For this posting I am going to review one of the many different WebQuest I found that would be useful in a math classroom. I started out just looking for WebQuests in general, and then decided it would be a better idea to narrow my search to math related ones. This way I could get ideas for my own WebQuest.
Before starting this assignment I had never completed or even see a WebQuest activity. My teachers did not use these types of learning activities in my classes growing up. While searching I found some very interesting and involved WebQuests that I feel students would find helpful and even exciting to work on. During my investigation on the Internet I came across a WebQuest entitled “A Tale of Two Cities.” On the introduction page this activity asks the students to work in groups to plan a trip to either Boston or Philadelphia. The students will be responsible for finding the prices of hotels and transportation as well as figuring out which activities they will be doing during their stay in the city. This project is dealing with math and money which gives the students an idea of how their math skills could be used in real life. Being able to see how what they are learning in class relates to real life will spark an interest and make the students want to explore the idea.
While reading through the WebQuest I noticed that the author did a good job at explaining in detail what the students were supposed to be doing. On the Process page, the author spells out what each member of the group needs to do to complete their part of the project. The project requires the students to break into three member teams where each member is assigned a certain role. One student will be the hotel planner, one will be the transportation planner and the third will be the tour guide. Each student is responsible for finding information on their role and report back to the group as a whole to put their trip together. The students are told on the website to use search engines to find their information. However, no websites are given as a starting point for the students. The author provides no resources as to where the students should go to find the needed information. I guess he is just assuming that they know how to successfully navigate through different web searches. This is the one thing I do not like about this site. For students that have never planned a vacation on their own, they may find it difficult to figure out what kind of websites would be good to look at for ideas.
According to the Teacher’s Page, this WebQuest was designed for students in a Pre-Algebra or Algebra class. I believe that this activity is very suitable for that age group. It has enough information to get the students interested in the activity and wanting to make the most exciting trip possible. It allows them to use previous knowledge to complete the tasks at hand. The questions are asking the students to find different hotel and transportation prices and be able to compare them to see which one is the better deal. This requires that the students have an understanding of ratios, percents, fractions, and comparing numbers, The students must evaluate their findings and plan the trip that will allow them to make the most of their money. The Teacher Page is not very detailed. It restates what the students are to be doing and just lists the standards that are involved. The author again gave no additional resources that a teacher could go to in order to obtain more information to help the students.
The conclusion provides the students with some other questions to think about during their PowerPoint presentations. These questions include having the students come up with distance and gas formulas, which graph would be the most useful for the data and which hotel was the best for the trip. The students will also vote on which group they think did the best job. The incentive for this project is that the winner will be allowed to present their idea to the principal and the trip will be considered for the class trip that year. I do not feel the conclusion did a very good job at tying everything back together. It kind of just leaves the students with information that should be included during the PowerPoint. I feel that it should have something about further exploration or even other questions to consider for extra credit in the presentation.
Overall I found this WebQuest to be pretty good and something that I would consider using with my students some day. However, if I used this one I would probably make some changes to better help the students complete the assignment.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
K-12 News: Florida State Testing
I was talking to my grandparents who live in Florida a few nights ago and my granddad happened to mention that there was an article in the local newspaper about Florida’s state testing in the school systems. The state is considering phasing out their current state testing in hopes of replacing it with something more along the lines of Virginia’s SOLs as well as many other states end-of-course tests.
Currently Florida uses a test called the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or FCAT or short. This test is given every year in March for those students in third grade through eleventh grade. The test is multiple choice and is used to measure each student’s knowledge in all subjects based on the grade level standards. As the name states, this test is a comprehensive exam that is not aligned with any one specific course which requires students to recall and relearn information they learned in previous grades or classes. Students are required to pass these tests in order to graduate from high school. Teachers in Florida schools have to stop their regular teaching and spend several weeks teaching their students the material that will show up on the FCATs. I found a few articles where students were being interviewed on their thoughts about the FCATs and the new testing program. The common theme I found was that all students felt the FCATs were very stressful and just one more thing they had to worry about studying for and passing.
