I see math warm-ups as an interregnal part of the class. Students are coming in from different subjects and using different parts of the brain and the warm-up can be used to focus them into the mindset of math. It is no different than lifting weights when you switch from a chest lift to a back lift. You do a warm up set to get the body to realize it is going to have to use a new muscle group. I plan to use math warm-ups as a way to stress the importance of the previous days work along with future lessons. I feel making word problems that relate the previous days lesson to real life scenarios is a great way to get kids to buy into math along with getting them thinking about math in different contexts.
Warm-ups also allow students to know what to expect when they walk into the class. I am a strong believer in routine that is consistent and fair. Students know that when they come into class and the bell rings they need to be working on the warm up.
Warm-ups should be no longer than 5-7 minutes to do the problems and review the answers. The purpose of the warm-up is for review of material not a time for students to mess around. I believe constantly changing the style of the warm-up to keep students engaged is also important. For example having students work in pairs vs. individual can be one change. Another one could be passing out markers to students and those with the markers are assigned to do the problem on the board.
One thing I have noticed recently that has bothered me is that in Salem-Keizer the warm-ups are centered on review for the OAKS. The district seems to rely on the warms-up to teach/review the material that the class hasn’t covered yet that will be on the OAKS. This leads to warms up lasting much longer because instead of review it becomes a teaching session. Instead CMP should be structured around what the majority of the students are going to need to know in order to pass the math class. Last year one of my colleagues watched 1/3 of the 7th grade OAKS test be on volume but the teacher did not teach volume until the second to last week of school. The warm ups were the only time the students had seen volume the entire year.
I believe that warm-ups can be a great way to teach test taking strategy. Students can go through the warm-ups and mark which ones are easy, medium, and hard. Once they have identified the easy ones the students can attempt to do the easy ones, then the medium ones and then the hard ones. They can use this same strategy when they take the OAKS test instead of getting frustrated and losing precious time on the hard questions.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Appropriate Use of Technology
Category 2
The activity I selected is a 6-8th grade level activity that originated in the Apache culture.
In this lesson the author clearly labels and states the standards being met by the activity and the learning target of the lesson in student friendly writing. The author used NCTM standards.
Objectives:
Students will:
• Collect and display data regarding the moves in a game of Sticks and Stones
• Use probability to estimate the average number of turns needed to win a game
• Modify the rules to create a different game
Purpose of this game mathematically is for the student to take data of the different ways the Popsicle sticks can land and find the probability of each scenario happening.
How you play the game
• Set the rocks up in a circle in sets of 10.
• There should be 4 groups of 10 in the circle.
• Take the Popsicle sticks and decorate one side and leave the other side blank.
• After the sticks are decorated you are ready to play. Throw the sticks to see what you get (Ex: 2 decorated and 1 blank).
• Follow the rules on how to move based off what shows on the sticks.
Materials needed for this activity
• projector
• graph paper
• pencil
• Popsicle sticks
• Rocks.
The teacher can show the activity on the projector and demonstrate using the computerized sample to model the way the game is played.
In this lesson the students are given a warm up game to get a good handle of the rules. I am not sure if this warm up game is beneficial. I worry that a student might identify the answer during the warm up. It would be something I would have to watch the first time I taught it and modify if necessary.
Students will need math skills to successfully complete this task. They will have to be able to take data using hash marks, graph the data on a bar graph, and be able to divide to find probability.
The anticipatory set for this activity is explaining the game as an Apache pass time. Explaining the importance of the game to the apache and allowing them to decorate the sticks how ever they chose based of the story about the games history. I like how this anticipatory set is interdisciplinary and if this activity was taught in 8th grade students might have already studied North American Indians and have some prior knowledge with the Apache tribe.
The sequence of activities is it will be direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice; reflection on how the project went.
Formative assessment will be happening as the game is going on. I will watch to see how the students take the data, graph their data and move their game piece to see if they understand the separation of the rocks in groups of tens. The summative assessment will be when the student turn in their raw data, graphed data, and their percentages for each possible throw.
To close this lesson I feel it is important to explain again what was the purpose of the activity was (collect and display data based off the moves in the game, use probability to estimate the possible number of turns it would take to win the game, be able to modify the rules to create a different game) and some common errors/achievements on the project.
