My fifth graders finished up a math unit around a week ago. The unit took around 1-2 months and students explored topics pertaining to decimals, percentages and box plots. Near the end of November I had a discussion with Jack about student reflections and previewing units. Jack shared a Tweet by Chrissy about cool-down bins.
I thought the idea had potential and decided to use it as part of my end-of-unit reflections. My students completed the test reflections and I added the bin language near the bottom.
The class discussed what each category meant and I answered questions. I think the most challenging part was communicating the difference between practitioner and expert.
Some students mentioned that you could complete the task without any help, but still not be an expert. Other students said that they still wouldn’t consider themselves an expert even if they could teach other students a skill. Still tweaking this idea. The class is still working on this type of reflection, but I believe we’re making progress. I’m hoping to use this throughout the rest of the school year. Students can then reflect back and look at the progress that was made. One of the goals this year is for student to become better at accurately assessing their math understanding compared to the standard.
Side note: One small win during the past week. I was able to combine two second grade classes to complete an array polygraph last week. Another teacher and I had around 35 students complete the polygraph together for around 20 minutes. It was great to see partners use math vocabulary to try to guess the arrays. Words like factor, row, column and product were all be used during the process.
We have two more weeks of school and then two weeks of break. Let’s finish 2019 on a strong note!
Educational Aspirations 