Teaching TExtbooks and not Showing Work

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Update: we are going to try to make TT work...she really loves the way he teaches....

 

How do you get them to show their work?  

I am a little worried about Teaching Textbooks, because with auto-grading, I don't really have an answer key so that I can look at her notes every day and see that the work she has kind of matches up with what was supposed to be done.  And even if I did, many answer keys show only the answer, not the work.  I think I could buy an Answer Key from TT, but I don't know if it's a full "Solutions Manual" or if it's an actual "answer Key"

As much as I love TT,  am really really worried that my ddd is not showing her work. S he's on week four of Geometry and still hasn't written anything down in her notenbook except postulates and theorums.  I checked in with her, and she just keeps saying that so far, there is literally no work that would need to be shown. 

I purchased the Physical Textbook so that now she can show some of her thinking and use the printed book to measure lines and angles etc. and not have to copy every single thing, but ....

My dd would be extremely upset if we did this, but I am really considering switching her to Derek Owens for Geometry, and then continuing with that for Alg 2 and Pre Calc.  

My dd is not a STEM major, but I don't want her flunking her SAT's because things just didn't sink in....

 

WWYD?

 

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by Calming Tea

[Arcadia]

Did you see this thread on teaching textbooks?

https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/679191-writing-out-math-problems/

Obviously I have never used teaching textbooks but both my kids don’t like to show working. For DS12, I need to sit near him anyway to redirect so I could see him do the work. Besides Chemistry and Physics requires him to know his math decently.

For DS13, I used to ask for a work sample per week when he was younger because all his online AoPS math classes would have at least one written problem for submission weekly. Now I ask for a work sample per unit because he doesn’t have weekly written submission for math but he does have two proctored exams per semester.

DS12 does need test prep to do well in SAT. He needs mastery plus test prep. Spiral sends him to sleep while mastery is insufficient for him for a timed test since he can’t spend time recalling during SAT or ACT.

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UPDATE, we are going to try to make this work...

will be asking about how to do that instead

Edited October 5, 2018 by Calming Tea

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

 She's on week four of Geometry and still hasn't written anything down in her notenbook except postulates and theorums.

 

Looking at the Table of contents (http://156.110.241.75/ttassets/Table of Contents/Geometry-TOC.pdf), there really might be nothing to write down until lesson 26 or 27. 

If you are worried about retention, you could use any of the practice tests the high school teachers posted on their webpage e.g. http://www.lbwilson.schoolloop.com/cms/resources?d=x&folder_group_id=1298973559179&group_id=1298973559179&id=1473405583077

[GoodGrief]

We didn't face that issue, because the version of TT that my daughter used allowed them to work out of a book for a lot of it. Hope you find a solution!

[hollyhock2]

What I would do is sit with her for a lesson or part of a lesson and see if there really are that few problems that need working out on paper. At the beginning of the course, there is probably more that they don't have to work out (at least there was with Alg. 2). I sat with my son a bit and watched him do it for this very reason. He writes down way more now that he's starting on Chapter 4, but for a while there, there were only 3-4 problems in his workbook for some lessons.

The TT solutions book is only the answers, not the solutions fully worked out, just FYI. I hope you figure it out. ?

ETA: Also, for what it's worth, my son was doing some of the algebra in his head at the beginning, but that didn't hinder him when he needed to start working it out on paper. When he needed to write it out, he did, and having done it mentally wasn't a hindrance to knowing how to do it later. If that helps.

Edited October 5, 2018 by hollyhock2

[deerforest]

I know you said you wanted to make it work, but we're really happy with Derek Owens geometry. He provides a lot of scaffolding for learning how to take notes in math, provides great videos, and there is a home grading option for 1/2 off the monthly cost that has worked great for us. He provides the answers to all the homework and tests he provides. He doesn't provide the answers to the in-book assignments so I just bought the solutions guide for that too to save my sanity. We switched from AoPS to DE for this course. My daughter is 14 and in 9th, just for comparison.

Edited October 6, 2018 by deerforest

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Hi Deerforest,

I LOVE DO and I really trust his program.  But for some reason it gives my dd anxiety.  There are so many vidoes for each concept, and he talks a little bit slowly, and then the pages of work on top of that just sends her over the edge.  

I did come up with some ideas though:

I spent a long time looking at videos of Geometry notebooks, and so she is going to keep a notebook with a section for Theorums and another one for Postulates.  The notebook is also going to have a homework section and I now have the regular textbook and ALSO the answer key which does have some solutions.  I have told her, that she can use TT for Geometry and if she shows me she can be accountable to do the work on paper, line by line and THEN transfer it over to type in the answer to see if it's correct, then she can stick with TT for Alg 2 and Pre-Calc with the same perameters.

If she can't be accountable, then she will have to use Thinkwell or CTC.  We got the 3 day trial for TW yesterday.  Thinkwell provides included review worksheets where the answer can only be checked by the parent using the solutions.  This is done once per week in addition to the answers that are input into the computer.  Unfortunately she HATES Thinkwell's look and user interface.  Another opton is CTC math which provides worksheets for each concept, where the student has to solve it on paper, search for randomized answers, and then put the letter of the answer into the program (in other words they are forced to work several problems on paper every few days.)  

So I guess it's up to her to keep herself accountable and to me to check every day ? Otherwise, she will have to use a different program.  I will give it a few weeks and see how it goes, and then also re-evaluate before starting Alg 2 next school year.

 

[Arcadia]

Edited due to TMI

Edited October 7, 2018 by Arcadia