I'm not going to lie I still fear CAG 6 months on. And I had a very small part to play in CAG but the trauma was real. I think when I'm in my old age I will still be able to tell you the names of students I gave a high grade 3 to, knowing they wouldn't get their dreamed of 4. I know I was true and honest and evidence based but I am human. Someone who has studied all year didn't pass, they were unlikely to pass in an exam situation but this year it was me, I said they didn't pass, and that hurts.
Exams are still happening at present. But we have now had CAG so we know we may have CAG again, anything is possible. We must assess face to face in controlled conditions for potential preparation for CAG. Regardless of CAG fear, that it is the departments decision that this is how assessments are to happen this year and the process is to be standardised. So I bring my learners in, all of them. We split across multiple rooms. In my head one room would do their calculator assessment, another would do their non calculator. When finished I would give each room their next paper calc or non calc. In another I was going to teach solving equations. Something that probably would work a lot better face to face than not. Maximising our opportunity. Me teaching area of 2D shapes face to face would have less of an impact than solving equations I felt.
I had a slide deck ready for the lesson. Some resources to work from. A card sort I had tweaked to be a matching activity so to reduce touching of materials. Ready to go. But I had one of those days, where every meeting takes 10 minutes longer than it should have. Colleagues wanted to chat to me as they hadn't seen me face to face in a while. The day ran away from me. Before I knew it it was lesson time. I went to plug my device in to share my slide deck on the board. There were no wires in the room. I went to print my resources out. There was no printing available. Thankfully the assessments were copied so they could go ahead but the algebra lesson, we'll, that is in real jeopardy!
The obvious solution is to assess all the learners. But I had staggered the groups over 2 weeks. Those who had arrived for algebra this week were anxious about their assessments and wanted another week to revise. Those who had arrived this week for the assessment wanted it over and done with and they would do algebra next week. I decided to test the water with a couple of learners who arrived 5 minutes early and said, ah well shall we not just do your assessment this week rather than algebra? One of them started hyperventilating. This wasn't going to fly as an idea. Stalling for time I started the assessments groups hoping an idea would spark for how to solve the impending car crash that was about to be my algebra lesson. 2.5 hours of free style chalk and talk here I come.
I always start solving equations with a missing value picture puzzle. A grid of 3 symbols totalling values horizontally and vertically in various combinations. I drew one out on the board. I started to sweat checking I had my values correct. I drew smiley faces, sad faces and hearts as my icons. 3 smileys summed to 18, 2 smileys and a sad summed to 15 and so on. The learners loved it. I drew another and another including a negative value one. All were a hit. I then wrote the equations up. For example for the 3 smileys sum to 18 I wrote 3s=18 and using f for sad face I wrote 2s + f =15. Then half the class freaked out. They can do it with pictures but not with letters. I laughed, this happens every year I tell them. I tell then that each letter becomes a picture or a shape for them in their mind. The letter is an unknown. A thing that we don't know the value of. Trust is regained and we crack on.
I show them balance method and function machine method for solving equations. One learner turns to another and says, 'if it was like this in school I wouldnt be here now, this is gold' I am buzzing. I leave the room to swap assessment papers and safely hand out calculators, which is a lengthy process that I hadn't planned for. I return to my algebra group panicked that I have left them so long and the magic will have gone. I needn't have worried! The manager for the site is in there listening to the learners explain the function machine method with delight and passion. He is intrigued too! So I model another answer and I will try to capture it here now, but it needs a bit of theatre which is hard to convey via a blog but here goes:
7m + 4 =25
M gets on the bus, he is joined by 7 of his family.
M➡️x7
Then 4 of his mates get on the bus
M➡️x7➡️+4
The bus pulls into the bus station and they are at stand 25
M➡️x7➡️+4 = 25
They go round town then they want to go home. To get home they need to get the bus from stand 25.
The bus sets off and 4 of his mates get off first, then 7 family, what house number does m live at?
? ⬅️ ÷7⬅️-4 = 25
Weve done no maths so far. All we did was write out the question long hand then the inverse underneath, now let's work this out.
M=3
The manager is whooping so are the class. One learner is in tears that finally she can easily solve equations. We move on to brackets. Then unknowns on both sides. Followed by unknowns on both sides with brackets. I hand write a series of questions out. Praying that they will fall nicely as answers. I copy 7 sets out and give them 20 questions. Not enough but the best I could muster. I was doing a lot of the hard work this lesson but I couldn't see another way round with resources lacking as they were. I went to check in the assessment groups who had been supervised by colleagues in my absence. All were laughing at the cheering from the algebra group! Desperate for their turn for algebra next week!
After 3 hours and a clean down I left happy with my lesson. The assessments are done for 2/3 of the class and we can catch the rest up next week. All my learners in my algebra group made progress. I would have liked them to do more practise but I will reflect on their homework productivity and see where the land lies then. I had great learner feedback from the algebra group to the manager. But also to my assessment supervising colleagues. One learner said, 'she's so funny, I bet she's singing about algebra to them! She's a right laugh! '
And that's the magic. The penny dropping moment when solving equations suddenly looks like a guess the value picture puzzle. The magic is when solving equations can be solved mentally whereas they would have been ignored previously. The magic is when you have tears of joy at algebra rather than tears of sadness. The magic is when learners shout about how much fun your lessons are. The magic is being there for your learners and building those relationships.
2.5 hours of chalk and talk algebra is not something I want to repeat but I'm glad I did it! Is this magic more magical face to face than online? I would have taught it the same online and they would have done more practise but would I have felt the same magic? Probably less so due to us being asynchronous. Were we synchronous yes I would have felt the same magic I am sure. But do I need to feel the magic? My learners would still have felt the magic as all those moments would still have happened. Does my magic count?
I am being told from colleagues and from my PLN that it's so much harder teaching online. Yes it is as activities need more careful planning. Sequencing is more crucial and what you could have carried face to face in 3 leaps you need to take 5 baby steps with online. But that doesn't make face to face better, does it? Today I had no printer, no tech, Covid rules and regulations and it was stressful from start to finish. It can't be a poor man's narrative that teaching online is the poor relation to teaching face to face. There are pros and cons to both, but what I am excited about is that we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the potential pros in teaching online
