The two indicators, from the National Technology Standards, that I need to improve upon are from the first standard "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity." They are "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources" and "promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning,and creative processes."
In order to improve on the first one, I will first need the knowledge of some real-world issues. According to the video “Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1,” knowledge is one of the four important requirements needed to enrich student learning with technology. I have knowledge of the technology I want to use, but I still need to work on the knowledge of real-world applications. In order to improve on this, I will pay close attention math forums and news in the mathematical world. This will provide issues that I can simplify for my students to work on. I will then ask my students to research these issues and use the skills that we learned in class to develop a solution. To monitor my progress, I will dedicate a time period at the beginning of the week to introducing the problem, and I will dedicate time at the end of the week to see my students progress on the problem. To evaluate my learning, I will look at the students work and determine if I providing enough exposure for the issue or if I need to provide more earlier on in the year until they become more independent in their work. To extend my learning, I will branch out from just mathematical forums and news and look for real world applications in other areas of study.
For the second indicator, I will ask students to make a power point presentation, near the end of the unit, that will summarize what they learn, and to express what they would still like to learn about or believe they need extra aid in. Because of the many topics we must cover in the year, I tend to neglect the importance of reflection. In order to monitor my progress, I will provide students with a questionnaire that will ask questions regarding their feelings toward the presentations. It will also ask whether the students feel they have enough opportunities to reflect and express their creativity in the classroom. To evaluate my learning, I will look at the questionnaires and see if my contributions are helping students or hurting their motivation. I will see what I need to improve to make the reflecting process a more enjoyable experience. For extending, I plan to research other ideas about reflecting on learned material in the classroom and how to facilitate those ideas, so the students may have variations and choices in their reflecting process.
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Have you ever used Drexel University's Math Forum? When I had really high students in elementary school, I would pay the fee and use this website. They had some great math projects and they also have college students monitor the progress of the students. One of the projects was the students had to plan a bike trip from CT to CA. They had to find the easiest route to take and map out how many miles a day to bike. The project to awhile. I also monitored their progress and had to teach them how to read and Atlas, but Drexel University students were wonderful.
ReplyDeleteErus,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I would also like to improve upon standard 1b. I think that you made a great point by saying that not only do you need to be knowledgeable with technology tools that you would like to use to enrich your lessons, but you also have to be aware of what is happening in the world around you. To be honest, I really didn't think about this. In order for my lessons to be truly authentic, I need students to apply their knowledge or gain knowledge from real-world issues. Many times, my students have a great passion for sports. I could use statistics from the World Cup, such as scores, countries and where they are located, stadium capacities, etc to create various math inquiries. I could even create a theme around this topic.
I also empathize with you about reflection. I rarely have my students reflect on their work or their process of learning. One thing that I have tried a few times are called Exit Slips. I give students a simple question or problem that they need to respond to in just a few minutes. They will hand it in and then this gives me a chance to see if they have mastered the concept that was taught in class. I guess I could use a similar idea for reflection. I could have the students tell me 1 thing they have learned, 1 question they still have, and what they liked or disliked about the lesson. The website below shows a similar concept. Although it is for elementary students, you could adapt this to older ones as well.
Meghan
http://cityteacher.wordpress.com/2007/05/06/student-reflection-ticket-out-the-door/
Sonia,
ReplyDeleteI have not checked that out yet. Are their problems for high school students? If so, I think that would be a great resource for my students. Coming up with real world problems is pretty tough, so thanks for pointing me in a good direction.
Meghan,
I like your idea/suggestion for the exit slips. I think that having the students state 1 thing they have learned and 1 thing they still have questions on is great because they will have to recall what they went through that class. I will definitely check out that website. Thanks.
Erus,
ReplyDeleteThere were problems for high school students, at least 5 years ago. Check it out, why reinvent the wheel? There are too many great resources out there?