Great Feelings are amazing

If you know me from IC, you will know that I was not very good at Analysis. As a matter of fact, without Stan’s “sticky points” I might have had a grade less than a B. ICK. So, I didn’t learn as much as I would have liked in that class about proving calculus. However, I learned something from Stan Selzter.
I learned the value of a “sticky point.” Yesterday I implemented my version of sticky points in my math classes. I struggle with the punitive system in the school. I appreciate the support from the administration. My students are really quite well behaved. However, I couldn’t find a way to compliment them effectively and quickly. So I started carrying around a small pack of post it notes. I catch students doing good work while I’m walking around and I write a note to the student and give them the post it on their notebook. I like finding them doing the things I want them to do
• Copying notes
• Trying problems
• Asking good questions
• Being proud of themselves

So, I write things like:
• Nice Work
• Good Job
• Quick work
• Excellent
• Terrific
• WOW! That’s good
• Good Work
• Good question!
• Thanks for trying
• Good Start… keep trying

I thought they would appreciate the positive reinforcement. I explained to them that they could put these sticky notes onto a test or quiz and receive “bonus points.” Other rules include
• I’m not responsible of lost sticky points. They are responsible for them.
• I will not give you one if you ask for one.
• You can give them to other people
• If you want to sell them…. I don’t care. I’m not responsible after I writ it.
• They don’t expire.

So after I started class today, I noticed the kids were amazingly engaged in the class. About ½ an hour into the class my CTT partner teacher came in. She wondered what I had done to get every student so quiet and working so hard. I truly didn’t know…. I thought they liked the topic. Then my homeroom partner came in and needed to ask a few students a quick question. While she was there we told her we had already done Science today (her content subject). Then the class wanted to tell her more.
• They told her we had done ELA when we discussed the word “compound” and how we use it in ELA
• We told her we did science when we talked about chemistry and the word “compound”
• We told her we talked about H2O and the ratio of Hydrogen to Oxygen in water.
• We told her we talked about social studies because we talked about what was on the sides of our money.

All of those topics lead up to us learning about compound events of flipping coins and spinning spinners and rolling dice and finding probabilities.

So later, my homeroom partner commented on how amazing the class was paying attention and able to be so focused. I attribute it to the “sticky point” system

So… Thanks Stan! And Thank you Matt M for letting me have your sticky points in Analysis.