Technology

After last Monday's class I went to my principal and asked for a Smart Board. Unfortunatly the school is not going to buy anymore, but they did give me an eIntruction Interwrite Mobi to play with. If anyone has seen one of these or knows anything about them please let me know. It looks pretty cool I just do not know how to work it yet.

Lesson

     A lesson that I have recently done with my Algebra classes does not deal with Geometry, but it did use Geometer's Sketchpad.  We are working with Quadratic Functions and right after the students learned how to graph them I took them to the computer lab and they used Geometer's Sketchpad to look at the graphs of quadratic functions.  They graphed five or six graphs on the same graph and looked to see what the a, b, and c-values of the equation had on the graph.  They were able to determine that the a-value told them if the graph opened up or down and also how wide the parabola was. The b-value told them if the graph was shifted left or right. Finally the c-value told them where the graph crosses the y-axis.  When we were finished my students were able to print off their graphs and put them in their binder. 

Monday 3-16 Class

I enjoyed measuring the height of the lamp and the Bell Tower. I have had my Algebra students do this activity before (when we were talking about proportions) and they really enjoyed it. Though I have never seen it done using a mirror or the protractor device. :)

Understanding Measurement

I read chapter 6: Understanding Children's Understanding of Linear Measurement to Inform Instruction. I thought it was a good article, it reinforced the idea of letting students figure things out on their own.  I liked how they approached 1/2 of a unit by looking at how old the children were. Some of the students were looking at something that was 4 1/2 units long as 5 1/2 units because 5 units were used, but the item only measured 1/2 the last unit. By looking at how old they are the students were able to understand that if they are 6 1/2 then they have not reached 7 yet. 

Spring Break Update..

We have made plans to go to Chicago for part of Spring Break (Mar 23-27) YIPPPPEEEE

Facebook....Masters Project?????

As my husband and I were eating lunch we began talking about Facebook and becoming friends with current students. We both agreed that it would not be professional to mix my personal life with my professional life (I really do not want my students to see the comments or pictures I post on my page or my friends pages). But this got me to thinking what if I could make a "Professional" page that my students could become "friends" with, what would be the advantage? What if I used Facebook just like our class is using Blogspot?? Many cell phones have Facebook applications so students can access Facebook with the push of a button and many students already actively use Facebook. 

The more we talked the more I got the idea to make a "Mrs. Olson's Algebra Class Fanpage" This fanpage would be very similar to the blogs we currently do. They could check daily for information, homework assignments, and reminders. They would also be able to post questions for homework that myself (or a classmate) could answer. I could also attach links to websites that would allow students to do graphing activities or even to the book website that would give them extra practice problems.

My question to those of you that follow my blog is "What do you think? Is this a good idea? Should I talk to my administration before a put it together? Are my students going to want to participate? HELP" (OH yea, could it be part of my Master's Project?)

Making Posters

   A few weeks ago I put my Algebra students in groups and gave them four problems to solve. This past Friday I picked one of the problems and their group had to make a poster. On the poster they had to put the original way they solved the problem, they then had to solve it by putting the problem into equations and make a graph. I continue to be impressed by the work they put into the posters. I feel they like the projects and are learning something (although some work harder than others). If you have never done this with your students I would encourage you to try it once.

Masters Project

   For my Master's Project I am planning on creating lesson plans for Algebra, or Pre-Algebra, that incorporate Geometer's Sketchpad. I want this project to be something that I can use in the years to come. Geometer's Sketchpad is downloaded on all the computers at school.

Salvit Article

As I was reading this article I thought he was doing this activity with middle school students, missed the part where he said it could be adapted for middle school and he was doing this investigation with college students. As I was reading I was thinking "Wow, these kids are coming up with some good reasoning and discussions" Now that I know it was college kids, it makes sense. In my experience, if I were to give this to my kids they would just sit there and say "I don't get it." It is much easier to do activities like these if the students are willing to paticipate and throw ideas out there.

This article went back to the previous article we had read about letting students figure things out for themselves. I do agree with the notion that if students figure out defitions or concepts on their own they will be more likely to remember them. It also helps if a "real-world" application is also presented so they can see the use. 

