Wrapping up

There's less than one month left in the Boston Public School year (we're running a bit late because of "snow" days), but Math Rules! will be wrapping up in the next few weeks. I've been working on end of the year surveys for our teachers, volunteers, and students. I also helped put information together for a report. From both of these, I have some good news and good data to share with everyone.


Teacher at the Eliot School - Jennifer DiSarcina (center), winner of Boston Partners in Education's Educator of the Year

This year in Math Rules! -
In raw numbers, we finished the year with 47 volunteers in over 50 classrooms helping almost 250 students throughout the year. Math Rules! volunteers provided an estimated 2000+ hours of academic mentoring and math support for Boston Public students and teachers.

Compared to last year -
*We served 38% more students than last year
*Helped out in 27% more classrooms
*Recruited 25 new volunteers
*Retained 23 volunteers from previous years
*90% of nominated students have a volunteer (up from 70% matched students last year)


Me and my students at the Orchard Gardens

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I also took excerpts of volunteer responses from the volunteer surveys and compiled them, all of them are stunning reports of awesome math students!

“G- is an independent young man who knows his stuff. I worked with him one day and not only did he know how to do the problem, he explained it to his classmates. Then he asked if he could move and do work with a buddy. He's a kind boy and I hope he opens up to me more.” – Volunteer at Tobin

Sometimes interesting math poses will help with your math
“He has generally shown his ability of constant focus on the daily tasks. He usually encourages neighboring colleagues to concentrate on the work and is not easily distracted by others. He has a good attitude and a good helper to his friends.” – Volunteer at Tobin

“...the students know me a lot better now. They are always excited to see me, and they've shown more interest in maths as compared to before.” – Volunteer at Tobin

Mr. Marcus requested I take a picture, so studious!
“I can tell that M- tries to remember the details of what I teach him each time we meet. He is getting faster and more accurate when solving math problems. I think math is becoming more fun for him now that he is getting better at it.” – Volunteer at Tobin

“I feel that D- has a lot of potential. I feel he is very sharp young man. I feel that he improves in each class which is very exciting for me.” – Volunteer at Marshall


“M- is very smart. She needs the occasional reminder and follows right on cue. She thinks out the process of the math strategy and then she practices the strategy until she has mastered it.” – Volunteer at the Orchard Gardens

“I've seen B- transform over the months. He used to be really resistant to having a tutor, but he's one of my best behaved students now. He concentrates, separates himself from distractions and tries the hardest problems in the packet. I wish I had more time to devote to him during our tutoring sessions.” – Volunteer at the Orchard Gardens


“N- is a very confident, and beautiful young woman. She is a hard worker. She does struggle but after practicing, the obstacles become less and less of a challenge and she zooms through her math.” – Volunteer at the Orchard Gardens

“…in the last three weeks I've been there I've noticed them becoming more independent and focused.” – Volunteer at Orchard Gardens


“L- is a capable student who is always sure to ask questions about topics she doesnt understand, and keep me informed about her social life. She doesn't always grasp concepts from the start but can work through them with help and works well independently” – volunteer at Quincy


A big thank you to all volunteers and students for participating in Math Rules! this year. It looks like a lot of you all did really well this year. These survey stories are just a brief glimpse into the great work and quality time spent for both volunteers and students.


If you're a Boston Partners volunteer, we hope to see you all at the Volunteer Recognition Event on June 8th!


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Good luck 3rd and 4th graders!

Tomorrow and Wednesday, 3rd and 4th graders will be taking the math MCAS at many schools. Good luck!

This is what I gave my students as a good luck + encouragement:


Good luck on your MCAS,

Final tips:
1) TAKE YOUR TIME!!

2) Read instructions and problems carefully. Read one sentence at a time. Reread if you need to.

3) Cross off answers that you’re sure are not right.

4) Show ALL work, you can get partial credit!

5) Answer the question in full sentences.

6) Check over your work if you have time.


Believe in yourself and you’ll do fine!
YOU GOT THIS!


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Student tutors

Tutoring yesterday at the Tobin School involved more MCAS preparations and working in pairs. Students from the class next door came over to tutor the kids in my class. Again, this week, I concentrated on my girls and how they were doing. Some of the pairs worked well together but one of my girls made her partner a bit upset. It might've been my extra attention and my student got overexcited. So I backed off and let them work together again. The other pair worked on different topics.

It was really amazing to see students teaching other students. Our teacher then handed out a test they had previously taken and encouraged the tutor students to guide them through the test - "They should be able to take the same test again and do much better!"

I actually learned how to divide a second way yesterday also! One of the tutor-students despises long division and taught me the open array to divide. The open array works best with single digit numbers, but I used the open array to divide 792 by 17.


The strategy is a multi-step process, but I compressed it into one picture. So I'll explain.

1) The array is set up with an open array with the divisor on the side. For 487 divided by 9, you have the 9 on the side.
2) Start building to the answer by making arrays with easy numbers (10s, 20s, etc). I tried to explain using estimation to help speed up the process. If you know 50 x 9 is close but not quite, it's much easier than starting off with lots of 10s.
3) Continue building until you get as close as possible with a remainder (or not).
4) While you're adding more arrays, remind your students to keep a running total at the bottom. If you track it well, you won't go over and waste valuable standardized test time.
5) Finally add up your multiplicands/multipliers at the top to get your final answer. Don't forget your remainders!

The technique works well with single digit divisors, but like I said, it will work with multiple digit division problems as well. A strong sense of estimation and close tracking of sums will greatly help your students. I enjoy this strategy because it's using partial sums to get to a final answer.


Having students teach each other is great reinforcement for what the students have already learned. If you can teach it to someone else, it means you really know what you're doing. I also used this technique at MathSTARS with some of my 9th graders who were working on physics. Not only did tutor-student reinforce her knowledge of the physics concepts, but the student being helped could understand and relate to the extra help.

I also use the student-teaching method when there are too many students who need help and it's harder to help all your students at once. For example, when all four of your students are asking questions about completely different problems. I tend to ask the student who is done already, or finished the particular problem to help his/her classmates.


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