Links:
http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/angry-birds/
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=bWNkb3dlbGwuazEyLm5jLnVzfGNsaW5lLWdlb21ldHJ5LWhvbWVwYWdlfGd4OjY3NGYzODVlZDMwNzgxN2E
http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/skytypers/
http://tinyurl.com/st-step4
Technology is becoming a bigger part of our every day lives as Americans, and humans. We are adding technology in places never thought imaginable to make our lives easier, and make our experiences better. One place we see technology taking over is in the classroom. As a future high school math teacher, there are many ways that I will be able to manipulate technology to make my job easier, and more importantly, to help my students grow.
The first piece of technology I would like to use is a projector with an Elmo. An Elmo would allow me to dramatically change the way I teach a lesson. Take the “Where would the angry birds have landed?” lesson plan for example. A lesson like this would lend itself very nicely to a think-pair-share strategy where students understand the problem, develop a plan, work the problem out with a partner, and then share their results and method with the rest of the class. An Elmo would be the very beneficial in the first and last steps of that process. The Elmo could be used to first, demonstrate the way “Angry Birds” works if hooked up to an iPad or phone that has the app. It would also allow graphs or demonstrations to be displayed that could aid the students in the learning process. Then, as the lesson plan shows, there is more than one way to do some problems. If a pair of students finds another way to do a problem, they will then be encouraged to show the rest of the class their work. Instead of holding up their paper for the class to see, or possibly rewriting it on the board, the Elmo will allow them to just place their work under the camera and project it onto the board as they walk the class through their process. Having students teach other students can be very beneficial to them. A classroom with an Elmo would certainly help in that respect.
The next thing I would like to have in my classroom is a SMART board. Smart boards can also allow for students, as well as myself, to go up to the front of their classroom and showcase our work. It works as almost a giant Ipad where different slides can be put up on the screen that can even be drawn or written on. One of the best uses for a SMART board would be fill-in-the-blank notes. In classes like Geometry, there is a lot of vocabulary that goes with each section that is essential to know in order to succeed in the class. It is also a very visual subject, meaning the students have to be able to visualize what they are learning to fully understand the concepts. That is why fill-in-the-blank notes could be the key to a student’s success. One option would be to give all of the students printouts of the notes with blanks in them. However, not only would this not be cost effective and bad for the environment, but it could also hinder their learning. The way I plan on administering notes is by putting the slides up one at a time, with the key terms left off the slides. I would then be able to have the students inquire about the vocabulary before they get taught. It would invoke more critical thinking and it will also place emphasis on the words once they are written on the board. I could even write them in different colors to make them stand out or to categorize them. Having the notes pre-made will save plenty of time that I could use to go through more examples or allow the students to ask more questions. The time that I do not spend writing on the board could also be better utilized to give a better oral presentation using other lesson aids that I, otherwise, might not have time for. Better visuals would also be able to be placed in the notes, without having to attempt to recreate the picture on the board freehand. Examples can be found in the attached chapter 1 note slides. If a student misses class for an extenuating circumstance, I could also always email the completed notes to him or her, as long as the written out file was saved. Even though I may not give all the students a handout, students with ADHD or other learning disabilities that hinder their note taking abilities would benefit tremendously by getting note pages handed out to them. The SMART boards also have plenty of apps and programs that enhance learning such as Wolfram Alpha, BrainingCamp, Jeopardy and other dice and chance games to keep students engaged and excited to come to class.
My last plan for using technology is to incorporate Desmos into the curriculum as much as I can. Desmos is a free site that anyone can use; it is also an app in the apple store or android market. Desmos is an extremely user friendly graphing calculator that can be used to aid student learning in a lot of ways. The best way to use Desmos is to tie it directly into a lesson plan. Take the “How do skywriters type messages?” lesson plan as an example. This lesson plan has students take any message they choose and place it on a map using points on a coordinate plane. They do this by punching the coordinates directly into Desmos and the software plots the points for them. From there, they will be asked to manipulate those points in different ways to teach a lesson on transformations. A demonstration of how Desmos will be utilized can be found at http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/skytypers/. The app does a very nice job tying everything together and putting it in a format and layout that not only makes it user friendly, by aesthetically pleasing as well. If iPads are not available, a field trip to the computer lab may be in order to complete this lesson, but it is well worth the walk. Desmos is also something that can help the students with a lot of their homework if they have a computer at home or a smartphone. It is very high tech software that has many benefits inside and outside of the classroom.
