Thank you again Mr. Webb for creating this activity and sharing with us!
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| Winners eating their cupcakes:) |
Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edtech. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2015
Solving Equations Scavenger Hunt - Thanks Mr. Webb
It is great to have fellow algebra teachers that share their fun activities! Mr. Webb is another algebra teacher at Etowah High School and he made a scavenger hunt using QR codes in which the students had to solve equations in order to find the missing digits in the next room number. He bought cupcakes for the winners and we also awarded bonus points to the top 2 teams (everyone got a grade for participating). So during 5th period today we combined our classes and created random teams of students. Each team got a paper with a QR code that gave them an equation to solve in order to get the next room number. They ran all over the school!
They had to get the room numbers in the correct sequence to win so they often returned to my checkpoint a little frustrated...
They do eventually get the hang of it though and they seemed to have alot of fun too! This was a great way to spend the last class of the day on the Friday before Spring Break! (And I got to eat a cupcake too!!)
Thursday, March 19, 2015
IMP Alice Days 9-10 - Continuing the Pattern and A Half Ounce of Cake
The last 2 days we finished some discussion of Having Your Cake and Drinking Too and then moved forward. Continuing the Pattern develops the rule for negative exponents and A Half Ounce of Cake starts the development of fractional powers.
Today I handed back the worksheets I left for them to do on Tuesday. The worksheets were an exploration on exponents. I gave them feedback on the ones they missed and told them to make corrections. I started class with a warm up which reviewed the rules which will be quizzed tomorrow. I had each group project their answers using the Ipads. (Airplay allows up to 10 to be projected simultaneously.) I went over each problem by having students to defend their answers. It was great. I have really been enjoying the Ipads!
Some students used expansion...some used the rules...and some used the Alice context... fun stuff!
Today I handed back the worksheets I left for them to do on Tuesday. The worksheets were an exploration on exponents. I gave them feedback on the ones they missed and told them to make corrections. I started class with a warm up which reviewed the rules which will be quizzed tomorrow. I had each group project their answers using the Ipads. (Airplay allows up to 10 to be projected simultaneously.) I went over each problem by having students to defend their answers. It was great. I have really been enjoying the Ipads!
Some students used expansion...some used the rules...and some used the Alice context... fun stuff!
Friday, March 13, 2015
IMP Alice Days 6-7 - Piece After Piece, Many Meals for Alice, and In Search of the Law
For Many Meals for Alice and In Search of the Law I really put my Ipads to use. I am learning better ways to implement using the Ipads. I gave each group a few minutes to brainstorm on each problem and then told them that at the end of the allotted time they had to put SOMETHING on the Ipad (using the Educreations app). The Airserver app allows you to project up to 10 Ipads at a time so I have an Ipad in each group (sometimes more). I had told my students that if you have an Ipad you HAVE to be mirroring the screen. I can see all the screens on my computer. This has been a tremendous help for keeping my students from using the Ipads for purposes other than the math! When I turn on my projector where the students can see everyone else's work it is interesting. I am still amazed how my students will approach problems so differently when I don't stand at the board and show them an example of what to do (which causes them to all try to do it my way). We have an easy way to compare and critique the work without it being totally obvious whose group it came from. Then they are able to edit their work when it is needed. Formative assessment on the fly!!
The context given in All About Alice provides such a neat alternative to simply just giving the students the rules of exponents. Piece after Piece establishes the rule for multiplying powers with the same base. Some of my students wanted to ADD 2^3 and 2^5 so to help them I told them to remember that we are always looking at what we are MULTIPLYING Alice's height by. I am interested to see how other IMP teachers handle this...
Many Meals for Alice establishes the rule for raising a power to a power. The original power is for the number of ounces of cake she eats at each meal - #1 is 3 ounces of base 2 cake so it is actually 2^3. Then the students figure out what is happening to her height after certain numbers of meals. In the end they have hopefully developed the idea that (2^3)^4 means that Alice ate 4 meals where she had 3 ounces of base 2 cake. It takes a few times of looking at it to start making the connection. I LOVE #3.
In Search of the Law actually has the students to explore exponent rules that I have not usually put much thought into. It took me a minute or two of exploring myself - I actually had to tell my students to start working on #1 while I went to read the teacher's guide! When I glanced over the activity the day before I taught it I didn't realize it was going to throw me a curve. Anyway...this activity is actually not difficult AT ALL. It gives the students several scenarios to just work with exponents.
