Different Classes

It has always been interesting to me as a teacher how different one class of kids can be from another.  You're the same teacher, and the kids are all taking the same course so supposedly all of the kids have at least close to the same level of ability, and yet certain classes do really well while others just don't live up to their potential.

Case and point from this week: one of my classes is, as I told them, the "poster class" for Harkness in a mathematics class.  They came in prepared every day, had good, deep, respectful discussions, and made the most progress through the current set of exercises.  They also had the best average on the last test.  Two of the other classes are doing reasonably well.  They are coming in prepared, for the most part, and are taking the class seriously, but they are a bit less focused during the discussions, and are not as in tune with the idea that the discussions are about the individual and about the group.  There are a few disrespectful tendencies that need to be broken, such as moving on to the next exercises when someone at the table doesn't completely understand the current one.  I need to refocus them on the idea that if someone at the table isn't understanding their explanation, then their explanation needs just as much help as the other student's understanding does (there are teachers I know who have this same difficulty, automatically blaming the kids for doing poorly without reflecting at all on the delivery of the material they are providing).  Then there is my remaining class.  They have been the primary offenders when it comes to not being prepared for class; for example, one day this week, about one-third of the class had not done the homework.  Calling them on it helps the next day, but it doesn't "stick" the way it should and a couple days later they start to fall back into their bad habits.  Of course, as I mentioned last week, lack of preparation leads to slow,  difficult discussions, and because of that they made the least amount of progress this week on the current exercises.  They also had the lowest average on the last test - all to no surprise.

I do not, however, see this as a weakness of the Harkness method.  Quite the opposite.  Harkness makes it more obvious when a kid isn't prepared for class, when as kid doesn't really understand the material, when a kid is trying to "phone it in", etc.  It is also more obvious when a kid really is putting forth the effort, when a kid has a solid, deep understanding of the material, when a kid is "invested" in the course, etc.  Because of this, I believe I have a more complete picture of the students individually than I ever have in the past.  By the end of class each and every day I have a good feel for where they are individually, both in terms of understanding the content and of how hard they are working, much more so than I have even been able to have in the past.  So...weakness?  No way.  I just need to figure out how to get the kids in the other three classes to have the focus, work ethic, and respect for the individual that the "poster class" has.  I need to step back and uncover what it is that I'm doing that has led the other classes in a different direction than the poster class.  Granted, it could just be the make up of the kids in the other classes, but I need to make absolutely sure it's not me.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's something drastic.  It seems to be something very subtle.  Hmmm....

Staying Focused

Every year, the students (and the teachers, if we're honest about it) reach a point where staying focused and finishing the school year strong becomes close to impossible.  The weather slowly gets nicer, and the warmth and freedom of summer begin to dominate our thoughts.  "Homework? How can I possibly do homework?  Look how nice it is outside! I'll do my homework after I go for a walk...a long, slow walk." (As I write this on Saturday morning, the temperature outside is 37°, after being in the 80s earlier this week...welcome to Ohio.)

The problem is: not doing the homework this year in my class means not learning the material.  This was in the spotlight this week for me on two occasions.  First, early in the week, the discussions were lagging, and a quick check around the classroom gave me the information I needed: a lot of the kids had not done their homework, i.e., had not struggled with the exercises at home and prepared for the discussion.  This has happened several times in the last couple weeks, but I decided to wait and see if the kids would pull themselves out of it.  They didn't, and I called them on it, gently but firmly reminding them that not preparing for the discussion affects not only their understanding of the material, but everyone else's, since the poor discussions that result from the lack of preparation negatively impact even those students who have done the homework.  From that point forward, the kids did the homework, the discussions improved, and as I gave them the positive feedback, specifically mentioning that the discussions were much better than they have been recently, I saw a lot of nods around the room from both the kids who had never stopped preparing for class and those who had finally returned to doing so. 

Then yesterday I had a discussion with one of the English teachers who had thrown an open question out to her teacher friends on Facebook, asking how we assigned and used homework...in other words, what was our "homework philosophy".  I gave this some thought before discussing it with her, and it made me realize just how profound the difference from last year to this really is in my personal "homework philosophy".  Last year, homework was for practice of material and skills learned (or at least material and skills seen performed by the teacher) in class.  Homework was not for learning; homework was for doing the repetition necessary to memorize the algorithm, regardless of whether or not any true understanding of the material and skills existed.  This year, homework is for preparation.  It is for beginning to cultivate the questions about the material that will need to be answered, and discovering (or recovering) the skills, definitions, etc., necessary to find the answers.  Homework is for discovering and learning what you can on your own, and preparing your questions for the material that just doesn't quite click.

Through this reflection, I realized that in the past a lot of kids were able to get away with not doing the homework, or not taking it seriously, or just copying it from someone else.  The classroom was the only place where new material was presented, so putting off the practice required to memorize the material for the test until absolutely necessary wasn't a problem.  Everything needed for success on the test was delivered in class, so as long as the student paid attention or took notes, the timing of the practice (that day, or the day before the test, or whenever...) wasn't as important.  This is why cramming for a test could, potentially, be a successful strategy.  If the student can memorize well, then the day before the test is the perfect time to "learn" the material.  Of course, some kids need more repetition than others, so for some kids the daily practice was very important.  For others, however, not so much.  Which then, of course, brings forth the question: if a kid doesn't need the repetition, why make them do it?

