Ethical and Respectful Minds: Population Growth

Using Discovery Education’s Board builder, I was able to create a board to be used in my Algebra II class when studying Exponential Growth and Decay. One of the most common examples of exponential growth is population growth. I enjoy discussing this topic in my class because students tend to have an opinion on either side of the issue, that is, is population growth a problem and, if so, how do we ethically and legally combat the issue? This board present students with some facts, and asks them to think critically about the issue of population growth. There is an excellent video that briefly summarizes how we go to this point and allows students to see how the growth of medicine, agriculture, and other variables affect the growth of population.

The assignment section has a second video that really challenges several of the minds described by Howard Gardner. The video offers a great deal of information, so students need to be able to synthesize. Furthermore, this video is on the topic of China’s One-Child Policy and requires students to consider both the pros and cons of the law. The writing prompt does not allow students to choose only one side of the issue. Rather, they are forced to find the positive aspects of both sides of the enacted law. How is this policy favorable AND how is it unfavorable. This will challenge students to think ethically and morally about a law that has been around since before their birth.

The board also includes a ‘Food for Thought’ section that asks students to consider questions surrounding population growth that challenge their morals and will certainly spark debate. I plan to use this in my classroom and have a thorough discussion about students’ thoughts on the issue and what they thought specifically about the law in China. Students will learn that mathematics can represent the data, but the only respectful and ethical minds of our population can lead to a solution.

Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

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Video Blog - 5 minds

Want to know how I plan on incorporating Gardner's 5 minds?
Check it out: http://screencast.com/t/ocW7hWlo

Global Classrooms

The model described here by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay is extremely well thought-out, tested, and global. I have not participated in anything so grand in my teaching, although I am now very curious to learn more and see how/if I can implement a project or two in the coming school year. I have, however, collaborated with the other two high schools in my district on a much smaller scale. Students from my Geometry class have Skyped with 2 other classes in 2 other high schools to conducts a large scale competition at the end of the year. It was basically an online review completion, but it is a small step in the right direction to go from collaborating across town to collaborating across the globe.

To complete this simple, one class period activity, the three teachers had to work together to be sure content was aligned and students were assessed fairly. With different bell schedules, we had to coordinate our timing and be sure all technology was working and accessible in the rooms for each class. Although the student body is pretty similar in the three high schools of my district, I still needed to reinforce the idea of being respectful and fair when competing with the other schools. I understand working on Geometry with rivals on the football field is a change to most students’ mindset. Students and teachers both had to learn and respect the norms of the other classrooms, as well as the different approaches to learning/explaining a particular problem. This activity was both a review of mathematical concepts, as well as a lesson in respect, ethics, and fairness.  

I would like to expand this activity to include learning throughout the semester instead of just a review at the end. In my own classroom, I have had students teach/present certain topics that are review before I teach the new content. Perhaps my students can teach a topic, followed by another school for the next topic and so forth. Better yet, students can work in groups to create videos working with a student at each of the other schools. We can create an archive that students and teachers can access throughout the semester based on their curriculum and timing.

Working on these smaller, collaborative projects might be a good first step for teachers who are intimidated by the time investment or technology components required for a larger project, as suggested by the Flattened Classroom. Growing larger and going global is only a few steps away once an initial example is put to the test. 

Spotlight on Strategies

I remember sitting in a large conference room on my first day as a new teacher. It was the New Teacher Induction program for my district, and one of the sessions reviewed engaging instructional strategies. I immediately liked “I Have, Who Has,” because it was applicable to any topic and was relatively easy to create. Now that I have been intentionally integrating technology and media sources into my lessons, I have been looking for ways to keep old strategies that students liked and learned from, while somehow updating them by integrating a technological component.

Instead of always creating the “I Have, Who Has’ cards myself, I can use technology to have students create the cards. I can show a video and require, say, two pairs of “I Have, Who Has” cards from each student or each group. This strategy will keep students engaged throughout the entire video for two reasons: one, they need to create and answer their questions on the cards, and two, they know the game is coming at the end, so they need to know the answers to everyone else’s questions. A win-win for student engagement!

The adaptation of this activity also allows teachers to level based on student need. Perhaps your class is split into a higher ability group and lower ability group. Give the higher students blank cards that they have to create, and give the lower ability students a pre-made “Who Has,” and their task becomes listening for that fact and writing the answer (I Have). To avoid repeated questions, perhaps a few groups get questions/answers from the first 2 minutes of the video, the next groups from the next 2 minutes and so forth. If the information is really important to your content area, then don’t put parameters on the video and let there be repeats. It can’t hurt!

The added value to student learning and understanding is the wide range of learning styles this activity incorporates. The video caters to the auditory, visual, and logistical (depending on the content) learner. The actual game reinforces auditory learning and improves listening skills. Click on the link below to see a detailed example of  ‘I Have, Who Has’ for my circles unit in Geometry.

Link to Smore Presentation: I Have, Who Has?

Content Creation

I had a conversation with 3 students about creativity in the classroom. The students are members of my homeroom. I intentionally spoke with students who do not have me as an instructor so they would be candid.

The students noted that they wish there was more creativity in assessments. They said most of their teachers make learning interesting and engaging with different technologies and activities, but then issue traditional tests. One student was very insightful during this topic as she noted that, although she too disliked paper and pencil assessments, she was glad she was used to this format when it came time to things like SATs and other standard tests. I found this very interesting because I feel I would have more alternate/creative/non-traditional assessments if it wouldn't impact students’ performance on things like the PA Keystone Test and district-mandated final exams. Without this type practice, scores are certainly lower. Therefore, the traditions of standardized testing on the state and district level are hindering creativity to a certain extent.

