Technology Integration Plan

            The lesson I used for this matrix is one I have used in my unit plan for my methods course. It is a unit on transformational geometry and this lesson focuses on translations. The standards I chose are from the 8^th grade geometry section. The standards state that students should be able to describe the effect of translations on two-dimensional figures and be able to describe a sequence that shows the similarities between two figures.

            The first row of the matrix relates to the Do-Now activity in the lesson. Students will see a picture of two triangles on a coordinate plane, reflected on the overhead projector. Students will take a couple of minutes to describe the translation occurring in the picture. They use the Smart Pals to record their responses and share with a partner. After everyone has finished, the entire class engages in a classroom discussion. In this part, there are a lot of student pedagogical strategies, such as student participation and group discussion among partners. The large group discussion involves an interaction between me, the teacher, and all of the students. The overhead projector and Smart Pals are the two technologies used for this part. In this section students are critically thinking, solving problems, making decisions, and communicating with each other.

            The second row of the matrix represents the group activity of the lesson. Students will be given directions to an activity, as well as a worksheet that explains their task. They will explore translations using tangram shapes and the graph paper that is given to them. They will also analyze what is occurring in their graphs and answer specific questions, related to the standards. The tangram shapes serve as a visual representation for the students. The large group discussion at the conclusion of the activity and the Q & A portion of the lesson are a couple of the pedagogical strategies used in this section. Students will bring their completed graphs and worksheets to the document camera for the rest of the students to see. The document camera and the tangram shapes are the technologies that are used in this portion of the lesson.

            The third row of the matrix has the students use software on computers to complete their exit card. I have them interacting with another program, to have them visualize the lesson in multiple ways. The technology in this portion (computer and online software) enriches and transforms the ways in which the students are learning the material. Instead of lecturing the students, the computer software and interactive activity lets the students explore the topic of the lesson in their own way. They are also using what they have learned in the lesson, as well as the online activity to help them explain, in words, the translation that is occurring. For this part of the lesson, I would provide a lot of guided practice into making sure the students stay on task when on the computers and to assist them with the online software, if needed.

            The fourth row of the matrix has students communicate to their partner their understanding that the two figures are similar. They can do this in whatever way they want. They can persuade their partners in words or they can use the online software to enhance their explanation. This gives students another opportunity to use the materials that work for them. If the online software helped them understand the material better they can use it to help their explanation. If the activity with the tangram shapes helped them better they can reflect on that in their explanation. Whichever option they choose it is their choice and I, as the teacher, will only be there as a helping hand to assure they understand the content.

            The fifth and final row of the matrix explains the homework assignment. Students will demonstrate their creativity and innovation by creating their own real life problem/situation where translations occur. They will have specific questions to answer and criteria to meet for this assignment. Students will be thinking critically, solving the problems, and making decisions during this process. Students can use the computer and internet to generate pictures to explain their problem. Again, students have the option of doing this if they choose.

            This matrix helped me lay the lesson out step-by-step with the appropriate strategies and technologies. One can look at each row and clearly see what technologies and pedagogical strategies are used. The layout is a good way to make sure that nothing is left out. It is also a good way to organize lessons.

URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agvr5L6t2qQGdHlNZ3hUb08xaVF2d0Z2RUo0UmUwOVE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

Illuminations

Illuminations is a site for teachers to use as a resource. It provides more than 100 activities that are aligned with the common core standards. It also has more than 600 hands-on lesson plans, a review of standards, and numerous online links and resources for further information. Teachers can use this site as a resource to assist them with their lesson plans. For teachers who have been teaching for a while and are not familiar with the technologies available for them, this site can be very useful for them. It also has numerous activities for teachers to assign their students. The activities and lesson plans are split up into specific grade levels. Teachers can pick and choose specific activities based on their students’ grade level and/or level of understanding. The site also provides free apps for mobile devices. For our students who are in the higher grade levels, these mobile apps can be very effective in providing students another resource to use when preparing for an assessment. It also has a section called calculation nation. This section provides different games for students to challenge themselves or their peers.

This site provides various tools for both teachers and students to use. Different content in mathematics can be hard to teach and even more difficult for students to understand. As teachers, it is important to provide students numerous explanations and examples of the specific content. Today we have been hearing that is important to incorporate pictures and manipulatives into our math lessons. Students have to have a lot of visuals to learn math. The Illuminations site is one resource that can help with this aspect. Teachers are able to use the site if they are having trouble representing and/or explaining a certain topic or lesson.

URL:  http://illuminations.nctm.org/

Google Sketch Up

            Google Sketch Up is a software that creates 3D models. This is a technology that can develop a student’s higher-order thinking skills and creativity. Sketch Up provides its users great tools for drawing 3D figures. This program can be used to explore different mathematical concepts involving 3D images. It is difficult to draw a 3D object on a sheet of paper. With Sketch Up teachers can show students a 3D image and explore the mathematical concept right on the program itself. If there is a Smart Board in the classroom, teachers can have students come up to the board and explore the 3D image. The software can be very useful in a math classroom for that main reason. In the past, teachers struggled with explaining 3D figures to their students. As a student, it was very hard for me to imagine a 3D image in my head and then having to figure out different mathematical operations on that figure. It would have been very useful to have a software, like Sketch Up, to help me visualize this better. If schools would incorporate the use of Sketch Up in their classrooms, higher-level math classes would benefit from it the most. I would not suggest having the software installed in elementary classrooms and even middle school classrooms. It would be more useful in a high school classroom. 

