The countdown has begun!
To help prepare for AIMS, we are spiraling all of our class work. What that means is that instead of focusing on one concept at a time, we are going to keep all of our prior knowledge fresh by keeping everything in the mix. Right now we are working on the slope-intercept formula, mid-point formula, distance formula, +/-/* and dividing positive and negative integers, inequalities, working with absolute value and creating equations from situations.
While some students are struggling with "new" concepts, I am working hard to help them see that everything they are doing is based on prior knowledge - they are just applying that knowledge to new situations. For instance, in solving an inequality, they are combining like terms, adding/subtracting opposite integers, solving for the variable and graphing the inequality. All of those skills are prior knowledge, but the students are learning how to recognize what to do and when which is the "new" learning. I'm teaching lessons with the question, "What do you see?" to get them to start asking themselves that so that they can pick up on clues on what to do.
To help prepare for AIMS, we are spiraling all of our class work. What that means is that instead of focusing on one concept at a time, we are going to keep all of our prior knowledge fresh by keeping everything in the mix. Right now we are working on the slope-intercept formula, mid-point formula, distance formula, +/-/* and dividing positive and negative integers, inequalities, working with absolute value and creating equations from situations.
While some students are struggling with "new" concepts, I am working hard to help them see that everything they are doing is based on prior knowledge - they are just applying that knowledge to new situations. For instance, in solving an inequality, they are combining like terms, adding/subtracting opposite integers, solving for the variable and graphing the inequality. All of those skills are prior knowledge, but the students are learning how to recognize what to do and when which is the "new" learning. I'm teaching lessons with the question, "What do you see?" to get them to start asking themselves that so that they can pick up on clues on what to do.