John shared with us the concept of a "launch problem" from a book he has been reading. It suggests that we start a lesson with a question or problem for the students to delve into. There is one example of having students try to draw 2 different triangles of given side lengths that had questions that would lead to SSS triangle congruence. Common mistakes and errors are also used to lead to further understanding.
Our timeline was discussed. All will have tested by the end of the week. We will recommend students next Wednesday for Unit 3 interventions.
We discussed the issue of attendance in the intervention room. The question was raised of whether it could be handled through the attendance office, just like for classes.
A discussion about whether total replacement of scores after a re-take is beneficial to the students. Are we taking the responsibility away from the student and putting it all on the teacher? We will continue to examine this as the year goes on.
John shared an application that he used with Unit 3 Day 5 material. It allows students to work with a real-life example of angles and parallel lines. It also gives them a chance to do a 15-20-minute problem on the material.
We looked at the standards for the rest of the year. This helped clarified what was being covered in Unit 4. (There were worksheets on angles of polygons in the shared folder, but this material will actually be taught in a standard in Unit 8.) We also decided to allow students to use a property chart throughout Unit 4, including on tests and quizzes.
