Technology Plan

Over the course of this semester, I have been exposed to many new technologies. In my unit on polygons and symmetry I would like to use some of these technologies, as well as others that may have not been covered. I really like the idea of having a Wiki for a class. I think this is a great way for students to get help when they are outside of the classroom. students can work together collaboratively to complete tasks inside and outside of the classroom by using a Wiki. this is also a space where students that may have been absent can get caught up with the work that they have missed. I also really liked the idea of a photo story. I think that this is a good tool for both students and teachers. Teachers can use a photo story to present material to their students. I really like the idea of have a photo story on commonly missed problems on an exam or homework set. The pictures can be of teh incorrect work and the voice can be the explanation of why the solution is incorrect. On the other hand, students can use photo story to complete projects or give a presentation to the class.
I would like to teacher polygons and symmetry using some technological tools. In this lesson I want students to be able to identify which polygons are symmetrical (both reflection and rotation) and which are not. I would like them to know all types of quadrilaterals, as well as teh different types of triangles. Students should also know the basic properties of these polygons. I also want students to learn about regular polygons and what makes the special. I will be covering the following standards:

G1.4.1: Solve multistep problems and construct proofs involving angles measure, side length, diagonal length, perimeter, and area of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, kites, and trapezoids.

G1.4.3: Describe and justify hierarchical relationships among quadrilaterals.

G3.1.1: Define reflection, rotation, translation, and glide reflection and find the image of a figure under a given isometry.

G3.1.2: Given two figures that are images of each other under an isometry, find the isometry and describe it completely.

I would like to design a Wiki that has the assignments and projects required for this unit. I want students to be able to work with one another an be able to post questions or concerns that they have about the assignments and material. This Wiki will also have links to different applets that will assist students as wel progress through teh unit. because this unit is so visual with rotating, reflecting, and translating figures, I think it will be very beneficial for students to see these isometries and manipulates the figures themselves. I will also have different resources posted on this Wiki and invite students to post any that they have found as well. Then students who would like more information on the material or need extra help can easily find it.
There will be a couple of projects throughout this unit that require the use of technology. First, students will create a photo story. They will have to find and take pictures of 10 different symmetrical objects (rotation and reflection). They will collect these pictures into a photo story and record themselves explaining the location of the lines of symmetry as well as its rotational symmetry (if applicable). Later on in the unit, as students learn more about the quadrilaterals and their properties, they will create another photo story in a group. Each group will be assigned a different quadrilateral and they will become "experts" on that figure. They will try to find objects that represent each quadrilateral and take pictures of them. Then they will create another photo story where they point out the quadrilateral, as well as the properties associated with each one. They can use the Wiki to communicate with one another and share their pictures and photo stories. Once finished, they will post their photo story on the Wiki to share with their classmates and then present their findings to the class.

Podcasts in Education

I created a mini-lesson on circuits for a physics classroom. Students would be given a light bulb, wire, and battery. Then I would give them the goal of lighting the bulb. I would want them to find constructions that light the bulb and constructions that do not light the bulb. Then we would transition to drawing these symbolically and I would show them the following podcast. After viewing the podcast, students will be able to draw their successful circuits. Students would then listen to a second podcast. After this podcast, students will understand the requirements to have a successful circuit. They will use this knowledge during a quick write on why/why not certain configurations of the bulb, wire, and battery did not work.
I think podcasting can be used as an educational tool inside and outside of the classroom. I like the idea of highlighting the important ideas of a lesson on a podcast. Students that missed the class can listen to the podcast and learn what topics they missed. This also reminds students about the key points and what they should have taken away from the lesson. Parents can also listen to these podcasts to get an idea of what their child is learning at school. I think I like the podcast that have visuals along with the audio. I am a very visual person and I think I would have difficulty strictly listening to information on my computer. I do not think students would retain that information very well either.

Using Images

Original Image: "Unnamed"
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GidJNJprztA/SaLs7Pp-3eI/AAAAAAAAGto/_8x_YqZMCIA/s512/Tulipes%204550%2030X20CH.jpg
by: Patrick
All rights reserved.

If a student had come to be needing images for a presentation, I would have told her to just go to Google.com, click on "images", and then type in what she was looking for. If she asked me how to give the creator credit, I honestly would have told her not to worry about that. That is what I WOULD have done, up until this assignment. I never realized that images should be cited when you use them for projects, presentations, etc. However, it makes sense because it is just like using a quote or summarizing information from a source. Now I would recommend to the student to use Creative Commons. She could easily find pictures on this website. Then I would tell her that she needs to include the name of the picture, the author, the website she found the picture, as well as the rights that the author has. I have found that using Creative Commons, as well as Flickr, it can be difficult to find out the author's exact name, or a name for the image. I would just instruct the student to say that the author is "unknown" or the image is "unnamed".