I asked the students to expand on the kinds of creative and media-infused activities different teachers have used, and I learned some interesting stuff. Overall, it seems English class is a great platform for the use of media in conjunction with tradition. While students are still reading Shakespeare, they are seeing modern movies of the plays and creating mock blogs with the characters. In one class, students had to post updates on a class Twitter account addressing certain acts in the play using the vernacular of the time. How creative! It sounds like media is really encouraging creativity in these classrooms!

Although math does not lend itself to those exact examples, I notice that the more media and familiar templates/activities I use in things like chapter reviews, the more students are engaged. For instance, I have a review game that models Who Want to be a Millionaire with the slide displaying the game stage and the theme music at the intro of each new question. We play in teams and each student completes the problems on their paper. It is simply a worksheet in the end, but the delivery is familiar and engaging. This is one example of a very small creative platform that engages learners. What is lacking are the activities and assessments that allow students to be creative while still learning the content and showing evidence of learning in a way that can be fairly graded. I am hoping that networking with folks in other districts allows for more possibilities that can be implemented immediately.  

Do schools kill creativity?

In his presentation, Sir Ken Robinson says that individuals get “educated out of (creativity),” and I completely agree with him. Schools kill creativity, not because teachers and administrators are evil, but because the parameters by which success is measured, namely through test scores, does not allow for creativity in the classroom. Creativity is hard to measure and assess. Test scores are the opposite. Tests can be graded, grades go on transcripts, and transcripts lead to colleges. A college education is a necessary ticket in most areas of the working world.

I do, however, see a shift happening in the current day. The generation of students who sit in my classroom are encouraged to be creative in their social realms, if not in their educational ones. Kids in middle school and high school are creating cell phone apps (and making a nice buck in the process!). Creative photos with filters are posted on the internet every day and are viewed and criticized by peers and strangers alike. Superstars are emerging from home videos posted on YouTube. Once students leave the classroom, their creative wheels are turning unintentionally and without suppression.

Students in today’s classrooms tend to be far superior to their instructors in terms of technology. Technology and digital media will be useful avenues to foster creativity, even with the world’s test score focus. One way I can bring creativity to life in my classroom is through alternate assessments. It is important for students to be able to produce evidence of learning and understanding of mathematical concepts through formal summative assessments, but I feel each unit lends itself to both formative and summative options that can be expressed and assessed without a paper and pencil test. Students can create multimedia presentations that review topics from the unit for the class to utilize. Rather than complete a review sheet, students could make a Prezi, Powerpoint, or video that reviews key topics and examples.  These presentations can be posted on my teacher website for all students to use as review materials.

Another way digital media can be used to foster creativity is through project-based activities that tie learning to the real world. One of the main objectives in my district is discussing the relevance of the subject matter in relation to students. Geometry is one of those topics that surrounds students in the real world. Students could create videos or take photographs that model a particular concept, like area/volume of solids (found everywhere!), trigonometry (prominent in architecture, landscaping, and even Nascar), and other areas that are directly represented in the world around us. Students can write a story about the photograph, create a song to remember formulas, or present understanding in many other ways.

Finally, the most important way digital media can bring creativity to the classroom is through an approach that is far less tangible than the projects listed above. Sir Ken Robinson stated, “If you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” In the classroom,  I can teach students the reward in working towards a solution, but being wrong in steps along the way. Encouraging discussions that incorporate hypothesis about a problem with responses from others is a great way to brainstorm as a group. Perhaps a class blog will foster this activity. Although the posts will be listed with an author, students may feel more comfortable opening up their creative mind on an Internet post, which may lead to more meaningful and creative discussions in the classroom during which students are comfortable being wrong from time to time.

Ken Robinson is pretty convincing that schools kill creativity. I believe it would be hard to contradict his statements because, in my opinion, he is right! Technology and digital media can be useful tools to foster creativity, even when tests are still the central measure of success. With more creativity and evidence of learning through the creative process, perhaps our society will shift in their values enough to stray from test scores and evaluate the whole person.

Ken Robinson - "Do Schools Kill Creativity" on TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Prezi: Angles in a Plane

Angles in a Plane Prezi

At first glance, this presentation is a collection of factual definitions, theorems, and postulates found in Geometry. However, this Prezi presentation is far more beneficial to students than a bunch of facts on their computer screens. Students can use this Prezi to either quickly review some facts they have learned and recall, or carefully review facts that may have been forgotten from previous classes. Students will work at their own pace and add new information to existing ideas. Students will use a guided note sheet to summarize facts, but also have free space to write examples or note connections between previous knowledge, real world examples, and other insights.

The videos in this presentation are a way for students to see applications of geometrical concepts in the real world, and in some instances, tie the idea to creative visuals or current events/celebrities that will create meaning in the students’ mind. By creating meaning, this technique will aid student in synthesizing the content; that is, focusing and holding onto the main ideas of the unit. By examining angles in real world animations and scenarios, students are disciplining their minds to think like a mathematician, architect, designer, and so forth, rather than simply memorizing facts.  

The final area of the Prezi is an online practice applet. This applet was very intentional because it requires students to call on prior knowledge of other mathematical concepts that were not reviewed in the presentation. As students solve for angles on parallel lines, the applet presents some problems in which the parallel lines are part of a trapezoid or parallelogram. Students are immediately making connections between these shapes and the angles in the Prezi. Students are also required to call on their basic algebra skills to solve for the variable. This applet provides immediate feedback to the student. Overall, it is a unique tool that shows students how many mathematical concepts tie together. Synthesizing, making connections, and delving deeper into the discipline are all results of this Prezi, which I would hope, would make Howard Gardner smile.