- objective
- key activities
- assessment
- What stood out that made it effective?
- What suprised you?
- What went as planned or even better than planned?
- What previous experience prepared you to be effective?
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Reflection Assignment Week of April 12: Effective Lesson
Give very concise summary of an effective lesson you taught:
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One of the first lessons I taught in Geometry went fairly well. The objectives were that TSW identify parts of prisms, and TSW calculate the lateral and surface area of rectangular and triangular prisms. The key activities included a Do Now, critical thinking questions and discussion on CD packaging (thanks to Marty for some ideas), a fill-in-the blanks interactive notes activity, guided practice and independent practice. The assessment included checking student progress with the Do Now, during guided practice, and homework review the next morning. Two things that stood out was the DO Now and the initiation into the lesson by discussing the changes made in CD packaging from the early 1990’s to now. This was their first Do Now, and it was effective. The kids went right into it and got on task. When we talked about the CD’s, it was relevant to prisms, got them thinking about how they could determine how much plastic and wrapping they might need for a CD package, and allowed them to have some fun by seeing some “dinosaur” items their teacher had - like an old LP record, bulky original CD packaging, and a cassette tape.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me were some of the good responses I received to questions from students that I thought may have struggled with answering. There were at least 3 students that normally are less active that answered questions well and correctly when I called on them. It was very nice to see. The lesson went as planned for the most part, but again time was a factor. I think what went better than planned was the questioning and critical thinking during the lesson. The kids really seemed to be trying to figure out the concept of area in 3 dimensions. I also decided to scaffold teaching and practice on lateral area first before jumping into surface area. It took a little extra time, but they seemed to get the concept better with the extra practice. My previous experience in planning lessons and actually teaching them taught me to be prepared and have a good game plan. I also took Randy’s advice to try and keep it simple with a format of notes, guided practice and independent practice. Also, having a previous lesson that pressed me for time, I was better prepared to monitor and adjust the lesson (do less guided practice problems) to still achieve the objective, and have time for a closure
One of the lessons that I taught was about spheres. The objective was: Find the surface area and the volume of a sphere. I had brought few different balls with me like a soccer ball, a basket ball, tennis balls and a baseball. In addition, the cooperating teacher had a model of a sphere cut in two hemispheres and I also had a globe borrowed from the science teacher. However I had hard time how I would engage any prior knowledge (i.e. diameter or circumference of a circle to the sphere’s counterparts). The hemisphere was probably a solution, but I was not very happy about it. Then I came up with another idea. I tied one end of a string on a ring. I showed the ring to the students and I asked them what shape the saw? They answered; “a circle”. Then I twisted the string a lot and I gave it to a student to hold it in a vertical position. The ring started unwinding. I asked the students: “what you see?” I got my answer: “a sphere”. Finally, I was happy that the students had connected the idea of a circle and the sphere. They had understood that the circle and the sphere had the same radius and diameter.
ReplyDeleteThen I proceeded with the two main formulas and I solved examples on the board. Then I posed further problems for the students to solve and I went around checking how they were doing. Since they were doing fine, I decided to go ahead with a pre-planned activity. I separated the class in 5 groups. I gave a tennis ball to each group and I told them that they had 5’ to find the area and the volume of the tennis ball without asking me any questions. Two groups came with their own solution, by wrapping a tape around the tennis ball. After couple of minutes I provided small strings to the other groups. The kids had a lot of fun. After they completed the activity, there was still some time left. I had prepared straightforward problems which I presented in a competition style, by rewarding with one point to all students of the group that found the correct answer first. The response was overwhelming. I could not believe what students could do just for a point!
I wanted to make sure that I could include a closure to the lesson which I did. The problem was that there were about 3’ left and I was done. I decided to revert to stories: I asked if anybody knew who discovered these strange formulas? A couple of students said: “Archimedes” so I grabbed the opportunity to tell them a little bit why Archimedes was not only one of the most famous mathematicians of all ages but also a physicist. I was pleasantly surprised that one student knew that Archimedes had discovered the buoyant force. I told them that Archimedes had discovered the buoyant force while he was taking his bath and in his excitement he went out running in the streets naked, shouting “Eureka”. I got a good laugh out of the students.
