"What does a typical day in your classroom look like?"
It's a question I'm asked a lot, so I'm taking a minute to run you through a few key things that happen in my classroom every day.
The Greeting
Connecting with every student on the way into my classroom is one of the most important aspects of each day. I shake their hands, ask them a question, and straighten out any misconceptions or misbehavior from the day before in a private and non-threatening way. Personal details may come up, such as soccer games, track meets, Orchestra concerts, or how their family is doing.
I take the time to connect with my students so that they know I value them, regardless of whether they believe they're good at math.
The Bellringer
Every class begins with a bellringer. A bellringer is a short assignment, just four or five questions and can accomplish two things:
- Reviewing a concept from the day before
- Assisting in remembering a concept previously learned that we'll need later in the lesson
I typically make bellringers straightforward and easy to complete with a partner. They allows me time to take attendance, do the bookkeeping, deal with last-minute issues, and give the kids that always seem to be at my desk at the beginning of class the attention they need to thrive during class.
The Activity
Next we move into the meat of our lesson. This is what I usually call an activity, which is time given to students to comprehend, process, evaluate, and problem-solve, in a safe environment where there are no penalties for mistakes.
These activities are included in the PowerPoint to spark discussion and make communication easier. It helps me to find misunderstandings before they develop into problems later in the unit.
I believe this is the most important time in my class.
Activities leverage different learning styles. Examples include:
- Using Algebra Blocks
- Creating flowcharts
- Engaging in interactive or investigations on Desmos
- Using Gapminder or other websites not created by teachers.
Regardless of the method used, all of these things are developed with a sense for questions to allow students time to examine and connect this current learning to what is coming and what has happened before. The connection of ideas will allow for retention, confidence, and increased engagement.
The Presentation
After the activity, I have a good idea of where their misconceptions are, so I walk them through a PowerPoint. My PointPoints always include the activity, but they also include concrete examples. I work very hard to connect those examples to the activity they just completed.
The Practice
If there's time remaining, I always have a practice sheet ready, either for in-class work or homework. These sheets are developed to give students practice and confidence.
The Exit Slip
With about five minutes remaining in class, I always try to sum up what we've learned. I then ask a few students what they've learned so we can make those connections one last time, and then I hand out an exit slip. This exit slip usually has one or two questions for the student to complete that will be collected by me at the door as they leave. I love these exit slips because I can quickly look through them for any misunderstandings and make a plan to fix it the next day.
You can get a free Algebra Unit Sample. Just fill out the form below.
Are you ready?
If you're ready to implement this type of lesson plan in your classroom, then the A1T Membership is for you.
You'll gain full access to the lessons that include:
- Bellringers
- PowerPoints
- Activities
- Practice pages
- Exit slips
- 15 hours of training ready for you!
So whether you are looking for the CEU's or those never-ending artifacts for your evaluations, the certificates are ready for you to print as soon as you finish the training. Remember that you can cancel at any time.
And if you're looking for purchase orders to spend that last-minute money before it disappears from your school year, feel free to drop me a line or click the purchase order button at the bottom of the annual pricing section to become a member.
Hi Jeannette
Thx for sharing.
Is the Practice portion of your class session group work or independent?
Thx
Robin
NYC
I like to mix it up. But I usually like my students to discuss the problems. For my classes group work is usually more productive. But I reserve the right to change my mind. Sometimes I need to do group work for a bit so that they can discuss the problems and then move them into independent work to allow individual practice as well. It really is dependent on the needs of my students.
How do you incorporate group activities in your lesson in such a way that you are able to determine if the students actually grasp the concept you are presenting? I am really struggling with cooperative learning groups because of the varying ability levels and increased apathy towards school in general. It seems that regardless how I group my students, I am not able to use grouping productively.
How do you include inclusion students in your lesson. I have special ed students of varying abilities; how do I teach them factoring, for example.
How long is your class period? Because I can barely fit in the bell-ringer & presentation. When do you talk about homework if it is assigned?
This is such a great question. Time management is something I really used to struggle with during my classes. After seeing your question I created this blog post to help with bellringers.
https://highschoolmathteachers.com/time-management-5-ways-use-bellringers/
I am excited to talk about the presentation next week. But overall, I train my students that I will only talk for so long. This improves their focus and their work ethic because they know they will get some time to practice at the end of the class period this way.
How you train students to get focus when you have a long lesson? What do you do specifically?