Learning Activities: Week 2

Having an engaging classroom is very beneficial for student learning.  I believe that this is especially important in a mathematics classroom.  Math often has a bad reputation for being boring, hard, or a subject that only people with “math brains” can succeed in.  I strongly believe that math can be fun and engaging for all students, and that every single student is capable of success.  Incorporating interesting lessons within a math classroom can help keep students engaged and improve their desire to learn.

Speed Dating and Equation Making

http://www.harbourliving.ca/event/
victoria-speed-dating-2014/

One of the math activities that we did this week in my course on Teaching Mathematics at the Intermediate/Senior Level was called Speed Dating and Equation Making.  For this activity, students sat in two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle.  Students would face each other so that each student on the inner circle was paired with a student on the outer circle.  Every student received a graph that had hearts on it.  In addition, each student on the outer circle obtained a card describing a specific slope, and each student on the inner circle obtained a card describing a specific y-intercept.  Each pair had to combine their information to create a linear equation in slope y-intercept form and then graph the line on the grid; if the line went through a heart, those two students were a match!  The inner circle then rotated, changing up the partners, to test for more matches.  This continued until students got back to their original partner.

I absolutely loved this activity.  I would, without a doubt, use it in my future mathematics classrooms.  I found it fun, engaging, and a very unique way to explore slope y-intercept form of a line.  One part I like about this activity is that it is repetitive.  Depending on the size of the class, students have to create many linear equations and graph them.  The repetition of this process helps students internalize their learning and remember it for the future.  I also think this activity would be useful in teaching students about parallel lines.  Since I was in the outer circle, I received a card with a slope on it.  All of my lines were parallel to each other.  This could help students realize that parallel lines have the same slope.  In addition, people in the inner circle had all their lines going through the same point (i.e. the y-intercept).  Another part of this activity that I enjoy is that it has the potential to be used for many different grades.  For example, this activity could be used for grade ten quadratic equations, possibly giving students the vertex of the parabola and a root.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/
details?id=beyou.app.dating

One thing I might add to this activity is having students prove (or double check) that they are a match.  This would allow students to make another connection between the graph and their equation.  Students would be required to plug in the point of the heart into their equation and show that the point does, in fact, lie on the line.  This could also be done if the line is very close to a heart and students are unsure if it is a match or not.  By substituting in the point, students can say for certain whether they are a match or not.  This game could also be made more difficult by giving students a slope and any point (not the y-intercept), or by giving students two points.  This would allow students to practice determining equations when given different information about the line.

I definitely plan on using this activity in my future mathematics classrooms.  It is a very unique and engaging activity that I believe students would really enjoy.  It definitely shows students that math can be fun!

Learning Activities: Week 1

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my mathematics blog! I will be continuing my reflections as a make my way through my course on Teaching Mathematics at the Intermediate/Senior Level.

Over the next few weeks, my fellow teacher candidates and I will be leading a mathematics learning activity.  I will be reflecting on some of these activities.

Steve the Stick Figure

http://clipartix.com/stick-figure-clip-art/

The learning activity from week one that I would like to discuss is the Steve the Stick Figure activity. In this activity, students follow a path around the room using transformations. At each station, students are given two coordinates that represent where Steve the Stick Figure's head and bottom are on the grid. There is a problem involving transformations at each station that students need to solve in order to determine where they need to go next.  Students follow the path around the room until they have visited all the stations, at which point the students have to send Steve home (i.e. a specific point on the grid) using any transformations they choose. Students then can create a story for Steve's adventure based on where he went on their grid.

I would definitely use this activity in my classroom for multiple reasons.  First of all, I believe that it is beneficial for a large variety of different learners.  Students who are tactile/kinesthetic learners are benefitted through walking around the classroom, as opposed to sitting at their desks.  Students are given the opportunity to choose whether they want to work alone or with others.  This helps different types of learners because some students work more effectively by themselves, whereas other students like discussing and problem-solving with a partner.  Another aspect of this activity that tailors to different types of student learning is the fact that students are able to use both the graphs and the coordinates.  Actually plotting the stick figure on the Cartesian grid, as opposed to just determining the coordinates, will likely help students who are more visual learners.  Students are able to use the graphs to understand the different transformations visually.  In addition, students are able to use the coordinates to assist them in understanding the different transformations.  A final way that I believe this activity incorporated different types of learning is the final part of the activity.  Students are asked to make a story that describes Steve's journey throughout the day.  This is beneficial for students who are good at creative writing.  In addition, it increases the students' interest during the activity because students can create any story they want. It also allows students to review the different transformations that took place.  I strongly believe that this learning activity was an excellent example of differentiation and tailoring to the many different types of learners that will be in a mathematics classroom.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/l-IGpdZk72gmSg
/transformations

The only aspect of this learning activity that I may have done differently is to possibly have some directions in writing.  When the presenter was first explaining the activity, I was slightly confused as to what we were supposed to do.  However, once we actually started the activity, it began to make sense.  If I were to use this activity in my future classroom, I would make some written instructions that I could hand out to the students.  However, I would still go over the instructions as a class for clarity.  I believe having a written form of the instructions would make the activity clearer in regards to what is expected of the students.  This would help students who understand better from written instruction rather than verbal instruction.  This would also give students something to refer back to.

Overall, this was a very unique activity that I would definitely use in my classroom.