Revised Game Plan
As I prepare my classes for the linear programming project I have found myself faced with the reality that only 47% of my students are proficient in the necessary skills. Our department recently gave a skills assessment for data collection and we are now in the process of implementing strategies that will enable the remaining 53% to learn the skills needed to complete the project.
As part of my game plan I am having students research websites and on-line tutorials that will aid them in understanding how to graph systems of inequalities and obtain the feasible region. There assignment is to report the key search terms they used to find the sites and the url's they found useful. On Monday they will be sharing there information with the class and demonstrating the knowldege they gained through this action plan. I can then monitor the usefulness of this intervention.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Monitoring My Game Plan
My game plan has been coming along slowly. I have implemented technology as a strategy to aid students to seek information on their own. Using their journals they are required to find tutorials or online self-help sites that will help them correct their errors on the last assessment. They are then going to write the URL’s in their journals with the corrected problems and a brief summary of how they learned to correct their mistakes.
Keeping with the original lesson, which was to create a system of inequalities based on each students daily recommended allotment of calories, fat, carbs, and protein, we are seeking information on these nutritional values for the items served for lunch in our cafe. Some students were successful in finding the information on-line, one students brought a nutrition book into class. I have to say that the discussions have been very interesting. They are debating how much of each category one should have and now recognize the varying degrees based on each student’s weight, activity level, whether they are interested in losing or maintaining weight. I would love to work with the nutrition class on this activity.
I have modified the action plan many times since its origination. I am hoping that my modification will allow for each student to make their graphs and lunch choices personal and unique to themselves. I am also hoping they will proudly share their work and be able to use this information in their lives.
I have learned through this experience, is that allowing students the freedom to create individual projects may not have been so difficult after all. The entire class is doing a linear programming problem, using Internet resources, text, graphing calculators, graph paper, etc. They are allowed to choose technology over paper as discussed in our learning video and the choice does not force them in any given direction.
The BIG question is ……. Will this lesson work out in the end. What pitfalls am I not anticipating. Will the lunch nutrition data work with their feasible regions? I hope it will. I have decided to tell my class that this is the first time doing this type of performance based assignment and we are to focus on the process and the mathematical concepts involved. Perhaps it will not work out and then the student will be accountable to explain why this is so.
Love to hear your suggestions because this is making me a tad nervous…
Elizabeth
Keeping with the original lesson, which was to create a system of inequalities based on each students daily recommended allotment of calories, fat, carbs, and protein, we are seeking information on these nutritional values for the items served for lunch in our cafe. Some students were successful in finding the information on-line, one students brought a nutrition book into class. I have to say that the discussions have been very interesting. They are debating how much of each category one should have and now recognize the varying degrees based on each student’s weight, activity level, whether they are interested in losing or maintaining weight. I would love to work with the nutrition class on this activity.
I have modified the action plan many times since its origination. I am hoping that my modification will allow for each student to make their graphs and lunch choices personal and unique to themselves. I am also hoping they will proudly share their work and be able to use this information in their lives.
I have learned through this experience, is that allowing students the freedom to create individual projects may not have been so difficult after all. The entire class is doing a linear programming problem, using Internet resources, text, graphing calculators, graph paper, etc. They are allowed to choose technology over paper as discussed in our learning video and the choice does not force them in any given direction.
The BIG question is ……. Will this lesson work out in the end. What pitfalls am I not anticipating. Will the lunch nutrition data work with their feasible regions? I hope it will. I have decided to tell my class that this is the first time doing this type of performance based assignment and we are to focus on the process and the mathematical concepts involved. Perhaps it will not work out and then the student will be accountable to explain why this is so.
Love to hear your suggestions because this is making me a tad nervous…
Elizabeth
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
NETS GAME Plan
"Creative thinkers generate a variety of original ideas then select the besty one by analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating the various options available" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 51). Creating independent learners and thinkers is our main goal as educators even more so now then ever before. We are preparing our students for an unknown workforce, therefore our students need to be effective and adaptable problem solvers. With this focus in mind I am focusing my teaching on the NETS-T2 Design and Develop Digital_Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. I want my classroom to model the real-world through authentic learning experiences and in order to do so, I must also have the ability to assess my students using similiar methods.
