Let me tell you something.

I had a killer lesson planned. Fourth period was the tutorial class that I had been asked to teach, which meant that I pretty much had full reign over what I could've done. So why not go big? Yeah, let's go big. Wanting to show off some of the things I could create and show the class, I took one of Nathan Kraft's Desmos models, built by own as a second step, and thought I had it nailed. Just because Twitter is always so helpful, I figured it would be a good idea to get some feedback on the lesson. I was expecting "hey, cool" and "how did you make that?!"

Here it is, in case you want to play and harpoon it.

​Instead, I got a reality check:

You see that? Down on the ground, smashed into a thousand pieces? It's my ego. And I needed it. 

When I really looked back at the lesson, it was just a (kinda sorta) flashy technology demo and not a realistic exploration of the Pythagorean Theorem. I sat on it for a night, pushing it to the side on Sunday afternoon, very uninspired after being chewed to pieces.

...and then it hit me. 

Sunday night, less than 12 hours before working with the tutorial class to enhance their understanding of Pythagorean Theorem, it hit me: I need to change everything. Yeah, my lesson turned into a paper airplane.

I knew that it had to be done, and probably thought about it earlier, but didn't want to come to the realization that everything needed to be tossed aside. 

Come to find out, no, I am not the only one. Over 200 people have commented, most of whom laugh at me for being so mindful and doing it 12 hours ahead rather than in the shower the morning of, 2 hours before, or even 12 minutes before the lesson. While I still believe that the replies to this tweet should be shown to new teachers and those in the teacher prep programs, I do not recommend making a habit out of last minute lesson overhauls. Anyways...

C'mon, John, you can do this.

With the help of Tim, I had my new appetizer set:

After watching the video, the students opened the Chromebooks and went to the two links that Tim sent (thanks, Tim!). Based on both, each group discussed what they knew about the model and anything that they wondered. 

Much better. Hook set. 

From there, I handed each student a sheet of pink paper, then each group a ruler and a pair of scissors. I modeled how to create a right triangle.

So far, so good. 

TEACHING IS EASY!!!

• Next, all you have to do is create a square with the sides measuring the length of one of your triangle legs.
  
• Cut the square out.
• Measure out the other leg of the right triangle, then create a square with the sides matching it.
• Put the two squares together to create a bigger square along the hypotenuse.
• Enjoy a glorious proof of Pythagorean Theorem.

The problem is that, while a lot of groups did well, many did not. It wasn't the Pythagorean Theorem; they had it. It was creating a square (yes, some squares were blatant rectangles). It was not using the scraps of paper to simply fill in a square on the hypotenuse. It was a mess of other small issues that I didn't anticipate because, well, TEACHING IS HARD!!!

​On a positive note, some groups really got it.

There were a lot of lessons learned through that lesson, and most of them were mine to learn. 

Some key ones:

• When doing this activity, use graph paper. It will make things much easier to visualize.
• After students have cut out their squares (SQUARES!), throw away the scraps so they don't get confused.
• Don't assume kids know how to make a square. I know. I know.
• The struggle is worth it. There were a lot of good moments.
• Be willing to take a risk. The kids didn't know me, as I was the guest teacher, but they played along nicely. The regular teacher was there to help her students and none of them gave up. I have to believe that part of the reason is because there was still value in the activity, even if it wasn't clear as day in the middle part of the lesson.
• Most of the time, "don't read the comments" is advisable when doing the Internet. In the case of education Twitter, the opposite was true for me and it had so much value.

So where do I go from here? 

I'm going to continue taking risks, making mistakes, and changing my lessons the night before (not 12 minutes before; y'all are crazy) because I know that it is an opportunity for me to grow. If I'm growing, the teachers I work with will grow. And when they grow, the end result is always going to benefit the students.

We just have to allow for a little bit of mess in between.

Happy "Scramble Pre-lesson" Fishing

This sentiment ran through my head yesterday afternoon as I reflected on a busy day of teaching freshmen. But first, let me back up.

As I have already mentioned, I am going to each of our sites and offering to give a teacher the day off. No prep, no delivery, no grading. Just take attendance and enjoy the rest of the day. Of course there are ulterior motives behind what I'm doing, but it really is a quasi-day off for the teacher. 

