More volatile than the Dow Jones (4/17/08)

How powerful is the "power of 17?" I'm not really sure. Right now it doesn't really have the feel of a solid collaborative learning community that I had envisioned when we set out on a mission to create the ultimate class. Today was a great example of just how all over the place we are.

A group of students who initially detested the rules of exponents used to simplify expressions did an amazing job on their quiz to demonstrate their knowledge. At the same time, Ladon took a nap and completed two of the questions and Torian turned in his quiz while demanding to be switched into a different class and proclaiming, "that's it! I give up on math, I'm done." It was certainly a volatile day (not unusual).

Of the 17 or so kids in the class a handful received a grade of "In Progress" on their quiz, which means that they're showing some understanding, but they're not quite there yet. Rather than review the quiz with the whole class and bore the majority with information they already know I decided to split the class into groups. Iaisha volunteered to work with a small group of kids who are struggling with the quiz material while I took the rest of the class so that we could move on with our learning.

It was great because everyone's needs were being met. Everyone that is except for Ladon who was sleeping, Torian who has "given up on math" and Bonnie who ditched for nth time in a row. In one class period you can experience such a variety of successes and failures. It's really amazing how volatile the inner-city teaching profession can be. On the positive side you have a group of students choosing to work with a student leader to clarify their confusion. You have another group of kids ready to move on and learn new material (in this case we've just begun looking at how to use exponential growth to make money). On the negative side you've got one student who's done, another who's sleeping and one more who's way more into her own personal life drama then getting a high school diploma.

Today the "Power of 17" was more like the Power of 12 or maybe 13, but I guess one could argue that we still have the power and that's not so bad in and of itself.