MathArt

Going to the Georgia Museum of Art reminded made me realize how much I do love looking at art pieces! This was the first time though that I went into a place like this with the mindset of a teacher and how I can use art in a certain content area. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to find art that could easily be used in a classroom. Out of the many pieces I saw for math, Science, and social studies, I chose a piece by Sam Gilliam called "Patchwork/Terry, 1980". In the description of the painting, it describes how Gilliam "uses an irregular polygonal shape" to then display different shapes within this painted figure. This piece could be used in math class when learning topics such as geometry and trigonometry. Students can look at angles to decide their approx. size and identify whether the angle is obtuse or acute. This piece can be used when learning about triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem. While there are not measurements for the lengths, a picture can be blown up and students can measure the length of the sides of the triangles and measure angles using tools such as a ruler and a protractor. A teacher could also identify certain measurements and students must then do the math to find the missing measurements. This activity could be use at the beginning of a class as a “Starter” or “Ticket-Out-The-Door” or there is enough to make a whole lesson with this piece of art. Using art is a creative and new way to bring students attention to school subjects outside of the classroom. This type of activity could allow a student who is passionate about art, but maybe not as interested in math see how their passions can carry over to other fields. A student who loves math, but does not have a great appreciation for art is able to see how the two come together and art now has a new meaning to that student. Overall, I love this idea of math and art coming together!
WC: 348

Resource Blog: LightSail

LightSail is a resource that's main focus is the success of the students reading. It offers over 6,000 text for free!! After listening to Mrs. Skinner mention that her evaluation comes from how much the students' Lexile scores improve, I began to search for resource that would help me with my students if that was the case. Through the website, students are provided with text in any content area, provided assessments, and given automatic feedback on their reading progress. LightSail is designed in a way that engages students in the classroom, increases the amount of time that students want to read, and advance literacy development. This is now an app that can be found on devices and used both inside and outside of classroom time. What I found intriguing was that students are able to find out what kind of reader they are. They can personalize their own library and not only read content area material, but this will carry over to other areas in the student's life. Ultimately, students are only going to become better readers if their is more time spent on reading. This provides a way that is intriguing and appealing to students, but also benefits the teacher and her success in the classroom.

https://lightsailed.com/

WC: 206

Mrs. Maronpot's Lesson To Us

The first thing that stood out to me, which I believe most likely stood out to many of us is this teacher’s drive and passion for what she does. Her passion is for learning and her students. this profession, there is always room for growth and improvement. Even a teacher who has been Teacher of the Year five years in a row can improve instruction and thought to be even better. This constructive criticism is something all teachers need. We want to better our knowledge and understanding to better student learning and understanding. This video reminded me that a teacher I cannot stay with in my comfort zone of teaching, but rather am challenged with trying different and new techniques to enhance the learning experience for students.

A few take-aways from this video include preparing questions the night before. I think it is easy to prepare for a lesson and have materials ready but not necessarily prepare for the question asking portion of the lesson. Questions are what start discussion and conversation in the class and need to be asked methodically. A variety of questions should be used and not just one type in order to create productive discussion in class. Questions will provide meaning to certain topics and concepts. Another take-away is the suggestion of allowing students to display their work before the class and using technology to its full potential. I just wrote a paper this week about the Hungarian Math Classroom. It discussed that there is so much power in allowing students to show procedures in front of the class allowing for students to take control of their learning. It began to change their math role of thinking like a student to thinking like a mathematician. After all, we learn from others. Step back on so much teach instruction and allow students to take ownership of their learning and growing.

WC: 313

Text Set 1

For my text set, I will be using the GSE 8^thgrade Physical Science standard S8P5, which states students will obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about gravity, electricity, and magnetism as major forces acting in nature. These three forces can be explored through many different mediums. The text provided will allow students to have access to evidence to meet the requirement of creating an argument about the idea that fields, such as the gravitational field, exists when in contact or without contact between the objects. The S8P5 requires students to carry out investigations that show charges in an insulator and conductor, and then investigations to show the factors that cause different strengths of electric and magnetic forces. There is a lot to cover in this one standard, but there are many different videos and written demonstrations that provide students can use as material to then remodel the demonstration for their own learning. The standard mentions that investigations are not limited to just generators or motors, but these two must be included through the investigation process. Through my text set, students will be able to have a variety of sources that provide the essential information that will be most beneficial to their learning and meeting the standard. The text set will allow them to make meaning and understanding of the standard that will be tested.

WC 224

Strategy Lesson Reflection: KWL

This experience of teaching the class about the KWL was overall beneficial to the process of becoming more comfortable in front of students. I believe the lesson went well, but it definitely was a learning experience. I felt as if Grace and I were prepared in terms of having our materials ready, having in depth knowledge of the KWL, and working together to co-teach the lesson. I believe that our activity really allowed our classmates to see how a KWL can be used not only when reading a text in a content area, but through text in any media outlet. The reason we did this was because majority of the class has been exposed to a KWL whether in their own schooling or through their time in education courses. One thing that I would do differently is make the Powerpoint with less words and maybe add some more time for discussion between each slide. This would allow students to engage more in the content of the lesson. An unexpected challenge we had was that we did not really have a set time of how long we were going to let our classmates fill out each category of the KWL. As we were standing up there, we had to pick a time on the spot. We said we would give them a minute, but it seemed like most students were done way before a minute in one portion, but needed more time for another category. I think with that, we should have had a timer on the screen to allow students to see their time. In the future, I want to be sure for activities that need a time limit that there is a timer that everyone can see. This will help students gauge their time when working. 

WC: 297