Connecting with Key Issues
Technology Skills:
While a computer is the only piece of technology needed for my dream it project, there are some skills that my students will need to be familiar with. My students will need to know how to create and maintain a blog, and they will need to be introduced to the drafting software needed to build their bridge. To help my students though this process I will model for them what a blog looks like, how to set-up the blog, and how to maintain it. Before students begin to draft their bridge they must do research into what is the best type of bridge for their assigned scenario. For this research I will direct students to several different search engines that could support them in their search.
Understanding by Design:
Not every students learns in exactly the same way, and this is why my dream it tries to look at the same idea in several different ways. First, my students will be looking at different accidents that were caused when someone made an error in math, which will appeal to visual and audio learners. The second part of my project, scaling and building the bridge, will appeal to both visual learners and kinistetic learners. This project not only presents material in various methods, but allows students a variety of methods to illustrate their understanding. Also, by working in groups, students will be getting constant feedback and assistance from one another.
Social and Ethical Uses of Technology:
As part of this project students will be required to do several things online. Students will need to understand the districts policy about the use of technology in school. This policy is reviewed with students at the start of the school year and should be reviewed with them again before the project. Along with this, students will need to understand some safe practices when it comes to writing their blogs. Students will need to understand what information they should not discuss online and why. To teach this to my students, I would prepare a lesson using BrainPop. BrainPop is a resource I have used in my class before and students are familiar with it.
Creativity and Critical Thinking:
One of the main ideas behind this project is to encourage creativity and critical thinking in my math students. Often, math is relegated to the realm of problems and formulas, but my goal is that my students will be able to see math in the world, and will be able to see the importance of accuracy in math. To accomplish this my students will need to work on both their creativity and critical thinking skills. Students will be creating and building upon a group blog where they will discuss different ways that math affects their life. This will require creativity on their part. For the second part of the project, where students are creating a bridge, scaling it down, and building it, students will need both creativity and critical thinking skills. Students will need to be able to first create their bridge using the drafting software, and then build their bridge. This process will take critical thinking skills to accurately scale the bridge down to its proper size.
Professional Development:
As part of this plan, I will need to work with other teachers in my building. I will need to work with the media specialist to reserve the computer lab, as well as the other 7th grade math teachers. By working with other teachers in the building I will be networking within my building. I will share my ideas with the other teachers, showing them different ways that technology can be brought into the classroom. Along with networking within my building, I can share my ideas with other math teachers using either a blog that I create along with my students or on a site like MERLOT. This will allow for me to connect with other math teachers and share my ideas with them. This will also help me to get more ideas about different ways technology can be used in math classrooms.
While a computer is the only piece of technology needed for my dream it project, there are some skills that my students will need to be familiar with. My students will need to know how to create and maintain a blog, and they will need to be introduced to the drafting software needed to build their bridge. To help my students though this process I will model for them what a blog looks like, how to set-up the blog, and how to maintain it. Before students begin to draft their bridge they must do research into what is the best type of bridge for their assigned scenario. For this research I will direct students to several different search engines that could support them in their search.
Understanding by Design:
Not every students learns in exactly the same way, and this is why my dream it tries to look at the same idea in several different ways. First, my students will be looking at different accidents that were caused when someone made an error in math, which will appeal to visual and audio learners. The second part of my project, scaling and building the bridge, will appeal to both visual learners and kinistetic learners. This project not only presents material in various methods, but allows students a variety of methods to illustrate their understanding. Also, by working in groups, students will be getting constant feedback and assistance from one another.
Social and Ethical Uses of Technology:
As part of this project students will be required to do several things online. Students will need to understand the districts policy about the use of technology in school. This policy is reviewed with students at the start of the school year and should be reviewed with them again before the project. Along with this, students will need to understand some safe practices when it comes to writing their blogs. Students will need to understand what information they should not discuss online and why. To teach this to my students, I would prepare a lesson using BrainPop. BrainPop is a resource I have used in my class before and students are familiar with it.
Creativity and Critical Thinking:
One of the main ideas behind this project is to encourage creativity and critical thinking in my math students. Often, math is relegated to the realm of problems and formulas, but my goal is that my students will be able to see math in the world, and will be able to see the importance of accuracy in math. To accomplish this my students will need to work on both their creativity and critical thinking skills. Students will be creating and building upon a group blog where they will discuss different ways that math affects their life. This will require creativity on their part. For the second part of the project, where students are creating a bridge, scaling it down, and building it, students will need both creativity and critical thinking skills. Students will need to be able to first create their bridge using the drafting software, and then build their bridge. This process will take critical thinking skills to accurately scale the bridge down to its proper size.
Professional Development:
As part of this plan, I will need to work with other teachers in my building. I will need to work with the media specialist to reserve the computer lab, as well as the other 7th grade math teachers. By working with other teachers in the building I will be networking within my building. I will share my ideas with the other teachers, showing them different ways that technology can be brought into the classroom. Along with networking within my building, I can share my ideas with other math teachers using either a blog that I create along with my students or on a site like MERLOT. This will allow for me to connect with other math teachers and share my ideas with them. This will also help me to get more ideas about different ways technology can be used in math classrooms.