Adding or subtracting the amount of stones used in the game could modify this lesson. For example instead of having 4 sets of 10 stones you could make it 8 sets of 5 stones. You may also want to use a hundreds board instead of the circle board to help students practice their place value system.
When reflecting on this project I will look for how students understood the relationship between the experiment results that they collected and the theoretical probability of each outcome. I will also reflect on if the students were engaged in the activity? A big part that I will need to focus on is was the game a motivating mathematics activity or did it provide a distraction from the objectives that were to be learned? Sometimes mathematical games can turn into “fun time” instead of further developing understanding. Another questions I will ask myself are, “How could the game be modified to eliminate those distractions?” and “Did the students meet the objectives of the lesson? If not how can I change the lesson for the better?”
Some of the methods and teaching strategies I noticed were guided practice. The students watched as the teacher explained the activity and showed them a computerized example of how the game was played (modeled). The students were then asked to play the game and ask question anytime they did not understand (guided practice). This was a great strategies were the students were able to prove to the teacher they understood the rules and process of the game. The students then played the game and took data (independent). By doing a lesson like this the students have had seen the game 2-3 times before they play it and take official data. This allows them to feel comfortable with the game and focus more on the data collection than the rules.
When looking at this lesson plan I did not notice that the students were asked to critically think. It was a great lesson in the idea of students collecting data, manipulating the data on a graph, and then being able to explain that data in probability outcomes. It was very straightforward and the process was clear-cut where the teacher wanted the students to start and finish.
If I were teaching the lesson I would have set up timetables for myself to gage the amount of time spent at each area of the lesson so that the lesson flowed smoothly. I also noticed there was no literacy component to the lesson. I would also add a modification for students that got done early or this activity was too easy for. For example asking them bigger concept questions or adding more stones and sticks to see how the probabilities changed.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L585
The activity I selected is a 6-8th grade level activity that originated in the Apache culture.
In this lesson the author clearly labels and states the standards being met by the activity and the learning target of the lesson in student friendly writing. The author used NCTM standards.
Objectives:
Students will:
• Collect and display data regarding the moves in a game of Sticks and Stones
• Use probability to estimate the average number of turns needed to win a game
• Modify the rules to create a different game
Purpose of this game mathematically is for the student to take data of the different ways the Popsicle sticks can land and find the probability of each scenario happening.
How you play the game
• Set the rocks up in a circle in sets of 10.
• There should be 4 groups of 10 in the circle.
• Take the Popsicle sticks and decorate one side and leave the other side blank.
• After the sticks are decorated you are ready to play. Throw the sticks to see what you get (Ex: 2 decorated and 1 blank).
• Follow the rules on how to move based off what shows on the sticks.
Materials needed for this activity
• projector
• graph paper
• pencil
• Popsicle sticks
• Rocks.
The teacher can show the activity on the projector and demonstrate using the computerized sample to model the way the game is played.
In this lesson the students are given a warm up game to get a good handle of the rules. I am not sure if this warm up game is beneficial. I worry that a student might identify the answer during the warm up. It would be something I would have to watch the first time I taught it and modify if necessary.
Students will need math skills to successfully complete this task. They will have to be able to take data using hash marks, graph the data on a bar graph, and be able to divide to find probability.
The anticipatory set for this activity is explaining the game as an Apache pass time. Explaining the importance of the game to the apache and allowing them to decorate the sticks how ever they chose based of the story about the games history. I like how this anticipatory set is interdisciplinary and if this activity was taught in 8th grade students might have already studied North American Indians and have some prior knowledge with the Apache tribe.
The sequence of activities is it will be direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice; reflection on how the project went.
Formative assessment will be happening as the game is going on. I will watch to see how the students take the data, graph their data and move their game piece to see if they understand the separation of the rocks in groups of tens. The summative assessment will be when the student turn in their raw data, graphed data, and their percentages for each possible throw.
To close this lesson I feel it is important to explain again what was the purpose of the activity was (collect and display data based off the moves in the game, use probability to estimate the possible number of turns it would take to win the game, be able to modify the rules to create a different game) and some common errors/achievements on the project.
Adding or subtracting the amount of stones used in the game could modify this lesson. For example instead of having 4 sets of 10 stones you could make it 8 sets of 5 stones. You may also want to use a hundreds board instead of the circle board to help students practice their place value system.
