The Evolution of My "Post It! PROVE It!" Idea

First of all it is so nice to have time to sit down and write a blog post.... :o)   Time has been my enemy lately...

Wow.... I can't believe the 1st Semester is already over. It has been a busy year so far.  Not only have I been super busy updating and tweaking our 8th Grade Common Core Math Curriculum, creating unique and engaging 1:1 lessons, I have also taken on a few other responsibilities. I have become a member of the Instructional Leadership Corps which is a team of California teachers giving professional development workshops to help other teachers in California with the Common Core Shifts.  I have also become the Technology Lead Teacher at my school and as part of this committee we are designing a technology integration model for our district.

I have been reflecting on the first half of this year and thinking about all the new ideas I have implemented.   Over the summer I put a lot of thought into ideas that would help take my students to the next level and teach them to think critically. One of my new ideas was to implement a daily "Post It, PROVE It".  I have previously blogged about my "Post It, PROVE It"  problem.  This idea was based on doing the daily problem as a team and having one student be the "Recorder/Reporter" and the team would discuss and solve the problem as a team, and then write a written justification as a team.
This is an example of one of my "Post It! PROVE It" problems.

Here are some examples of my students doing the daily "Post It! PROVE It" problems.

The Evolution of My "Post It! PROVE It"
I originally came across this idea and tweaked it because I wanted the team discussion and written explanation to be the center of the strategy.  I started implementing this strategy by having the students discuss and solve the problem as a team, then "Post" their team's answer on the board, and then write the team's "PROVE It" written explanation.....  That evolved into using Promethean Clickers to "Post" the team's answer and then write the team's "PROVE It, written explanation....  I soon realized that students were discussing, solving, "PROVING" and then "Posting" their team's answer....  And this evolved into having the students "Post" their team's answer on their whiteboard with their team's "PROVE It" written explanation.

I soon realized that I don't really need the "Post It" part of the strategy.  I realized that what I really liked about the idea that I found was the "PROVE It" part, because I wanted to develop my students written justifications.  The two most important parts are: solving the problem and the written explanation.  So now my "Post It! PROVE It" has evolved again..... Starting after break, it will be called "Solve It! PROVE It".....  I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place. LOL

This is an example of one of my new "Solve It! PROVE It" problems.

Throughout the first semester I have recorded a lot of video of my students developing their mathematical discourse.  It has been super awesome to see them grow throughout the year.  The day before break I asked my students to list 5 classroom strategies that helped them the most this year. It was unanimous, every team commented on how the "Post It, PROVE It" strategy helped them to explain and prove what they did to solve the problems.  It was nice to have validation that my idea was as effective as I thought it was..  I am so excited to start this new version of my favorite strategy.  :o)

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog.... :o)

Post It! PROVE It! Journey Through STRUGGLE ....

My students are in Week Two of my new Post It! PROVE It! idea.... They are getting better with their justifying but there still is a lot of work to do.  I have decided to give them sentence frames to help with the structure of their written responses.  Using the sentence frame is optional.  Some of my choose to write their own.  I am working on their responses being precise when they are explaining their reasoning.

I have also tweaked how I have my students Post It!  I have decided to use my Promethean Clickers. I don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place... But I love it.... The teams work out the problem and Post their answer using the Team Clicker.  After the teams discuss their reasoning, the recorder/reporter writes the team's written response on their team whiteboard.  With the clickers I can see at a glance which teams have Posted and which teams have not.  After all of the teams have Posted, the data comes up on the flipchart.  Way cool... I love my technology..... :o)

Here are examples of this week's Post It! PROVE It! questions.

Here pictures of my students doing the Post It! PROVE It!

My journey through my new Post It! PROVE It! idea is getting better.... My students are starting to buy in a little more, but there are still some that really struggle on justifying their reasoning.... It is also taking a lot of time at the beginning of class, but I am determined to persevere because I know this is so beneficial for my students.... :o)

Post It, PROVE It...Getting Students to Reason (1)

I have taken on a huge task this year.... Turning my students' apathy into a passion for learning.... The new Common Core standards are rigorous and require students to reason and apply.  I have created a lot of new ideas to implement in my classroom this year to get my students to think, reason, apply and justify.

