Dodge Academy Community Walk

Zoo Burst

Stacy's TIE 535 Blog (AUSL Summer 2011): ZOO BURST

TPACK Voice Thread

Critical Ways to Teach Math

These are the three instructional strategies that I will need to teach math:

1) Lecture

2) Guided Practice

3) Group Learning

UbD Stage One

Introduction to Geometer’s Sketchpad for Teachers

Summary of Curricular Context: This learning experience is for teachers across one district. It is a professional development meeting on learning more about Geometer’s Sketchpad and also on how to implement the program in their lessons for their students. Geometer’s Sketchpad is a computer program where you can create and manipulate different geometric problems to lead to understanding theories and proofs in geometry classes. The learners vary in experience from novice teachers to very experienced teachers therefore the technology knowledge vary within this group. I anticipate that almost all learners will not know how to use Geometer’s Sketchpad but they do know how to use basic computer functions, such as email, internet, etc. I also know that since most of them are learning this program for the first time, they will need to know how to use the program to implement it into a lesson. Another topic they will also learn is how to teach their students how to use the program so the technology is a success in the classroom.

Objectives for Lesson: The objective of this lesson is to have educators be able to use and implement Geometer’s Sketchpad in the classroom.

Lesson Goal: There are two goals in this presentation. The first goal is for teachers to be able to use and understand basic functions of Geometer’s Sketchpad. The second goal is for teachers to be able to design a lesson that incorporates Geometer’s Sketchpad to enhance the students learning of geometry.

Stage 1

Enduring Understandings

1. What is Geometer’s Sketchpad?
2. In what ways will Geometer’s Sketchpad enhance my students learning?

Essential Questions

1. When proving similar triangles, how can I use Geometer’s Sketchpad to enhance students learning?
2. How much time should be spent teaching my students how to learn Geometer’s Sketchpad?
3. How does teaching proofs on Geometer’s Sketchpad differ from teaching proofs through lectures?

Knowledge & Skills

Knowledge	Skills
*Know basic functions of Geometer’s Sketchpad *Know how to use Geometer’s Sketchpad to construct geometric figures *Know how to use Geometer’s Sketchpad to manipulate shapes so you can solve geometric proofs	*Know why technology can benefit students learning in math. *Know how to incorporate technology into the classroom in an efficient way *Know when it is appropriate to use technology to teach proofs in geometry

Price - Teacher Identity Video

Gagne Event Learning Experience

Gagne Event Learning Experience

Samantha Checchin

Gagne Event Learning Experience

Learning Experience: Creating a Tessellation

1. Gain Attention: I will grab the learners’ attention by showing a variety of pictures of tessellations. I will ask students to volunteer if they know what the pictures are called because many might know the pictures to be called tiling rather than tessellations. The difference is that tessellations are tilings that hold certain geometric properties. I will also ask my students if they have seen these types of tiling or tessellations and if so, where have they seen them before. My goal is that the discussion will lead into making the students aware that tessellations are seen in various parts of the world, specifically in buildings as artwork.

2. Establish Purpose: The purpose of this learning experience is to have students be able to connect geometric properties to tessellations that are seen through historical buildings and art.

3. Stimulate Recall of Prior Learning: Students will individually write what they know about rotation, translation, and transformation as it pertains to geometry. They will be able to show what they know by either writing a definition of creating a graph showing each property. I will then choose volunteers to share the definitions of each geometric property so the whole class has been refreshed on these terms.

4. Present Content: Once the definitions have been refreshed in the students’ minds, I will then introduce what exactly a tessellation is to the students. I will first go into the history of tessellations and important mathematicians that are related to tessellations. I then will show examples of tessellations in everyday life, such a honeycomb. While I am showing students the tessellations from history and in nature, I will also show the students how the geometric terms discussed earlier relate to the pictures. I will show them what it means when the tessellation is a rotational tessellation, a transitional tessellation, and if it is both.

5. Guided Learning: After reviewing and introducing the idea of tessellations, I will then transition into how to create a tessellation. Each student will have 2-3 sheets of paper, pencil, eraser, coloring supplies, scissors, and a protractor. I will demonstrate with the students how to begin creating their tessellations. I will go step by step with the students by being in the front of the room where the class can see me so I can show how to create a successful tile to start tessellating. I will walk through each step until everyone has a shape for their tessellation.