In conclusion, what made that lesson effective (besides the detailed preparation), I believe, it was the different approaches to teaching the material. Specifically, the connection to PK activity, the classical method of teaching the new stuff by presenting transparencies and writing major points on board, guided and independent practice, hands-on activity and story telling. In other words, it was all the things that we have been doing during the ARC micro teaching lessons which made the lesson effective. Hats off to Mr. R and Mr. J.!
I was surprised by the students’ response during the activity, the competition style questions and the story telling. All these three things went better than anticipated.
One more point: Not all my lessons have been effective as the lesson above. But I have come to terms with that fact and the fact that there is also life after teaching…
The most effective lesson I gave was an introduction of phase shift and vertical shift into the equation for sine and cosine functions. The objective was for the students to be able to identify the value of the phase shift and vertical shift from the equation of sine and cosine functions. The Do Now activity (which I thought of myself) was to plot clock time vs elapsed time for Connecticut and then for California and London to demonstrate phase shift. I also had the students recall the phase shift for the x2 function and graph because the changes you make to the equation to generate a phase shift and vertical shift are very similar to the changes you make to the equations for sine and cosine functions so this activated prior knowledge. In the main body of the lesson I showed graphs of equations for sine and cosine with the different shifts and had the students graph them for comparison in the calculators. Then near the end of the lesson I introduced the generic form of the equation for sine and cosine functions that have the shifts (y = a sin k (x-b) + c) and explained what each part of the equation was ( such as b is phase shift). If time allowed, I had a pop quiz where the students were given an equation and they had to identify amplitude, period, phase shift, and vertical shift. It was difficult to fit all this into a 45 minute lesson.
ReplyDeleteIt was effective because the “Do Now” was engaging, the review of x2 activated prior knowledge that most students knew. The students asked lots of questions about the time graph and the discussion probably took longer than I wanted but it was tough to move on when they were engaged. The students quickly recalled how to change the x2 function to do a vertical shift and a horizontal shift (which is similar to a phase shift for sine and cosine). After reviewing the x2 shifts the students were able to explain how to modify equations with sine and cosine in them to introduce phase and vertical shifts. The students did well on the pop quiz, greater than 90% identified correctly the parts of the equation, but many forgot it a week later for the quiz.
Well, I’m really having trouble getting all the required pieces in a lesson. It is taking close to 10 minutes to get my classes in doing the Do Nows, recording the homework and stamping the homework planner. We have so many students on Behavior Plans, Progress Reports, updates to PPTs or PPT referral meetings that you need to have some record of if they are getting homework done or not. I’ve been using the Do Now time effectively. I haven’t even been able to check the homework answers every day because there just isn’t time. I’m experimenting with different things on homework. We send Answer Keys back sometimes and give the students 3 minutes to correct their own homework. The other day I had them correct each others and send them to me to record while they took a quiz.
ReplyDeleteI’m very lucky that I have a Smart Board so I can get everything set up; Objective, Closure, Worksheets that I’m working with, Real Life Pictures etc. ( I have had trouble getting assess to the room and computer though.)
One thing that we are doing in our measurement section is to have a double-sided formula sheet that the students keep through the entire month long section. After a day of doing investigating or activities with the shape, the second day is to teach the formula, record it on the formula sheet, work through two examples on the formula sheet. The students are responsible for having these formula sheets in their binders.
So, the Day Two lessons for each shape are working very well I think. The Starter has a shape and formula that they learned already say for Rectangles, then a “what’s the same and what’s different” comparison section for a Parallelogram compared to a Rectangle. Then after we do over the Starter, I pull up today’s Objective. Basically it says ‘By the End of the Day, You will all be able to: use the formula for finding the area of Parallelogram, find the base, find the height. I start the lesson with the Parallelogram pictured on the starter, we add height and base lines and the formulas for practice before we go to the Formula sheet. Then, the Starter goes into the Classwork section and we get the yellow Formula sheet out. Next, we fill out the formulas on the Formula sheet for the Parallelograms and do the two examples there as guided practice. I use different color highlighters for base and height and literally instruct then to pick up highlighter one. Then put it down, then pick up the pencil for the writing and then pick up the second highlighter then put that down etc. I walk around as they are writing and make sure we get that Formula sheet done for each person because they get to use those for quizzes and tests. If I’m short on time, I would do the Closure here and have Independent work last after Closure. As part of closure I show them real-life pictures of the shapes we’re working with like Sunoco signs and road signs. In the closure, I have a Checklist—Left side has a box, Right side has the various things about the lesson.
