Teaching Math - Practice, Practice, Practice

My stat kids are working through the normal distribution and there is a fair amount of calculation involved with that work - even if we are using the Starnes Statistics Through Applications, which is much less computationally intensive that the Brace and Brace book we used last year. Our first quiz over the material was, in short, horrible. Thinking about this, I think the reason is that we simply haven't done enough practice. In theory the kids should have worked the problems on moodle and checked their answers - but in reality I suspect they just did random answers until they got the right one. (ok, not all the kids, but at least some number). So today we did worksheets.

Some things I noticed (and how they are relative to TAKS for my few juniors)

1. Reading a problem like "what % of spiders in the colony weigh more than 13 grams" takes some work to translate into a minimum of 13 and a maximum of (some really big number). The decoding part of these problems takes some work. I observed this last year, but thought it might be due to the way the Brase and Brase book words problems.

2. Everyone knows how to find a percent - or how to find a the count of something when they have a % of a whole - Algebra 1 TEKS (or 8th grade) - but actually doing it when confronted with a wordy problem takes some prodding.

3. The hardest thing for some of the kids seems to be figuring out what formula to use or what technique to use - getting from reading the problem, to deciphering the question, to finding the known quantities, and using the correct equation or approach. I wonder if that is the problem for some of the kiddos with TAKS trouble - making that jump problem after problem? In algebra 1 we really stressed this sort of "what technique?" skill - and I realize now that I need to more of that in statistics. This is one where I could see using turning point in class - put a problem up on the viewer and let the kids pick the technique first - and then, in the next slide, solve the problem. (OK, so sooner or later I'll have turning point - and at least I'll have ideas what to do with it when I do get it).

4. Multipart problems - the idea of having one description and then a number of sub-problems that use the same specific information gave some of my kids problems. I suspect the answer to that is to use more (not less) of that type of problem so that they get used to it. Moodle let's me do "descriptions" and then sub problems - so it would help to make good use of that feature.

5. Different words for the same concept - broadening vocabulary. My kids had problems when I gave them a problem that talked about an average instead of the mean. Again, I think the answer is to do this more often - and very consciously use multiple words for the same concept in the lecture portion of class - so they hear the different words and connect the. Again thinking turning point - maybe a matching word exercise might be helpful.

What I saw that was neat:
1. The kids will help each other - I let them work together - and they actually do help each other - or if nothing else they get confused together and then I can work with them and get them back on track as a group.

2. Some of the kids actually like worksheets - now that I don't understand - but I think it is the idea of having a well-defined task that is comforting. On the other hand, next year they will be in college and they won't have that kind of comfort there.

So, my challenge this year is to see how to integrate the technology with "the old time skills". I don't think the computer work can replace doing practice - but I think the trick is to use the features of moodle that let you walk some one through a problem to help them in doing the practice. So next year maybe what I need is the powerpoint lecture notes, a moodle lesson, and then the homework.