Welcome back to my blog! Over the
last few weeks I have discussed the importance of differentiating instruction,
consolidation and diagnostics assessments in the classroom. Throughout these
posts I mentioned the used of technological tools and various online resources.
I have specifically named Kahoot or Socrative as a tool that I feel are
beneficial to use in the classroom, but technology provides us teachers with a
much wider variety than that. While school boards and individual schools are
constantly updating their personal device policies, teachers must ensure that
they are utilizing these devices to their students’ full advantage. These
devices not only provide opportunity for assessment within a classroom, they also provide a wide variety of tools that explore new strategies as well
as provide assistance with a topic that they may be struggling with.
During math
class this week we were lucky to get to spend time exploring an online math
tool called Desmos. We began by simply exploring the graphing calculator. This
is an online tool that allows students to visualize the changes that are being
made to a graph, without having to complete the calculations in finding the
coordinates. It can also be used in various graphing situations to provide
students with interception points, inequalities and patters of functions. Once
we had explored this calculator our instructor began an online activity called
Polygraph. This activity paired students
together and allowed them to
participate in a game-like activity. This game required one student to ask
questions, while the other provided the proper response based on a graph that
they had selected. The goal of the game is to get your partner to choose the
specified graph while asking as few questions as possible. In my opinion, the
most beneficial aspects of this game include the opportunity for students to
describe these graphs using their own words, and visually comparing the
differences between graphs. Students will also help one another improve as they
may realize differences between graphs while answering questions provided to
them by their classmates.
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These types
of student interaction will also improve the overall attitude within the math
classrooms. While participating in activities such as this students may enter a
timeless state, where they lose track of how much time they have spent
practicing. I know while I was playing I was very motivated to beat my best
score of 4 questions and quickly became caught up in the game. This type of
motivation will encourage students to practice their mathematical processes,
without knowing they are doing so. Technology will allow teachers to expand the
activities that they can implement in the classroom as well as improve activities that currently exist.
In general, I am excited to spend more time exploring the technological resources that are
available to all students and teachers. Earlier today I participated in a Smart Board workshop and I am curious to explore how these mathematical
resources could be used in partner with the Smart technologies.
Mr. Moore
Mr. Moore
Hi Kyle!
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I want to mention that I really enjoyed how you connected the topics from your previous posts into this one. As a frequent reader of your blog, it caused me to stop and think, “yes I remember him mentioning that.” Like yourself, I am also excited to spend time exploring the technological resources available for a mathematics classroom. Since technology is present in every aspect of a student’s life outside of school, why not include it in the classroom. Considering this, it is so important that educators consider the purpose behind the technology they are offering to students (i.e. not just making students play a game to pass time during a lesson). One point that really stuck with me from class was the idea that technology should be intended to enhance and deepen a student’s understanding. I also wrote about Desmos this week because I was extremely impressed with the game polygraph. Although simple, I also found myself losing track of time as I was determined to guess my partner’s parabola. Such games promote a deeper level of student motivation, engagement and learning, without students actually realizing it. As a I continue to grow as an educator, I hope to come across more games that serve the same purpose. Great post and have a good week!
Rachelle
Hi Kyle!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have to agree that I also enjoyed the Polygraph game we played in class. It didn't feel like I was doing any math at all which I find could be beneficial in a math classroom especially with those students who don't like math. It was a very competitive game because you always wanted to guess your partners answer by asking the smallest number of questions! At first I found this challenging until I recognized the most useful questions that I could ask in order to find which parabola they chose! Overall it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading your post.
Cobie
Hi Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post this week! I liked how you focused on the Geogebra "Guess who?" activity. I've never worked with Geogebra before, so I was not expecting to play a game on it! Like you, I lost myself in the activity and I was not even aware of how much time had passed. I think that this activity was great because it was open to all students, and they were able to create their own questions to help them understand which graphs would be eliminated from their search. I think that every student would enjoy playing this game because they are applying their mathematical knowledge without realizing that they are engaging in mathematics. The game setting is perfect for students because it is not timed, so students can work at their own pace, and it's fun, engaging and gives students motivation through the challenge that it presents!
Thanks for sharing Kyle!
Dayna