MPM2D Gr 10 Course Redesign

Lindsay KuehSheri Hill

(Adrian Rawle)

Make It Stick &

Increase Perseverance

We will give all of our materials at the end of the presentation.

Link to materials:

tiny.cc/10courseredesign

* We will give permission to view files

after the presentation

http://tiny.cc/10courseredesign

Frustration!● Poor numeracy skills● Poor retention for next year● Weak problem solving skills● Low perseverance● ALSO any gaps from COVID-19

Improving these became our GOALS!

Academic goals● The students should have basic skills they can take with

them - numeracy, algebra, etc. (fill in gaps from last year)

● We want students to be able to perform the skills we teach them, any time that it is asked, and anytime it is useful.

● Students shouldn’t find the final exam frightening.

Atmosphere/Community goals

● The students should feel safe (physically and intellectually) in class - it’s ok to be vulnerable. (Brene Brown)○ “Not yet” and “Celebrating mistakes”

● Enjoyable - exploration - desire to learn

● Student focused - teacher is NOT source of all knowledge

Evidence Based!● We want evidence based solutions!

○ Make it Stick by Peter C. Brown

○ The Interleaving Effect: Mixing It Up Boosts Learning By Steven C. Pan

● Disclaimer: what we’re going to discuss is not a way to teach - it’s a way to plan a course!

https://www.amazon.ca/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/0674729013https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/

Types of Practice! - How you practice matters!

● Massed/Blocked Practice (AAABBBCCC) vs Mixed Practice/Interleaving. (ABCDBCDB)

● Spaced Practice○ Improves long-term retention

*** Important! This doesn’t feel good

What we did

● Removed Unit Tests○ Cumulative Weekly quizzes○ Problem Solving Days

● Interleaved Homework

● Fast Fours, Fun Fridays

Our Weekly ScheduleMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Fast FourLesson

LessonQuiz

Fast FourLesson

Problem Solving Fast FourFun Friday

Our Weekly Covid Schedule

Weekly3 Lessons3 Fast FoursQuiz

In Person Time/If time allows onlineProblem Solving DayFun Math Day

Freed Up Time!

● No unit tests meant that we had review days and unit test days free to do other activities

○ Quizzes take half the period

● Removed homework time from class

Lessons● No major changes to lessons (you can use yours!)

● Lessons taught were the main skills, and not as much “Application lessons”

● Complete all skills a month before exams (practiced applications)

● Time to a variety of different summatives

Major Takeaway Point● After covering a topic or skill, continually revisit it

throughout the course.

● Remove the idea of only testing a Unit

Why Fast Fours!!

U Waterloo’s article on the curve of forgetting.

https://uwaterloo.ca/campus-wellness/curve-forgetting

Our Initial Goals for Fast Fours● Review concepts from lessons.● Increase basic skills.● Spaced and Mixed Practice.

&

Fast Fours!! Covers all Material to date

Formative Assessment Only

● Math talk!!● Non threatening testing.● Immediate feedback.

Does this look like learning?

What we saw:

● Can do > 1 question.● Peer- teaching.● Math arguments. ● Passionate Math

chat.

What we loved!

● Celebrate incorrect answers○ Student get to see a range of

common mistakes.○ Perseverance.○ Failing forward!!

What Students Thought

Additional Bonuses ● Helps create growth mindset

○ Students start to believe they can get better at ____.

● Time to circulate the room○ 1 on 1 time.

● Provides productive class time○ Time for us to set up○ Answer students concerns

Similar Outcomes Online ??● Jamboard/Explain Everything (or some other platform)

where small groups can solve and discuss questions

● Keep dialog up

● Constant feedback

Why did we change homework?

● Increase retention (spaced and mixed practice)

● Set the amount of homework to what is necessary to Check Your Understanding (CYU) and practice various concepts/skills

Growth Mindset● Normally, you see the topic once in

the lesson, once on a test, and once on the exam.

● If you don’t know it, once the unit is over, students are free to forget the material or never learn it!

● We emphasize that NO topic will disappear.

Homework Outline - Schedule Guide

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i25-rM5HUTO-0xjMQo53ryjL7gcZF0MPNKRQcJDh57A/edit?usp=sharing

Homework● Pre-practice● Mandatory Questions

○ 5 from the lesson○ 5 from previous material

● Challenge

Why Check Homework?

Homework Checks

*** Homework is critical in our redesign!

How do we check?● Online Homework Checks

Weekly Quizzes

What does it do?

● Allow Mixed & Spaced practice● Reduce Cramming - skill is

expected● No expiry date on skills ● Importance of Basic skills● Low stakes = less stress

Weekly QuizzesWhat does it look like?