Overall, I did like the article and if I taught Geometry I would be willing to use it in class and see if I got the same responses he did.

Spring Break

My spring break is also March 23-27. At this time I do not have plans to go anywhere, but that could change.

I am interested in learning more about......

How I could incorporate Geometry into Algebra

Master's Project

I am not sure what I want to do for my Master's project. Between Logo and Geometer's Sketchpad I like Geometer's Sketchpad better and think it would be more useful to me. I like the idea of taking pictues and putting lines on them. Since I teach Algebra my students would find it useful to look at equations of lines and slopes. 

Though I like this idea, I would like to do something a little more original. I also want to do something that I can use in the classroom later on.

Success!!!

Yesterday (Friday) I had my Algebra students work on a problem solving question and they actually came to the conclusion they were supposed to! We are getting into Systems of Equations and the first step is to solve by graphing. I gave them a question where a person had to choose between two health clubs based on their monthly rate and price per visit, the students had to figure out which club was cheaper.  All of the groups were able to successfully graph both lines and come to the conclusion that it depended on how many times she went. At 4 visits the price was the same, less than 4 one club was cheaper, and more than 4 the other club was cheaper.  Each group had to make a poster of their answer. The poster had to have the x,y chart for both lines, the graph of the lines, and the answer to the problem. I was very impressed with the work they did.

Now, I have to confess that I did get them started before I let them loose on their own.  I did tell them that the easiest way to go about this was making an x,y chart and start at 0. They did fill in the values and graph them on thier own. 

Making Students Think for Themselves.....Ummm

I just read Mark Pinkerton's last post and I totally agree with him. If students come up with idea's and conclusions on their own they are much more likely to remember them and be able to explain those concepts or defitions to someone else. I have been trying this concept more and more in my Algebra classes, the only problem is my students do not want to figure things out on their own, they just want me to tell them what do to (are mine the only ones like this?). If I give them a word problem they come straight to me and say "I don't get it", lately I have been giving them a worksheet where the answers are listed and if done correctly the answers will spell an answer to a riddle. Do my students use this information in order to try to figure out how to work out the problem......NO. They anwer the riddle, which in turn gives them the answer to the problems, and then claim they are finished. Keep in mind that they do not get any credit for doing this, they must show work to get credit. 

I do not want to make it sound like all of my students do this, there are some who do figure concepts out on their own and they are the students who end up doing will on the Test and Quizzes.

Technology

I think technology is very important when teaching children math. There are so many programs out there that will graph lines and measure angles so the students can see similarities quickly without having to graph them all by hand. I just finished working out two of the lessons in Geometer's Sketchpad that I think will benifit many of my students. These lessons allowed students to manipulate lines and look at (and compare) slopes. I am not sure if Geometer's Sketchpad is downloaded on the computers at Wes-Del or not, I am hoping they are. This is the first time I have worked with the program and am so far pleased with what I have seen. Currently I am using a program called "Green Globs" that allows student to graph lines but not move them around or compare slopes.

As far as the other program we are using in MATHS 641, Logo Works, I have not been as impressed. I am not sure how this program will help students understand Geometry. I am hoping that by the end of the semester it will be clear and I will want to use the program more.

Amy

Vocabulary in Geoemetry

Vocabulary in Geometry is very important. When kids are little is is very easy to call everything that is round a circle, or with four sides a square (or diamond). As adults, especially as educations, we should use the correct terms (parallelogram, trapazoid, rhombus, ect) even if the words are lost on kids then it will help them as they get older. I am amazed how many High School students still do not know what a trapezoid is or why a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square.  

Using the correct vocabulary is not just important in Geometry but in other math subjects as well. I try very hard to use the defition of words every time we do something. For example, when we are graphing Linear Equations in Slope-intercept form I am very careful to not only go over the equation (y = mx + b) each time, but also what each letter stands for. Not only do we discuss that a Linear Equation means the graph will be a line, but also that m is for Slope (rise over run) and b is the y-intercept (where the line crosses the y-axis).

Amy