Confession: I lied to you in the title; coming up with varied forms of assessments is really hard for me. I've never seen a math teacher in any of the 6 buildings in which I've worked do test or quizzes differently than what I think of as the "traditional" way. That doesn't mean it didn't happen--it means I didn't know about it if it did happen. Theoretically, I know different ways of assessment exist (PD has done that much) but I have no idea how to implement them. This is my attempt to supplement a test over quadratic equations with a project.
Last year was my first time with this project. It scared me. Lots. I started by googling "Quadratics Project" and then I blacked out. I don't remember where I pulled any of this stuff from. If it looks like I adapted your project, let me know so I can give you credit. If you just want to mess with me and claim that I stole your stuff, whatever, I can give you credit to. The more the merrier! All I know is that I have a rubric so I know I didn't think it up. Rubrics are for sissys. Or for people who think things through really well before they try to implement them. I'm more of a try-it-and-see-if-I-fall-flat-on-my-face type of person.
The first time through last year was 'meh'. It was more work for the students. It was more work for me. Surprisingly, many of my "strong" students struggled on the project, which meant whining. However, it was something different in the heart of winter and it was fun--mostly.
This time went much better. I know what problems to expect. I have some canned responses to student whining. And I've spent quite a bit more time comparing and contrasting multiple algebraic forms of quadratics with the students. We've gotten as good as can be expected from Algebra 1 students at moving between standard, vertex, and factored forms. (That's not really true but I can't give it any more time this year.)
The projects are due this Wednesday; I'm hesitantly excited about seeing what my brilliant students came up with. I'll post some more pictures once the posters are on the walls. I may have to delete this blog post if they're horrendous.
Last year was my first time with this project. It scared me. Lots. I started by googling "Quadratics Project" and then I blacked out. I don't remember where I pulled any of this stuff from. If it looks like I adapted your project, let me know so I can give you credit. If you just want to mess with me and claim that I stole your stuff, whatever, I can give you credit to. The more the merrier! All I know is that I have a rubric so I know I didn't think it up. Rubrics are for sissys. Or for people who think things through really well before they try to implement them. I'm more of a try-it-and-see-if-I-fall-flat-on-my-face type of person.
The first time through last year was 'meh'. It was more work for the students. It was more work for me. Surprisingly, many of my "strong" students struggled on the project, which meant whining. However, it was something different in the heart of winter and it was fun--mostly.
This time went much better. I know what problems to expect. I have some canned responses to student whining. And I've spent quite a bit more time comparing and contrasting multiple algebraic forms of quadratics with the students. We've gotten as good as can be expected from Algebra 1 students at moving between standard, vertex, and factored forms. (That's not really true but I can't give it any more time this year.)
The projects are due this Wednesday; I'm hesitantly excited about seeing what my brilliant students came up with. I'll post some more pictures once the posters are on the walls. I may have to delete this blog post if they're horrendous.
Here's some student examples I kept from last year:
I am such a n00b at this. If you have suggestions for how to make this better, I'm all ears.
| 10_project_assessment.docx |
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