Transparent Algebra: My Concept List

Let's review:

• Back to the future (good luck, you'll do great)
  
  
• Assessment (good start, but you've got a ways to go)
  
  
• Homework (general approval, but do you really want to create all those videos?)

Now we'll take a short break from the long and meaty posts and take a look at my draft concept list for Algebra. The idea behind the concept list is to not only identify the core concepts that students need to master in my course (not the nice to have ones, but the must have ones), but to identify the ones I'm going to assess and shoot for mastery on.

Like most teachers, I struggle with this because I want to include too many things. I'm pretty sure I have too many concepts on this list, yet I'm not sure I want to pare it down any more because I want my assessments to be frequent and targeted. If I whittle my list down too much, then that stretches the interval between assessments and invites the possibility of assessing on too big a skill range. I'm still pondering, though, which is why I'm hoping you'll take a look and give me some feedback. (And, again, this is just the skill part of my class, more in future posts about what else we will be doing during class.)

Some caveats to keep in mind:

• I do have a curriculum I have to follow, and some students switch at semester, so the breakdown between the two semesters isn't negotiable.
  
  
• The Algebra team I'm joining gives common final exams each semester, which means my end-of-semester summative exam is pre-determined.
  
  
• We have our state-mandated testing (CSAP) in March, and the ninth grade CSAP includes some items that typically wouldn't be covered in Algebra (or at least not before March). So we teach Probability earlier in second semester than might be typical, and most teachers take at least a week or two to do some Geometry stuff before CSAPs.
  
  
• All education is global, but it's also local. My class will meet four days a week for 59 minutes each class. I'll see them about 60 times first semester (with 5 of those shortened periods due to our PLC's), and about 65 times second semester (again, with 5 of those shortened). Compare that with David, who sees his classes five days a week for 94 minutes at a time and has them all year. Or with Matt, who sees his classes five days a week for 84 minutes a day. So we all have to adapt based on our specific circumstances, and that not only impacts instruction and assessment strategies, but also concept lists (mine is likely to be a little shorter than some other people's - well, at least when I get it narrowed down it will be).

So, I'd appreciate any feedback you have on the list (which is a published Google Doc that does change as I make changes, so you may see differences as I react to comments/suggestions).