When reflecting on this project I will look for how students understood the relationship between the experiment results that they collected and the theoretical probability of each outcome. I will also reflect on if the students were engaged in the activity? A big part that I will need to focus on is was the game a motivating mathematics activity or did it provide a distraction from the objectives that were to be learned? Sometimes mathematical games can turn into “fun time” instead of further developing understanding. Another questions I will ask myself are, “How could the game be modified to eliminate those distractions?” and “Did the students meet the objectives of the lesson? If not how can I change the lesson for the better?”
Some of the methods and teaching strategies I noticed were guided practice. The students watched as the teacher explained the activity and showed them a computerized example of how the game was played (modeled). The students were then asked to play the game and ask question anytime they did not understand (guided practice). This was a great strategies were the students were able to prove to the teacher they understood the rules and process of the game. The students then played the game and took data (independent). By doing a lesson like this the students have had seen the game 2-3 times before they play it and take official data. This allows them to feel comfortable with the game and focus more on the data collection than the rules.
When looking at this lesson plan I did not notice that the students were asked to critically think. It was a great lesson in the idea of students collecting data, manipulating the data on a graph, and then being able to explain that data in probability outcomes. It was very straightforward and the process was clear-cut where the teacher wanted the students to start and finish.
If I were teaching the lesson I would have set up timetables for myself to gage the amount of time spent at each area of the lesson so that the lesson flowed smoothly. I also noticed there was no literacy component to the lesson. I would also add a modification for students that got done early or this activity was too easy for. For example asking them bigger concept questions or adding more stones and sticks to see how the probabilities changed.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L585
Standards, Standards Everywhere
When looking at the 3 different standards websites it was quite daunting to start because each set of standards had a different language for the same concept. As I was able to familiarize myself with the sites I started to see similarities. I noticed patterns and themes about what they were expecting students to know. My partner and I looked at data analysis and probability. Both sites focus on the concept of students being able to use data from one or two different categories and describing the similarities and differences of the data by graphing. The students were then expected to demonstrate how this data could be shown in different graphing styles. I really like how these standards focus on real world application and future skills needed for employment in many different professions.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Best Practices Research
Best Practices in Education
Homework
How much homework is too much homework? The National PTA recommends 10-20 minutes for 1st grade and 10 minutes for each additional grade. That means by the time you are in 12th grade you should be doing 120 minutes or 2 hours of homework a night. I believe homework is key to becoming proficient in a subject. The more you practice and the more you see concepts or ideas the better chance you have of remembering it or being able to reflect on what you are seeing daily. This subject is important to me because as a future Math teacher homework is one of my biggest assessments of how I teach to what my students understand. It is an easy way to assess what was not stated clearly the day before in class. I feel the National PTA is pretty close on the times. If you figure that a student has 6 classes then they are spending about 20min per class on homework. I would expect to see about 30 minutes per class to be right on. While this standards seems reasonable the real question becomes how to get one’s students to turn in the homework but that question is for a later day and time.
http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm
Peer Tutoring
Peer tutoring can benefit both students involved. Peer tutoring has been proven to help not only the student being taught the information but the student teaching the information. Peer tutoring shows its best gains when the students are from different levels of proficiency. This will play a huge role in my classroom because whether I am teaching Math or Special Education peer tutoring is a great tool for building social skills, motivation, academic achievement, and improved relationships with peers. I believe all four of these benefits are vital for students to learn in school and are easily translatable as essential skills in the workplace. This type of group work works really well in math class because students who may be struggling get to hear and see math from a different perspective than his/her teacher. Also the students teaching gain a better understanding because they have to explain in words what each step is and the reason for that step.
http://www.nea.org/tools/35542.htm
Best Practices in Instruction
Clear Objectives and Timely Feedback
I believe setting objectives and feedback is vital to student’s education at any level. Being able to set clear reachable objectives can make or break a lesson. I like to take it a step further and ensure that the objectives are in student friendly language and have students explore relevance (i.e., real world application). For example when working on algebra you give specific goals and objectives for them to complete the problems and then ask the question “how do you use algebra in your life?” You will get 30 different perspectives of how this style of math is related to everyday situations. The second part of this best practice is feedback. Giving students feedback in a timely manner is more important than just giving feedback. The sooner you can give your students comments on how they did and how they can fix it the sooner you will see progress. All students want to know their results on assignments. As a teacher giving timely feedback will help me quickly understand where there are misunderstandings that I need to address.