Elmos. SMART boards, and Desmos are all tools that could, and should, be used in classrooms all across the globe. I personally plan on using these tools as much as I can to enhance the way I teach and the way the students learn. They may not be the most cost effective tools available on the market, but their effectiveness is undeniable. By using these different types of technology, we will be able to put our lesson plans together smarter, and reach as many students as we can, in as many ways as we can. My goal is to have students leave my class more prepared to take on the challenges of the real world, and these technologies are the first step.
http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/angry-birds/
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=bWNkb3dlbGwuazEyLm5jLnVzfGNsaW5lLWdlb21ldHJ5LWhvbWVwYWdlfGd4OjY3NGYzODVlZDMwNzgxN2E
http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/skytypers/
http://tinyurl.com/st-step4
Technology is becoming a bigger part of our every day lives as Americans, and humans. We are adding technology in places never thought imaginable to make our lives easier, and make our experiences better. One place we see technology taking over is in the classroom. As a future high school math teacher, there are many ways that I will be able to manipulate technology to make my job easier, and more importantly, to help my students grow.
The first piece of technology I would like to use is a projector with an Elmo. An Elmo would allow me to dramatically change the way I teach a lesson. Take the “Where would the angry birds have landed?” lesson plan for example. A lesson like this would lend itself very nicely to a think-pair-share strategy where students understand the problem, develop a plan, work the problem out with a partner, and then share their results and method with the rest of the class. An Elmo would be the very beneficial in the first and last steps of that process. The Elmo could be used to first, demonstrate the way “Angry Birds” works if hooked up to an iPad or phone that has the app. It would also allow graphs or demonstrations to be displayed that could aid the students in the learning process. Then, as the lesson plan shows, there is more than one way to do some problems. If a pair of students finds another way to do a problem, they will then be encouraged to show the rest of the class their work. Instead of holding up their paper for the class to see, or possibly rewriting it on the board, the Elmo will allow them to just place their work under the camera and project it onto the board as they walk the class through their process. Having students teach other students can be very beneficial to them. A classroom with an Elmo would certainly help in that respect.
The next thing I would like to have in my classroom is a SMART board. Smart boards can also allow for students, as well as myself, to go up to the front of their classroom and showcase our work. It works as almost a giant Ipad where different slides can be put up on the screen that can even be drawn or written on. One of the best uses for a SMART board would be fill-in-the-blank notes. In classes like Geometry, there is a lot of vocabulary that goes with each section that is essential to know in order to succeed in the class. It is also a very visual subject, meaning the students have to be able to visualize what they are learning to fully understand the concepts. That is why fill-in-the-blank notes could be the key to a student’s success. One option would be to give all of the students printouts of the notes with blanks in them. However, not only would this not be cost effective and bad for the environment, but it could also hinder their learning. The way I plan on administering notes is by putting the slides up one at a time, with the key terms left off the slides. I would then be able to have the students inquire about the vocabulary before they get taught. It would invoke more critical thinking and it will also place emphasis on the words once they are written on the board. I could even write them in different colors to make them stand out or to categorize them. Having the notes pre-made will save plenty of time that I could use to go through more examples or allow the students to ask more questions. The time that I do not spend writing on the board could also be better utilized to give a better oral presentation using other lesson aids that I, otherwise, might not have time for. Better visuals would also be able to be placed in the notes, without having to attempt to recreate the picture on the board freehand. Examples can be found in the attached chapter 1 note slides. If a student misses class for an extenuating circumstance, I could also always email the completed notes to him or her, as long as the written out file was saved. Even though I may not give all the students a handout, students with ADHD or other learning disabilities that hinder their note taking abilities would benefit tremendously by getting note pages handed out to them. The SMART boards also have plenty of apps and programs that enhance learning such as Wolfram Alpha, BrainingCamp, Jeopardy and other dice and chance games to keep students engaged and excited to come to class.
My last plan for using technology is to incorporate Desmos into the curriculum as much as I can. Desmos is a free site that anyone can use; it is also an app in the apple store or android market. Desmos is an extremely user friendly graphing calculator that can be used to aid student learning in a lot of ways. The best way to use Desmos is to tie it directly into a lesson plan. Take the “How do skywriters type messages?” lesson plan as an example. This lesson plan has students take any message they choose and place it on a map using points on a coordinate plane. They do this by punching the coordinates directly into Desmos and the software plots the points for them. From there, they will be asked to manipulate those points in different ways to teach a lesson on transformations. A demonstration of how Desmos will be utilized can be found at http://robertkaplinsky.com/work/skytypers/. The app does a very nice job tying everything together and putting it in a format and layout that not only makes it user friendly, by aesthetically pleasing as well. If iPads are not available, a field trip to the computer lab may be in order to complete this lesson, but it is well worth the walk. Desmos is also something that can help the students with a lot of their homework if they have a computer at home or a smartphone. It is very high tech software that has many benefits inside and outside of the classroom.
Elmos. SMART boards, and Desmos are all tools that could, and should, be used in classrooms all across the globe. I personally plan on using these tools as much as I can to enhance the way I teach and the way the students learn. They may not be the most cost effective tools available on the market, but their effectiveness is undeniable. By using these different types of technology, we will be able to put our lesson plans together smarter, and reach as many students as we can, in as many ways as we can. My goal is to have students leave my class more prepared to take on the challenges of the real world, and these technologies are the first step.