2/22/07

Okay. So I'm a little over halfway through Comparing and Scaling, and I know that some of my students aren't being challenged at all by this book. I've been trying to find a way to adequately challenge all of my students. I think it's necessary to have all students learn and practice the five different comparison types. At this point in the book, some students can move on very successfully on their own, and would be bored if they're not challenged to reach their full potential.

Yesterday I spoke with two of the students in my math class to try an extension idea with them. These two students are going to work together to get through Investigation 3 by themselves. I stressed to them that it's really important for them to ask each other or me questions, if they have them. I have chosen ACE extension problems to give them for homework each night, instead of what the rest of my class will be doing for homework. I don't think that they would be challenged enough by the regular homework assignments.

Four of my students have reached the end of Investigation 3, and they're working on a way to show me that they have reached the goals that I have set for them.

There are three major "learnings" that I want from them, and they can show me them in any way they choose. (I've suggested PowerPoint presentations, portfolios, and written explanations.) They should be able to demonstrate:

1. Using unit rates effectively and being able to explain their thought process.
2. Using unit rates as a method for comparing two or more things.
3. Relating unit rates to ratios and linear relationships.

My teammate, Yvette, and I have met twice with the math instructional specialist at our school. She teaches the accelerated math classes for each grade level. She's incredibly knowledgeable, and always willing to help. The first time we met, Yvette and I shared our questions and concerns with her. We came up with a few ideas, and the specialist suggested the portfolio for each goal. The three of us also discussed having our higher level students work ahead of the others, but still participate in class discussions of the important problems.

Having them participate in discussions will help the rest of the students in our class, and will give students a better grasp of how to explain their thinking. This is especially important for those students who don't always understand math so easily.

The last thing we began to discuss was the planning of our next book, Moving Straight Ahead. Since the students have varying readiness levels for a pre-algebra book, we're thinking about choosing some lessons for the whole class to do, some extension parts (the last few questions) for our higher level students, and some that Yvette and I might team teach together by opening the wall between our rooms. We plan to meet again with our math instructional specialist a few times, to discuss these options and get her input. I hope this plan will help to challenge our students in the right ways.