Diving Into Math and Tech

 I've always been one to slowly put my toes in the water.  I like to test the waters before I make myself comfortable.  Teaching is nothing like this.  Teaching is a profession that you have to cannonball your way into a theoretical pool of experience.  You can't just ease your way in and teach a few kids while you get a hang of things.  You have to dive in head first and figure it out as you go.

When I was told I was teaching Math and Tech this year, I tried to whole "toe in the water" approach.  I slowly dabbled in ways to show the students different ways they could use technology while in my classroom.  What I quickly realized was that this was not the best way for them to use technology.  It was a million times easier for me to have them emerge themselves in the topic and develop their own knowledge about the concept or skill we were working on.  It not only gave them a sense of accomplishment but they then owned their own education.

Teachers everywhere are in the same boat as I am.  Here is a new class with  new set of rule and regulations that you have to plan for that you have never taught before.  You worry about classroom engagement, lesson plans, logistics, etc.  But at the end of the day, you know you are up for the job.

My first round of teaching Math and Tech was a learning experience.  I was dabbling in different technologies and apps to engage my students.  My favorite lesson I taught last marking period was during the Hour of Coding.  The purpose of the lesson was the show my students the benefit of knowing how to write coding.  The free website, Hour of Code, shows the students how to give game instructions for computer programs.  What I found is that my middle school students loved the independence of writing code with this program but also thought that this is something that they should have known how to do for quite some time.  I watched students who rarely use computers completely blossom in the class and realize that they had this potential in the computer science arena.

My students also started to create videos with the website GoAnimate, a website that allows teachers and students to create cartoon videos.  The students were told they could make any video they want, and then I gave them guidelines on how to make a video that teaches another students math.  They were able to pick a topic for a 6th grade student, create the cartoon video, and then we shared it with the 6th grade teachers in another school.  The students not only collaborated together, but also were able to all jump in at different entry levels on the website depending on how comfortable they were with the software. Many students went from making very basic 10 second movies to longer videos as the became more confident with the program. See the video below of a video that one of my students submitted.

This year has been nothing but stressful; however, I would never trade my Math and Tech class for anything else in the world.  I get to witness students grow and learn during the two marking periods and thrive in a way that is very different from the traditional math class.  This math blog will be devoted to sharing ways my students are learning and growing during the first marking period of Math and Tech. Stay tuned soon for lesson plans on how to incorporate art into math class with coordinate grids.

Until then -

One of Many Mathsters of the Universe

Adding and Subtracting by Symphony Henriquez on GoAnimate



Resources:

Every child deserves opportunity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2016, from https://code.org/

Go Animate. (n.d).  Retrieved January 31, 2016, from https://www.goanimate.com.

Henriquez, S. (2015).  Retrieved January 31, 2016, from https://www.goanimate.com.