An Ongoing Challenge

 

I changed schools in the summer of 2021.  At my previous school, I had taught AP Statistics for many years and had built that program into something I was very proud of.  When I interviewed at my new school, I had asked if they had a Stat program (no) and if they would be interested in starting one (yes), which was good news for me!  They had already done their enrollment process at the time I interviewed, so there was no Stat program for the 2021-2022 school year, but when enrollment came around in the Spring of 2022, Stat was on the list!

I didn't know what to expect, but the class made!  I ended up with 18 students enrolled in the inaugural class.  I had never taught an on-level Stat class before so I dug through my resources and tried to pull together what I saw as the most vital concepts of each unit.

Looking back, there are definitely some lessons I enjoyed and some that I felt went well.  But there are a lot more that I think could be modified and improved.  In general, the kids are college bound students who wanted another math class or knew that stat would be required for their career path (nursing, etc)

A few weeks ago, one of my Stat students came in during her aiding hour to help me with some Geometry activities and she asked why they didn't get to do as many activities as my Geometry classes.... I honestly did not have a good answer other than the difference in freshman / sophomores vs seniors, but her question got me to thinking....

So now I'm on the search for more activities for my Stat classes that aren't geared toward AP.  Thankfully we are about to start probability, so I know I can create a lot of activities there.  I think my goal with this class moving forward is to infuse more fun and joy into the curriculum.  Obviously I still have standards and content to teach, but this semester was a struggle when it came to figuring out homework and tests, so that's something I want to revisit as well.

My Stat Goals for 2023:

• More Active Learning using the list I use for Geometry
• Using more projects for assessment as possible
• Gathering real data to use / explore the concepts
• Figuring out a better HW / Testing system
• Just have FUN!  Stat is an amazing class - let's have some fun!