As we finish up a month and a half of integrating technology into our curriculums, the culminating piece was our final project. I enjoyed preparing our final PowerPoint presentation (my lesson was Solving One and Two Step equations), as it gave me a chance to really analyze one of my lessons, scrutinizing its lack of technology. Once I examined my lesson, it was apparrent to me that there were several adaptations I could make to improve it. By adding manipulatives, a student response system, and group work, I feel I'm giving my students a much better opprotunity to grasp the content. Upon completing my project, I had improved on several strategies, including but not limited to Providing Feedback, Nonlinguistic Representation, and Cooperative Learning.
These aforementioned strategies are just a few of the strategies that "Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works," discusses at length. If used properly, these strategies certainly could improve engagement and achievement. Cooperative Learning is a great way to increase student engagement, as any time students get to interact with one another, the interest level will probably be at its highest. Also, Nonlinguistic Representation helps the students stay engaged, being able to work with the content in a way that is different than traditional means (visuals, manipulatives, etc.). The rest of the strategies do a good job of addressing student achievement. From notetaking skills to providing recognition for effort, these strategies not only increase standard achievement, but also technology based activities. The strategy that stood out the most to me was Reinforcing Effort.
Reinforcing Effort essentially states that where there are several factors that may contribute to a person's success; reinforcing effort is the only one that a student has absolute control over. As I am a math teacher, reinforcing effort is a large part of my daily struggle with students who "don't get it," or "find it confusing." I found it particularly interesting how one teacher had students rate their own effort, and then showed the correlation between increased effort and success. This is something that I may "steal" for my own classroom, attempting to debunk the myth of math being something that you either "know or don't know."
I believe that this class was very beneficial to aiding my classroom instruction. Not only were there great suggestions for incorporating technology, but the textbook offered a great directional text for applying their applications. Thank you for an informative class Ms. Diener!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Week 5 of 525
As this class comes to an end, our final topic of blogging discussion involves Identifying Similarities and Differences, Homework and Practice, and Generating and Testing Hypotheses. I believe that the purpose of teaching students to identify similarities and differences is to help them restructure their understanding of the given content. Through the classification (and consequently declassification) of certain concepts, a person deepens their understanding of a topic. I remember a specific instance when I asked my Pre-Algebra students to identify "like terms" in a given algebraic expression by listing all like terms together in a column. I think that this worked well because it forced the students to examine what terms were similar (and why) and different (and why). I also remember an instance where I failed to explain that "x" and "1x" meant the same thing, but looked different. This ended up causing an assignment to go rather poorly, because I asked the students to simplify expressions that they didn't entirely understand. Explaining how these two are similar/different would have cleared up their confusion. As far as the implementation of technology is concerned for identifying similarities and differences; spreadsheet software, Venn diagrams (Inspiration), and online graphic organizers allow for an easy means of compare/contrast of any content. My question regarding these types of technologies would be how to apply the use of a Venn Diagram in a math class. I've always been a fan of this type of visual aid, but haven't quite found the best way to implement it into the classroom.
The next topic of conversation was regarding homework and practice. I believe that the purpose of asking students to do homework and practice their content is to review and apply what they've learned. Like many other skills, acquiring knowledge demands practice before mastery can be demonstrated. I remember when I took an extra day on the topic of one step equations (dealing with fraction coefficients), giving my seventh graders an additional worksheet of practice. When we took a test several days later, I was very pleased with the results as a whole, and I believe the extra practice affected these results. On the other hand, I also recall a lesson with my Advanced Math students where I made homework optional. My logic behind the decision was to give them a sense of what some college classes are like. However, I believe that this experiment failed because the students failed to see the importance of practicing content. As this was essentially the first time that they had been given the freedom to not to do their homework, they exercised that freedom promptly (along with putting up low test scores). I think that even though this lesson failed, the students learned the importance of practicing their content, largely due to their poor test scores. Some technological resources that help promote homework and practice include, but are obviously not limited to BrainPop, IKnowthat, Flashcard Exchange, and CoolMath.com. My big question with implementing technology as a means of homework practice would be how to find a good balance between online and offline resources? Surely not all assignments should be done online, but every once in awhile doesn't seem very productive either.
