Waiting

Recently I called on a student to present his work on a problem. He said he didn’t have any. (I kinda knew that, that’s why I called on you).

Me:  So, do you have a question you’d like to ask about solving the problem?
Student: No, I didn’t actually try it. (Yep, I knew that too).

Me: We’ll wait while you try it. Let us know if you have a question.
So he began working on it and the rest of the class patiently waited.

Student: I’m still working on it.
Me: Okay.
The class kept waiting. They did a really nice job. There was no grumbling, just silence. It didn’t even seem to be an uncomfortable silence. Not a hint of tension in the air.

Student: I don’t understand why you’re still waiting for me to finish the problem. Someone else has the answer.
Me:Because if I let you off the hook now, I’m telling you it’s okay not to know and not to try.
Student: Oh.

He presented his answer. It was correct. The class applauded.

Part of me is still not sure this was the best use of those four minutes or so. So early in the year, I think it was.

How do you handle the “I don’t know” response in your classes?

Yarr?

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, this¹ was my opening slide for my seniors.

I have a new division head this year. Of course, this was the day he chose to pop into one of my classes for the first time. He looked at the screen and appeared a bit puzzled. I explained that the students would be working all period at putting together the information we’ve developed thus far in order to solve the unit problem. Then I explained TLAPD. He just stared at me for few moments, then walked out.

Uh oh.

Five minutes later he returns with a sheet of paper, asks for everyone’s attention, and waits until they’re silent.

Big uh oh.

He then proceeds to tell three pirate jokes.

¹Okay, I know it isn’t the best example of great design. Heck, it’s not even decent design. No, this is not the color theme I went with for the year. What I use every day didn’t seem to be very piratey.

High Dive

I really, really like my new prep – IMP4. Our first unit is High Dive. It covers topics from trigonometry with some physics thrown in for fun. Students are given the following situation and are asked to determine when to release the person from the platform so they land in the cart of water.

Image Source: Key Curriculum Press, High Dive Teacher's Guide

We first consider the diver’s height as a function of time – which nicely develops the sine function. They were able to come up with rather painlessly. They have also developed a nice understanding of the relationship between the graph and the equation.

What would happen to the graph if the equation was ? The midline would be at 80 or It would be shifted up 15 units.

What would happen to the graph if the equation were Well, that would be a faster angular speed so the period would be shorter. The period would be 360/30= 12, which means it makes one rotation every 12 seconds.

I wasn’t sure if they really understood transformations, so I threw a few graphs on the screen (I love Grapher!) and told them they had 4 minutes to work in their groups to determine the equations that generated each function.

Transformations were tough for my seniors last year¹. This year? They rocked.

What most impresses me though is they way in which they are working in class. Their ability (and willingness) to tackle the usually dreaded word problems is amazing. They volunteer alternate methods of solving problems. They ask questions when they’re stuck. Good questions. Not “I don’t get it” but “”How did you know that would work?” or “I didn’t understand that. Can you explain it again?” Then other students answer the questions. Really.

I owe their previous teachers a big round of thanks. They came to be with these traits on Day 1. It has inspired me to work even harder at instilling these habits of work in my freshmen.

¹This is our first year of teaching IMP4.