Time

Hello,

This is going to be my second year teaching middle school math. We have very short class periods they claim they are 50 minutes but there never seems to be that much time with class switching and announcements etc. I was taught to use alot of hands on and real life practices when teaching math but the time constrants and pressure to cover everything quickly seems to be taking away from this. My administrators seem to contradict themselves for example more cooperative learning and alternative assessments, yet they will not let me differentiat my assessments for the students needs.

My question is does anyone have any advice on how to cover math topics effectivley and without as much note taking. I would rather have more practice time. Also any suggestions on how to convince some resistant coworkers that students do not need to copy everything from teh board?

I guess those are alot of questions but if anyone has any advice I am desperate.