It's only 39 degrees but the forecast is promising 60's and the sun is finally shining. I am hoping that the last two days of "Spring Break" can actually feel like spring.
I am still wrestling with a situation I promised myself I would figure out over the break. It is my end of the day pull-out 8th grade math group. a group of nine students at many different levels and abilities united by one common factor, a strong dislike of math. They hate math and they have no confidence in their math skills. Some are still struggling to subtract and regroup, while others are closer to grade level. They are all highly unmotivated in math and are only going through the motions as they try to sneak peaks at the cell phone in their pocket for social updates. Having a group like this at the end of the day is not the best timing wise however it is what it is and they need to learn. Despite their numerous challenges(did I mention one can barely speak English) they are all expected to be proficient at the 8th grade level in math.
I have worked successfully with groups like this in the past but all the motivating strategies I have previously used fall flat with this group. I use interactive math notebooks which generally students really like. Interactive notebooks help students purposely organize their notes and they engage in the learning process as they work with their notebooks. Not so for my little math group, they just go through the the procedure with little thought other than to argue about glue sticks.
After whole group instruction I would like to further break this small group into smaller groups through math centers that I could rotate and work with closely on skills they need to master. The challenge would be that this would require some independent student effort and realistically it would offer an opportunity for social talking, arguments and group entertainment for my group of math haters.
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