Florida state legislators are purposing a bill to phase out the FCAT testing and replacing it with end-of-course exams. This means that the students would be taking a test at the end of each subject course to test them just on the material that they learned that school year. This will make teaching and learning easier since teachers can just spend a few weeks reviewing instead of actually teaching new material. These end-of-course exams will also better allow teachers to see how their teaching strategies are working and whether or not the students actually learned the information throughout the school year. The end-of-course exam will give the state a better idea of their teachers’ abilities in the classrooms and what needs to be changing. Since the FCATs are not based on a single course, it makes it hard for school systems to see where the students are falling behind in the subject and does not leave room for those students to get help or have teachers change their teaching strategies.
The exams Florida is considering using now will be similar to Virginia’s SOL tests. These tests are given at the end of each course to test the students’ knowledge of what they learned in that class that year. All Florida students would have to pass these end-of-course tests in order to receive credit for the class and these courses would become graduation requirements. Therefore in order to graduate the student would have to pass all the required tests. However, if need be the students can retake tests in order to pass them. Florida state legislators have seen where this type of testing has been successful in other states and hoping that it will be a reality in the near future for their school systems.
All throughout my school career I hated taking the SOL tests. I never saw the point in taking these tests especially if you had performed well in the class. However, after taking all the education classes and reading this article I am finally beginning to realize that these end-of-course exams can be helpful. Once I become a teacher it will allow me to see what my students throughout the year and what they struggled with. It will help be see what I need to change the next year in order to help my students perform better on the tests and to understand the material better.
Here is a link for the two articles I found about the FCATs:
The Miami Herald
WTSP.com
Currently Florida uses a test called the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or FCAT or short. This test is given every year in March for those students in third grade through eleventh grade. The test is multiple choice and is used to measure each student’s knowledge in all subjects based on the grade level standards. As the name states, this test is a comprehensive exam that is not aligned with any one specific course which requires students to recall and relearn information they learned in previous grades or classes. Students are required to pass these tests in order to graduate from high school. Teachers in Florida schools have to stop their regular teaching and spend several weeks teaching their students the material that will show up on the FCATs. I found a few articles where students were being interviewed on their thoughts about the FCATs and the new testing program. The common theme I found was that all students felt the FCATs were very stressful and just one more thing they had to worry about studying for and passing.
Florida state legislators are purposing a bill to phase out the FCAT testing and replacing it with end-of-course exams. This means that the students would be taking a test at the end of each subject course to test them just on the material that they learned that school year. This will make teaching and learning easier since teachers can just spend a few weeks reviewing instead of actually teaching new material. These end-of-course exams will also better allow teachers to see how their teaching strategies are working and whether or not the students actually learned the information throughout the school year. The end-of-course exam will give the state a better idea of their teachers’ abilities in the classrooms and what needs to be changing. Since the FCATs are not based on a single course, it makes it hard for school systems to see where the students are falling behind in the subject and does not leave room for those students to get help or have teachers change their teaching strategies.
The exams Florida is considering using now will be similar to Virginia’s SOL tests. These tests are given at the end of each course to test the students’ knowledge of what they learned in that class that year. All Florida students would have to pass these end-of-course tests in order to receive credit for the class and these courses would become graduation requirements. Therefore in order to graduate the student would have to pass all the required tests. However, if need be the students can retake tests in order to pass them. Florida state legislators have seen where this type of testing has been successful in other states and hoping that it will be a reality in the near future for their school systems.
All throughout my school career I hated taking the SOL tests. I never saw the point in taking these tests especially if you had performed well in the class. However, after taking all the education classes and reading this article I am finally beginning to realize that these end-of-course exams can be helpful. Once I become a teacher it will allow me to see what my students throughout the year and what they struggled with. It will help be see what I need to change the next year in order to help my students perform better on the tests and to understand the material better.