This simply isn't true in a Harkness classroom.  The questions being asked on the test demand a solid understanding of the material to the point that some creativity is required.  Memorization doesn't come from sitting down and memorizing all of the material; rather, it comes from struggling with and working through and making sense of it, so that comprehension, rather than just pure memorization, takes place.  Both the discovery at home and the discussions in class are important parts of this process, as my students saw during the past week.  Personal preparation is important not only for the individual's understanding of the material, but also for that of the others in the class.  This makes the homework an integral part of the course rather than just practice (necessary or not) of the material covered in class.

Now admittedly, there are still a couple kids who possess solid problem-solving skills and can still contribute to the class (though not as completely or meaningfully had they done the homework) without doing the preparation at home.  However, a few of the exercises this week stumped them in class, and I firmly believe that had they done the preparation at home they would have successfully done the exercise.  Hopefully, this, coupled with the fact that they are perilously close to falling out of the A range, will inspire them to do the homework.  We'll see...

Reviewing Revisited

I mentioned a few months ago that I was struggling with how to help the kids study/review for the tests.  While I have not come up with the ultimate answer and solution, I've been trying something in the class this trimester I think is a bit more in line with the overall Harkness philosophy.

Each unit in this part of the course has 48 exercises, and we have planned on each of the five units taking 10 days total.  That gives us eight exercises per day for six days, three days for review, and one day for the test.  The three days of review may seem to be a bit much, but the plan gives us the necessary flexibility in case the discussion of a few of the exercises gets more in-depth and therefore takes longer than average to complete.  For the review, the plan going into the unit is:

• day 1: tie up loose ends form the exercises on the worksheets, revisiting the exercises on the worksheets that summarize or apply the skills and material on which we are currently working
• day 2: the students look through the textbook and bring in exercises from the sections that relate to the material on which we are currently working (I tell them which sections, they bring in the exercises)
• day 3: the students work through a set of exercises that contain applications of the current material, but that do not contain any new material; they receive and work through these exercises in class, so these exercises are not prepared and discussed as happens with the regular exercises

So far, the review itself has been much better, but the results on the tests (two so far) have been about the same, with no significant increase or decrease in the scores.  On the positive side, this is giving the students responsibility for the review, and keeps the focus on them working through the material with me doing the constant analysis and assessment of their work to make sure they are gaining a real, deep understanding the material.  And this method of review is certainly more in keeping with the Harkness philosophy.  On the negative side, I had hoped that the scores would increase, showing the review to be more effective.  But at least it is not having any detrimental effects.  As such, I take more student-centered and student-driven with the same test scores to be a win.  Not a win-win, but a win.  Hopefully by the end of the trimester, the second win will arrive.

What Else Could I Ask For?

The first week back from Spring Break is always one of the slowest and most difficult of the school year, not only because waking up early has returned to the daily routine, but also because we don't have another day off until Memorial Day - a full two months from now.  I gave the kids the normal amount of homework to do over the break- one worksheet.  On Monday at the beginning of first period, I said good morning, but not much else, and after the required five minutes of complaining about how tired they were, the students began to discuss the worksheet, picking up where we left off before break.  My other classes went pretty much the same way.  There wasn't a huge need to go back and review the material from the first worksheet of the new unit which we began that previous Friday, and as we made our way through the week it became evident that the kids pretty much have a handle on the material we're covering in this unit.  The classes are self-starting at this point, and at times the students go to the board to start in on the exercises before the bell rings to officially begin class.  I've guided the discussions more by asking questions (sometimes as simple as, "Are you sure about that?") than by explicitly pointing out any mistakes, and I really don't fix the mistakes at this point, since the kids make the corrections themselves, most of the time without me needing to point out the error.  This didn't happen as quickly during the previous trimesters (though it did eventually happen), and there are still certain bells on certain days that need me to get them on track at the beginning of the period, or to get them back on track during the period, but these days are becoming fewer and fewer in number as the term goes on.  In fact, this week, out of a total of 20 periods, all of them self-started, and only two needed to me to help them refocus.

Seriously: What more could I ask for?

The kids have bought in to Harkness.  They have taken responsibility for their own learning.  They have started to make connections with the previous material.  They have started to get deep into some of the exercises, not stopping at the level of just answering the questions, but really trying to see the important ideas underlying the exercises.  There are times when I need to help them extend their findings, to nudge them toward a deeper understanding of a particular piece of the material, but again here these times are becoming fewer and fewer in number.  The time it takes to nudge them is a lot less than the time it would have taken had I been lecturing to them, and most times I don't need to finish my sentence or two before at least one of the kids makes the connection, at which point I get out of the way and let the student finish nudging the rest of their group.

Seriously: What more could I ask for?

I don't know what I did right this trimester that has allowed us to get to this point so quickly this term.  Perhaps it's actually nothing I did, but rather it's just the particular mix of kids in each of the sections I'm teaching, or some other thing I'm not recognizing and over which I have no control.  But I intend to enjoy the remaining eight weeks for all they are worth, looking for what went right so it can be replicated as much as possible next autumn and beyond.

Along those lines, I'm fortunate enough to be going to Exeter this summer for their annual math conference, hoping to fill in some of the gaps in my understanding of Harkness which I'm sure are there.  I'm also hoping to connect with other public school teachers who are trying to implement Harkness in their classrooms, giving and taking through a week of discussion, with the aim being not only to do things better next year, but to look for ways to inspire others to join us in bringing out the best in the students and better prepare them for what lies beyond high school.

I guess that's what else I could ask for.