While last week was tough because the teacher didn't want to see any of the tech tools that I'm comfortable with (as he was also comfortable and wanted to see something different), this week's teacher wanted me to teach the Angle Addition Postulate. Folks, it's basically saying that two angles added together will get you a third angle that is the sum of the two. It's addition. It isn't hard. Also, it isn't interesting at all.

Therein was the challenge: could I get kids curious about something so seemingly obvious and dry?

​With that laid out, I got to work (full lesson prep here).

I know that Geogebra is a great tool for geometry-based lessons and I (admittedly) need to learn more about how to create within its ecosystem. Anything negative I have to say about it is from a place of selfish stubbornness and I admit it. With one chance to get this right, I went to part of my comfort zone: Desmos. Since they have added the Geometry component at desmos.com/geometry, there are more applications of an already-intense product.

As an appetizer, I wanted to build curiosity as much--and as quickly--as I could. A great way to do that is with Estimation180, so I created four models and dropped them into this handout. Feel free to cannibalize it for whatever you are doing. Andrew Stadel, creator of Estimation180.com, took a look at the questions I was asking and offered up some revisions, all of which I am extremely grateful. Two of the missing angles are obvious if you understand supplementary angles, which is a prior skill that I wanted to spiral in. Two others, however, are more ambiguous and require estimation skills. 

After students had a chance to reflect on what they knew about the prompts, we would move into two different angle pairs (bit.ly/aapintro1 and bit.ly/aapintro2) to discuss what was happening. There were a lot of inroads for conversation and exploration because I wanted students to develop a true understanding of what AAP really was: addition and subtraction.

We defined the Angle Addition Postulate, then students were going to create different angle pairs using the Desmos Geometry tool and share with their neighbors to confirm. Well, they were going to isn't always how it goes. 

First period, I am sorry.

In all my years of teaching, first period has been the experiment class. No matter how well I prep for a lesson, that first class of the day gets the worst version of me. It's not because I'm tired, or unprepared, or off my game. For some reason, there are always tweaks to be made between the first time I teach the lesson and the second. 

Everything in this lesson was executed the way it was supposed to, all the way until the students were tasked with creating their own angles. It flopped. Kids didn't know how to use the tool, my instructions weren't clear enough, they were overwhelmed, or maybe it was a combination of all three. Whatever it was, I scrambled to the exit ticket so I could still manage some data about their level of understanding and I didn't stick the landing. As I told my colleague, Paula, I don't even think I reached a landing that I could stick. First period left without getting to the algebraic examples. Dang.

The rest of the day was great. We moved right into the algebra, crossed out the third task that was confusing, and experienced a lot of "oh yeahhhh" and "ah, this is easy!" moments. The exit ticket was given with plenty of time, the conversations were strong, and it turned out to be a great day.

...and I still can't get first period out of my head. I know that it's going to be that way, and many of you feel the same, but how might we give first period our absolute best without always using them as the trial class? Kathy Henderson shared an idea that some schools use and I like it. 

This doesn't solve the problem of delivering a knockout lesson to the first group of kids who walk through the door, but it does spread the experimental phase out a bit. Maybe that's the compromise?

Final reflections:

teaching is an endorphin-inducing experience and I love it. It is not lost on me that the teachers who agree to let me come in are making themselves vulnerable and giving up control for the day. Yesterday, the teacher I worked with wanted to take the lesson and be the one who delivered it to 6th period. I'm all for that. Right before 6th period began, so looked and me and said "whoo, this is worse than an observation! I'm more nervous about doing this than getting observed."

For one, I appreciate the honesty. More importantly, I appreciate how willing this teacher was to take a risk, step outside her comfort zone, and take a risk. 

We reflected, together, on the outcomes of the day, and she had some really great things to say. Most were about the lesson and what she noticed, but something else really stood out to me. She admitted that she has grown comfortable with the way that she teaches and that today was a step outside that normal routine. We all know that this is where the growth happens, but we have to be willing to try something that might just fail, putting your kids a day behind, lose the class, or look silly. The risk is not always a short-lived failure. But the reward? 

"I liked it because you gave the class a chance to explore and make their own discoveries. I need to do more of that."

Just make sure first period gets to do that, too. 

Happy "Better Start" Fishing