Making Voice Threads

I created a Voice Thread that showed a few examples of how Fibonacci numbers appear in nature. This is a Voice Thread that I would use as a teacher to introduce my students to this idea. I was actually surprised at how easy this was! I just simply found some pictures of flowers and pinecones that demonstrate how the Fibonacci numbers appear in nature. Then I added a recording that explained the pictures and what is important about them. For a couple of the pictures, I added a typed note as well for things that were easier to read than to hear.

I think that Voice Threads would be good to use in a launch portion of a lesson plan. I think it is a way to get students excited about material and to show how material is relevant. As a math teacher, I think I would use Voice Threads to show how the content being learned is relevant to real world situations. I think when students know that the material they are learning is useful, they are more motivated to learn it. I also think that that Voice Threads would be useful in geometry to show and compare different three-dimensional and two-dimensional figures. The recording could be used to explain different properties of these figures, as well as how to calculate their area, volume, perimeter, etc.

Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Map Mashups for Geometry

I created a map mashup that could be used in the Geometry course (mostly 9th graders) that I am currently placed in.
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This map has various landmarks throughout the world that are made from the three-dimensional objects that my students are familiar with. As you click on each marker, a picture pops up with some information on the landmark, followed by some questions. Some of these questions ask students to identify the three-dimensional figure, view the figure from various angles, calculate area or perimeter, etc. I think that this activity will keep students interested because these are landmarks that they may/may not be familiar with. This map shows how they can apply their geometrical knowledge to things outside of the classroom. I think an interesting addition to this activity would be to have students create their own marker with a landmark of their choice. Then they could post information and come up with their own questions and answer them.

Organizing the Internet for Unit Plans

I am working on a unit that covers Area & Perimeter for a Geometry course. Most of the students in my class are in 9th grade, however, there are some older students as well.

This unit will accomplish the following GLCE and METS:

G2.1 Relationships between Area and Volume Formulas
G2.1.1 Know and demonstrate the relationships between the area formula of a triangle, the area formula of a parallelogram, and the area formula of a trapezoid.
G2.1.2 Know and demonstrate the relationships between the area formulas of various quadrilaterals.


3. Have access to and utilize assistive technology tools.

4. Collaborate in content-related projects that integrate a variety of media (e.g. print, audio, video, graphic, simulations, and models) with presentation, work processing, publishing, database, graphics design, or spreadsheet applications.

I have found several websites that will be helpful for this unit. I have created a delicious accounted and organized this websites under the tag geometry. Some of the websites under this tag are not for this unit, but are websites that I have used previously in the class.

The first website I looked at was a Shodor Interactive website called Shape Explorer. I frequently go use Shodor Interactive because it has a lot of websites for discovering Geometry properties. This particular website has the student calculating the area and the perimeter of various shapes. The shapes are on a grid so they can count the squares, or they can apply some of the formulas. The student can type in an answer and website checks the answer. I like this website because it has lots of different shapes instead of the usual square, triangle, rectangle, etc. I also like this website because it keeps a list of all of the areas and perimeters that have been calculated so that you can compare the two measurements.

The next website is a game called Shape Surveyor. This is a game where students calculate either area or perimeter of various shapes. I like this game because you can choose the difficulty at the beginning of the game. This way students who do not feel as comfortable with the material can choose a lower level while other students can do more challenging levels if they please. I do not know how much "fun" this game really is, but it is a good way to check understanding.

I included a website called Area and Perimeter. This website walks students through the properties of area and perimeter and how to find each one. It's very colorful, looks fun, and it has student clicking on different shapes and pictures to learn about area and perimeter. It is a lot more entertaining than reading this information from a book and it is presented in an easy to remember way. It also has students "check" their understanding as the go through the website.

There are two more websites from Shodor Interactive. One of them is Perimeter Explorer and the other is Area Explorer. These websites have some fairly complicated shapes placed on a grid and the object is to find the perimeter or area of each of the shapes. The students can simply count the squares or they can break up the shapes and apply the formulas. There is a button where you can show the outline of the shape. This makes it easy for the student to calculate the area of a larger square and then subtract out the missing pieces. A lot of times students are sent home with homework that asks them to do the same exact thing. I think I would have students calculate the area and perimeter for 10 different shapes on this website as homework instead.