The final topic of discussion was generating and testing certain hypotheses. I believe the purpose behind making students generate, and then consequently test a hypothesis is to engage them in complex mental processes, along with enhancing their understanding of the content. I recall several years ago, while teaching Geometry, covering a unit on inductive/deductive reasoning. Whereas this is not generating a specific hypothesis, the students where forced to look at real-life word problems that demanded they draw conclusions from a given set of information (the foundation of testing hypotheses). I feel this section worked well because it allowed the students to take a break from shapes, angles, etc.; focusing on the foundation of mathematics, which is logic. However, I also recall my first year of teaching, when I more or less let my students attempt solving geometric proofs with little to no initial instruction. This left several students confused and without a real starting point on the problem. I feel that if I would have explained to them that by using what they know, systematically gaining a little bit of information at a time, proving their hypothesis would not be overly difficult. Some different types of technological aids that promote dealing with hypotheses include Smog City, Primary Access, and Darwin Pond. My question regarding technology in this respect would be how to find a decent proof-writing program online. I think that students hate proof writing more than most mathematical topics, and having some type of electronic aid could really promote student interest in the area.
The next topic of conversation was regarding homework and practice. I believe that the purpose of asking students to do homework and practice their content is to review and apply what they've learned. Like many other skills, acquiring knowledge demands practice before mastery can be demonstrated. I remember when I took an extra day on the topic of one step equations (dealing with fraction coefficients), giving my seventh graders an additional worksheet of practice. When we took a test several days later, I was very pleased with the results as a whole, and I believe the extra practice affected these results. On the other hand, I also recall a lesson with my Advanced Math students where I made homework optional. My logic behind the decision was to give them a sense of what some college classes are like. However, I believe that this experiment failed because the students failed to see the importance of practicing content. As this was essentially the first time that they had been given the freedom to not to do their homework, they exercised that freedom promptly (along with putting up low test scores). I think that even though this lesson failed, the students learned the importance of practicing their content, largely due to their poor test scores. Some technological resources that help promote homework and practice include, but are obviously not limited to BrainPop, IKnowthat, Flashcard Exchange, and CoolMath.com. My big question with implementing technology as a means of homework practice would be how to find a good balance between online and offline resources? Surely not all assignments should be done online, but every once in awhile doesn't seem very productive either.
The final topic of discussion was generating and testing certain hypotheses. I believe the purpose behind making students generate, and then consequently test a hypothesis is to engage them in complex mental processes, along with enhancing their understanding of the content. I recall several years ago, while teaching Geometry, covering a unit on inductive/deductive reasoning. Whereas this is not generating a specific hypothesis, the students where forced to look at real-life word problems that demanded they draw conclusions from a given set of information (the foundation of testing hypotheses). I feel this section worked well because it allowed the students to take a break from shapes, angles, etc.; focusing on the foundation of mathematics, which is logic. However, I also recall my first year of teaching, when I more or less let my students attempt solving geometric proofs with little to no initial instruction. This left several students confused and without a real starting point on the problem. I feel that if I would have explained to them that by using what they know, systematically gaining a little bit of information at a time, proving their hypothesis would not be overly difficult. Some different types of technological aids that promote dealing with hypotheses include Smog City, Primary Access, and Darwin Pond. My question regarding technology in this respect would be how to find a decent proof-writing program online. I think that students hate proof writing more than most mathematical topics, and having some type of electronic aid could really promote student interest in the area.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Week 4 of 525
The tasks, discussion, and assignments for this week revolved largely around cooperative learning and reinforcing effort. Starting with cooperative learning, I believe the purpose is to enhance student comprehension, while at the same time learning how to productively interact with others. I can recall an instant when I paired seventh graders together to work on a regular homework assignment. The students were paired together (seemingly at random, as far as they were concerned) based on ability, with the mathematically apt students working with a struggling student. I believe this worked well because it made the more gifted students teach (a higher form of comprehension); and the struggling students got a chance to experience the confidence of getting questions right, along with hearing the content explained from a different source. I can also think of a time when I let my seventh graders select their own groups for an assignment, and consequently how poorly it went. Essentially, the students selected their friends, and very little was accomplished. I think this went so poorly due to the fact that friends often don't like to boss other friends around; not to mention the fact that getting the assignment accomplished is rarely the topic of conversation. Some technological resources that can be used to incorporate student cooperative learning include San Diego State University's WebQuest, WebQuest Taskonomy, Teacher WebQuest Generator, and Instant Projects. My main question regarding these resources would be which one is the most conducive to cooperative learning in a mathematical setting?
