The *A-Ha* moment :)

I have taught for 11 years, stat for 9 of those and this weekend I had an "A-Ha" moment! I went to a 2-day workshop and both of the presenters mentioned that they like to do "discovery" lessons. Now, I've always considered myself part of that movement, but mostly with my Geometry classes. During the presentations and the days following, I've decided that I am doing too much work and the kids aren't doing enough.

Now what does this mean for me? It means this summer is going to be a MASSIVE undertaking of revamping my materials to be more reading/writing for the kids, more workshop-style activities. I'm a bit overwhelmed thinking about it :) I've always been hands-on, but typically it's been a review type activity, not an "active-learning" style activity. I tried it today with hypothesis tests. I created a handout that walked them through the thought process behind an HT with lots of notes and questions and then I let them work all hour rather than me working all hour. Tomorrow I will find out if it worked :) BUT - kids that typically stare at me seemed a lot more engaged than normal so I'm kind of excited about it.

I have decided that I need to create a index notebook with a piece of paper labeled for every chapter that I can jot ideas in and reference workshops/handouts/etc. After 9 years of teaching this, I have more *stuff* than I can keep track of in my mind, so I need a paper "brain" to help me keep organized :)

I would love to hear your ideas on this!