Here is a link for the two articles I found about the FCATs:
The Miami Herald
WTSP.com
Monday, February 8, 2010
Assistive Technology
Universal Accessibility is a very useful tool that teachers can implement into their daily lesson plans to help diverse learners and those with special needs. Computer technology has become a major component in the classroom and most schools today have some kind of access to a computer or computer lab for its students to use and learn from. Computer software can be used across all subject areas and for all grade levels. Universal Accessibility makes it even easier for some students to be able to use the computers and be able to get the most out of their learning experiences.
For this assignment I was a little nervous about finding a tool on my computer that would work well with students that I could be potentially teaching. I spent some time searching around on all my control panels and tools to find something that I found interesting. Under the Start menu I have an icon of a computer mouse on my control panel. I decided to click on it just to see what it would happen. I discovered that you could change the pointer speed as well as some other interesting things. These features could be very useful for teachers to turn on when they have students that have difficulties using or controlling their hand movements.
Some of the mouse features include:
• Double Click Speed – this allows the user to change how fast they have to double click the mouse in order to open up a certain folder.
• Click Lock – this feature allows the use to highlight or drag an item without holding down the mouse button.
• Can change what the Pointer looks like in order for the user to be able to see it better. You can change it to different shapes and colors.
• Pointer Speed – this allows the user to change how fast the pointer moves.
The Double Click Speed feature would allow students who do not have a fast enough reaction time to click on folders or programs at a speed convenient for them so they do not become frustrated before the assignment even begins. If a student gets caught up getting into a program this could throw him or her off for the rest of the activity. They will be worried about getting behind and not paying attention to what they need to be doing.
The Click Lock feature would be useful in math programs such as Geometers Sketchpad and Geometry Explorer. In these programs the students can use tools to create different shapes by dragging the mouse button around the screen. If students have trouble holding down the mouse button and dragging the shape around at the same time then they will spend too much time trying to figure out how to make the shape and less time learning. This feature could also be helpful for students who just have problems controlling their hand movements and would allow them to more easily complete their assignments. Changing the mouse setting to the Click Lock feature would allow the student to just click on the place they would like to draw the shape, let off of the mouse, and then just drag the mouse around the screen until they get the desired shape.
Changing what the pointer looks like on the screen would be useful for those students who have problems seeing it or keeping track of where it is on the screen. On my computer I can change my pointer to animals and fruits as well as bigger arrows and pointers. This would let the students easily see the pointer and be able to better function with the programs and software.
The student or teacher can change the Pointer Speed to a speed that the student is comfortable using and can more easily function with. Some times the pointer moves to fast and the student cannot keep up with where it is on the screen. Slowing the speed down would make it easier for this type of student to use the computer. If the pointer is moving too quickly across the screen then the student may become confused and frustrated and not be able to complete the assignment to the best of his or her ability.
All computers have many different Universal Accessibility tools that teachers can use to make their classroom more friendly for all students. Accessibility is very important for learning and all teachers should try their best to incorporate these features into their lessons and activities so all students can learn.
For this assignment I was a little nervous about finding a tool on my computer that would work well with students that I could be potentially teaching. I spent some time searching around on all my control panels and tools to find something that I found interesting. Under the Start menu I have an icon of a computer mouse on my control panel. I decided to click on it just to see what it would happen. I discovered that you could change the pointer speed as well as some other interesting things. These features could be very useful for teachers to turn on when they have students that have difficulties using or controlling their hand movements.
Some of the mouse features include:
• Double Click Speed – this allows the user to change how fast they have to double click the mouse in order to open up a certain folder.
• Click Lock – this feature allows the use to highlight or drag an item without holding down the mouse button.
• Can change what the Pointer looks like in order for the user to be able to see it better. You can change it to different shapes and colors.
• Pointer Speed – this allows the user to change how fast the pointer moves.
The Double Click Speed feature would allow students who do not have a fast enough reaction time to click on folders or programs at a speed convenient for them so they do not become frustrated before the assignment even begins. If a student gets caught up getting into a program this could throw him or her off for the rest of the activity. They will be worried about getting behind and not paying attention to what they need to be doing.
