This is perfect, Dylan. “A Nice Worksheet.” Also a little funny, too. I’ve never understood what was so wrong with students practicing problems on a piece of paper.
Excellent post (as usual) Dylan. With the explosion of online teaching/learning the past 5 years, I have HS students who rarely get "worksheets". I think they think they can look at a screen and solve problems in their head, or just "know" which multiple-choice answer is correct (yes even in AP calculus). Some well-constructed worksheets are needed!!
Yea I agree about the digital stuff. I've been slowly moving away from digital tools. They're fine for certain purposes, but I think most of the math students do should be with pencil and paper, or expo marker and whiteboard, not on a computer.
You know, I read this at school right before class and I thought, "how funny would it be if I used the worksheet you posted about?" That would be so first year, grabbing and using any available resource. Then I saw it, it was actually perfect, and I used it the same day as a warm-up for my algebra 1 students. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful! A warmup is a good way to think about worksheets like this -- if they're pitched right they're good for reminding students of a school, they go pretty quick, and they can build confidence before some tougher problems or topics.
That "worksheets are terrible" is, in many circles I run in, an assumption beyond questioning. But it's lazy! Worksheets fulfill an important role in learning. I'm probably an enemy of most worksheets actually in use, but when we do them, it's essential to do them well. Thanks for defending their right to exist!
It's a good point that if I could sample the worksheets that teachers handed to students in random classrooms today, I wouldn't think much of most of them. I gave out a pretty bad worksheet today! (Trying to pay lip service to the required curriculum.)
I have a hypothesis that the way people talk about worksheets plays into using them badly. Seeing worksheets as a necessary evil precludes the existence of good worksheets, so there's no incentive to try to make worksheets better.
This is really helpful. Any chance you have one for negative numbers? I’m a pre service teacher and would love to see a worksheet on this as I’m about to teach it
I always have trouble using other people's materials. These fit into the way I teach the concepts in very specific ways based on the methods I show students and how I sequence thing. This type of practice is generally on the earlier side of skill development, and we move on to harder problems as students get more confident. So you might use these and feel meh about them.
Second, I really recommend trying to get good at writing handouts like this quickly. That was my biggest weakness as a first-year teacher -- I didn't have good strategies for "ok, students need a bit of practice with this, how can I whip up a bit of practice quickly." This is just one tool, you will develop more and more tools for your toolbox as time goes on, but if you can get good at this tool it can make your life a lot easier as you don't spend forever prepping.
This is perfect, Dylan. “A Nice Worksheet.” Also a little funny, too. I’ve never understood what was so wrong with students practicing problems on a piece of paper.
Excellent post (as usual) Dylan. With the explosion of online teaching/learning the past 5 years, I have HS students who rarely get "worksheets". I think they think they can look at a screen and solve problems in their head, or just "know" which multiple-choice answer is correct (yes even in AP calculus). Some well-constructed worksheets are needed!!
Yea I agree about the digital stuff. I've been slowly moving away from digital tools. They're fine for certain purposes, but I think most of the math students do should be with pencil and paper, or expo marker and whiteboard, not on a computer.
You know, I read this at school right before class and I thought, "how funny would it be if I used the worksheet you posted about?" That would be so first year, grabbing and using any available resource. Then I saw it, it was actually perfect, and I used it the same day as a warm-up for my algebra 1 students. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful! A warmup is a good way to think about worksheets like this -- if they're pitched right they're good for reminding students of a school, they go pretty quick, and they can build confidence before some tougher problems or topics.
That "worksheets are terrible" is, in many circles I run in, an assumption beyond questioning. But it's lazy! Worksheets fulfill an important role in learning. I'm probably an enemy of most worksheets actually in use, but when we do them, it's essential to do them well. Thanks for defending their right to exist!
It's a good point that if I could sample the worksheets that teachers handed to students in random classrooms today, I wouldn't think much of most of them. I gave out a pretty bad worksheet today! (Trying to pay lip service to the required curriculum.)
I have a hypothesis that the way people talk about worksheets plays into using them badly. Seeing worksheets as a necessary evil precludes the existence of good worksheets, so there's no incentive to try to make worksheets better.
Thanks this is so helpful. I'll have a look at yours and make my own :)
This is really helpful. Any chance you have one for negative numbers? I’m a pre service teacher and would love to see a worksheet on this as I’m about to teach it
Here are two I have handy:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pcN5cCbcn6S-VWMEw1TKnX2HvUGnNXSaIz4wSbhD7Dw/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n6DJm-LgjZG8wOuieRxoWowt1h_ufNyy0l-pNgxRj2s/edit?usp=sharing
I hope they're helpful, but two pieces of advice:
I always have trouble using other people's materials. These fit into the way I teach the concepts in very specific ways based on the methods I show students and how I sequence thing. This type of practice is generally on the earlier side of skill development, and we move on to harder problems as students get more confident. So you might use these and feel meh about them.
Second, I really recommend trying to get good at writing handouts like this quickly. That was my biggest weakness as a first-year teacher -- I didn't have good strategies for "ok, students need a bit of practice with this, how can I whip up a bit of practice quickly." This is just one tool, you will develop more and more tools for your toolbox as time goes on, but if you can get good at this tool it can make your life a lot easier as you don't spend forever prepping.
What grade level / class is this?
Regular 7th grade math