Of the many ways to measure a Math lesson, one is flow. The 75 minute blocks at my college can feel like a long time to be doing Math. Therefore, I try to have a variety of modalities within a lesson to capture students’ attention and to provide opportunities to learn and do Math.
The best flow experience I witnessed in my classroom was an activity (on Graphing Functions) starting at 1:58 which was 17 minutes before class ended. I had thought they would first work independently and then work in pairs.
1:58 handout given students have alone time to think and work while I visit deskside
2:05 students are working independently while I circulate around
2:10 students are still actively learning solo
2:15 class has officially ended — do I tell them?
2:20 they are STILL working — so engrossed
These students may have another class at 2:30 — our room is about to be taken over by the teacher and students waiting patiently outside the door.
2:23 Drat! I have to break the magic and tell them that class is over
At the end, I was delighted that students were totally in a flow state. They lost all sense of time while they were learning and doing Math. My only regret?
WHY DIDN’T I THINK TO HAND THIS OUT AT 1:45???
Boom! Sounds like an awesome, use of the end of a block, which in my experience, can be one of the most challenging time periods to navigate!