Exemplary Blog Reflection One

Directions:

Present basic information on the video you watched.
Present the link and title of the video you watched.
Present a summary of the video you watched (brief).
Form a response based on the following questions:
Describe some strengths you saw with regards to the teacher using technology (e.g., strategies, uses of technology, etc...).
Do you consider these uses exemplary or meaningful? Why or why not?
Has the way this teacher used technology shaped or changed your ideas about meaningful technology integration or the way you might use technology?
Discuss how you might use these ideas in your own classroom, even if the ideas presented are not in your content area - find a way to apply them to your future classroom (be creative).

Response:

Video Title: Graphing Linear Equations
Video Location: http://www.intime.uni.edu/video/015mohs/0/
Summary: Teacher Pam Maclin leads her ninth grade students in Missouri through a lesson on graphing linear equations. She first has the students review basic graphing skills along with manipulating equalities. The students then are able to practice their skills in groups before moving to a computer lab and playing "Green Globs and Graphing Equations." This program plots points and then the students must find linear equations that contain the points. Last, the students are directed to gather research on the Internet of real life applications involving points and linear equations. By graphing the points and finding a linear equation to represent the points, the students are suppose to see connections to their own world.

The teacher did an excellent job preparing the students with the knowledge they needed to be successful while playing Green Globs. She also worked the students up to the level of mastery though a variety of learning techniques including individual work, group work, class work, research, games, and paper and pencil work. Her lesson plan did not solely rely on technology but instead used it as a tool to help reinforce the skills by repetitive random questions. Having the students gather their own research and numbers to graph is an excellent technique for helping students relate math to the world. Both uses of technology are meaningful because Green Globs provides randomness in questions and will evaluate the students for the teacher. The Internet research is important because it provides up-to-date information the students can collect on a topic that interests the group. Math books provide "real life" exampled and data but usually seems a bit silly to the students and is rarely actually interesting to students. The Internet also makes obtaining a large collection of data easier while a math book can not provide a life-like amount of data. The technology integration by this teacher was minimal yet sufficient. She used the computer to help reinforce ideas and concepts after teaching the material. I always imagined integrating technology by having the technology do the teaching or assist in the teaching. Instead, this teacher taught the lesson without technology (besides the graphing calculator). She just used it at the end to help the students practice the new skills. This is the way it seems technology should be integrated. In my own classroom I could closely follow this plan of teaching and using technology to reinforce ideas. Even now as I am teaching my students how to graph linear equations next week I'm considering trying to find Green Globs online. I know the problems in the book from which I teach are not excellent problems and would love to be able to integrate some graphing programs into the class. I also love the idea of having students research for math. Requiring the students to do a "research project" and apply a math skill helps pull math and other subject matters together. I hope to have my students do research projects that require writing papers and perhaps some science.