Half sheets for full effort


In AP statistics I was having a problem getting the class to actually engage during class! I know! The whole purpose of being .. in class .. is to BE IN CLASS!

Thanks to my twitter PLN, I learned a terrific idea to get the class engaged. It works. Hardcore it works. It is called a “halfsheet”. I take one problem. Just one. It goes at the top of the page. Then you put the acronym of choice down the left side to remind the learners how to do inference problems (as an example). At this point you have one problem, the acronym (PHANTOM, or I use the books Think: H:, Think: C:, Show Tell, whatever you use), on one half a piece of paper.

Small, neat, and concise. You give this to groups of 2 to work on. They work. They struggle, they learn. Then they bring you the half sheet for you to grade. You point out any errors, suggest wording changes, and then send them back. They bring it back with the corrections and you either send them back or accept the sheet.

Once you accept the sheet, you give them problem number 2!

Repeat.

Problem 3!

Repeat.

It works. They are engaged. They are working, and you get to spend your time tweaking, suggesting, and helping instead of talking at them.

Amazing what a half sheet of paper can do.

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One response to “Half sheets for full effort”

  1. Thanks for explaining this – I heard about it on Twitter too but missed some of the convo. I love this and am going to do it tomorrow for our test review! Woo-Hoo!

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