class and as a teaching tool.  Julie R . blogged about how she plans to teach her classes strategies from the book and even shared resources for doing so (which I plan on stealing and using). I also missed several Global Math Department webinars including this one on suggestions for the first day of school . So now that I am catching up on what I missed, my...

My students recently received their progress reports for 3rd quarter and maybe they need a reminder of why I am trying standards based grading and how I turn their various degrees of mastery into a letter grade.  Before I get into the details,  let's remember why I am making this choice. I want the feedback they receive from me to be just that: feedback on what they should keep doing and what they need to improve upon. I feel that giving letter grades doesn't promote a growth mindset and can be interpreted as punishment rather than an indication of progress. As such, I need to give my students lots of chances to make mistakes, receive feedback and demonstrate mastery of our learning targets . My students take skill quizzes (short, ten minute maximum) 2 - 3 times per week. I check them, given written feedback, track performance with learning targets and return them the next days. Students make corrections as needed and then decide if they want to reassess .  Yes, t...

After 6 months of using Standards Based Grading, and speaking to colleagues individually, I gave a talk to the World Languages Department about my experiences. I use Active Grade and showed my grade book during my presentation. Obviously, that link won't work in the presentation below. I will add screenshots to the slideshow... eventually.

Thank you @Stavenski for posting. :)

It is summer.... finally... I am writing this sitting, in shorts and a T-shirt, in my kitchen while one kid naps and the other is on the Ipad (#motheroftheyear, #learningapps). I finally feel relaxed and have a bit of time to write about my year. I assigned my students to write reflections, so it is only fitting that I write one too. So here is the prompt I gave my students to guide their reflection. Responses varied greatly. Some did the bare minimum and some wrote detailed, insightful commentaries on their year. One kid even mentioned that he learned to value process over product. I nearly fell off the couch with joy. As for me, I feel like I have a lot to polish . I want improve my prompts, rubrics and system for grading and giving feedback. I had many a late night trying to grade every blog post and write something of value to each student. I did an okay job, but the time it took still didn't merit what I felt was mediocre feedback from me. There has a to be a better, sprea...

Last Fall, we had an interesting speaker, Dr. Dan Siegel , come to speak at a joint faculty meeting. He spoke about mindfulness and how to embrace its tenets to enhance how the teenage brain works. One point he made that spoke to me, was the importance of spending time reflecting and relaxing. After his talk, I started leading my students in mindful meditations (breathing) before assessments. This fall, our speaker Carol Dweck , spoke to our faculty about fixed vs growth mindsets. While her research isn't directly tied into mindfulness, her focus on the importance of the process and not just the outcome, follows the spirit of mindfulness: balance is key to well being. My (naive) hope is that my students will focus on learning and growth, and not merely on outcomes and grades. I hope that they will leave middle school as good people, and not just good equation solvers. Perhaps an effort driven, balanced-well-being environment is a lofty (hippy-ish) goal, but one I (the hippy alge...

I have been asking my students' parents to refrain from telling their children if they were bad at math at Back to School nights for years. Why would kids want to try at a subject that is hard if their parents give them an out? Here is a good synopsis , backed up by a recent study linking the anxiety of parents to the performance of students, of how and why parents (and teachers) should change their tone and " jump into the subject they once feared with both feet."

Yesterday we had the pleasure of listening to a talk by researcher Carol Dweck at our faculty meeting. She spoke about her research on mindsets . I enjoyed her talk and I am eager to put it into practice, though I think encouraging growth mindsets in my students won't be an easy, instant change. I consider myself a positive person and I try to encourage my students to have positive outlooks for success. I have also spent the last 6 months reading parenting books that warn against praising actions and encourage praising effort or simply summarizing actions to build self-esteem. In short, I was eager to hear her talk to learn more ways to help my students (and children) to succeed. Here are my notes: Fixed mindsets = non-learners Growth mindset = intelligence can be developed People with Fixed Mindsets are concerned with not looking dumb , believe talent in innate and tend to hide mistakes. People with Growth Mindsets will learn at all costs, work hard, pushing them...