ImagineIT: Phase II
I was very intrigued early on during our face-to-face time this summer by the three circles which weigh in on classroom instruction: pedagogy, technology, and content. Since I am entering my 29th year of teaching, I feel I have a pretty good handle on content but I am very interested in adjusting/infusing more technology where appropriate and constantly looking at my techniques to motivate students. I remember hearing that Michael Jordan would choose one part of his game to focus on during the offseason. He would spend the whole offseason improving that one aspect. I think it is a wonderful model to emulate as an educator.
As we worked through our eleven days together, I kept thinking of ways to work on the three intertwining concepts listed above. However, I was most stuck by our last reading “Teaching That Sticks.” It made a big impact on me, thinking of all the lessons I have created over the years. I have spent countless hours perfecting/scaffolding lessons: using lectures, small groups, pair work, individual white boards, and gallery walks. It really is meaningless unless the material “sticks”.
I have decided this year to focus on diving deep into the beauty and elegance of mathematics, having students construct the fundamental concepts as they see them fitting together, then sharing their findings with their classmates. It has begun to take shape in my mind that these three things will work together to make their learning “stick”. For each concept (as a unit plan) and each lesson (on a daily level) I will focus on the six principles laid out in our last article: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story.
Although my classes have not been officially set for next year, I will most likely be teaching Advanced Algebra (Regular level) and Honors Calculus. I am planning on using many of the things I have learned/am learning this summer in all of the classes, but will be focusing mostly on one of my Advanced Algebra classes. All classes meet for 50 minutes each day. The Advanced Algebra classes are predominantly JRs, with some SOs. The Honors Calculus class is mostly SRs with some JRs. I have found that the Advanced Algebra students often struggle with motivation, asking the question “When am I ever going to use this?!” For them, I will focus on keeping concepts simple, concrete, and lesson delivery unexpected (variety of instruction methods is especially effective). My Honors Calculus students can handle more advanced topics but with them I really need to focus on creativity and story creations so that the material does not become dry and too mechanical.
In Advanced Algebra, I will be starting the year with linear equations then moving to quadratics. I plan to have students make short videos of word problems that have usually been done very traditionally, much like the first Quick Fire we did this summer. Using word problems they are familiar with from Algebra 1 and Geometry, I hope to get them comfortable with making short videos. As they become more comfortable with the editing and producing, I will focus on more complicated content.
In my Honors Calculus, I spend much of the first quarter focusing on taking derivatives of many types of functions. I plan to do much of this in story form: creating a “family” with different characters each being a specialist in taking the derivative of a certain type of function. The first letter of each name will identify the type of function the person is an expert in taking the derivative of. Patrick will take derivatives of polynomials, Larry of logarithmic functions, Erin of exponential functions…..As each type of function is discussed, a new family member will be introduced. I can have students make a skit or short video, interviewing this cast of characters or even pretending they are one of the family members.
As I tried to convey in my I-Video, I will ask my students in all classes to sift through all the things I have taught them, and tangibly construct something: a video, a poster, a skit, an object which will show the major components of the concept we discussed in class. In constructing these artifacts, I hope to have students grapple with deep levels of understanding and have it stick for recall in future classes.
Before I had my Lego character climb back up in order to dive into another concept, I stated the fact that the shape of parabolas is fundamental to the design of headlights. In each class I teach, but especially in the Advanced Algebra classes, I need to consistently reinforce the application of each concept so that students need not ask “When am I ever going to use this?!”
As we worked through our eleven days together, I kept thinking of ways to work on the three intertwining concepts listed above. However, I was most stuck by our last reading “Teaching That Sticks.” It made a big impact on me, thinking of all the lessons I have created over the years. I have spent countless hours perfecting/scaffolding lessons: using lectures, small groups, pair work, individual white boards, and gallery walks. It really is meaningless unless the material “sticks”.
I have decided this year to focus on diving deep into the beauty and elegance of mathematics, having students construct the fundamental concepts as they see them fitting together, then sharing their findings with their classmates. It has begun to take shape in my mind that these three things will work together to make their learning “stick”. For each concept (as a unit plan) and each lesson (on a daily level) I will focus on the six principles laid out in our last article: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and story.
Although my classes have not been officially set for next year, I will most likely be teaching Advanced Algebra (Regular level) and Honors Calculus. I am planning on using many of the things I have learned/am learning this summer in all of the classes, but will be focusing mostly on one of my Advanced Algebra classes. All classes meet for 50 minutes each day. The Advanced Algebra classes are predominantly JRs, with some SOs. The Honors Calculus class is mostly SRs with some JRs. I have found that the Advanced Algebra students often struggle with motivation, asking the question “When am I ever going to use this?!” For them, I will focus on keeping concepts simple, concrete, and lesson delivery unexpected (variety of instruction methods is especially effective). My Honors Calculus students can handle more advanced topics but with them I really need to focus on creativity and story creations so that the material does not become dry and too mechanical.
In Advanced Algebra, I will be starting the year with linear equations then moving to quadratics. I plan to have students make short videos of word problems that have usually been done very traditionally, much like the first Quick Fire we did this summer. Using word problems they are familiar with from Algebra 1 and Geometry, I hope to get them comfortable with making short videos. As they become more comfortable with the editing and producing, I will focus on more complicated content.
In my Honors Calculus, I spend much of the first quarter focusing on taking derivatives of many types of functions. I plan to do much of this in story form: creating a “family” with different characters each being a specialist in taking the derivative of a certain type of function. The first letter of each name will identify the type of function the person is an expert in taking the derivative of. Patrick will take derivatives of polynomials, Larry of logarithmic functions, Erin of exponential functions…..As each type of function is discussed, a new family member will be introduced. I can have students make a skit or short video, interviewing this cast of characters or even pretending they are one of the family members.
As I tried to convey in my I-Video, I will ask my students in all classes to sift through all the things I have taught them, and tangibly construct something: a video, a poster, a skit, an object which will show the major components of the concept we discussed in class. In constructing these artifacts, I hope to have students grapple with deep levels of understanding and have it stick for recall in future classes.
Before I had my Lego character climb back up in order to dive into another concept, I stated the fact that the shape of parabolas is fundamental to the design of headlights. In each class I teach, but especially in the Advanced Algebra classes, I need to consistently reinforce the application of each concept so that students need not ask “When am I ever going to use this?!”