January 2007 – Page 4

Moonlight

By Dan Meyer • January 16, 2007 • 6 Comments

I’ve been pushing some mean work days recently. 20 hours yesterday; 18 the day before. It isn’t the teaching, it’s video editing, my sideline hobby which recently turned into paid work.

So there I am, staring at Adobe AfterEffects and its attendant, x-, y-, and z-axes, linear motion palettes, bezier curves, inflection points, derivatives up on your derivatives, and I don’t care if all the interpolation is handled inside my computer’s noggin.

I couldn’t help thinking right then that, man, I’m glad someone bothered to teach me some math back when.

Distraction: Showdown!

By Dan Meyer • January 13, 2007 • Comments Off

More a note to self than anything. There’s an important ratio post to be found in group activities, I think — some corollary to #1 weighting Fun against Setup Time. Showdown! looks like a winner. I’ve gotta try it sometime soon.

Making An Honest Woman out of Assessment

By Dan Meyer • January 12, 2007 • 25 Comments

These are satisfying times to assess the way I do. We’ve got Dead Week starting Tuesday, finals the week after that, and then grades are locked. Students are panicked, but the way I assess, they can focus that panic.

“How do I get my grade up?” they ask.

Most of the time they bring their Concept Checklist [pdf | cwk] along. If it’s filled completely, I know they’ve bought into the system.

(more…)

Distraction: Evaluation Song and Dance

By Dan Meyer • January 11, 2007 • 6 Comments

“Teachers don’t need to be evaluated on what they can do, given unlimited prep time and warned well in advance, they need to be evaluated on what they actually do, every day.”

You won’t find many teachers earnestly blogging hosannahs about the evaluation process but Mr. AB doles out a great solution — amenable to both sides of the administrative divide — along with the requisite criticism. [via Jacobs]

Anecdotally Speaking

By Dan Meyer • January 9, 2007 • Comments Off

Bad Habits. Apparently a winter break’s worth of late bedtimes and late waking isn’t that easy to shake. I set five alarms over the last two days and didn’t wake to any of them. I’ve never been late to a class, not even in the last two days, but 30 minutes to grab breakfast, make worksheets, and set up shop is far too rushed for my liking. I don’t know how some of y’all veterans manage it.

Veering Off Content. My algebra class and I played review basketball yesterday in order to shake off the I-Totally-Forgot-This. The rules are pretty much what you’d expect: answer a math question correctly, shoot a plastic ball into a trash can for points, maybe prizes. Just a little circus with their bread.