Engagement

At the beginning of the second semester, we were debriefing a class one day and Adrian, a student in the class, said, "You all talk about being all democratic, but look at the way we sit in here." At the time, the tables were arranged in a U shape facing the board. Patrick and I looked at each other and then said, "Do you want to rearrange the tables in a way that makes sense to you?"

We began math workshop one day with that as the challenge, secondary to that challenge was to video tape their process.

Rearranging the Classroom (video)

Students' Reflections

Teacher Reflections (video)

Because students were cohorted in the ninth grade, they traveled together throughout the day. Many, though curious, knew little about their fellow students. In an effort to get to know each other and somethings about the ninth grade as a whole as well as to review mathematical concepts such as histograms, statistical terminology, and percentages, students wrote and gave a survey to their peers.

The Challenge

Read the Resulting Survey

Final Product Examples

Pieces of the Puzzle

February

Since the emphasis of the first semester in our class was working together, the second semester began by revisiting that theme. In order to do so, each student was give a "puzzle piece" (a piece of a poster that I cut into odd shapes that would then fit back together). They spent the first part of class creating their piece of the puzzle before completing their final challenge, putting together the puzzle as a class.

At the beginning of the second semester, students were at various points in the class, some students were able to articulate the metaphor of the puzzle, while others, though it was just a fun activity. (see Reflections )

The recent issues of the increase in the Metrocard fares caused a series of discussions amongst students.

Their challenge, was to educate people about the fare hikes using equations to represent their problems.

The Challenge
The Results

Oddly, as we began the Lottery Challenge , there were a number of articles in newspapers about people winning the lotter and where the money from the lottery goes. Students were required to make 3 t.v. ads and 3 print ads.

Examples of T.V. ads:
Video
Transcript

Students used their knowledge of probability to help them faciliatate the process and answer questions about the lottery.