The Click Lock feature would be useful in math programs such as Geometers Sketchpad and Geometry Explorer. In these programs the students can use tools to create different shapes by dragging the mouse button around the screen. If students have trouble holding down the mouse button and dragging the shape around at the same time then they will spend too much time trying to figure out how to make the shape and less time learning. This feature could also be helpful for students who just have problems controlling their hand movements and would allow them to more easily complete their assignments. Changing the mouse setting to the Click Lock feature would allow the student to just click on the place they would like to draw the shape, let off of the mouse, and then just drag the mouse around the screen until they get the desired shape.
Changing what the pointer looks like on the screen would be useful for those students who have problems seeing it or keeping track of where it is on the screen. On my computer I can change my pointer to animals and fruits as well as bigger arrows and pointers. This would let the students easily see the pointer and be able to better function with the programs and software.
The student or teacher can change the Pointer Speed to a speed that the student is comfortable using and can more easily function with. Some times the pointer moves to fast and the student cannot keep up with where it is on the screen. Slowing the speed down would make it easier for this type of student to use the computer. If the pointer is moving too quickly across the screen then the student may become confused and frustrated and not be able to complete the assignment to the best of his or her ability.
All computers have many different Universal Accessibility tools that teachers can use to make their classroom more friendly for all students. Accessibility is very important for learning and all teachers should try their best to incorporate these features into their lessons and activities so all students can learn.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Technology in the Classroom
A technology that I use in my everyday life is a cell phone. In today’s society almost all students have a cell phone or access to a cell phone. I learned last semester during a practicum experience in a middle school, that almost all of my sixth grade students owned cell phones. The lesson I would be using the cell phones for would take place in a sixth or seventh grade classroom. Since cell phones are such a major part of everyone’s life, I figured I would try and incorporate cell phone usage into a mathematical lesson on graphing and statistics. In my experience, students sometimes have a difficult time grasping the concept of graphing simply because they do not see how it works. By this I mean the student have trouble distinguishing between which variable goes on the x-axis and which one goes on the y-axis. The idea I came up with was for students to record over the span of a week the number of minutes they spend talking on the phone as well as the number of text messages sent and received. By having the students use their cell phone to record data they will see how the assignment relates to their everyday life. If one of my students does not have his or her own cell phone then I will tell them that they can record an older sibling or parent’s data. However, if no phone is available I will provide the student with data that they can use. After the students have collected their data, they will bring it in to class and we will work together to create graphs from the information. Each student will be responsible for creating their own graphs using their own data. Once this is completed, the students will come back as a class, and we will try and figure out the average number of minutes and average number of text messages sent by the entire class. This brings statistics into the lesson as well. We can also use this new data to create a class graph. From this lesson the students will have more practice creating graphs and actually seeing the difference between the x and y axis as well as seeing how an everyday technology can relate to learning math. When students see how math relates to their life, it seems that they understand the material better and enjoy learning more. This lesson would incorporate two of the important SOLs for sixth grade math. The SOLs are below:
6.18 The student, given a problem situation, will collect, analyze, display, and interpret data in a variety of graphical methods, including
a) line, bar, and circle graphs;
b) stem-and-leaf plots; and
c) box-and-whisker plots.
6.19 The student will describe the mean, median, and mode as measures of central tendency, describe the range, and determine their meaning for a set of data.
After coming up with this idea, I went online to try and find teachers who had used this type of assignment with their students. However, I did not find any. I found the following link that could be another interesting cell phone related math activity for older students to complete involving picking the best cell phone plan. This assignment also allows the students to see how math is used in real life.
6.18 The student, given a problem situation, will collect, analyze, display, and interpret data in a variety of graphical methods, including
a) line, bar, and circle graphs;
b) stem-and-leaf plots; and
c) box-and-whisker plots.
6.19 The student will describe the mean, median, and mode as measures of central tendency, describe the range, and determine their meaning for a set of data.
After coming up with this idea, I went online to try and find teachers who had used this type of assignment with their students. However, I did not find any. I found the following link that could be another interesting cell phone related math activity for older students to complete involving picking the best cell phone plan. This assignment also allows the students to see how math is used in real life.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Howdy
Welcome to my new blog...this should be interesting! This is for a college class assignment at James Madison University.
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