Daily Quizzes - An Easy Way to Start a (kind-of) SBG System & Provide Classroom Incentives

I want to share the biggest change I've made to my classroom this year: Daily Quizzes. 

This is the brain child of one of my amazing colleagues. Last year, he did 6 question exit tickets as a homework replacement. YES. A math teacher that assigned NO HOMEWORK. 

Well, I wasn't quite ready to take that leap. However, I did like the idea of having plenty of skill-based data reports, and tying it to an incentive. So we decided as a PLC to compromise. DQs emerged from that compromise. Here's how it works.

Each day, after notes, students have around 15 minutes to start their homework. (We have 90 minute blocks.) After that initial practice time, I project a 6 question quiz on the board (My PLC creates these together ahead of time). 

Students are allowed to use their notes. Once they're finished, they bring it up to me, and I grade it immediately (It takes less than 15 seconds per quiz. I use open ended questions, and there's no partial credit. Each is right or wrong, and I spend no time at that point looking through work or evaluating mistakes.) I record their score, tell them, and keep the card (which helps keep the answers from traveling around the room). Here's a picture of my recording sheet:

The topics are along the top, and scores range from 0-6. I do give half credit VERY rarely for students that made arithmetic errors, or for answers not in best form (such as answers with negative exponents). I color code the scores at the end of a unit, on the morning of the review day. This helps me remember where our weaknesses were throughout the unit. 

0-1 are red

2 is pink

3 is orange

4 is yellow

5-6 are green

Absent is blue - I don't typically require students to make these up.

You can see the clear difference in my honors classes (above) and my regular class (below).

Another difference between honors and regular classes is the number of questions, and incentive attached. Honors classes get 5 question DQs, and students that score a perfect 5 are permitted to complete every other homework problem that's assigned that day. Regular classes get 6 questions, and students that score a 5 or 6 get to only do half the problems. 

This homework incentive has been FANTASTIC. Students take the notes seriously, because they know they're going to want to reference them during the quiz. They work furiously during that initial practice time, and even my withdrawn/shy kiddos will reach out to their group or to me to ask questions to iron out any issues during that time. 

After they get their score, they resume work on the homework assignment. I typically reserve around 20 minutes for the DQ, which means the early finishers have around 15 minutes to work in addition to the 15 they already spent. As much as they hate getting 4s, they get so competitive about the 5s and 6s. We had to start a class vs. class competition - and I think adding an extra question for my regular class puts them on a level playing field. 

Class DQ Board: 1st Regular, 2nd & 4th Honors

I go back once everyone's finished and look through work. We clarify common issues, and I give cards back so students can post them on the bragging wall (shown below), or look over their mistakes. 

Let's talk about some details on logistics:

Grading: I grade these as a single quiz grade per unit. I drop the lowest one from the unit, then average the rest. The percentage for the average out of 5 is their grade. (For the regular class, this means that they could get a quiz score over a 100 for their 6s. I haven't had an average over 102 yet this year, so I'm not concerned about giving them a few extra points for a 6. I make sure that the questions are difficult enough so that 5s and 6s aren't guaranteed.) These have completely replaced normal quizzes for me, and I'm ok with that even though they're all open note quizzes.

Supplies: I have students bring in index cards to turn in at the beginning of the year. These are in the supply bins for their groups, and most of the time we use them to complete DQs. Occasionally, they prefer using a piece of notebook paper instead, especially for problems that take up a bunch of space. 

Student Data Tracking: Students keep up with their own scores in 2 places. 

They record the score first on a page I created to go beside their Unit TOC page (from Math=Love). 

This score goes right beside their homework assignment page number and homework grade, so I can quickly check their scores as I grade homework. This means I know whether to give a 50% or a 100% for a page that has every other problem completed. They get a stamp on this page and on their punch pass for each 100%. (My blog post on punch passes is here.)

The second place they record these is at the beginning of their Reference & Warmup notebook (post on my new notebook setup is here). They record a daily I Can sentence from the board, with the corresponding page number, their DQ score that matches, and fill in a bar graph beside it. I encourage them to use this right before their test to reflect on what to spend the most time studying.

My regular students have 6 boxes, since they can score up to a 6.

 

My honors students have only 5 boxes.

As you can see, some students are a bit more colorful with their records, and there are days we run out of time for a DQ.
I have also done "Daily Double Quizzes" where we do a makeup DQ from the day before along with that day's regular DQ.
Also - note the frowny faces. They HATE getting 4s. 