6. Elicit Performance: After each student has created a shape to tessellate with, I will allow them individual time to figure out how to tessellate the shape by using rotation and translation. They will each be given an 11x17 piece of paper that their tessellation needs to be created on. They also need to include at least 8 tessellations in their final project. When they have created their tessellation, they will then look at their shape and use their imagination to think of what the shape looks like. Then they will be able to draw and color the tessellation with their idea of the shape in mind. When they have created their tessellation, they must also explain if their tessellation is rotational or transitional and how they know which one it is.

7. Provide Feedback: While students are working on their tessellations, the teacher will be walking around the room helping students who are having the trouble with creating their tessellation.

8. Assess Performance: The students will be turning in their tessellations that will be graded on knowledge of which tessellation it is, participation (if they did it or not), and creativity.

9. Enhance Retention: The tessellations will be hung around the room once I have graded them. I will also refer back to their tessellations when rotation and transition terms enter our vocabulary again. I will also always point out any new tessellations we stumble across whether in nature, art, or in math books.

Rubric:

	3	2	1	0	Score
Mathematical Knowledge	Student knew what kind of tessellation and how they knew it	Student knew what kind of tessellation but did not explain how they knew it	Student did not provide the correct kind of tessellation and no explanation	The student did not complete this part of the assignment
Creativity and Number of tilings	Student worked above and beyond. Very colorful. Included at least 8 tessellations	Student work was colorful and creativity. Only included at least 6 tessellations	Student did average work and only included less than 6 tessellations	The student did not have a tessellation project to be graded for creativity
Completion & Participation	Student followed along with teacher demonstration and turned the project in on time	Student followed along during teacher presentation but turned project 1-3 days late	Student followed along during teacher presentation but turned in project more than 3 days late	Student did not participate in the demonstration in class and never turned in a tessellation project.
Total­­­­­­­______________

ADDIE VoiceThread

My First VoiceThread

Educational Philosophy

I believe that every student should have a fair and equal opportunity to learn as much as they can from my classroom. My role as an educator is to provide the best environment possible for the student to obtain as much information about my course and applications of the course. The best environment for my students would be one that the student feels comfortable and safe. My students should always feel that they can ask about and question the lesson until they truly understand it. I want my students to always feel confident in their learning whether it is the answers they give or the questions they ask. No student should ever feel timid to learn. I will set guidelines in my classroom about what I expect from my students when it comes to courtesy and respect. These guidelines will help students understand how to act in my classroom and how to show respect to peers to that each student feels safe and comfortable.

As an educator, I will always remember that not only am I teaching a classroom as a whole, but the classroom is made of individuals. For every student that I ever teach and reach out to, I will keep in mind that they are different then the next. My students are individuals and I will always be sensitive to this. Not only are they are individuals in the sense of their learning abilities, but I will also keep in mind the diversity in my classroom. Whether it is race, religion, ethnicity, home life, etc., I will treat each student with the respect they deserve and understand that their differences affect how they learn.

One big goal that I do have is to be creative with my students and to try to relate to my students. Creativity is so important in keeping students interested in a lesson in my opinion. I will try my best to think outside of the box and relate the lesson to outside the classroom. I feel the most effective teachers are ones that reach out to students both in and outside the classroom. Even the smallest relation to a student could make the biggest difference. Not only will I go out of my way to figure out how my students learn best, but I will also go out of my way to figure out what interests my students outside the classroom. I will do this by asking questions to my students, my colleagues, and those who live in the community.

Not only do I have a lot of goals inside the classroom with my students, but I also have goals outside my classroom with the community. I believe that every parent or guardian of a student of mine should feel comfortable coming to me and talking to me. I am more than willing to listen and cooperate and even compromise with the parents to make every one comfortable, especially my student. My relationship with my colleagues and administration is one where I will observe and try to learn a great deal from, especially in my early years as an educator. It is a relationship where I would love to learn from them as well as teach them things about myself. With the community, I will try to become involve whether it is helping with clubs and sports, or being seen in the community in a positive way, such as volunteering. I want to be an educator both inside and outside the classroom. I am looking forward to being a role model and have not only my students, but the whole community look up to me in a positive light.

First Day of Class 6-17-11

I am excited it is Friday :]