“Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions.” -Bo Bennet

Why do I need to change the way I teach high school students? What’s the big deal with small groups? What does differentiated instruction have to do with high school math—that stuff is for the little guys!

As secondary teachers and schools begin to set goals for the coming school year and planning this summer, these are some of the questions which can be overheard in the faculty meetings.

I had the honor of sharing the Tabor Rotation Framework with a group of high school students this week. I’ll let some of their math journal responses answer the above questions.

“Today I learned that the brain learns best by concrete information, then pictures, then those worksheets. Doing math this way is helpful because we got to do actual “hands on” experiments, and it just made things make sense. My goal next week is to do even better.” -Sarah

Sarah and team played the game, “Are You FUNCTIONing?” This game included centimeter cubes, coordinate graphs, and value tables—all of which help students understand how to locate points on a coordinate plane using a given domain and range of a set of number. They could also determine whether or not a table of x and y values is a function using the vertical line test. All of this was done in a hands-on way to deepen the understanding, not just memorize the algorithmic procedure

Value Table I for “Are You FUNCTIONing” Value Table II for “Are you FUNCTIONing?” Value Table III for “Are You FUNCTIONing?”

“Today I learned that it is okay to need things put into real life terms using math. This would help other students because it helps relate algebra to real life. [It] gives students the awareness to try…I also learned it’s okay to need to “hold” things to learn.” -Shelby

“This activity helped me see clearly the relationship between the x and y values or the different parts of a function. It’s better than writing out the rules and having the teacher talk at me.” -Mary Grace

Mary Grace, Shelby, and team used large cards to create a graphic organizer in “It Depends, or Does It?” This engaging vocabulary game helps strengthen the student’s memory of independent and dependent variables.

It Depends or Does It, Answer Key, It Depends or Does It? cards set 1, It Depends or Does It? cards set 2, It Depends or Does It?cards set 3

“I learned that putting it into your hands and actually doing it with others will greatly increase the learning level. It really helped me to work with others. I laughed a lot when the pasta broke! I learned that putting things into your hands and actually doing something helps you learn and want to learn more.” -Bradley

Bradley and team were trying to find a linear function which fits a set of real-world data using pasta, pennies, cups, and string. They gathered the information into a table and used the table to create a line. Everyone left the class ready to try it at home.

Spaghetti Strength Directions, Spaghetti Strength: Linear Functions

“I wish all my teachers had taught math this way. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will!” -Brianna

Why bother with small-group instruction in high school? Try just one of the activities in this blog post and watch what happens in your room. The energy, the enthusiasm, and the engagement should convince you to bother and try another bit of small-group instruction!