Along similar lines, we were to watch several presentations by the very intelligible Clay Shirky. He had many intellectually sound comments regarding the difference between institutions and collaboration in the first speech that I viewed. I particularly liked the way he referenced that institutions, albeit effective, stifle creativity. Now, this is a period of history where volunteer global collaboration has never been easier. This allows for like-minded individuals to collaborate effectively on their own terms, not in the "cookie-cutter" setting of the corporate world (YouTube musicians versus a record label). I find it very intriguing to think that with such a technological revolution on our hands, sole possession of ideas and services will gradually become less. As collaboration can now be done cheap and effectively, institutions are becoming more of an obstacle than a solution.
The other topic of conversation was how to reinforce effort. I believe the purpose of reinforcing a student's effort is to give a sense of accomplishment that can inspire productivity and self-worth. I can recall when I told one of my advanced math students that I thought she was mathematically gifted, and that she shouldn't shy away from math courses in college. This particular student may not have went on to major in mathematics, but I know that she's still in college, taking math classes beyond the minimal school requirement. I think my comment worked well because it let her know that she had potential, and as scary as the next level of academia may be, she could do it. I also can recall a time when a student in Algebra II simplified an "nth root" radical expression incorrectly, and I wasn't nearly as supportive as I could have been. Instead of reinforcing effort, I more or less referenced the fact that they should have done a better job of using their notes and textbook. I think this went poorly because instead of making the student feel welcome to come and ask questions, I made him feel like it was not okay, and that I was not supportive. I then spent weeks trying to earn back that particular students trust, and it certainly wasn't easy. Some technological ways to enhance reinforcing effort include GoogleDoc comments, positive emails, and spreadsheet documentation. The latter really peaks my interest, as our textbook explained how a teacher proved to his students that there is a correlation between effort and success. My question would be how to accurately implement this, and for what particular age groups?
Along similar lines, we were to watch several presentations by the very intelligible Clay Shirky. He had many intellectually sound comments regarding the difference between institutions and collaboration in the first speech that I viewed. I particularly liked the way he referenced that institutions, albeit effective, stifle creativity. Now, this is a period of history where volunteer global collaboration has never been easier. This allows for like-minded individuals to collaborate effectively on their own terms, not in the "cookie-cutter" setting of the corporate world (YouTube musicians versus a record label). I find it very intriguing to think that with such a technological revolution on our hands, sole possession of ideas and services will gradually become less. As collaboration can now be done cheap and effectively, institutions are becoming more of an obstacle than a solution.
The other topic of conversation was how to reinforce effort. I believe the purpose of reinforcing a student's effort is to give a sense of accomplishment that can inspire productivity and self-worth. I can recall when I told one of my advanced math students that I thought she was mathematically gifted, and that she shouldn't shy away from math courses in college. This particular student may not have went on to major in mathematics, but I know that she's still in college, taking math classes beyond the minimal school requirement. I think my comment worked well because it let her know that she had potential, and as scary as the next level of academia may be, she could do it. I also can recall a time when a student in Algebra II simplified an "nth root" radical expression incorrectly, and I wasn't nearly as supportive as I could have been. Instead of reinforcing effort, I more or less referenced the fact that they should have done a better job of using their notes and textbook. I think this went poorly because instead of making the student feel welcome to come and ask questions, I made him feel like it was not okay, and that I was not supportive. I then spent weeks trying to earn back that particular students trust, and it certainly wasn't easy. Some technological ways to enhance reinforcing effort include GoogleDoc comments, positive emails, and spreadsheet documentation. The latter really peaks my interest, as our textbook explained how a teacher proved to his students that there is a correlation between effort and success. My question would be how to accurately implement this, and for what particular age groups?
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