July 19, 1998

IMP Evaluation Essay

Summer 1998

Introduction

The IMP curriculum in general and the IMP training staff in particular helped me begin a needed change in my style of teaching. It's now easy to think of my teaching experiences as "pre-IMP" and "post-IMP".

Prior to IMP training, my classroom was teacher centered. I used a traditional Algebra I text. Lesson plans came from the teacher's edition of that text (which did not coordinate well with the Chicago Academic Standards). Everything that went on in the classroom was teacher dependent. Students were mostly placed in passive (and boring) learning modes. Teaching was beginning to feel more like entertaining. Teacher centered math classes are not fun to teach and certainly not enjoyable for the students. I spoke to my principal about my frustration with our math program and she told me to start looking for something better.

After reviewing many different math texts, I selected the IMP program as one of the possible choices. I received an invitation to a demonstration IMP class taught by Anne Horn and Margaret Small. Anne and Margaret put the observing teachers into the role of students and taught us for 6 hours using IMP lessons.

We were put into small groups and introduced to several math-related activities. For the first time in my life, I experienced the empowerment feelings of students in a student centered classroom. Some of the activities were fun in and of themselves, but the real pleasure came from working with others and presenting our accomplishments to the rest of the class. Anne and Margaret did an excellent job of modeling the teaching that works with the IMP program.

Tesla's principal approved our adoption of the IMP math program for several reasons:

• IMP curriculum coordinates well with the Chicago Academic Standards.
• IMP requires students to focus on reading, writing and presenting as part of their math problem solving activity. Improvement in reading and writing is Tesla's current educational objective.
• Professional development is provided for a Tesla math teacher.
• Potential for improved attendance and achievement due to increased student satisfaction.

IMP Workshop experiences

There were two series of workshops during year.

The first series was at Phillips High School and covered lessons from different parts of the IMP curriculum, I recall working with lessons from Patterns, Shadows, Overland Trail, and Pig. We may have worked with activities from other parts of the curriculum as well. These sessions demonstrated the consistency with which the IMP program delivers student centered learning. It also allowed participants to experience the expert "questioning" skills of Anne Horn. Anne Horn ran the series and did an excellent job of modeling the teacher's role. When we'd get stuck on a particularly difficult task, Anne asked just the right question to restart our effort. When we'd drag because of the lateness of the day, she'd prod us with a few more questions to keep us on task. It was this series that made it apparent to me that questioning skills are probably the most important of the teaching skills.

The second series was at UIC and focused on "The Game of Pig". This series not only demonstrated the delivery of this unit, it brought the input of several teachers that are currently using INW in the classroom. Although Anne Horn led the group, two regular teachers taught most of the lessons. In addition, several of the teachers taking the course were already using IMP in their classrooms. This resulted in many discussions of how best to deliver certain lessons. We also talked about classroom management and assessment techniques. One of the most informative sessions was how to use a rubric to grade a POW.

 

In the Classroom

I was extremely fortunate to have a highly experienced math teacher as my partner for the "in class" training, Ivy Parker is not only an amazingly astute math teacher- she also has insight into the "messy" world of teenage problems. She could quickly put her finger on what was bothering a troubled student and get them back on task. I learned a lot more from Ivy than she did from me.

The preparation for teaching IMP from the two training series helped me get started on removing myself from the center of the classroom. Some students complain that I don't help them enough, which is music to my ears. Students are actually turning to each other for help! I'm not good at sitting at a table and keeping my mouth shut, but every time I get ready to talk I try to think about what Anne would be doing --- and some of the time I manage to either keep my mouth shut or ask some kind of question.

The big difference I'm experiencing is in student participation. I've never seen such active participation in one of my classes. By the end of 4 weeks, most of the kids are on task 80% of the time. One morning, six students walked into our class about IO minutes before the bell. Without saying a word, they got their folders and started working on the previous day's activity. Ivy and I were speechless. Neither of us ever expected to see that happen.

The last day of school, the principal came to our class to announce we had the best attendance (by far!!!) of any class in the school. She also commented on how busy she noticed are class was every time she passed in the hall. She told the students how lucky they were to have two such wonderful teachers. We didn't tell her our secret --- our wonderful curriculum and training.

Although I'm not completely prepared for what IMP will bring next year, I'm a lot more ready to face the New Year than I was in 1997. A year from now, we should be ready to introduce IMP 2 to our school.