I post the entire week's I Can Statements at once on the front whiteboard.

I'm painfully aware that this system is missing a couple of things: a method for reassessment, make-up DQs for absent kids, and a way to tie this info with their tests. However, it's also been the easiest transition to something close to SBG that I've ever implemented. I've been able to save time grading too, which is always great. 

Enjoy your weekend!

2013 Algebra 2 Pages

As promised, my Algebra 2 pages:

Sets of Real Numbers:

Frayer models for vocab here. 

Graphic Organizer at Math=Love. 

The green cards were just typed numbers that we sorted, stapled into groups, and then taped into our notebooks. 

Parent Functions - outside

Parent Functions - inside (before we filled it in). 

This was just a worksheet page, but I wanted to post another easy way to incorporate worksheets into an ISN. 

Piecewise Functions: We graphed 3 functions twice each. 

Then cut the second copy according to the given domain, and put the three pieces together!

I've done this where students erase parts, but it's never as effective as cutting up and throwing away the unused parts of the graph. 

Domain and Range:

Students cut as little as possible out of the graph, then use the "blank spot" as a guideline to find domain and range. After we've done this a couple times, then we move on to point discontinuities and unusual graphs. 

Explorations of Transformations of Functions - This isn't mine (It belongs to Math=Love). Get it here. 

This was a sub day assignment for my Alg2 kids. Students worked in groups to create a flowchart of how to determine transformations of a function by looking at a given equation. This was a student's finished result.

Simplifying radicals page - including vocab, a couple quick examples (this is Alg2, so it's review for them), and a foldable to help them remember how positive and negatives affect root values.

This foldable is one I use with almost everything.. Operations with __________. 

You name it, I've done it with this foldable. Fractions, decimals, radicals, polynomials, the list goes on and on. I think I'm going to add separate tabs for simplifying and rationalizing this semester. 

Ok, here's my biggest keep-up-with-my-teacher-ISN secret. Sometimes, I just don't want to copy their notes after I've spent time going through the examples. So instead, I just print out the powerpoint (or smart notebook file) and tape that bad boy in. It saves me time, and students that are absent can use a friend's notebook for the work for each example. It also gives me a way to use some of the powerpoints and notebook files that I made several years ago, rather than recreating something new just for the sake of the ISN. 

Powers of i - I can't find where this is from, but if I do, I'll post the link.

Intro to Quadratics guided notes - this was designed to be filled in from the Glencoe Alg2 SGI workbook pages for 6-1 to 6-3.

More domain and range practice. Here, we're using a worksheet and Mathy Cathy's idea to practice. 

And of course, Math=Love was the inspiration for interactive part of this page.

Domain and range cards, and a great lesson plan from @thescamdog here. 

And of course, we did some function sorts. I have done this 2 ways - into envelopes (from iisanumber), and pasted into columns. I like the envelopes better, since they can resort later as a study tool. 

Linear programming:

List steps

Cut and paste word problems (they're paragraphs, so I feel like it's a decent use of time), 

then show work beneath the problem. 

Pascal & Binomial Expansion

LOTS of color coding when we expand binomials.

We also spaced a larger problem out on a sentence strip. 

We simplified beneath each term - what was important here was the process. 

Properties of quadratics note cards inside the same envelope as earlier. 

This idea came from Mrs. Hester. 

Polynomial Functions Page,  inside the End Behavior foldable were four sections (positive/negative leading coefficients with odd/even degree functions and a picture each)

Color with purpose for completing the square to find the center of a circle

More CWP for simplifying rational expressions

Direct, Joint, Inverse Variation foldable

Example of a unit study guide that is very ISN-friendly. 

(This was 1 week before Winter Break, thus the red and green)

This is also an example of a typical non-worksheet homework page. 

On a non-ISN note, we also made these unit projects in my honors class. They were one page front and back, with all the information from that unit on the front, and practice problems and answers on the back to use as a study guide. Here were a couple of the ones turned in (and please excuse the horrible shadows in some of the pics).

Also at the end of the unit, we filled out index cards (cut in half to save resources) and put them into our CD envelope pockets in the back of the ISN. 

There we go! I'll work to post more frequently this semester, now that I won't have 3 preps anymore. (I'm only teaching Alg2 and Math 1 next semester.) The new semester starts Thursday, so I'll be spending most of the weekend getting everything reset and ready to go!

Well, hello again!

