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???

The pressure’s on!

Thanks to @jaz_math for the Day 1 Silent Conversation idea. The PreFreshman Seminar students had amazing ideas on how to be a great Math teacher including content knowledge, attitude and leadership.

Students appreciate teachers who care, who know the material and can impart that knowledge. Hope I can live up to some if not most of these suggestions.