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html
Non-linguistic representations (i.e., Visuals/Manipulatives)
Non-linguistic representations can help student’s access information through their visual and auditory sensors. Giving your students 2 ways to understand things will activate their brains and allow the students’ brains to process the information quickly and efficiently through stimulation. The reason why I believe this technique in instruction to be important is because I work with students who need a visual support for all verbal directions. Not only have I noticed those students academics improve when implementing the visual cues but other students have shown more growth also. Pictures are a universal language where words can be jumbled up and misunderstood. Not only that but pictures re-enforce the verbal directions or cues. In math getting my students out of their seats and have them move from one side of the room to the other to represent each side of an equation will help them not only see mathematically what needs to happen by why the process is used.
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html
Homework
How much homework is too much homework? The National PTA recommends 10-20 minutes for 1st grade and 10 minutes for each additional grade. That means by the time you are in 12th grade you should be doing 120 minutes or 2 hours of homework a night. I believe homework is key to becoming proficient in a subject. The more you practice and the more you see concepts or ideas the better chance you have of remembering it or being able to reflect on what you are seeing daily. This subject is important to me because as a future Math teacher homework is one of my biggest assessments of how I teach to what my students understand. It is an easy way to assess what was not stated clearly the day before in class. I feel the National PTA is pretty close on the times. If you figure that a student has 6 classes then they are spending about 20min per class on homework. I would expect to see about 30 minutes per class to be right on. While this standards seems reasonable the real question becomes how to get one’s students to turn in the homework but that question is for a later day and time.
http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm
Peer Tutoring
Peer tutoring can benefit both students involved. Peer tutoring has been proven to help not only the student being taught the information but the student teaching the information. Peer tutoring shows its best gains when the students are from different levels of proficiency. This will play a huge role in my classroom because whether I am teaching Math or Special Education peer tutoring is a great tool for building social skills, motivation, academic achievement, and improved relationships with peers. I believe all four of these benefits are vital for students to learn in school and are easily translatable as essential skills in the workplace. This type of group work works really well in math class because students who may be struggling get to hear and see math from a different perspective than his/her teacher. Also the students teaching gain a better understanding because they have to explain in words what each step is and the reason for that step.
http://www.nea.org/tools/35542.htm
Best Practices in Instruction
Clear Objectives and Timely Feedback
I believe setting objectives and feedback is vital to student’s education at any level. Being able to set clear reachable objectives can make or break a lesson. I like to take it a step further and ensure that the objectives are in student friendly language and have students explore relevance (i.e., real world application). For example when working on algebra you give specific goals and objectives for them to complete the problems and then ask the question “how do you use algebra in your life?” You will get 30 different perspectives of how this style of math is related to everyday situations. The second part of this best practice is feedback. Giving students feedback in a timely manner is more important than just giving feedback. The sooner you can give your students comments on how they did and how they can fix it the sooner you will see progress. All students want to know their results on assignments. As a teacher giving timely feedback will help me quickly understand where there are misunderstandings that I need to address.
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html
Non-linguistic representations (i.e., Visuals/Manipulatives)
Non-linguistic representations can help student’s access information through their visual and auditory sensors. Giving your students 2 ways to understand things will activate their brains and allow the students’ brains to process the information quickly and efficiently through stimulation. The reason why I believe this technique in instruction to be important is because I work with students who need a visual support for all verbal directions. Not only have I noticed those students academics improve when implementing the visual cues but other students have shown more growth also. Pictures are a universal language where words can be jumbled up and misunderstood. Not only that but pictures re-enforce the verbal directions or cues. In math getting my students out of their seats and have them move from one side of the room to the other to represent each side of an equation will help them not only see mathematically what needs to happen by why the process is used.
http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
About ME
Some of my hobbies/interests are football football and more football. I have the pleasure of spending 7 hours a day in a dark film room or on the practice field studying and coaching the game. The thrill you get when you have schemed up a team so well that no matter what they do they have no chance of winning is amazing. Some of my other hobbies/interests are traveling, exploring national parks, camping and reading. Some of my most recent adventures were at Yellow Stone National Park and Glacier Nation Park.
9.8 mile round trip hike to Ice Berg Lake
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