● Every Tuesday● Approx. 40 minutes● Front = mix/interleaving, ● Back = previous week

Embracing Mistakes

Students Thoughts

Why Problem Solving Days

● Increase Perseverance

(More time)

● Change attitude towards problem solving

Problem Solving DaysWhat we do:

● Every Thursday we solve problems… all period

● Math toolkit (gr 11 used the following year)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lr63q2IlpXX9WjhztMHse_tPkP5t4Q9A/view?usp=sharing

Benefits of Problem Solving Days

● Gives time to attack a problem with different strategies

● Allows for extended group work (but also did individual tasks)

● Explicitly makes problem solving a focus

Problem Solving Days● Problem Sets - Application and Thinking marks

● Problems could be from any lessons taught, including previous units

● Focus at end of year

Problem Solving Days● VNPS (vertical non-permanent surfaces)

● Jamboard/Explain Everything

● Student made questions

Problem Solving Days● Video Explanation

● Help each other by posting solutions

Problem Solving Days● Coding - Check Out Lkueh.wordpress.com

Levelled Problems

● Real challenges

● Weaker students can still be successful

● Students can sometimes attempt extra problems

Challenges ● Mark Inflation from Problem Solving Days?

○ Group work allowed for better learning, more math talk but it also inflated marks for some students

○ Individual in-class seemed more accurate, but sometimes felt less rich

Same But Different

● Different questions of the same concepts/processes

Why Fun Fridays?

● Excitement & Smiles ● Teamwork & collaboration● ‘Buy In’ that math does exist

outside the classroom.● Focus & Interest.

Our Goal!

Quadratic Modeling

Making connections to real life.

Car Launching

Speed Dating! Community Building

“More Than One Story” Cards

Puzzle it up with Tarsia

Tarsia Puzzle Maker

Math as a Game

http://www.mmlsoft.com/index.php/products/tarsia

Rated as one of the top Fun Friday activities by students!

Links to making jeopardy- Factile - Flippity

https://www.playfactile.com/https://www.flippity.net/

Trigonometry with Clinometers

Real life application

Fun & Connections

Pixar in a box

Teacher.Desmos.com

● Marbleslides

Teacher.Desmos.com

Being Creative in Desmos

Creativity and Addiction

Students Thoughts

● It gives us a break from testing and hard problem solving

● It allows our brain to process and relax

● Time to relax and have fun after working hard all week.

● Helps us build relationships with other people in the class, which is important.

● It’s great when it’s applicable but the cups activities

was a ridiculous waste of time.

Challenges

● Very time consuming!

○ We met 80 hours (10 days) over the summer to design the course structure and develop the first 2 units

○ Different objectives among teachers

Challenges ● Booklet/Schedule could get thrown off

○ Homework could get thrown off with an assembly/snow day

○ Thurs/Fri allows a day to catch up if necessary

● Each period felt tight on time (Teacher Feedback)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridayFast FourLesson

LessonQuiz

Fast FourLesson

Problem Solving

Fast FourFun Friday

Possible Improvements

● Quiz

○ Focus explicitly on students correcting their own mistakes on quizzes - resubmissions

○ Standards Based Grading*

Possible Improvements ● Homework

○ More Challenge Problems

○ Include more repetition for practice (extra links)

○ Show connections between homework/effort and results!

Secret on HOW to learn.

1) Importance of struggling.

Builds problem solving circuits.

2) Embracing my Mistakes.

3) Teach each other.

Revisit Goals

1) Numeracy and Basic Skills○ Fast fours○ Quizzes - first few questions

Revisit Goals

2) Retention○ Mixed & spaced practice - homework, quizzes (low

stakes & frequent, testing effect), fast fours○ All topics are fair game - students knew that topics

would return○ Limited exam review - retention was amazing

Revisit Goals

3) Problem solving○ Time permitted the opportunity to try different strategies.○ Various tools - peers, toolkit booklets

Revisit Goals

4) Perseverance○ Topics don’t go away - Growth Mindset○ Opportunities to try different strategies on PS days○ Making mistakes is ok, even great if you learn from

them!!

● Mixed homework practice feels like they learn less than than doing one skill over and over (massed practice)

○ Exam results demonstrate their learning

● Students weren’t fazed by jumping topics day to day

Interesting Findings

● Homework completion had a larger impact on success in our course

● Students selected courses for next year better

Interesting Findings

Teacher Collaboration● Compromise, adjust, and listen● Challenging to do on your own

(massive amount of work)● Inspired each other● Department Head supported us

Where to Start

1) Fast Fours

2) Fun Fridays

3) Problem Solving Days

4) Cumulative Quizzes & Homework

Take AwayLink to course material:

tiny.cc/10courseredesign

tiny.cc/homeworktrackerpd

Emails:

hillshe@hdsb.ca - Sheri Hill

kuehl@hdsb.ca - Lindsay Kueh

rawlea@hdsb.ca - Adrian Rawle

Lkueh.wordpress.com

http://tiny.cc/10courseredesignhttp://tiny.cc/homeworktrackerpdmailto:hillshe@hdsb.camailto:kuehl@hdsb.camailto:rawlea@hdsb.ca