Last night’s #SVTChat was so thought-provoking – what a great group! The chat and the chapters in The Innovator’s Mindset really has me reflecting on some of the things I do now, and some I can do in the future. (I’m not quite ready to reflect on the things I have tried that did NOT work! I’ll save those for another day.)
Sharing A couple of months ago, I met with JC Baxter, our math TOSA, about some of the ways I can incorporated technology into my classes. He gave me several ideas and he helped me navigate Twitter. I had an account, but never used it. So after our meeting, I started browsing through posts, followed some of the math accounts and people I thought would be important to listen to. I came upon a post from Dan Meyer that truly changed my philosophy on the exchange of ideas. I have always pored through the internet, seeking ideas, hooks, lesson plans – heck, anything I could find that would be new, different and useful for my students. And I shamelessly begged, borrowed and downright stole them! But I never, ever considered that I had anything to offer back. Dan’s post reminded me to stop slacking in the collaboration department. It made me realize that I had an obligation to share ideas and lesson with other teachers, if nothing else, as a springboard for their own ideas. That’s basically what I was asking for myself! So why not reciprocate? Caring My school has always placed a high value on relationships first, then instruction. Working with at-risk students has different challenges than traditional schools; not necessarily more challenges, just different ones. Building relationships with the students goes a long way towards managing those challenges. Instead of rules and procedures on the first day, I always start off by trying to get to know my students. Relationships with these students don’t happen in a day or a week – sometimes not even in a month or two. But at some point, there is a connection with each student at their own comfort level. I find that the best instruction and learning takes place once these relationships have started forming. That is not to say that there is no learning for months, but the BEST learning occurs once they trust me and know I care about them and about their education. I have used either Socrative or Google Forms to find out personal information such as family, jobs, hobbies and interests, and anything else they want to tell me. Rarely do I get much in the last category, because they don’t yet know me enough to share. But it gets them thinking about what they might tell me later, after they trust me. Next year, I am going to try Padlets for this activity instead. This way the students can tell me what they want me to know, instead of answering the questions I want to know. It will be interesting to see how that goes; another topic for future reflections. Daring I think this year I will refer to my math classes as “Problem Solving 101”. We will be problem solvers first, using math as ONE of the tools in our toolbox (the others being reading, writing, technology, art, science, etc.). First of all, it shifts the focus for the math phobics – those students who walk in the door announcing how much they hate math. Secondly, it sets the tone for using project/problem-based learning and real-world applications. Lastly, it could reduce the number of times I hear, “When are we ever going to use this #%$&*?” (Research states that this question is really a symptom of lack of understanding the concepts rather than a serious question.) I am hoping that, based on the types of problems and projects I use, they can be successful and will see the future value of problem-solving without having to ask why math is important to them. Time will tell, yes? With this new “problem-solving” approach in mind, I am planning to focus more on starting with the real-world problems and put the math in as, and where, needed. Please wish me luck because I know this is much easier said than done.
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OBJECTIVESMy goals include tracking the most effective ways to integrate technology in my math lessons. Archives
April 2017
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