Day Two - Students Taking Charge...Teacher Letting Go

I revamped a few things for my lesson today.
I had the students start by reading about the activities for today's lesson.
If they are going to take charge of their own learning
They don't need me to be the one explaining what it is they need to do!
I did allow some time after they read the day's agenda to ask needed questions for clarification.

We then looked at the learning goal for this unit...to understand and be able to calculate the slope of a line.
I drew a continuum on the board with 0 understanding on the left and 100% understanding on the right.
Students were asked to identify for themselves where they were starting out today with only one day of slope investigation.

And then they were off.

I went to my table to start my mini sessions for students that got stuck.
Some students went to the math glossaries for help before asking me.
Some immediately came to me.
Before I would help, they had to ask me a specific question as to where they were stuck.
I would answer their question with guiding questions to help them move their thinking.
Students left the table as soon as they were able to work again independently.
Others stayed longer to make sure they were understanding.
I noticed one student approach the table, but never did ask a question.
However, the student was listening very closely to the conversation taking place.
It didn't take long and the student moved back to his/her seat to continue working on their own.

One of the questions that I came up with to help reguide student's thinking was,
"How would you recreate this step?"
In almost all cases, students would respond with how much to go UP and then OVER.
Unknowingly describing slope at it's most basic.

As class came to a close, I had students again assess where they were on the continuum of learning.
This time, they were very eager to tell me where they had ended up.
I could tell they were taking pride in their learning.

A positive in this unknown journey!

Tomorrow, the journey continues.
Can all students get to 100% understanding with one more class period?
If not, what?
What do I need to add?
What do I need to take away?
What do I need to change?

The questions continue,
But it's in the questions where the learning takes place.
Gotta love education!  :)