Then, I hand out the homework, we do the first one together so I can show them how I want it done. Then they work on there own and I walk around and see how they are doing. Then I would stop them and request pencils down to do the Closure.
It is a very tight timeline even with no CM issues. I’m pushing every minute to get through.Getting to the Independent Practice seems to be the hardest for me with these lessons.
The repetition of doing the same procedure for each shape seems to resonant very well with the kids. It’s basically the same lesson plan with different shapes. It’s predictable for me and them. Also I think this Day Two goes very well with the students because they know how much has to be done. I see more student restlessness and CM issues on the Activity or Investigation Days and even practice of the formula days. But generally, not on Day Two.
I personally think that there is too much Investigating Time for all these shapes and I would structure this unit differently if it were me, but right now I have to follow the approach my cooperating teacher wants.
My most effective lesson to date followed what was probably my most ineffective lesson! The topic was solving systems of linear equations using the substitution method. On the prior day, I tried giving the students the notes, with blanks throughout, so they had to pay attention and fill in as class went on. That was a complete and utter disaster. The level of engagement was near zero! So the second day, I gave them handouts on which I had the page split vertically. The right hand side was blank, for them to do their work in, and on the left hand side was a simple example worked out step-by-step. The students found this to be extremely clear and many walked out indicating that they were getting it, just 45 minutes after having walked in indicating they were lost and had no idea how to do the homework. The following day I pretty much had to differentiate. Some of the students were flying through problems and were getting bored while others were saying they were lost at the very first step of substituting. I did a quick & informal survey the next day during the do-now. I had three options on the board, A, B and C, corresponding to "I get it", "I kinda get it but need more practice" and "I'm lost" respectively. (I used phrases that I heard many students using the prior day.) I had the students write their name and A, B or C on a small slip of paper and while they worked on the do now, I compiled these and quickly arranged some homogeneous groups. I had a worksheet prepared with practice exercises, and gave the "A" and "B" groups assigned problems from that worksheet (different problems for each group.) I encouraged them to work together. I then turned to group "C", the "I'm lost" group. For them, I focused on the substitution step... I had printed a system of linear equations in large font and cut out the major components, so that I could remove the "y" from the second equation and replace it with the right hand side of the first equation, which equaled y. I hoped that this would help some of the tactile or kinesthetic learners. I think it did. And, I suspect that actually having the pieces in-hand forms a vivid and long-lasting mental image, one that students are likely to remember.
ReplyDeleteAs for assessment, Randy drilled it into us pretty good that we need to be assessing often, and I do that. I assess probably every 5-10 minutes. I do something at the board, then immediately put it on the students to do the same, and I walk around and assess and correct or reteach as necessary. In addition to keeping the students on task, I feel like I have a great feel for the understanding of the class as a whole, and I don't see how else this could be achieved.
I will say that differentiating the way I did on this day is tough. I found myself spending way more time with the low group than I had intended. I think this is because the problems I gave the other two groups maybe should have been made a tad easier, to be sure they could work on them independently. I definitely think differentiating in this way is good though. Had I not done this but instead taught the class as a whole, I would have had large groups of students that would've been totally disengaged.
Well, I started teaching logarithms to my algerbra-2 classes in the second week. Introduction classes they enjoyed and started responding positively to the lesson. As I continued teaching and moved on to properties of logs, the students got overwhelmed with too many formulae, too any different ways to solve log equations. They started repelling. I noticed 2 classes; nothing was working out- manipulative, demonstration, groups, guided practice, retouching nothing was effective.
