What crazy, interesting, confusing, strange, amazing experiences do I have on a weekly basis? Maybe my students made some off-the-wall comment. Some other time, I might have a story about a wonderful teaching moment. There may be some weeks that I reflect on my strengths/weaknesses as a teacher and others where I need advice. I'm dealing with the experience a day at a time.
I tried a whole-class computer activity this week. All we hear in our education courses now is how we have to be prepared to teach the technology generation. The students we have or will have learned how to use a computer at a younger age than we did. They rely on video games, cell phones, internet and so forth regularly. Teachers are being encouraged to incorporate technology where ever applicable in their instruction. It is even said that utilizing technology is a way to increase motivation and student engagement.
I decided to try a Web quest to help my students master solving two-step equations. it is my effort to find outside resources to supplement the text book and keep my lessons interesting. In this situation, we had practiced for several days already on solving one and two step equations. For this activity, students were using a balance simulate an equation and then the computer assisted them in solving it. I was not a fan of 100% of the Web quest so I created a worksheet that would guide the students through the "Stops." Right from the beginning, the students were asking what to do. They could not even click on the first link to get started. We found the major problem with the activity - the students did not want to read. The applet has clear directions on how to move objects and work through the problems. Rather than reading the directions, the students would just raise their hand claiming they "were confused" or "didn't understand." It was a frustrating experience because I felt the students were ungrateful. All they wanted was to take the easy way out. I did my best to provide experiences different than the traditional classroom instruction, drill, practice. Ultimately, I felt that the students were unappreciative. It makes me not want to take them to the computer lab again.
On a more positive note, the following day we wrote our own word problems. Problem solving and word problems are a headache for most students. Honestly, they are a migraine for teachers. We are constantly being hounded that students needs to be more efficient and consistent problem solvers. With each math concept, there is a form of word problem to be associated. Rather than giving word problems and the students simply solving routinely, we wrote our own. Students had freedom of topic while I gave them a specific equation to use as a starting point. In every class, the students were eager to share their "story." I would do this again :)
I tried a whole-class computer activity this week. All we hear in our education courses now is how we have to be prepared to teach the technology generation. The students we have or will have learned how to use a computer at a younger age than we did. They rely on video games, cell phones, internet and so forth regularly. Teachers are being encouraged to incorporate technology where ever applicable in their instruction. It is even said that utilizing technology is a way to increase motivation and student engagement.
ReplyDeleteI decided to try a Web quest to help my students master solving two-step equations. it is my effort to find outside resources to supplement the text book and keep my lessons interesting. In this situation, we had practiced for several days already on solving one and two step equations. For this activity, students were using a balance simulate an equation and then the computer assisted them in solving it. I was not a fan of 100% of the Web quest so I created a worksheet that would guide the students through the "Stops." Right from the beginning, the students were asking what to do. They could not even click on the first link to get started. We found the major problem with the activity - the students did not want to read. The applet has clear directions on how to move objects and work through the problems. Rather than reading the directions, the students would just raise their hand claiming they "were confused" or "didn't understand." It was a frustrating experience because I felt the students were ungrateful. All they wanted was to take the easy way out. I did my best to provide experiences different than the traditional classroom instruction, drill, practice. Ultimately, I felt that the students were unappreciative. It makes me not want to take them to the computer lab again.
On a more positive note, the following day we wrote our own word problems. Problem solving and word problems are a headache for most students. Honestly, they are a migraine for teachers. We are constantly being hounded that students needs to be more efficient and consistent problem solvers. With each math concept, there is a form of word problem to be associated. Rather than giving word problems and the students simply solving routinely, we wrote our own. Students had freedom of topic while I gave them a specific equation to use as a starting point. In every class, the students were eager to share their "story." I would do this again :)