Reading Ratios

So I've been talking about Content Literacy for the past month or so and trying to wrap my head around what it means specifically in the setting of a math class. Then, in the book* that we are using as a textbook in my content literacy class, I was introduced to the idea of "text sets". Tovani defines a text set as "a container organized by units of study". She got the idea from elementary school libraries and classrooms around the country where books are organized by topics and authors and genres. Now how do we take that idea and transfer it to a middle or high school classroom? And more specifically, a math classroom?

I've been exploring this idea over the past week and coming up with new ideas. After all, what does text even look like in a math class? Part of the point of these text sets are to help students at all different levels to gain the same understanding of the same content in a different way. It can be with readings of different levels of difficulty or, in my case, problems that range from easy (to some students) to extremely difficult. Here is an example that I have compiled of a text set to help students understand ratios.

The Math Dude - The Golden Ratio:
I mentioned The Math Dude in a recent blog post and here he is again! This is a video and blog post on this thing called The Golden Ratio and how many photographers use it to take more interesting pictures. This text and video could be used to help students find some interest and usefulness in ratios. Text sets don't have to contain only boring reading materials. This is an example of that.

Dan Meyer - My Ultimate Nerd Math Crush - Genius lesson plans:
I cannot tell y'all how much I love this man and think he is wonderful. I had the amazing opportunity to hear him speak last semester and the way that he went about teaching a group of math teachers with a simple but very real world problem blew my mind. If I had had him as a math teacher, who knows where I'd be know? Probably conquering the world... I digress. This link provides a few of his videos, worksheets, and full lesson plans on how to work with students on ratios. This is another way that kids can get practice doing word problems and making sense of ratios.

Sometimes Funny Things Help Students Understand Better:
This video is horribly cheesy, but I found myself chuckling, so maybe awkward middle school students will too? It tells the story of a girl going on multiple dates and each guy speaks a different number of words. One guy talks too much compared to her. Another doesn't speak much at all. Finally she finds a guy who talks the exact same amount as she does and boom! It's love. (Don't we all wish it was that easy.) It also talks about equivalent ratios and equivalent fractions which, I believe, can help students in their understanding of this topic.

Extra Practice:
This is a link to worksheets and extra problems that students can use to practice their understanding of ratios. There are different levels of difficulty that can be used to help students. Maybe after watching some of these videos or learning different ways to go about solving the same problem, they can practice what they've learned.

Notes - Different Ways To Think About the Same Problem:
Teachers have to understand how to do a problem in 12 different ways so that they can teach 12 different students to understand how to do it in their own way. In the text set, I've included some notes that I've taken of different ways to look at the same problem. Sometimes there is not enough time to teach 12 different ways during class, so this is an opportunity to help students take learning into their own hands and still succeed.

This concept is still a little bit foreign to me so join me as I grow in my understanding of text sets. If you have ideas, please let me know! After all, the whole point of this blog is to learn and grow from other teachers ahead of me. And I hope that this helps you too. If it does, let me know about that too. A little encouragement never hurts :)

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

*Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani

A Struggle With Reading... Or Lack Thereof

As I continue to work through Cris Tovani's book Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, I'm exploring my own reading abilities and what has influenced them. I love reading! I always have. And that might be due to the fact that I've always been pretty good at it. Or the fact that I usually find books whose topics I enjoy. Or a multitude of other things. I'm even enjoying Tovani's book right now, surprisingly enough. How often do we get assigned a book to read for a class and enjoy it?! And how sad is that question? I hope that through this class and exploring how to make reading more enjoyable for students, my students will not have to ask questions like that. Reading in class should make students curious so that they are encouraged to do their own research on those topics.

This week I read her chapter on accessible texts and how to find accessible texts for your classroom when your students' reading levels are all over the place. There is this new concept of "Text Sets". Depending on the subject, teachers can create boxes full of reading material at all different reading levels, all "organized into different units of study". Tovani does a great job of giving examples of how to create these sets for all different subject areas, and I love the idea of this! I'm not sure how much I love the idea of actually carrying it out though. 

For example: How much is it going to cost to collect all of these materials? I know that some of the materials could be printed articles, but books are going to make up most of the set. How long is this going to take to create the sets? This is NOT a cop-out and me wanting to take the easy way out. I'm earnestly wondering if this would need to be an entire-summer-long project. 

Here are some major "ups" of this idea of text sets: It offers students with all different reading levels opportunities to learn the material in a class. It reduces the frustration of students not being able to understand material. Students can gain the same information that they would receive in a textbook but in a more interesting way. There will be may options for readings texts with different lengths and structures. The information obtained should be relevant and allow students to make connections to other classes and their lives.