We all know that Christmas and Summer Break are really the two times of the year that teachers can actually catch up on things. That means I've finally been up-to-date on the laundry, grading, planning, and several DIY projects. (Not ahead, mind you. Just up-to-date. I'm not some sort of miracle worker.)

My sister just graduated with her elementary ed degree in FL, and will be long-term subbing in a few days in Kindergarten. So naturally I've been pinteresting (I'd say pinning but it's been mostly just browsing) for some younger-ed stuff. It's really gotten me thinking about some of the things I do so similarly to elementary ed with my high school students. My mantra for the interactive notebooks has been that if a kindergartener would enjoy it, so would a high school student. So I've been thinking lately about centers and other such common elementary practices that sort of fade out of education as students progress to higher grades. I want to bring some of that back to my classroom. I saw yesterday on this blog post how a teacher used 4 standard groups each day to go through routine math practice after a mini-lesson. I love this format! I'd love some suggestions from those of you that use centers in secondary - how do you keep kids accountable? What are each of your groups used for? Break it down for me - I really want to make this work for my students!

I'm also about to post my ISN pages for all 3 preps - so be on the look-out for those. The plan is to post by topic, to make it easier for you to keep track of, rather than uploading all the pics into one huge post. Before we get there, I'd like to show you a couple of general organization pics and room updates first. 

Ok #1 is my bragging rights cabinet. Here, any time a student is proud of something (A on a test, great behavior, fast time for a math fact drill, etc.) they decorate an index card and post it for all to see. This was a picture from about 2 weeks into the semester. Right now, it's covered with over a hundred cards.

This is my "What I Respect" window - I saw this somewhere out there on the internet and couldn't find the link, but I LOVE being able to refer back to this both when giving corrections and when praising a student. It also serves as a great reminder to me of how I want to help students become better people. This actually covers 2 full window frames. Some of the words/phrases include the following: effort, dedication, perseverance, hard work, honesty, integrity, professional attitudes, encouraging words, persistence, and going above and beyond.

Here's my I Can board - just a large photo frame from a garage sale, with 4 pieces of scrapbook paper behind the class. Each class is a different color, and I just use a dry erase board to update this for each new lesson. It's hung using a command hook.

First let me say, I have NEVER had a word wall. The closest thing I've had in the past was posters with vocabulary (You know the ones I'm talking about math teachers). Nevertheless, a word wall became a requirement for all teachers in my school district this year. I came THIS CLOSE to just buying and printing one of these off of TPT. They would have been cute, simple, and would have served my needs. But then I decided that I wanted to BUILD my word wall with my students over the course of the semester. And I had a huge, blank wall. So I hot-glued (shhhh) some purple scrapbook paper up, made some letter labels, and as the semester went on, added words for each class using their class color (blue for Algebra 2 and so on.) It took maybe 10 minutes to actually put up, maybe another ten to make and print the labels. 

Ok, on to some organization! I just wanted to quickly share how I organize the MOUNTAINS of paperwork in a secondary math classroom. 

First, I have a bin for each class in the back of the room. Here's my algebra bin below. In the front, student files that hold their tests, retests, behavior documentation, homework no-credit slips, and semester-summary pages (each six weeks I have them list out each test grade, each quiz grade, and label which ones were retested and which ones were eligible for retest but not retested). 

Behind the student files, I have folders labeled 1-100. These correspond to their ISN pages, and when a student is out, they just visit that file number to get the supplies to make up their missed work. 

Next, we have my teacher files. In front (the purple files) are classroom management masters, templates, and non-content related files. Behind that, I sort all of my master copies by topic. I group the topics by very broad ideas such as "Pre-Algebra Basics," "Linear Functions," or "Systems of Equations and Inequalities." Then within each group, there is one file folder per topic. So under systems, I have a folder for graphing, substitution, elimination, word problems, linear programming, non-linear systems, and systems in 3 variables. There's also a folder in teal at the back of each group for any study guide or multi-topic review pages. I keep ISN pages in these folders, ideas for pneumonic devices, worksheets, games, centers, and even notes to myself to include certain sub-topics.  It makes it so easy to share topics with other teachers in my department - I can just hand them that topic's folder, and let them copy whatever they want! I also keep my files electronically sorted the same way - by topic grouping, and then by individual topic. 

I keep my tests and quizzes in binders, with a tab for each unit. Since these usually change year-by-year, they end up in the "review" section of the topic groupings, so I can still pull questions from them during review games.