3/1/07

Investigation 4 of Comparing and Scaling is a very random compilation of problems, with no particular rhyme or reason. At least one of these problems could be completely cut out with no loss of information and learning for my students. Using proportions is not imperative for solving these problems. In fact, I myself would not use proportions to solve some of these problems, so how can I encourage my students to do so?

We fell a little behind schedule due to the pacing of this book and the fact that we unexpectedly had some days off from school. I felt that it was necessary to make some cuts in Investigation 4, and ended up eliminating problem 4.2 from our class investigations. My reasoning was that 4.2 is not an investigation that leads to new knowledge; it is more just a practice exercise of the skills that have already been learned. I know that students need to practice these skills, but there has to be a better, less random way of going about it.

Yvette had been teaching two math classes, but recently I switched teaching loads with her. Now I'm teaching two math classes, and I like it! I am having some issues, however, with the achievement levels of the students in both classes. I gave a quiz last week. My first class had one D and two C's, and the rest fell between 87% and 100%. My second class was much more spread out across the spectrum. I had four to six D's and F's, and the rest were C's or A's. Looking at this information, I've got a bunch of questions. Is the difference because Yvette and I switched teaching loads in the middle of the book, and the kids are still trying to adjust to the slight differences in our teaching styles? Is it because I have slightly lower achieving students in the second class? Have I been neglecting to discuss the essential information in the second class because I was so conscious of asking those questions in my first class?

In my first class I have three students who are a part of the Special Education Resource Program at my school. Two of them come from stable middle-class families, and their parents are involved in their schoolwork. The other student, Michael, comes from a family that is not very stable and that lives in a sketchy part of town. He has made such great strides this year! Besides these students, I have two or three students whom I consider lower level in this class, and three students that I consider to be higher level.

My second class has four students who are participating in the Special Ed Resource Program, as well as a student who was tested at the beginning of the year to be put in the Bilingual Program. He qualified for the second of three tiers. These students are mainstreamed for some math and for social studies/science, but they need services to help them with the content being covered in these classes. The student in the Bilingual Program left our team for a day or two, but he told his parents that he loved our team and wanted to come back, so his parents decided to refuse services. He has a very difficult time because he does not have a strong language background in either English or Spanish. This leads to trouble when we are using a book that relies so heavily on words. He is currently being tested again. The rest of my students do well — none is lower level. In fact, I have five students who seem to me to be very high level.

After writing all of this down, I still haven't really answered my question. I don't know why there is a discrepancy in scoring for these kids. Could it be because in my first class I have a few students who have no problem raising their hands and contributing? In my second class there are students who don't participate much, or who do participate but don't understand how to solve the problems. With these kids we often have to spend a lot of time going through their solution methods and explain why they did or did not work out.

I guess that it would be helpful to see how their unit tests turn out — to see whether there still is such a big difference in how they score. Maybe the discrepancy is due to their transition period adjusting to my teaching, or maybe it really is a difference between the two classes. Who knows?