So what is the consensus? I love the idea of text sets, but they intimidate me. Especially in the area of mathematics. Maybe intimidation is good though. It will require me to work through something difficult just like I will ask my students to. Maybe I'll challenge myself and start coming up with a list of articles to use in a math classroom. I can keep a folder on my computer for different units and file the articles in there. I don't think on a college student's budget I'll be purchasing many books yet. :)

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

What is my Classroom's Brand?

I recently found an article that immediately caught my attention. The title seemed so relevant to life in general as well as this thing that I'm trying to become: a teacher. The article is called The Importance of Branding Your Classroom by Terry Heick. It was intriguing to think about. Our society is filled with brands and people make a living out of helping companies create a brand. Of course, the best examples given in the article were Google and Apple. Everyone knows these companies and what they do. Their brand tells us what to expect out of their products and how to use those products to their fullest extent. So how do I do this for my classroom? How do I brand my classroom, help students to know what to expect out of my class, and help them to know how to use my class to its fullest extent?

I can't say that this article answered my questions completely, but it did remind me of a TEDtalk that I watched a couple of months ago by Simon Sinek called How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Sinek frames his talk around Apple's success in branding and this thing he calls a magic circle. You see, most brands advertise by telling people what they make/do and how they make/do it. Apple is different. They tell people why they do what they do. Then they show people how they do it. Finally, they let us in on what they do. That reversal of the order as well as adding WHY they do something pulls people in. It makes us feel like we understand Apple more.

So what does this have to do with my classroom? I want to help my students, parents, other teachers, and administration to understand why I structure my classroom the way I do. Then they can see how I structure my classroom that way. And finally, they will discover what I do.

And the article? Heick (maybe without knowing it) helps us to make a connection between this TEDtalk's branding and our classroom. He gives us four lessons to help us make the connection: 1. Brand matters. 2. Brand must be emotional. 3. Accessibility comes first. and finally 4. Brand is the product of an ecosystem. I strongly encourage you to check out this article for yourself to see what Heick has to say. I have to admit that I originally just thought that "branding" my classroom would simply include lots of time searching for cute classroom ideas on Pinterest and lots of trips to Hobby Lobby. Now I see that it's going to take much more than that.

We've also been discussing think alouds in our content literacy class recently. Here is an example of a think aloud in a math class. In any think aloud, a teacher demonstrates to the students how they work through a problem or section of text and use strategies to make sense of it. This allows students to see how teachers' minds work when going through a difficult text. I plan on using this in my classroom in the future and having students practice it as well.

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

Inspiration

Do you ever read an article that a friend posted on Facebook or a quote that someone has pinned on Pinterest and feel so inspired? It might be a verse or a chapter in a book sometimes for me that I highlight AND underline. I need to share the knowledge I've just attained. Sometimes that knowledge is incredibly overwhelming at the same time though. I kind of feel like that is happening to me as I attempt to learn what content literacy is and how to teach my students how to "read" in different subjects. For example, here are a few of the quotes that I excitedly underlined this week and highlighted. 

"Teacher of any subject are going to help their cause by teaching their students to be better readers of their content. The industrial technology teacher didn't need to teach kids how to read poetry. He needed to teach students how to read directions and blueprints and whatever else students read in his class. Perhaps he does this reading so automatically that he isn't even aware of the skills required for it." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading by Cris Tovani p.25-26

Other times, that inspiration comes from a short but very clear talk. I will be the first person to tell you that I am a math nerd. I love it. I always do math homework first. I love helping my nieces with their math and pushing them to see how much they can figure out without being taught. Enough babbling... I just found this podcast by The Math Dude. Holy moley do I have a new math crush. Oh don't worry! Dan Meyer is still my main math man, but this new guy is slowly moving in... In this podcast he explains just a small part of how to understand the language of math. He literally took the words right out of my mouth. 

Students (and people in general) often say that "math is just not my subject" or "math and I don't get along very well." This could be due to an inability to speak math very well. I love that TMD (The Math Dude) compares math to a foreign language in which we need to be immersed in order to learn it. We also need "to speak it proficiently before we can use it efficiently." (Boy am I a sucker for cleverly placed rhymes.) This point almost begs teachers to teach their students how to read math. It begs for word walls in your math classroom like this one. Students need help learning this language and being immersed into the culture of math. Give them lists of words that they will see in the following units and allow them to sort these words into columns of "words I know and could teach to someone else" and "I have no idea". You can then allow students to help you in creating your word wall using words that are relevant and necessary in your classroom.

It may seem like I've gone off on a rant, but I've been inspired and so that inspiration had to be shared. Also, maybe if people know how inspired I am now, they'll continue to encourage me, as I become a teacher, to remember these lessons. 

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}