Math Lesson Playing

Hi everyone and welcome back!

This week in class, we had the opportunity to practice writing a script for a lesson plan we

http://slideplayer.com/slide/8943881/

recently created. The purpose of this task was to try and anticipate student responses and also create a scenario where we as the educator, would have to further assist students who may be struggling. Personally, I found this activity slightly difficult however very meaningful. While creating the script with my partner, one of our biggest challenges was trying to predict how students would react to the lesson content. As future educators, we will run into this problem in our own classrooms because we will never truly be able to predict how students will react in class. Will the students understand the material right away? Will only half the class get it? Will no one understand it? Students could be having an “off day,” they could be tired or they could be stressed and thus become disengaged and frustrated during the lesson. With this being said, it is extremely important as an educator to do your best to anticipate student’s responses. In doing so, you become prepared for when situations might get out of hand such as students arguing, not paying attention, or completely disrupting the class. This also goes hand in hand with the importance of teacher’s being adaptable and flexible during their teaching. Personally, I believe these qualities are crucial for any educator to be successful.

For our script, we chose one of the worksheets called Stack Them, from the “action” component of our lesson plan. The content within my partner’s and I script is based upon the drawing of the frames, completing of the table and the graph. We did our best to try and anticipate common student response's and possible mistakes. This experience really caused me to stop and reflect upon how difficult it truly is to try anticipate your student's behaviour. Ultimately, this was great practice for situations we will face in the future! 

Teacher: Today we will be talking about linear and non-linear relations. To begin, please take out the sheet titled “stack them.” I will be passing around drinking cups to help visualize the relationship between linear and non-linear relations. Can I have a volunteer draw the fourth frame on the smartboard?

Emily: (draws correct frame on the board)

Teacher: So why did Emily draw the frame with ten cups?

Kyle: She just added another row to the bottom.

Teacher: Well, that is correct, however, do you notice anything about the pattern of first differences?

Kyle: I guess the total number of cups is going up by the same as the cups on the bottom row.

Teacher: So what exactly is happening to the first differences?

Bobby: So the first differences are going up by one every time then.

Teacher: Thank you Bobby. Considering what we now know about the first differences, how many cups will be in the next frame?

Alice: Fifteen!

Teacher: Thank you Alice. We are now going to fill out the remainder of the chart. Can someone tell me how many cups will be added in the sixth and seventh frame?

Sarah: twenty-one and twenty-eight.

Ryan: No it’s twenty-one and twenty-seven.

Sarah (Shouting): Mrs.! He’s wrong. He’s so wrong. Shouldn't it be twenty-one and twenty-eight?

Ryan (shouting back at Sarah): no are you crazy, its twenty-one and twenty-seven.

Teacher: Ok, let’s not yell at each other. Ryan, why do you think the answer should be twenty-seven instead of twenty-eight.

Ryan: Because you added six to fifteen to get twenty-one so I added another six again.

Teacher: Ok, Sarah, why do you think the answer is twenty-eight?

Sarah: Well, the pattern of the first differences is increasing by one more cup each time that was added to the previous frame. So I added seven to twenty-one to give us twenty-eight.

Teacher: Sarah, that is correct. Does anyone have any questions about how we reached those answers? Now we are going to graph the data. Can anyone tell me what the x-axis should be?

Carol: Number of cups added.

Teacher: Close, but let’s think about this. What characteristics usually belong along the x-axis?

Rob: Something that changes over time?

Teacher: Yes. So Carol, is your answer going to change?

Carol: Yes. So it should be the frame number along the x-axis. And that means the y-axis is the number of cups added or total. 

Teacher: Can I have a volunteer come to the smartboard and plot the graph?

Ben: plots the graph (starting point is in the incorrect position- everything is shifted up)

Teacher: Close! Does anyone notice anything wrong with the points that have been plotted on the board?

Kyle: I think it started too high?

Teacher: Would you like to come fix it?

Kyle: Sure, so am I just moving the points down one value each?

Teacher: Would anyone else like to answer Kyle’s question? Do you think he is right or wrong?

Sarah: Yes, Kyle you just need to move it down one value each frame.

Teacher: Thank you Sarah

Thanks for reading! Until next time, 
Rachelle

Technology in the Classroom

“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

https://www.pinterest.com/vinka99/recuperar/

Technology is everywhere – it’s present in almost every aspect of a student’s life. So what does this mean for the education system? More specifically, what might this look like in a math classroom? Although I would consider myself “technology savvy” with everyday electronics, I will be the first to admit I still have lots to learn about the use of technology in the classroom. As I grow as a future educator, I am excited to expand my knowledge on the possibilities of technology in mathematics.

What are the benefits?

To begin, I think it’s extremely important that educators need to be mindful that regardless of the type of technology being implemented (i.e. phones, tablets, computers, etc.), the purpose of the activity should be intended to deepen and enhance the students learning process. As we discussed in class this week, the use of technology increases student engagement, presents math in a fun way and increases proficiency. The use of technology also gets students communicating with their peers about the math vocabulary, concepts, characteristics and so on that they are exploring within the activity. I believe that the use of technology is also extremely beneficial for reaching the different needs and preferred learning styles of every student, as it offers visual, tactile and auditory opportunities.

Desmos

This week in class, we had the opportunity to explore the math tool Desmos. Considering I am a new user of Desmos, I was extremely impressed with the many features the program has to offer. Our class participated in the activity Polygrpah, a “guess who” style type of game set up by our instructor. Using a series of questions, we were trying to guess our partner’s unknown parabola. An example of the activity can be seen in the picture above. I can definitely see myself using this activity in my classroom. This activity promotes problem solving skills and critical and creative thinking. The activity requires students to think about the math vocabulary and characteristics of graphs and parabolas. One of the less obvious benefits of using this type of activity is that it fosters friendly competition amongst students as they become determined to guess their partner’s parabola. I believe this style of game would work for a variety of math topics and could also serve as a great assessment tool, either diagnostic or formative. I know I really enjoyed the game and I can see it being a hit with students!

As shown by Amy Lin, Desmos allows the teacher too see exactly what questions are being asked by the students and their progress throughout the activity. This is extremely beneficial because the teacher can then identify students who may be struggling in certain areas (i.e. with the vocabulary of certain terms or the characteristics of graphs) and tailor their lesson to help students with these areas of difficulty. To conclude, our class this week really caused me to stop and reflect on how I can use technology in my future classrooms. As we live in the twenty-first century, a time driven by technology, it will be very important not to only implement technology, but to use it in a way that successfully enhances student’s knowledge and skills.

I’ll leave you with this short video which looks at how a teacher uses technology in his math classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlY-hafkOwM

Thanks for reading and have a good week,
Rachelle

For more on the benefits of technology in the classroom, go to Teachhub.com