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| I had a student volunteer to "teach" - she was great! |
The context given in All About Alice provides such a neat alternative to simply just giving the students the rules of exponents. Piece after Piece establishes the rule for multiplying powers with the same base. Some of my students wanted to ADD 2^3 and 2^5 so to help them I told them to remember that we are always looking at what we are MULTIPLYING Alice's height by. I am interested to see how other IMP teachers handle this...
Many Meals for Alice establishes the rule for raising a power to a power. The original power is for the number of ounces of cake she eats at each meal - #1 is 3 ounces of base 2 cake so it is actually 2^3. Then the students figure out what is happening to her height after certain numbers of meals. In the end they have hopefully developed the idea that (2^3)^4 means that Alice ate 4 meals where she had 3 ounces of base 2 cake. It takes a few times of looking at it to start making the connection. I LOVE #3.
In Search of the Law actually has the students to explore exponent rules that I have not usually put much thought into. It took me a minute or two of exploring myself - I actually had to tell my students to start working on #1 while I went to read the teacher's guide! When I glanced over the activity the day before I taught it I didn't realize it was going to throw me a curve. Anyway...this activity is actually not difficult AT ALL. It gives the students several scenarios to just work with exponents.
Friday, February 20, 2015
IMP Cookies - Solving Systems of Equations (Only One Variable and The Classic Way to Get the Point)
I love the way the Cookies unit starts with solving systems of inequalities and then works into solving systems of equations. In the Cookies and Inequalities portion of the unit the students are introduced to "real-world" problems where systems of inequalities can be used for solving them. The students practice writing constraints and then graphing the inequalities that go with them. In the real world problems often have more than one possible answer - much like is true of the feasible regions you get when graphing systems of inequalities.
Then, as you try to solve the Cookies unit problem or other problems in the unit involving minimums and maximums you discover that you need to find the "corners" where the lines intersect. We had our students just estimate using their graphs in order to find the points of intersection. However, it is neat to be able to introduce the topic of solving systems of equations by talking about how we really need to be more precise when we find the "corners" of the graph. For a couple of days this week our classes worked on an additional activity that helped them to explore the elimination method.
Today I first had my students do the Only One Variable activity. We had alot of fun with it because we integrated some technology too. Each group had an Ipad and they were projecting their screens using air server/airplay. I gave the group 3 minutes to work on the problem and then after the time was up they had to put something on their screen (they were using the Educreations app). It is so cool to be able to see several samples of student work on the board at the same time. We can critique the work without the class knowing whose work it is. We are able to celebrate different approaches for solving the problem. Also, we are able to talk about common mistakes. They love when they are working on a problem and I point out their work. I can say, "Hey, this person is really moving in the right direction."
Next we worked on The Classic Way to Get the Point which introduces the substitution method. Mrs. New and I had looked through the rest of this unit and we saw so many activities that give the students the opportunity to practice solving systems again and again. I used to teach these two methods of solving systems of equations separately. Then after covering each method I gave them some "mixed practice" where they had to choose the method to use. However, I now like the idea of giving them some time to practice a few of each type and then let them decide which method to use as we go. The ACT and other tests are not going to tell them which method to use so they need to learn how to choose which method works better for each type of problem. There are several activities in this portion of the Cookies unit that give them a few more systems of equations to practice solving so hopefully by the time we revisit the topic several times my students will retain the information.
Then, as you try to solve the Cookies unit problem or other problems in the unit involving minimums and maximums you discover that you need to find the "corners" where the lines intersect. We had our students just estimate using their graphs in order to find the points of intersection. However, it is neat to be able to introduce the topic of solving systems of equations by talking about how we really need to be more precise when we find the "corners" of the graph. For a couple of days this week our classes worked on an additional activity that helped them to explore the elimination method.
Today I first had my students do the Only One Variable activity. We had alot of fun with it because we integrated some technology too. Each group had an Ipad and they were projecting their screens using air server/airplay. I gave the group 3 minutes to work on the problem and then after the time was up they had to put something on their screen (they were using the Educreations app). It is so cool to be able to see several samples of student work on the board at the same time. We can critique the work without the class knowing whose work it is. We are able to celebrate different approaches for solving the problem. Also, we are able to talk about common mistakes. They love when they are working on a problem and I point out their work. I can say, "Hey, this person is really moving in the right direction."
