The Struggle is Real

The. Struggle. Is. Real.

I knew that this math adventure was not going to be a walk in park. But I did not think that my students would struggle as much with this switch over as I am experiencing. I have been putting off blogging the failures because I was hoping for the moment when all of my students would exclaim that they love math, PBL, and all the wonderful things we were doing. I wanted to create the epic "This is how to be successful in your classroom" blog where I would boast about how all of my students bought into this idea and were learning so much. But, I'm not quite there yet.

Since Spring Break we have been embarking more on the actual academic part of math. We are looking at very basic parts of algebra and spending lots of time on each one of those concepts. We have spent time with:
     -Rational and Irrational Numbers
     -Variables and Expressions
     -Order of Operations
     -The Distributive Property
     -Equations
     -Multi Step Equations

For each of these topics the students start out with a google doc that they are responsible for filling in. They look like this:

Each assignment is unique, but all are very similar. For my co-teacher and I, this was a way for us to front-load information. Students work independently or in groups (preferred) to complete each document and it's tasks. Once they are complete, they turn it on Classroom. From here we go into a project that involves each of the topics. So far, we have done a math based game of Clue, made a class snack of Muddy Buddies, done an assignment on taxes, and tomorrow we will start doing a comic strip assignment on ToonDoo.com.

That all sounds great, but the amount of work that I get turned into me is minimal. Most of the work that is turned in is less than half complete. Even when I go over answers I can't seem to get the kids to do the work. Grades have dropped, so has my morale. I am not sure what to do, suggestions at this point would be greatly appreciated!

I thought with my "genius" idea of the changing education project that the students would see what they needed to do to be successful in this new environment. I thought they were ready to see how things can change and how they can become better learners and become more prepared for the work-force. But now I think I may be asking too much, or maybe I just feel like giving up. Im not really sure.

So, the struggle is real. I'm stuck at a point where I don't feel like I can hold their hands and walk them through each and every step, but I still want to push them with help. I hate when my students get mad at me for not telling them the answer. I get asked at least 3 times a day, "why can't you just tell me answer?". Most of my kids have struggled in math for so long that they were just given answers to make it seem easier on them... or maybe it was easier on their teachers that way. I guess Im not sure how to find that happy medium between hand-holding and helping.

Words of wisdom are welcome! Anything that might help! This mermaid feels like she is drowning.

Slight Success

        After being out at PD yesterday, I was nervous to come back into the classroom today and try to get all the students back on the computers and up and running with their WebQuest. But I knew I had to just jump back in and do it. Once period 1 updated all of the computers for me (bless their little mermaid hearts), which took the whole period because we were updating 33 Chrome Books at one time. They weren't too mad about not having to start the new project, so overall, that period went well. Haha.

      Back to period 4, they did so much better! First of all, the computers worked (thanks period 1!) which made a huge difference! Amazing... haha. Before we started, we had another long talk about how the world of education is changing. The role of teachers and students will begin to change more dramatically than they think. Our conversation was fluid and really rolled into a conversation about how self-learning now will help them figure things out when they get to the real world. I had to reassure a few of them that that did not mean that they taught themselves everything while I watched re-runs of 30 Rock on Netflix during class, but it meant that they would have to go out on a limb and search for answer. No answers were going to be put in front of them. No more "list of steps" and "this is how you do it cheat sheets." For example, today we were making graphs on GoogleSheets. I told them that if they did not remember how to graph on google it would be a good idea to use YouTube and watch a video. The ones that really took off got it so well, and a few of them even had graphs done by the end of class! YAY!

     There were a few who struggled still. The one kid who wanted me to tell him where to find all the answers, and the other one who tried to do the bare minimum and tell me the assignment was completed, and the one who tried falling asleep because it was "going to be easier to do it at home". It's still not perfect... And lets keep it real... it won't ever be perfect. But the take away from today is that this Mermaid was able to make something happen. The hook got tied on the line correctly and the fishes nibbled.

    Treasure Chest is still out there, but the X is starting to become more clear!