            Would Google Sketch Up be beneficial in any of your classrooms?

Using Technology to Instruct

            In the content area of mathematics it is important to grab the students’ attention the moment they walk into class. It is essential to start the class off with an engaging activity for them to work on or view. For example, the Khan Academy offers video tutorials for different math topics. Teachers can present these videos in the beginning of their class and then facilitate a discussion after the students have viewed it. These videos can grab the students’ attention and formulate a discussion for the lesson. Students can also ask questions about the video and use it as a resource to look back on if they are confused with the lesson at any point. If I use these videos as an attention grabber for my students daily, they will become accustomed to it and be prepared for my class every day. It will become a routine for them when learning new topics. The students can also have access to the videos at home by simply going to the URL site for the specific video. I can also give them the URL link in class so that they have it and have no reason not to use it as a resource. Students need to have as many resources and aids as possible, especially with math, because some concepts are difficult to understand by learning it one way. It is important to teach math lessons in different ways. The traditional way of teaching is by having the teacher lecture and writing notes on the board. However, nowadays the Khan Academy can serve as reinforcement to the lesson and can teach students differently.

            If something similar to the Khan Academy were available for your content area, would you use it in your classroom? I would love to hear your feedback!

Should iPads be allowed in Math classes??

            I have heard, recently, that some schools are providing iPads for their students in the classroom. Students are able to take notes on the iPads and use special software to enhance the lesson they are learning. Personally, I believe incorporating technology in the classroom is great because it keeps the students engaged in the lesson and it can be beneficial and helpful to some students who may need reinforcement of the lesson. With math, technology plays a big part in lesson planning, because we want to keep our students engaged as much as possible. In recent times, I have found that the easiest way to do this is to incorporate some form of technology into the lesson, or to use some form of manipulative.

            However, I would not necessarily choose the iPad as my first technology choice. Any form of computer will get students to be off track and they might explore other things that do not pertain to the lesson. Students in today’s society are very “tech-savvy” and can figure out how to get to certain websites that may be blocked. That is why I am against using iPads or computers in the classroom. On the other hand, if the teacher uses a program on his/her computer and projects it on the white board or smart board, then I believe that is appropriate. Students can still be involved in the lesson and be engaged in the activity, without having the accessibility to their own iPad or computer. They can go up to the smart board and play around with the program, again, without being tempted to search other things or get off task.

            I believe that the choice is ultimately up to the school district and its teachers on whether or not to bring iPads into their schools and classrooms. However, the teachers also have a choice on whether or not they wish to use that technology in their classroom. They need to trust their students to not tamper with the device and to use it according to the lesson. 

Collaboration Canvas

When I first read the task for the interactivity I thought it would be easy to remix the canvas, since I had already created my own. However, once I began working on the remix it became a little difficult. I could not understand some of the formatting things on the canvas itself. I also found it a little difficult to collaborate math with another content area’s unit plan. Once I reviewed a few of the canvases I was able to decide on one to remix and had a plan on how I would incorporate math into it.

The canvas I chose was the Earthquake unit plan. I first looked at the grade level it was aimed for so I knew what math standards I needed to incorporate. In this case, it was 8^th grade. I reviewed the standards and designed my remix canvas according to that. For my content area I added the idea of creating scatter plots and analyzing those graphs to determine slope and intercept. In my gallery I included photos of scatter plots so students can see examples. The video serves as another tool for students to refer to when creating their own scatter plot. I did not remove anything from the original content, because it all seemed valuable to keep with my content.

URL: http://www.play.annenberginnovationlab.org/play2.0/challenge.php?idChallenge=2535&mode=view#network6

Virtual Math Class?

                I am sure you are all aware that some math classes are being taught online now. There are a few 100 level math classes here at Montclair State University that are taught completely online. I have researched some other schools to see if they do the same thing and one professor actually taught a discrete math course designed for secondary math teachers online. She was a little nervous at first, because she had never taught this class before, let alone online. She had to decide on a textbook to use, how to collect/grade homework assignments, organizing class time, and technical preparation. She also learned that online classes are taught in two different ways. Synchronous technology allows the students and teacher to be online at the same time and interact with each other. Asynchronous technology allows the students and teacher to interact at other times. She decided that her class would have two hours a week of synchronous class time and the rest would be asynchronous. What she did for the synchronous class time was send her students a PowerPoint presentation so they could write on the slides during the class time. At the end of her journal she gives advice to teachers who are about to teach an online class for the first time. The most important thing to remember is that an online class is different than a traditional class. Teachers should get some training with the software and hardware and they should get to know their technical support. Finally, she reminds teachers to have fun with it.  

            Personally, I would not like to take a math class online. I need face-to-face interaction with my teacher to fully understand the material. However, I think that online classes might work for lower level/basic math classes, where face-to-face interaction is not necessarily important. Students should have the option of taking their math class online or in a traditional classroom. Every student is different and learns differently, so by having this option it gives them an opportunity to learn the material in a way they feel comfortable with and that will be beneficial to them. What do you think?