ReplyDeleteI started sensing the main problem and was very surprised. After a lesson quiz during closure, I came to a conclusion that my students do not remember or haven’t learnt the basic algebra-1 properties like a^m.a^n = a^(man), which are basic requirement to apply to solve logarithm equations. On top of it , their brains are Clorox clean after the vacation and it was back to where we started. So I took a fresh start again, this time with a differentiated instruction for all three groups – average, below average and above average students. I made logarithm worksheet booklets with a formula sheet on top.10 sheets starting from the bare minimum requirements from algebra1 which will revoke their prior knowledge and continued relative log worksheets one after the other from easier, moderate to difficult for each objective. Since this is the final trial left out, I couldn’t afford to lose any more time reteaching. So , I made two more modifications to the lesson, I formed groups of 3 – one bright, one average, one below average student .I also made list of all objectives for that chapter on a flip chart. As a class , students worked on each objective, took a 10 min quiz for every objective and put a tick mark against that objective. Groups helped within themselves, competed with each other, earned tickets and points for class work and participation and most of them did well in the quizzes. Now they are ready for chapter test scheduled for Monday, April 26th.
During the vacation , they did a project assignment on real world applications on Logarithms – Each students chooses an application, make a poster containing pictures related to his application, description of the application, Math involved – the actual logistics, and reason to chose the application. It was surprising to know, the most behavior students of class had the most interesting projects with the followed rubrics.
Most students in the class are very reluctant to do word problems. This assignment helped them to gain more interest on knowing how logs are applied. After the project assignment they got to problems on earthquakes, ph value, growth and decay, decibels etc quicker than before.
Everything put together, I would say it went better than planned. For this ,I did not have any prior experience, I learnt it only out of desperation and disappointment. But one thing I won’t forget, for every new topic I teach, from here on, I will try to brush all the basics required before I even step into the actual lesson. This will save me lot of time and effort.
corrections in my reflections.
ReplyDeleteretouching - reteaching
a^(man) - a^(m+n)
The most effective lesson I have taught was “solving equations using addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operations.” While teaching that lesson, a few of the students indicated that they did not understand the lesson so I taught some sections of the lesson again. When I asked them to do their regular independent practice and was monitoring them, I realized some of them still did the wrong thing. A few students were a bit slow to catch on so the following day I began by summarizing what was done the previous day. The look on a couple of faces was not encouraging. To make it worse, one student yelled “I don’t get it.” I thought to myself “how many times should I explain this thing? After giving them homework and correcting it together the following day, I was encouraged many of them did well. After a scheduled quiz, I was surprised to learn that almost all of them did very well. The student who yelled “I don’t get it” did extremely well. Some of them told me later that the way I used monetary terms to explain the concept made them identify with the lesson. Even two paraprofessional aides expressed their liking for the way I explained the lesson using both conventional and nonconventional analogies. Some of the students scored above 100% because they answered the bonus question correctly. I was proud of myself while grading the quiz – about 62 scripts in all. Even some students in my low level class scored A – and A +. Prior to the quiz, I wasn’t too sure about their performance but after quizzing them, I know the concept is now established in their minds and the thought of that – bringing a change to a student’s life makes me smile from cheek to cheek.
ReplyDeleteWeek Three: Effective Lessons, with Postscripts
ReplyDeleteI mentioned these in methods class, but my two most effective lessons were, in one case, scripted, and in the other completely extemporaneous.
The scripted lesson was teaching how to use a TI graphing calculator to perform linear regression. I worked for IBM several careers ago, and hardware demos are notorious for failing—Murphy’s law to the n-th power. And students are amazingly adept at interpreting instructions in creative ways people my age can no longer even imagine.
But it worked. They were attentive, occupied, were able to do multiple additional regression problems themselves with little prompting or help. Some students who did not pick up a pencil in any other lesson seemed to like working with the calculator—one who was particularly reluctant to do anything else went through all the assigned problems faster than any other student in any of the three classes. If computer facilities had been available, I would have found a way to give this student all his work that way.
The only equipment I had, besides the calculators, was a “document camera” which displayed anything you put on it on a screen. Extremely flexible. You can put anything written on a piece of paper, or a calculator, or a laptop, under the camera, and it’s up for the whole class. Unlike an overhead projector or a smartboard, you can put student work up as soon as they have written it. I didn’t fully appreciate all I might have done with it, but I would recommend it over much of the other classroom equipment I’ve seen. If I could only have one electronic tool, this would be it.
The second lesson was totally off the cuff: it was clear no one understood how to determine the equation of a line from two points. I dropped what I was doing, and had the students call out coordinates, and we all worked through some examples from there. Then I made up a number of problems for them to work on by themselves. Again, everyone seemed attentive and involved (though some still had trouble with the calculation days later).
