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| http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/Technology-in-the-Classroom-Full-of-Choices |
This week’s class focused on exploring
different ways in which technology can be incorporated into the math classroom.
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| https://teacher.desmos.com/polygraph-lines |
One of the activities we did in class was
a “Guess Who” style game about parabolas. Once logged in with the teacher created class code, students
are paired up randomly with a student in the class. One student selects a
parabola and will be able to only answer yes or no to the questions asked by the
other student.
One advantage of this activity is that
students get to use their math vocabulary. Both the student asking questions
and the student answering questions need to know what terms means in order to
select the correct graph. Another advantage is that the teacher is able to
monitor the questions being asked and can use this as a form of assessment.
A strategy discussed in our class was to
highlight good questions that students asked during the activity. This is a way
to acknowledge a students good work as well as to help other students needing assistance with questions to ask.
This same style of game has been developed
for a variety of different topics including: linear equations, quadratic
equations, triangles and transformations. These can be found here.
The teacher Desmos had a lot of other activities
that would be great to use in a future lesson. After exploring the site, I tried the Marbleslides:Exponentials activity. This activity was set up to allow students to visualize
the effect a modification of the basic exponential equation has. I think this
would be a great activity in Grade 11 when students are learning about graphing exponential functions.
Overall, I found that Desmos provided a great
variety of class activities and I hope to be able to try these in my class
soon.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThere are so many great activities on the teacher.desmos.com site now. There used to be only 5 or 6 but they have expanded significantly over the past year and now you can create your own as well. Marbleslides are fun! Another one to play with is the Penny Circle. I hope you get an opportunity to experiment using Desmos on your teaching block so you can really see it in action.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI was exposed to Desmos for the first time this year within our classroom. I too believe it is an effective tool to aid student learning. This week in my own blog I talked about how Desmos could be used as a supplement for graphing calculators because its simple to use, its provides an effective visual, and its always growing. I too am excited to see how Desmos works in my mathematics classroom.
Brodey Holditch
Hello Laura,
ReplyDeleteThanks some great insight on technology's role in the modern classroom. I really enjoyed reading about your experience with Desmos. I honestly believe it's a tool that teachers and easily integrate into their classroom, especially when you start using teacher.desmos.com as a resource.
I think it is important to note that teachers shouldn't just passively put up a Desmos activity that they know applies to the curriculum and allow the students to work through it. Instead it is vital that teachers play an active role. It is through the teachers understanding of the classroom and student's needs that they will be able to successfully choose when to and how to integrate technology into the classroom. Furthermore, this will always ensure that it is being used effectively.
Thanks for the great read.
Cheers,
Mike S.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteLast class was the first time I had ever used Desmos and I found the tool very engaging because it makes math feel like a game which student's would probably enjoy. Besides the parabolas game, I was wondering what other topics Desmos could be used for. The Marbleslide activity for exponentials is an interesting and interactive way for students to explore different exponential functions.
I look forward to finding more ways to incorporate technology effectively into the classroom.
Thanks for the post!