February

SAMR & The Triple E Framework (February 8th, 2021)

ReDesigning Instruction - Empathize/Discover (February 17th, 2021)

I'm taking a class right now called about technology in education. Currently we are in the middle of a project where the goal is to redesign an aspect of our instruction. I am working to redesign my unit on angles & triangles. Students don't see much with angles after fourth or fifth grade and so when they get to me in 7th grade there is a lot of reteaching that has to be done in order to make sure that we are ready to learn 7th grade standards. It has been difficult in the class to make sure that my students have a strong concept of what an angle is and I wanted to take some time to go through the redesign process to really make sure my unit is the best that it can be in order to help my kids learn the best.

The first part of the redesign process is called the Empathize/Discover phase. In this phase you have to identify the problem and listen to what the subjects (students) have to say about it. For this phase I created a google form, you can check it out here. The results of this google form were so interesting to me. A majority of my students are tactile learners. During a typical (read: non-covid) year I am much better at incorporating tactile activities, however even in a normal year I have some room for improvement in this area. But, during this year where it is hard to do tactile activities because of not being able to share materials and the need for sanitation, I have done a horrible job of incorporating tactile activities. I know now that for my students to learn effectively I need to be more intentional about using tactile activities in my lessons. Things as simple as using whiteboards are helpful for my students, but I also want to be more creative.

Another aspect of the survey that was helpful was that I redesigned my seating chart based on the input that the students gave. Quite a few students had a specific spot they like to be in the classroom and had a reason for why they like that spot the best. I accommodated those the best that I could in our new seating chart that I will be introducing next week.

Overall, I am really excited to apply what I've learned to redesign my angles and triangles unit! Hopefully you're ready to come along with me!

I've attached an activity that I created in a different class that I am planning to use in this unit. It is a discovery activity on geogebra that my students will be able to use to come up with the Triangle Inequality Theorem. I am excited to use this because I think the interactive aspect of desmos will help my tactile students, me leading the class through it will help my auditory students, and seeing the triangles either be created or not be able to be created will help my visual learners. I think this activity is going to be really helpful in my redesign process. Here is a link to the activity: https://www.geogebra.org/m/mztsgggt

If you have any comments feel free to leave them on the padlet below!

Redesigning Instruction - Define/Interpret Phase (February 27th, 2021)