TPACK
Context:
I work at Gardner Middle School, in the Lansing School District. Gardner Middle School houses about 800 students. I should be teaching 7th grade math and ESL math next year, although this year I taught Algebra I ESL, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade math and ESL math. Most of my classes are between 20 and 30 students. My Dream It proposal is focused on my 7th grade math class. One reason for this is that my ESL students have very limited background knowledge working with computers and technology and due to a different curriculum.
My 7th grade math classes will be a good fit for my Dream It proposal and the problem based learning that I hope to introduce. My 7th grade math class is a regular math class, with students ranging in abilities and background knowledge. Many of my students will struggle with basic math, and some of my students may be special education students or ESL students. Most of these students have background knowledge concerning a computer and know at least basic computer skills. Computer access may be the biggest struggle. There is one laptop cart that can be checked out and one computer lab that can be checked out. This will require planning ahead to schedule the computer lab for my classes.
Content:
One unit of the 7th grade curriculum focuses on ratios and proportions. Ratios and proportions look at different ways to compare two values. One part of this unit is unit analysis or looking at how one unit changes into another. My goal, is to tie this unit into the big idea that math is tool that my students need to learn, and is important. Many of my students struggle with math, and have been unsuccessful in the past. Due to this, many of them have already decided that math is both unimportant and unnecessary. My goal is to not only have my students able to accurately complete math problems, but apply what they are learning to the real world and to their own lives.
To accomplish this goal, I have two projects that my students will be completing. The first project is to keep a blog of the times that they use ratios and proportions in their daily lives. This Blog is something that they will have some time to work on in class, as well as be able to access from home. While students are working on their Blogs, we will be looking at different examples of accidents that happened across history due to inaccuracies in unit conversions. This will give students examples of how accuracy can effect their lives and the importance of being able to translate between units. The last project we do will require students to create and build their own bridge. Students will design their bridge online. Once students have designed their bridge, they will scale it down and build their bridge themselves out of toothpicks. This way, students are applying what they learned about ratios and proportions to their own creation.
Technology:
This project will require only one main form of technology and that is a laptop with Internet access. My students will be using these laptops and the Internet to create their blogs and eventually to design their bridges. Students will create their blogs using blogger and will be able to access these blogs from both school and home. Students will also be using the laptops to design their bridges. Students will need to design a bridge that can go between Detroit and Canada. Students will design a life size model, then create a scaled version using popsicle sticks and glue. The software students will use to design their bridge, West Point Bridge Designer, is a free download. The technology that students are asked to use is appropriate for middle school students, and will allow them to share publicly what they are learning about in math, and the different applications that they see.
Pedagogy:
Looking at what I transformations I want to take place in my students, I know I am asking for a lot. I want my students to begin thinking of math as something that they use in their lives, and something that is an important tool for them to know. This transformation will be the biggest struggle for my students. In order to help my students begin to see the importance of math, they will look at different examples throughout history of what happened when math was not done accurately. This will hopefully help to breakdown students prior beliefs that math is not important. This will be done in the context of groups with blogging and reflection. The blogs students are contributing to will be group blogs. Having group blogs will help students to adjust to the idea of reflecting about and writing about math. Students will also have the opportunity to discuss their ideas in a group setting before writing their posts. This should lead to more complete and thought out posts. It is important that we begin by looking at students understanding of ratios and proportions and when they use them, and build upon this
TPACK Package:
TPACK is the idea that when teaching one needs to take into consideration the context in which they teach, the content they want students to learn, the technology that can help students to grow to have a deeper understanding, and the pedagogy to get them there. My Dream It proposal is looking for two transformations to happen in my students. I am first using technology to break down barriers my students have to math being important or necessary to them. The technology I chose to help me accomplish this is a computer. Students will need a computer and the Internet to access their blogs. Also the drafting software used to create their bridge design is also an online download. Students will be working in groups to discuss the different ways they use ratios and proportions, and they will be looking at examples in history of what happens when this goes wrong. Students will be blogging to help them think about the importance of these examples, and how things like their examples could affect their lives, and how they are currently learning the same or similar math.
The second way I plan on using technology is to have students create their own bridge and then scale the bridge down to a size that they can build. By having students create their own bridge, and then scaling it down to size, students will know the importance of being able to accurately scale a model. Students will also see yet another application for math in the real world. Before buildings, bridges, and other structures are build, a model is often built. Students will be testing their knowledge of ratios and seeing the importance this skill plays in their lives. Using a computer to complete the model will allow students to become comfortable with computer drafting software and hopefully make the process more smooth. The software we will use is West Point Bridge Designer. This software is fairly easy to use, and is free to download. This will keep the focus on the math and the scaling rather than creating the bridge.
