What is your routine for VideoText Algebra (Online)?

[MDL]

We switched from AoPS earlier in the semester as ds was becoming frustrated.  We have had mostly good results, but he cheated a few times and I am becoming increasingly frustrated with correcting his math proofs.  He is a typical, bright 13 year old with a high level of resistance to school, chores and authority in general.  

Typically, he will do one lesson a day, and I ask for the homework by 2pm.  He often misses the deadline for no particular reason, and I get stuck trying to go over his work at the witching hour.  He tends to meltdown when he has mistakes, so it’s a walking on eggshells situation.  His work is sloppy and very difficult to read, despite many hours sitting with him trying to explain what is necessary and what will be necessary in “real” school next year, as he is heading to a brick and mortar school next fall for high school. (He is lonely and has basically zero respect for me as his teacher. He will likely go to a private school, and I am debating putting him in the public middle school to get him out of my hair for the rest of the year.  That sounds awful, but I shed many tears daily)

When I purchased VideoText, I thought it was fairly independent, and I am burdened by the amount of time correcting and enforcing his workflow.  He watches the lessons and attempts the homework on his own (even numbers). If he scores less than 80%, he has to go back and do the odd # problems as well. My gut tells me to just let it go, he will get it in high school. Daddy, however, is very focused on math, as ds tests extremely high in verbal and reading (95%ile) but generally average in math. We used math-u-see, followed by AoPS for pre-Algebra and now VideoText. 

Sorry for the long vent. Any advice on making it easier on the teacher?

 

[mlktwins]

My twin boys are 13.  I have a very mathy kid and a fairly mathy kid.  They do a lesson a day (Including a quiz if required).  They do the odd problems for each lesson.  If they struggle with the odd problems, we go over the lesson together and they do the even problems.  If they struggle with quiz A, they study and take quiz B. They are enjoying the program. 

Edited December 11, 2018 by mlktwins

[momofabcd]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

My twin boys are 13.  I have a very mathy kid and a fairly mathy kid.  They do a lesson a day (Including a quiz if required).  They do the odd problems for each lesson.  If they struggle with the odd problems, we go over the lesson together and they do the even problems.  If they struggle with quiz A, they study and take quiz B. They are enjoying the program. 

If they struggle on the odds, do you go over it that day then do the evens the same day?  Also, if they struggle with quiz A, do they study then take quiz B the same day?  I feel like we need to speed up a bit and haven’t been sure how.

Edited December 11, 2018 by momofabcd

[Momto6inIN]

We've used it for our oldest 3 so far - one extremely mathy and the other 2 not so much.

Do you watch the videos with him? For us, that was key. If I spent just 10-20 min during the video with them, stopping as needed to ensure their understanding of the concept, then they were usually able to do the odds or evens on their own with only a few questions thrown my way. Sometimes they get a bad grade and need do the rest of the exercises. If so, that is done on the same day. If they bomb quiz A, then I have them look over the lesson notes and/or watch the lessons again and attempt quiz B the following day. The program also recommends that they check their own work, and I've found this to be helpful too, both because it cuts down on my time spent on it and because it helps them see and learn from their mistakes better than just looking at an already graded assignment. Which let's face it, they rarely look at anything other than the score anyway.

I would absolutely not just let it go and keep moving him on to the next lesson of he's only getting 80%. Truly understanding algebraic concepts is crucial for future math success, and if your DH wants to up his test scores in math, going quickly through algebra will not help with that. And he's only 13. Lots of very bright and capable students are not quite ready for algebra at age 13 and you'll be amazed at how much maturity happens in the next year.

Good luck!

[mlktwins]

11 hours ago, momofabcd said:

If they struggle on the odds, do you go over it that day then do the evens the same day?  Also, if they struggle with quiz A, do they study then take quiz B the same day?  I feel like we need to speed up a bit and haven’t been sure how.

I do most of what Momto5inIN does.

For my boys, it depends on if they were silly mistakes (we are working on them double checking ALL their work before they have me grade it) or if they are struggling.  For my mathy kid, normally we can just go over the mistake (looking back at the printed lessons) and he is good to go.  For my less mathy kid, I will go over the odd problems he missed and, if he gets it, he does the even.  If not, we watch the video together and go over again.  He does better when he goes over things with me.  Evens are done the same day and graded.

Regarding the quizzes, I usually have them wait a day, do quiz B (graded immediately) and they move on to that's day new lesson.

We all 3 watch the videos separately.  I watch all the videos myself and look over the lessons that come with their assignments.  We do on-line, but I print all the lessons, worksheets, etc.  We do math first thing each day so I know it is done and they are moving forward.  We are also spending a lot of time on making sure they show their work, it is neat on their paper, and that they are double checking their work (they may end up in school or outsourced math classes down the road). I don't want to be guessing if a number is a 6 or a 0 (or a 4 or a 9 -- or a z or a 2) -- LOL.  Fun times!

If they are getting sloppy, I will have them grade each other's work for a period of time so they can see how frustrating it is to try to decipher other people's work -- LOL.

We've done MM and my mathy kid tried AOPS Pre-A.  He did not like the format.

This program is working well for both of them!

I would also not move forward with 80%.  We are trying to move quickly through the program (which is Alg 1 and 2), but not if they aren't grasping it.  I've been talking a lot about how important understanding Algebra is to future math and science classes.

I hope this helps!    

 

 

[MDL]

Thanks!

mlk, I’ll go back to watching the lesson with him. I like the idea of self grading. Despite his history of cheating, I think I’ll have him grade/correct his own homework lessons. And if he is dishonest about that it will show on the quiz. I like the idea of scheduling as such:

watch video and read work text with mom, homework, correct homework > 80% quiz a, if quiz is < 80%, quiz b the next morning before video lesson. 

That should give him a little more confidence, and less paperwork for me. I’m vexed by so many clicks on the video text platform. I wish it would just pick up where we left off (and track progress for crying out loud!) instead of having to recall what was last. Not a problem for the boy, but I’m 50😂