I was so incredibly excited to hear Dan speak. And he did not disappoint. I first came across Dan Meyer in this video:
I followed him on twitter and had looked into Teaching with 3 Act Tasks, but had not yet integrated any of these tasks or types of problems into my own classroom.
What is perplexity? Not confusion. It is students asking questions and wanting to know the answers. This is not to be confused with engagement. Use tasks that make it near impossible for students to not ask their own mathematical questions. In watching videos in Act I, you are left asking a question, with an eagerness to jump in and solve, or engage in mathematics.
Capture perplexity- RSS reader (I'm currently using feedly with google reader gone), save and download youtube videos using keepvid, way to take notes, audio recorder, camera
Share perplexity- computer with speakers and projector, document camera to display student work
Resolve perplexity- focus on standards, only use technology as a tool if it is being used to capture, share, or resolve perplexity
**This year I will begin class not with "Today we are going to learn about...." but "Today we are going to ask about..."
Not so Common Sense - Rachel Cruze
- We can change the lives of students by teaching them about money NOW.
- 7 out of 10 Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This is our normal. Challenge students and give them the knowledge and tools they need to be better than normal.
- Break the cycle, give students the knowledge to make better financial decisions.
- Coming away from Dan's session... I thought- why just tell and show students these statistics? Certainly engaging, but not perplexing. Instead ask students: what would happen if you put that car payment into a mutual fund earning 12% interest... let them find the answer.
- Several links to resources: smartertexas.org , http://handsonbanking.org , http://texasrealitycheck.com
Math- Fun & Games for All, Part II
This session was presented by sixth grade math teachers in Huntsville ISD. Documents here.
- Fraction War - compare fractions using dominoes- template for dominoes included
- Board games- Let's Fly, Game on!, Its All Yours! - The team presented multiple board games that could be used with essentially any topic. Create game cards with questions for any topic (equivalent fractions, vocabulary, computation, etc) Students draw a card, answer the question on that card, and if correct spin the spinner or roll the dice and move their token the allotted number of spaces. An incorrect answer does not get to move their token.
If you have worksheets already, instead of creating cards, you could have blank cards that indicate a problem number. Students draw a card to tell them which problem they work. - I See It In Threes- Using dominoes. Players draw dominoes from a pile and write the fraction on the domino and then convert to decimal and a percent.
- Ad's Up! With dominoes this game has multiple stages. Students begin adding fractions and work up to adding mixed numbers (using a combination of a dice roll and dominoes).
- Convert My ? - Turn over a domino. The left side is feet and the right side is inches. Convert to inches. Could work with any measurement conversions.
- Top Dog- Students use dominoes to form fractions and see who can add their dominoes together to form the largest number.
- You Can't See Me - Place Value, could use in compare/order decimals in sixth grade
Mathematical Processes in Action - Juli Dixion
"Student engagement in the mathematical processes is widely supported, but what it looks like in the classroom remains elusive. Explore classroom videos of the process in action and discuss their use as a tool for professional development" - from CAMT catalog
Mathematical process standards. The student uses mathematical processes to acquire and demonstrate mathematical understanding. The student is expected to:
(A) apply mathematics to problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace;
(B) use a problem-solving model that incorporates analyzing given information, formulating a plan or strategy, determining a solution, justifying the solution, and evaluating the problem-solving process and the reasonableness of the solution;
(C) select tools, including real objects, manipulatives, paper and pencil, and technology as appropriate, and techniques, including mental math, estimation, and number sense as appropriate, to solve problems;
(D) communicate mathematical ideas, reasoning, and their implications using multiple representations, including symbols, diagrams, graphs, and language as appropriate;
(E) create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas;
(F) analyze mathematical relationships to connect and communicate mathematical ideas; and
(G) display, explain, and justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communication.
These were some things I tweeted during this presentation:
- If students can create word problems for numerical expressions, they have a greater grasp of numerical and operational concepts
- Instead of giving students word problems and asking them to solve it, give them a numerical expression and ask them to write a problem.
- If classroom feels neat and controlled, then the teacher is probably doing majority of thinking. Be okay with walking away from struggling students
- When we expect students to use multiple representations then we need to be prepared to accept them
- Instead of telling students the angles in a triangle add up to 180 degrees, challenge them to draw a triangle in which that is not true
3 rules when working in cooperative groups:
- Provide an explanation and justification for your solutions and answers
- Make sense of classmates' solutions
- Communicate when you don't agree or don't understand
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