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| Each group's problems projected simultaneously! Cool stuff! |
Next we worked on The Classic Way to Get the Point which introduces the substitution method. Mrs. New and I had looked through the rest of this unit and we saw so many activities that give the students the opportunity to practice solving systems again and again. I used to teach these two methods of solving systems of equations separately. Then after covering each method I gave them some "mixed practice" where they had to choose the method to use. However, I now like the idea of giving them some time to practice a few of each type and then let them decide which method to use as we go. The ACT and other tests are not going to tell them which method to use so they need to learn how to choose which method works better for each type of problem. There are several activities in this portion of the Cookies unit that give them a few more systems of equations to practice solving so hopefully by the time we revisit the topic several times my students will retain the information.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The Sky is Purple and Eveybody Likes Me
This title of this blog is my mantra. I know that the sky is not purple and I know that there are some people who don't like me...but I am not going to worry about it.
This blog is really going to be about my teaching transformation. I am trying to reinvent myself as a teacher. Last year I put my students in groups and refused to move them back in rows. (Big risk taker!) It took a few weeks but I really liked it. I did several inquiry or discovery learning activities and really began to be convinced I needed to move my teaching more in this direction. My other "transformation" is coming this year where I am trying to do a better job of putting technology in my students' hands. I love technology and have used it as a teaching tool for years. However, my students do not often have the opportunity to use technology themselves.
My first real tech activity with my algebra students was this week and I really liked it! I put the students in groups and gave each group an iPad (we have an iPad cart that we can check out). I had the students go outside and film their own graphing stories. The day before the activity we went over several real-world graphs where they are given a verbal description and have to choose the correct graph. Thank you to my AMSTI trainer, Lori White, for sharing the activity. The students were told to film 10-20 second videos. I only gave them 15 minutes to video their "stories." Then we went back to the classroom to allow them to graph their stories on chart paper. I gave them a few hints but did not tell them whether or not their graphs were correct. On the next day I displayed each graph and pointed out the following items first:
1. Is there a title on the graph so we know what the graph is about?
2. Are the axes labeled? (distance on the y axis and time on the x axis, etc...)
3. Are the units give for each axis? (is the distance in inches, feet? Is the time in seconds, minutes, etc...?)
4. Are the scales on the axes uniform and reasonable?
After analyzing the above parts of the graphs I played each video and let the students discuss whether or not the graph matched the video. After this discussion I assessed the students by having them write down 3 SPECIFIC things they had learned about graphing.
Some of my favorite answers were that the graphs don't have to look like the activity taking place and that if the line is horizontal (and you are graphing speed) that that means they are staying in the same spot! I think this was a very fun and effective way to teach real-world graphing and integrate technology.
This blog is really going to be about my teaching transformation. I am trying to reinvent myself as a teacher. Last year I put my students in groups and refused to move them back in rows. (Big risk taker!) It took a few weeks but I really liked it. I did several inquiry or discovery learning activities and really began to be convinced I needed to move my teaching more in this direction. My other "transformation" is coming this year where I am trying to do a better job of putting technology in my students' hands. I love technology and have used it as a teaching tool for years. However, my students do not often have the opportunity to use technology themselves.
My first real tech activity with my algebra students was this week and I really liked it! I put the students in groups and gave each group an iPad (we have an iPad cart that we can check out). I had the students go outside and film their own graphing stories. The day before the activity we went over several real-world graphs where they are given a verbal description and have to choose the correct graph. Thank you to my AMSTI trainer, Lori White, for sharing the activity. The students were told to film 10-20 second videos. I only gave them 15 minutes to video their "stories." Then we went back to the classroom to allow them to graph their stories on chart paper. I gave them a few hints but did not tell them whether or not their graphs were correct. On the next day I displayed each graph and pointed out the following items first:
1. Is there a title on the graph so we know what the graph is about?
2. Are the axes labeled? (distance on the y axis and time on the x axis, etc...)
3. Are the units give for each axis? (is the distance in inches, feet? Is the time in seconds, minutes, etc...?)
4. Are the scales on the axes uniform and reasonable?
After analyzing the above parts of the graphs I played each video and let the students discuss whether or not the graph matched the video. After this discussion I assessed the students by having them write down 3 SPECIFIC things they had learned about graphing.
Some of my favorite answers were that the graphs don't have to look like the activity taking place and that if the line is horizontal (and you are graphing speed) that that means they are staying in the same spot! I think this was a very fun and effective way to teach real-world graphing and integrate technology.
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