Inside Four Walls: A Glimpse into my class

I have talked about the struggles with my Algebra B class this year. I have had some bright spots, but mainly it has been a challenging year for me. Usually I average about 60% or higher advanced/proficient on the standards test, but this year I will be lucky if I get 20%.

I have had a ton of complaints as to how I run my class. One such complaint was that I collect homework at the end of a chapter, not everyday. I had a bunch of students say, "If you collected the homework daily I would do it, but since you wait til the end of the chapter I don't do it." So that whole being responsible didn't work. So I decided to start collecting the homework daily. I have copied my gradebook and took a picture of it. Now before anyone freaks out, the order is random, the names & grades are chopped off. And you can't even see the assignment points. And it isn't even the entire gradebook, just the last couple of weeks.I told one teacher it looked like a battlefield with all that red. And yet...it's my fault they aren't passing? I don't get it. I had a parent ask for the class average. It is low, but I felt like they were trying to justify their child's grade. I felt like just showing them this picture and saying "this is why the average is low." I think it says a lot that there are only 4 students on there that haven't missed an assignment.

This isn't the norm for me. This is definitely one of those weird years. I can't explain it, but the lack of motivation is staggering to me. I got nothing.

Inside Four Walls: What glimmer?

Last week I talked about my Algebra B students doing well on their 1st semester benchmark and I thought that this could be a sign of things to come. Well then there was the whole homework incident that sort of brought me down. Well whatever optimism there was from that benchmark is pretty much gone.

They took a rational equations quiz yesterday, basically fractions with variables. They all became quadratic equations when you got rid of the denominator too. So we have been doing these for about 2 weeks now and did about 20 minutes of review before I put the questions on the board, it was a block day.

I don't have the average yet, but there were only 12 questions and only 8 of the 28 scored a 7 or higher. For you non-math majors, a 7 is a 58%. I mention that because 9 people scored 0 out of 12. Yeah, couldn't get one right. Despite the fact that we did 5 problems before the quiz that were set up the EXACT same way as the actual questions.

I got nothing here. I really am at a loss. I have been asking other teachers for help and guidance, but nothing is working...nothing. And should I really be too surprised? I mean when I gave a homework assignment of 6 questions, I only had 8 people do it.

Inside Four Walls: So much for that glimmer

A couple of days ago I posted about my Algebra B class and how they scored really well on the 1st semester benchmark. I was starting to feel like maybe they had turned the corner and maybe had a chance.

While I won't say they are done, I will share a story from Friday. On Thursday, I assigned 6 review rational equation problems...not a typo, 6 problems. I even gave them 15 minutes in class to get started on them. These are a little harder than the normal ones because they all became quadratic equations. But I figured, "hey they have only 6 and I am giving them 15 minutes to get started, they should get this done pretty quickly." Wishful thinking, maybe I was still on cloud 9 because of the benchmarks.

On Friday when I collected it, only 8 people turned it in. 8 out of 28! Seriously, how do you not do 6 problems? Especially when you are given 15 minutes in class to start it? I ended up emailing the parents of the students who didn't turn it in. This was at 9:30 in the morning. When I left around 2:45, only 1 parent had responded.

How can anyone justify tying my pay to students that refuse to work? I don't understand how no one seems to understand that you can't force someone to do something. Hey but there is a silver lining, when most of the class isn't advanced or proficient then people will be able to judge me and say I'm a bad teacher. I love education.

Inside Four Walls: A Glimmer?

So before the CSTs come I always give my students their first semester benchmark and final, just to see how much they have retained. My Algebra B class this year is really struggling. I have done more review, longer lessons, and re-teaching entire chapters this year than ever before. And I figure I will only have 5 of the 30 be proficient or advanced. To say it has been disappointing is an understatement.

Well this might be a glimmer of hope. I gave them the first semester benchmark, which covers factoring, graphing, exponents, and rational expressions. The average in the fall was a 62%. Nothing special to say the least. Every year I focus 3 of my 4 opening activity questions on factoring, graphing (writing equations of lines, slope, intercepts, anything with graphing), and systems of equations. So since November they have been doing one of those topics daily. I do it because those are 3 of the big topics on the CSTs and it is good daily review. I was hoping for some improvement, but to be honest I wasn't expecting too much.

The average the second time around was a 71%. Almost 10% gain! Are you kidding me? It helped me see there was some growth. It reassured me that the opening activities do work. I love the opening quizzes for this very reason. And in addition to seeing these topics daily, when other classes are re-teaching those topics, my classes don't need that.

I haven't been able to do something like this in Geometry or Algebra 2 yet. It's harder because of the amount of material I have to cover. I started weekly review quizzes this year in Geometry. I write about 6-7 questions from previous chapters once a week. I don't know if it will have any sort of effect, but I will find out next week when my Geometry classes take the 1st semester benchmark again.