May 18, 2020: Finished the curriculum!
May 18, 2020, The Monday Letter.
Dear Parents of Algebra II/Trigonometry Students,
I hear, sadly, that the local public schools could not move forward with new material. I hear that some subjects' teachers struggled to get through all the topics. I also started this effort at "on-line learning" with difficulty teaching the ideas behind harmonic modeling. At the end of that unit, I was not optimistic that we'd finish what I had planned for the year. Teaching on-line is slower, has challenges, and left me feeling disconnected to the students. Some students were completely disengaged. In the first couple weeks, it simply seemed to take longer to get through less material with lower resultant student understanding. Disheartened, I knew we needed to make some changes.
In the classroom, and in all my teaching, I rely heavily upon my relationship with the students -- your children -- in the room. I decided that I needed to let them help me figure out the best strategy this spring. Feeling lucky that some of your children were in my class their sophomore year and I already had a deep relationship with them, we shifted gears and circled several times until we landed -- and this is a real "we" -- on a process that simply worked for us. This experience this spring as I was taught by your children about how they could learn on line has changed how I will structure learning in my classes in the future. I am grateful for their patience, thoughtfulness, and efforts this spring as we learned together. As I look back, surely the best lessons are those of perseverance, creativity, patience, flexibility, the value of humor and kindness.
One of the tickets to success was allowing students freedom to chose when they "watched a movie," or completed an evaluation. They moved through the material at different paces; each day I collected information about who had done what and placed them in subgroups of people in the same place in their program. Many kids soared in a way they had not seen before. They worked together to solve problems, seeking help from each other or me while in their "breakout rooms." Some kids enjoyed quiet private time as they focused completely by themselves. Each day there was a lesson presented in a 10-or-so minute video (with embedded questions to be sure they stayed on task), a set of problems to work on together, and an evaluation of their learning. With our amazing technology, I could move swiftly from group to group, checking work on line, chatting, offering help and suggestions. Having kids work at their own pace allowed some students to study topics way ahead of schedule and study some advanced work and allowed me time and resources to offer support to those who had trouble with a topic.
Oh, I know it's not all perfect. I'm concerned that studies are suggesting retention is very low when a person believes that resources (like a google search) are always available. I'm concerned that sometimes I could see students weren't remembering basic formulas or ideas from two weeks prior. I'm uncomfortable that, for the first time ever, I couldn't test kids' memorization of the chart of sines and cosines. Some students struggled to simply figure out what they needed to do where and when. I had to stay vigilant about each student's progress to be sure they knew what they needed to be doing to make progress. I abandoned strict due-dates which allowed everyone to breathe a little easier. Like your children, my eyes were sore from hours of screen time (the blue light glasses that I ordered in March are now scheduled to arrive the penultimate day of classes.) And I missed being with people. I also know that some kids really had trouble focusing and staying connected and linked to what was happening on the screen. Some thought the videos were "tiring" or "annoying." Some were distracted and distanced. Some were frustrated and felt lost. Those who came to see me during "office hours" were able to get their feet on the ground underneath them and then move forward. So this quarter was easier for some than for others.
But everyone still finished the work. Everyone.
As we complete the balance sheet with a full accounting of the last quarter, I firmly believe we will be ahead. On this balance sheet is more than the trigonometry. Those extra ideas and skills gleaned from this on-line experience have never been included on this kind of balance sheet in years prior and carry a weight that exceeds the Law of Sines.
As we part this summer and particularly at the end of next year when your sons and daughters graduate, I will, as always, feel conflicted. It's sad to part, but exciting to see the beginning of the next step. As I delivered food and water this spring to a Dine family suffering because of the epidemic, the nephew in the family asked, "And how do you know Tina?" I answered sheepishly, "I was her high school math teacher." The shocked disbelief of all within earshot was evident: Tina is close to 50 years old. Please, dear people, stay in touch.
This is, of course, my last Monday Letter to you all; I would enjoy hearing from you about your impressions of this past academic quarter or about anything else. Send an email, please, or comment in the blog.
Be Well, Be Safe, Be Kind,
Jean Mariner
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