DesignForInstruction

Studentstookthepreassessmentattheendofclass.Studentsweretoldthattheywere
notexpectedtoknowtheinformationonthepreassessment.Weassuredthemitwashowwe
weregoingtoplanforinstructionsotheywerentbeinggraded,butthatwewantedthemtoput
fortheffort.Studentswereencouragedtoguessonquestionstheydidntknowhowtodoorthey
couldleavethequestionblank.

LG1:
Iknewmanystudentswouldnotknowwhatslopeis.Mymentorteachermadeitveryclear
thatthistopicwouldbenewformoststudents.Manystudentsleftthequestionblankorputa
questionmark.Thepreassessmentclearlyshowedthatstudentswouldneedtospendalotof
timegraspingtheconceptofslope.Ineedtohavethoroughconversationwiththestudentsabout
howslopeisincludedintheireverydaylives.Waystotalkaboutthisarethroughskiingand

hikingexamples.Anexamplewouldbethatblackdiamondtrailsaremuchharderthangreen
circletrailsbecausetheyareverysteepsotheywouldhaveagreaterslope.Iwillshowstudentsa
videocalledslopedude.Itisverycorny,butitwillhelpstudentsrememberslopedirections:
positive,negative,zeroandundefined.Studentswillneedmultiplemethodsofinstructionfor
thistopic.

LG2:
Onlytwostudentsknowwhattheyinterceptis.Iwasnotsurprisedbythis,butImust
admitthatIthoughtmorepeoplewouldhavelearnedaboutinterceptsbefore.Theyintercept
willbeachallengingconceptforsomestudents.Thiswillbeintroducedtostudentsslowlyand
wewillpracticeproblemsincorporatingtheyintercept.Oneactivityduringthelessonsthatwill
addressthisheavilyisthehumangraphactivity.Iwillpickstudentstobetheyinterceptpoint
forafewroundsandcoachthemthroughit.

LG3:
Ifinditextremelyinterestingthatthesomestudentscouldgraphthelinearequation,but
didnotcorrectlyidentifytheyinterceptandslopeinalinearequation.Thesamelinearequation
wasusedforbothoftheexamples,sothestudentwouldhavehadtoidentifytheslopeand
yinterceptinordertographtheequation.Itssointeresting.Imnotsurprisedthatfivestudents
graphedthelinearequationcorrectly.Thismakesmeassumethattheyhavelearnediton
ALEKS.Thesestudentswillbeexpectedtodotheexceedsonassignments.Theywillhavethe
opportunitytolearnsystemofequationsandpointslopeformula.Studentswhofindgraphing
linearequationschallengingwillhavemultipleactivitiestopractice.Iwilladjustassignmentsas
neededformyspecialeducationstudents.Thiswillmostlylikelyincludefewerproblemson
activitiesandusingintegercoefficientsratherthanfractions.

CFA:
TheknowledgeIgainedfromcompletingtheCFAwasextremelyusefulwhenplanning
forinstruction.MZandCAhatemathandthinkthattheyarehorribleatitandcantlearnmath.
Thismakesitveryhardforthemtolearnnewmaterialbecausethewalltheybuildpreventsthem
frombeingsuccessful.TheyequatebeinghorribleatmathwithIcantdomath.Iknewthat
introducingnewcontentwasgoingtobedifficultandfrustratingforthemandvery
overwhelmingforme.Ididmybesttosetusallupforsuccess.Theyneedalotofpositive
encouragement.Iwillconstantlybepraisingthemfortheirhardworkandcommitmentto
learningnewmaterial.TheywillwantalotofoneononehelpthatIwillgivethemtostartthe
lessonbutslowlyspendlesstimewiththemsotheycangaintheconfidencetheyneedto
completeactivitiesontheirown.
GS,KN,andZDwillneedextratimeonassignmentsandoneononecoaching.ZDand
GSwillneeddirectionsandexpectationsrepeatedtothemindividually.Iwillcheckinwiththem
atthebeginningofeachlessonandmakesuretheyhaveexamplesofwhatisexpectedofthem.
KNwillneedalotofoneononetimesoIwillworkwithhimduringhomeroomasneededand
duringclasswhenpossible.HedoesextremelywellwhenworkingwithpeerssoIwillbe

preparedtoputhimwithapartnerwhenneeded.MMandGSwillneedavarietyofdefinitions
forspecificwords.Forexample,whendiscussingriseoverruntheymightneedtoheartheword
riseinafewdifferentcontextstounderstandwhatisbeingexplained.Itwillbeextremely
importantformetousemultipledefinitionswherepossibleformyELLstudents.

UseofTechnology:
Twolessonsincorporatetechnology.Thestudentswillbeusinganonline
interactivecalculatorondesmos.com.Studentswilllearnhowslopeandinterceptseffectgraphs.
Thiswillassistthemincraftingtheirowndefinitionsforslope,andalsohelpthemlearnwhat
positive,negative,zero,andundefinedslopeslooklikeonagraph.Studentswilldiscoverwhat
interceptsare,specificallytheyinterceptandhowthegraphchangesbasedonthevalueofthe
yintercept.
StudentswilluseaprogramcalledExplainEverythingtocompletetheirsummative
assessments.Studentswillbecometheteacherandcreateascreencastteachingthelistenerabout
slopeandhowtographlinearequations.Studentswillwritetheirscriptsonpaperorontheir
iPadsandthencreatetheirscreencastonExplainEverything.