How We Grade in a Thinking Classroom 

 

In this session, we will facilitate an in-depth analysis of key elements from chapters 13-14 of Building Thinking Classrooms. We will explore natural steps teachers can take to improve the impact and effectiveness of their feedback. We’ll also explore how teachers can begin to naturally transition from points-based grading to outcomes-based grading.  In addition, participants will be provided a link to a specially made Google Sheet that automates student grades exactly the way Peter Liljedahl describes in his text.

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Seeing Grading in a Thinking Classroom in Action 

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This is a follow-up session to How We Grade in a Thinking Classroom. Here, we will address specific challenges teachers face when starting to put outcomes-based grading into practice (the way Peter Liljedahl describes in Building Thinking Classrooms), and we will explore practical solutions to these. We will also carry out a simulation that dynamically shows this style of outcomes-based grading being put into practice within the context of an Algebra 1 and Geometry thinking classroom.  
 

Using Graspable Math to Support Procedural Fluency in Algebra

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Here, we will explore the Graspable Math whiteboard as a powerful tool that can meaningfully support students studying Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, PreCalculus, and Statistics. We'll experience how GM’s easy-to-use, interactive, math-friendly whiteboard makes working with algebra quite playful and meaningful for students.  With GM’s whiteboard, you can actively engage all students to make meaningful connections while supporting their procedural fluency through a conceptual lens. And unlike PhotoMath, students need to interact with the fluid algebra notation in order to experience success with substitution, evaluating & simplifying expressions, solving equations and inequalities, factoring, simplifying radicals, and more.  This interface also serves as an excellent go-to resource for students who struggle to answer many questions. We’ll also learn how to easily create whiteboard templates that can be assigned to Google Classroom (and other LMS platforms) and we’ll also explore this whiteboard’s live collaborative feature which allows students to collaborate live (just like in a Google Doc).
 

Assessing Effectively with Graspable Math Activities

 

Here, we will explore Graspable Math Activities and experience how teachers can easily create effective assessment activities that fully engage and support all students’ procedural fluency with algebra.  Learn how to create exercises where students interact with GM’s playful algebra notation as they attempt to successfully evaluate & simplify expressions, solve equations and inequalities, factor, simplify radicals, and more. When students fully answer a question correctly, a green light appears to indicate this. GM Activities serves as an excellent platform for teachers to create and interactively assess students with CYU (check your understanding) questions for many topics in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Precalculus, and Statistics. We'll also explore the teacher overview page for any session we create and see how we can formatively assess and monitor all students' progress live and in real time.

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Getting Started with GeoGebra

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In this introductory workshop, we will actively engage with GeoGebra's platform and experience firsthand how GeoGebra can naturally foster student-centered discovery learning, meaningful remediation, differentiation, and ongoing formative assessment. We will also explore how we can easily copy and edit resources created by others to effectively differentiate discovery learning experiences for various groups of students. We will also explore GeoGebra Classroom and see how this interface empowers teachers to see all students' progress and thought processes in real time.