My GAME plan is to incorporate new familiar technologies for my students to utilize in ways in which they can relate what they are learning to their personal interests and add their own creative experience. Currently our department is working on a project based assignment in which students will share two healthy snacks which must meet certain criteria and they must also minimize the cost. This would be authentic as our nation needs to work toward developing healthier eating habits and money is always an issue. Students will research nutrional information by visiting websites and evaluating the reliability of the sites they chose. Students goals will be to find out more about the nutrition for their favorite two snacks. In order to achieve this goal they must plan a way to get the desired information ( the internet, food packaging, etc.) They must then monitor there strategy based on their ability to locate the desired information in order to evaluate the criteria. It is my hope that students will then be able to extend this knowledge to create helathy alternatives and healthy meals that meet required health guidelines. I believe students will demonstrate creativity in chosing snacks that will allow them to eat healthy and for reasonable cost. I would love to extend this lesson to have students assess our cafeteria food, research the nutrional contents and share the healthiest choices available.
Elizabeth’s response
I have been teaching AP statistics for the past three years. I have taught the same lesson on least squares regression line (line of best fit) each year in the same way. I explain the literal meaning of least square regression and how the equation is calculated. Some of my students understand the explanation and others look at me like deer in headlights. I showed them visually how this is done using a small example and drawing the squares and calculating the area. I managed to reach a few more students. I recently researched a math applet on line that allows students to use the internet, create a spread sheet of the data, and using a moveable line that shows the squares superimposed they could manipulate the line to adjust it to the best fit. (Smallest sum of the squared area) Technology improved their understanding of the concept and their overall appreciation of the graphing calculator that will do this work for them. As stated in our learning video, teachers must not try to fit technology into the classroom for the sake of using it, it must make the lesson meaningful and it must be used as a tool to benefit understanding (Laureate, 2009).
Technology coupled with my original lesson helped to turn on the lights for my students in this case. It is more important to try to teach the curriculum through student’s interest. I find myself struggling with the curriculum in the sense that I have difficulty relating it to their interests. Why is this important to them? How will they use this in their future careers when we are not sure what future careers will be out there in this ever changing economic climate. “The reality is that students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008). I would like them to use their smart phones to gather data from the internet if a teachable moment should arise that calls for this. It is against our policy.
I Plan to incorporate technology into my systems of inequalities lesson to gain interest and understanding. I was thinking of using the internet as a tool for tutoring ( Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009), calculators for quicker graphing, and a math applet to demonstrate how cost lines and feasible regions are related and prove solutions to maximize and minimize costs/profit.
Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
My GAME plan is to incorporate new familiar technologies for my students to utilize in ways in which they can relate what they are learning to their personal interests and add their own creative experience. Currently our department is working on a project based assignment in which students will share two healthy snacks which must meet certain criteria and they must also minimize the cost. This would be authentic as our nation needs to work toward developing healthier eating habits and money is always an issue. Students will research nutrional information by visiting websites and evaluating the reliability of the sites they chose. Students goals will be to find out more about the nutrition for their favorite two snacks. In order to achieve this goal they must plan a way to get the desired information ( the internet, food packaging, etc.) They must then monitor there strategy based on their ability to locate the desired information in order to evaluate the criteria. It is my hope that students will then be able to extend this knowledge to create helathy alternatives and healthy meals that meet required health guidelines. I believe students will demonstrate creativity in chosing snacks that will allow them to eat healthy and for reasonable cost. I would love to extend this lesson to have students assess our cafeteria food, research the nutrional contents and share the healthiest choices available.
Elizabeth’s response
I have been teaching AP statistics for the past three years. I have taught the same lesson on least squares regression line (line of best fit) each year in the same way. I explain the literal meaning of least square regression and how the equation is calculated. Some of my students understand the explanation and others look at me like deer in headlights. I showed them visually how this is done using a small example and drawing the squares and calculating the area. I managed to reach a few more students. I recently researched a math applet on line that allows students to use the internet, create a spread sheet of the data, and using a moveable line that shows the squares superimposed they could manipulate the line to adjust it to the best fit. (Smallest sum of the squared area) Technology improved their understanding of the concept and their overall appreciation of the graphing calculator that will do this work for them. As stated in our learning video, teachers must not try to fit technology into the classroom for the sake of using it, it must make the lesson meaningful and it must be used as a tool to benefit understanding (Laureate, 2009).
Technology coupled with my original lesson helped to turn on the lights for my students in this case. It is more important to try to teach the curriculum through student’s interest. I find myself struggling with the curriculum in the sense that I have difficulty relating it to their interests. Why is this important to them? How will they use this in their future careers when we are not sure what future careers will be out there in this ever changing economic climate. “The reality is that students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008). I would like them to use their smart phones to gather data from the internet if a teachable moment should arise that calls for this. It is against our policy.
I Plan to incorporate technology into my systems of inequalities lesson to gain interest and understanding. I was thinking of using the internet as a tool for tutoring ( Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009), calculators for quicker graphing, and a math applet to demonstrate how cost lines and feasible regions are related and prove solutions to maximize and minimize costs/profit.
Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
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