I work at Gardner Middle School, in the Lansing School District. Gardner Middle School houses about 800 students. I should be teaching 7th grade math and ESL math next year, although this year I taught Algebra I ESL, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade math and ESL math. Most of my classes are between 20 and 30 students. My Dream It proposal is focused on my 7th grade math class. One reason for this is that my ESL students have very limited background knowledge working with computers and technology and due to a different curriculum.
My 7th grade math classes will be a good fit for my Dream It proposal and the problem based learning that I hope to introduce. My 7th grade math class is a regular math class, with students ranging in abilities and background knowledge. Many of my students will struggle with basic math, and some of my students may be special education students or ESL students. Most of these students have background knowledge concerning a computer and know at least basic computer skills. Computer access may be the biggest struggle. There is one laptop cart that can be checked out and one computer lab that can be checked out. This will require planning ahead to schedule the computer lab for my classes.
Content:
One unit of the 7th grade curriculum focuses on ratios and proportions. Ratios and proportions look at different ways to compare two values. One part of this unit is unit analysis or looking at how one unit changes into another. My goal, is to tie this unit into the big idea that math is tool that my students need to learn, and is important. Many of my students struggle with math, and have been unsuccessful in the past. Due to this, many of them have already decided that math is both unimportant and unnecessary. My goal is to not only have my students able to accurately complete math problems, but apply what they are learning to the real world and to their own lives.
To accomplish this goal, I have two projects that my students will be completing. The first project is to keep a blog of the times that they use ratios and proportions in their daily lives. This Blog is something that they will have some time to work on in class, as well as be able to access from home. While students are working on their Blogs, we will be looking at different examples of accidents that happened across history due to inaccuracies in unit conversions. This will give students examples of how accuracy can effect their lives and the importance of being able to translate between units. The last project we do will require students to create and build their own bridge. Students will design their bridge online. Once students have designed their bridge, they will scale it down and build their bridge themselves out of toothpicks. This way, students are applying what they learned about ratios and proportions to their own creation.
Technology:
This project will require only one main form of technology and that is a laptop with Internet access. My students will be using these laptops and the Internet to create their blogs and eventually to design their bridges. Students will create their blogs using blogger and will be able to access these blogs from both school and home. Students will also be using the laptops to design their bridges. Students will need to design a bridge that can go between Detroit and Canada. Students will design a life size model, then create a scaled version using popsicle sticks and glue. The software students will use to design their bridge, West Point Bridge Designer, is a free download. The technology that students are asked to use is appropriate for middle school students, and will allow them to share publicly what they are learning about in math, and the different applications that they see.
Pedagogy:
Looking at what I transformations I want to take place in my students, I know I am asking for a lot. I want my students to begin thinking of math as something that they use in their lives, and something that is an important tool for them to know. This transformation will be the biggest struggle for my students. In order to help my students begin to see the importance of math, they will look at different examples throughout history of what happened when math was not done accurately. This will hopefully help to breakdown students prior beliefs that math is not important. This will be done in the context of groups with blogging and reflection. The blogs students are contributing to will be group blogs. Having group blogs will help students to adjust to the idea of reflecting about and writing about math. Students will also have the opportunity to discuss their ideas in a group setting before writing their posts. This should lead to more complete and thought out posts. It is important that we begin by looking at students understanding of ratios and proportions and when they use them, and build upon this
TPACK Package:
TPACK is the idea that when teaching one needs to take into consideration the context in which they teach, the content they want students to learn, the technology that can help students to grow to have a deeper understanding, and the pedagogy to get them there. My Dream It proposal is looking for two transformations to happen in my students. I am first using technology to break down barriers my students have to math being important or necessary to them. The technology I chose to help me accomplish this is a computer. Students will need a computer and the Internet to access their blogs. Also the drafting software used to create their bridge design is also an online download. Students will be working in groups to discuss the different ways they use ratios and proportions, and they will be looking at examples in history of what happens when this goes wrong. Students will be blogging to help them think about the importance of these examples, and how things like their examples could affect their lives, and how they are currently learning the same or similar math.
The second way I plan on using technology is to have students create their own bridge and then scale the bridge down to a size that they can build. By having students create their own bridge, and then scaling it down to size, students will know the importance of being able to accurately scale a model. Students will also see yet another application for math in the real world. Before buildings, bridges, and other structures are build, a model is often built. Students will be testing their knowledge of ratios and seeing the importance this skill plays in their lives. Using a computer to complete the model will allow students to become comfortable with computer drafting software and hopefully make the process more smooth. The software we will use is West Point Bridge Designer. This software is fairly easy to use, and is free to download. This will keep the focus on the math and the scaling rather than creating the bridge.