This year marks my 3rd year of teaching. I have
not seen how many other classrooms operate, so I am a career changer and have been
learning as I go and implementing the learning I have gained since I joined the
MAT program last Fall. In my classroom, I tend to use problem-based learning
and project-based learning. I give my students a situation at the end of the unit
and they need to take all of the information I have given them throughout to
help them solve it. In my opinion, I think this helps me to better see what are
the main components that have stuck with my students. I do get many different
solutions to some of the problems I give my students, which some I did not even
think of. I think this allows the students to get creative and innovative with
their problem-solving abilities. I also think that by giving my students
project-based assignments, it allows them to have more freedoms to choose their
topics and solutions, which in turn allows that innovative and creative mind to
come into play.
A lot of my activities throughout my lessons, revolve around
hands-on learning. I try to create a lab per unit, so students can have a day
where I am not interfering, and they can play with concepts on their own. One
of the labs that I love to do with my Algebra students is the Candy Launcher
Lab. I use this lab for the Quadratic Functions unit. Students calculate the
maximum height of the candy and an object of their choice by the distance and
time the items traveled. Student enjoy this because they get to launch things
across the room, which on a normal day would not be allowed. I also have
activities for my Geometry students where they also launch items across the
room, but they do this to calculate angle measures. My Geometry students also
used things like chalk lines that would not otherwise be used in the classroom,
so construct parallel lines with transversals and other shapes. For AP Statistics,
I allow my students to collect their own data, create their own surveys, and
construct their own games throughout the year. This helps them to better
understand probabilities and different types of statistics that we read about,
which are not always truthful.
This year I am teaching AP Statistics, Geometry, and Sets, which
there is not much overlap. I see that there are many gaps within each class, especially
when it comes to algebraic concepts. A lot of times, students in all three
classes struggle to do basic mathematics without using a calculator. I also noticed
that many students do not know how to effectively use the TI calculators,
excel, and many other mathematical platforms. My goal this year is to implement
these technologies more in the classroom. Excel is a wonderful technology that
many employers still use today. Being able to know the functions of Excel can
definitely help students outside of the classroom, however there is not a real
place for it in the curriculum. I am working with my Statistics students to use
a mix of the TI calculator and Excel to enhance their understanding of the data
and how to create different graphical representations.
My school does try to put more of an emphasis on literacy. Though
this is a schoolwide goal, there is not a lot of buy-in amongst teachers due to
the large gaps that we have in literacy. I believe that I can implement more literacy
in my classroom by having my Statistics students analyze data and differentiate
between bias and nonbiased studies. For Geometry, I can allow students to see
what careers use these concepts and how they can relate better to it. For Sets,
I can give readings that are more relative to their lives and how things like
linear functions are out there when we look at statistics with different sports
players.
