The support of the Technology Learning Cohort was invaluable in helping
me stay focused and motivated to integrate more technology into my
classroom. I spent a lot of time
reading blogs, researching, and testing applications, and while some were
useful on a short-term basis and / or for specific rote skills, I did not find
the majority truly beneficial (specifically for upper level math). This was frustrating – I was fortunate
to have access to a classroom set of iPads, yet I could not get past
substituting them for what could be accomplished with a graphing calculator or
the Internet on a laptop. There
were a variety of factors at play, but one that I returned to on a regular
basis was that “integrating technology” into a classroom and a curriculum
implies supplementing what I already do with some technology. But instead, it was the ‘what I already
do’ part that needed to change.
This change involves re-thinking how I teach, defining what it really
means to be a digital-classroom, and working with our math curriculum within
this new framework. One of the
main differences I can imagine is utilizing myriad technologies as tools for
students to demonstrate what they know.
For instance, students could describe their evolving understanding of a
topic by regularly contributing to and commenting on blog posts or they could
show their mastery of a concept by creating a video tutorial. I have a long way to go in thinking
about this re-design, and potentially implementing it in a program that is not
1:1, but I do believe that the change would be essential in effectively making
use of technology.
I learned a tremendous amount from
some specific trials / experiments.
Early in the fall, I attempted the flipped classroom model with both my
7th grade class and my Precalculus classes. Essentially, for a given lesson,
students watched a video tutorial at home as homework. After watching the video, they completed
a basic online survey as a way for me to check that the assignment was
completed. Then, in class, we
worked together on problems – effectively doing the “homework” in class. I was excited about this model, since I
know students gain a lot of understanding from working through problems with each
other and with me. However,
students were very resistant to the flipped classroom idea. Their thinking was surprisingly
traditional; they felt that it was wrong for a YouTube video to teach them what
I am suppose to “stand and deliver.” Possibly the result would have been different had I
created the video myself, which I plan to attempt this year. But, I think a large part of the
tension was connected to Waynflete culture and the value placed on
relationships. In all instances,
the students insisted that I re-teach the concepts from the video before we
jumped into examples; they seemed to feel strongly that I convey the
information to them. Part of the
challenge, too, may have been connected to the skill of learning from
resources, such as textbooks or videos.
Often, students reacted with, “I didn’t get it at all,” or “the book /
video didn’t make any sense.” This
experiment highlighted the importance of helping students become more confident
and comfortable communicating mathematics and in being receptive to learning
the subject from a variety of resources.
I found more success with projects that involved students using
technology as a tool to experiment and / or create. In the fall my Precalculus students completed the Face
Project as their final assessment with the conic sections unit. Using each type of conic section
equation, students built the face of a cartoon character on a coordinate
grid. While there were some
technical difficulties that resulted from the first run-through of this
project, overall it was a success.
One of the most significant benefits was that students became even more
familiar with the equations for the three types of conic sections through trial
and error. Students thought about
the shape or curve they wanted to create, built a possible equation, then
received immediate feedback as to whether or not their thinking was sound when
they saw the graph. Then, students
modified their equation one or more times to get it to behave as they expected. Learning through this kind of
de-bugging would not be practical without technology. While teaching my 7th graders to program with
Scratch I realized a similar benefit.
Their ultimate goal was to write a program to draw the coordinate grid
on the screen, including tick marks every five units. It became a good challenge to think through different
combinations of code that might work, run the program to test it out, and the
modify the code as necessary so Scratch the Cat behaved as they predicted. Students approached this challenge as a
game, and in the process they became very familiar with the coordinate grid. Finally, in the last month or so of
school, the juniors in my Precalculus sections were issued iPads. Both the students and I learned a
tremendous amount from this one-to-one experiment (everything from iPad etiquette
in the classroom to the best note taking app). We certainly faced many challenges, like figuring out how to
share large video files, but I left most excited about the use of one app:
Explain Everything. This app
provides a user-friendly environment for creating videos where students can do
just what the name of the app implies… explain their understanding and
thinking. As a math teacher, I
have always valued the problem solving process and insisted that students ‘show
their work.’ This app compliments
this approach nicely; an assignment could be as simple as creating an Explain
Everything (EE) video for a single problem or for a summary of a whole
unit. My students even admitted
that while they did not always love creating EE videos, the process of doing so
helped them gain a better understanding of the material. Yes!
I
am very energized about the year ahead!
I feel like I played around a lot last year (and learned a ton) and now
I’m ready to use what I learned to build upon the successes, make modifications
where necessary, and get a few steps closer to being more like the digital
classroom I described above. My
two sections of Algebra 2 Accelerated will be issued iPads for the year. I’m both anxious and excited about
living in a one-to-one classroom environment. I hope to utilize the devices to their full potential to
problem solve, calculate, create, collaborate, share, critique, and
summarize. I also hope to not use them when it is appropriate to
take a different approach. Naturally,
I have been thinking about the best ways to assess students in a one-to-one
environment – reverting to traditional quizzes and tests with paper and pencil
seems like the wrong direction!
Throughout the semester I imagine I will provide assessments with lots
of variety and choices, and I look forward to conversations with colleagues
about the type of midterm and final exam experience that might make the most
sense. In my other classes (the
ones without issued iPads) I hope to continue to build upon some of the units
and projects that I started this past year, as well as incorporate some ongoing
components like a scribe blog and some EE creations. With all this said, I am most nervous about finding / making
the time to accomplish all that I would like. I think it will be a challenge to adequately plan ahead
(especially when so much trial is needed). And, with a tight curriculum already, I envision needing look
closely at what is covered in each of my classes and figure a way to balance
the traditional content with more of a digital approach. Stay tuned…
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