One of the ideas I have come up with is my new Post It! PROVE It! idea...  I posted about my Post It! PROVE It! idea previously this summer. My acronym for PROVE is: Precise Realistic Organized Verbal Explanation

My students started doing Post It! PROVE It!, last week.  So far it has gone really well considering they have only been doing it for four days.  I am excited to see the level of reasoning they reach over time. The students will do Post It, PROVE It four days a week.  I believe that the team discussion and collaborative reasoning is an essential part of their learning and their understanding of the mathematical concepts.

Implementing Post It! PROVE It!
Once I put the Post It! PROVE It! problem on the board, the team member that is Recorder/Reporter writes the problem on the team whiteboard.

Here are examples of this week's Post It! PROVE It! questions.

After the recorder/reporter has written the problem on the team whiteboard, the team discusses the problem. Once the team has determined the answer, the recorder/reporter "posts" the teams answer. The team continues their discussion and the recorder/reporter writes the team's written justification.  Their written explanation has to be in complete sentences and include academic vocabulary.

After all of the teams have "posted" their answer and have written their justification, I randomly choose two teams to report to the class.  I have explained to the students that I am going to give them constructive criticism to help them understand how to be more precise when they are explaining their reasoning and to help them become better writers.  I can tell that this is beneficial by the written responses on my students' homework.  :o)

Here are some pictures of my students and their first week of Post It! PROVE It!

It's not all "Sunshine and Roses".... I am having trouble with some students still fighting the process.  They think it is too hard.  My common phrase last week was: "It's Okay Not to Know, But It's Not Okay Not to Try".  My goal is to: "Change Their Words..... and Change Their Mindset".... But so far about 75% of my students are giving an honest effort to think more and to become better writers.  Hopefully this percentage will increase over time... :o)

Thanks for stopping by. Check back for more Post It! PROVE It! updates and progress. :o)

My "Post It, PROVE It" Idea

I have posted about the need for finding ways to make sure the students are ready for the Common Core way of thinking in my Worthwhile Wednesday Task  post.  This is another new idea that I have and a strategy I am implementing next year.

If you have read my other posts, you have read that my classroom structure is all about teams. The last couple of years, I used a "Blast From the Past" at the beginning of class, which was my version of "Bellwork".  For the "Blast From the Past" the students worked on the problem with their team.  The recorder/reporter would write the problem on the team whiteboard and the team would discuss and complete the problem together. Doing the "Blast From the Past" as a team was a very effective in reviewing past concepts, but I had to take that idea to the next level.

I got my new idea and strategy for next year's beginning of class routine when I came across 4mulafun's Post it  Prove it post.  I took her idea and created a new beginning of class routine with teams using the concept: "Post It, PROVE It".

Instead of using sticky notes for the"Post It" part, I am going to use dry erase sentence strips that I cut in half. I also bought clip magnets in each of my team colors: Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Orange, Purple.

As you have read, this year with my students I want to emphasize how to properly justify their reasoning and so I wanted to focus on the :PROVE It" part of the phrase.  Because I can't stop thinking of acronyms, I started with creating an acronym for PROVE:  Precise, Realistic, Organized Verbal Explanation.

In my version of "Post It, PROVE It". I will put a problem or prompt on the board at the beginning of class. The students will discuss it as a team. Recorder/Reporter will be responsible for writing the problem.  For the "Post It" part, the recorder/reporter will "Post" the team's answer on the whiteboard at the front of the room.  For the "PROVE It" part, the recorder/reporter will be responsible for writing the teams written explanation in complete sentences on the the team whiteboard.  The recorder/reporter will share out.

I am hoping that my version of "Post It, PROVE It" will help the students learn to articulate and justify their reasoning.

Here is a copy of the slide I made for the "Post It, PROVE It" problem of the day.