Three postscripts.
First, while I taught the same material to three Algebra I classes, I never taught it the same way twice. I always ran the lesson a bit differently based on how things worked with the first class. Since the second and third classes were a day later, I often revised the do now worksheet or the activity to reflect what I learned the first time through.
Second, I would still probably limit calculator use, and teach many classes requiring the students do the math by hand. There were too many instances where it was clear that many of the students have no number sense. They reach for calculators to do addition and subtraction problems with numbers you can count on your fingers. They don’t have a good sense of rounding or the need to carry a certain number of significant digits. And they have no sense of about what the calculator answer should be, even to the extent of positive versus negative, or greater versus less than one. I believe this is related to not having enough experience doing calculations by hand. I would probably limit the use of calculators to those cases where they enhance the lesson, or those students that need this as a particular intervention.
Third, teaching does a really good job of exposing your character flaws. I talk way too much. I explain way too much. And I’m way too likely to help students rather than pushing them back on their own resources to solve problems. A lot of was the result of poor lesson design. I will try to be particularly attentive to these when I design lesson plans in the future.
I think my most effective lesson so far was actually my very first class. It was also the one being evaluated. The objective was to calculate and simplify the values of expressions with positive integers exponents. The key activity was the discovery approach of spreading a rumor through email. It is effective because I have the total free hand to do the teaching. I strictly followed all the transitions and questions that I prepared. I watched my time carefully as well. What surprised me was the "extraordinarily" quietness in the class when I started the lecturing part. It went even better than planned. I think they did like the discovery approach which I practiced in my micro teaching in class.
ReplyDeleteNow that in my week 4, I am back to square one because my cooperating teacher is staying in the class the whole time and watches what I am doing. Despite trying to incorporate something new in my lesson plan, she always "suggested" me not to do it. When I told her that the kids were all well-behaved, she would say it's all because she was there. So I don't really get a chance to practice my classroom management skills I learned.
I feel much more comfortable in the other 2 special ed classes. It is not because of the smaller class sizes, but the more room for me to try out different teaching strategies or classroom management techniques. I find it more rewarding.
I thought that the lesson I taught to an honors precalculus class on inverse trigonometric functions was effective. The lesson objectives were to find the exact values of inverse trigonometric functions involving special angles and to find approximate values of inverse trigonometric functions using the calculator. The lesson was given using the “I do, we do, you do” style. I opened the lesson with a Do Now with two sections. The first section asked the students to find trigonometric ratios on a few special angles. The second section had them evaluate a few simple logarithms. I thought that the Do Now was simple and activated the necessary prior knowledge to lead into the lesson. Assessment was done by walking around the room checking students’ work while they tried problems or polling how many got the correct answer by asking for a thumbs up on problems they tried.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I thought that helped make the lesson effective was making an effort to involve as many students as possible in the “I do, we do” part of the lesson. I tried to ask as many questions as possible which made the “I do part” more like a “we do” part. I targeted students who don’t normally participate with questions and made sure that I asked easier question to the weaker students. The class as a whole seemed pretty engaged in the lesson. This was the first time that I focused on getting the whole class involved by asking a lot of questions. I was pleasantly surprised by how the students who normally didn’t participate seemed to enjoy it.
Another thing that I thought was effective was making the students say the meaning of expression like arcsin(1/2), “find the angle between –pi/2 and pi/2 that has a sine equal to ½. I had a student do this on pretty much every problem that was written on the board. I was surprised how many times this neede to be repeated before students started getting comfortable saying this. When I gave a quiz on this two weeks later, I was surprised that 1/3 of them got a question on this wrong even though I had reinforced this point over and over again in subsequent lessons. My takeaway here is to complete writing all quiz questions before any lessons are taught and do more frequent and better assessment of the things students are responsible for on these quizzes.
I thought that this lesson was better the 2nd and 3rd time I presented it. A field trip caused me to have to give this lesson to one class one day and to give it to the other two classes the following day. I was able to make adjustments to the order of and number of problems demonstrated to make the lesson flow better. Having the extra day to think about modifying the lesson was helpful.
The lesson I taught on experimental and theoretical probability proved very effective. The objective was to "Find and compare experimental and theoretical probabilities." The lesson started with a "Do Now" about representing data in ratios (1 to 3) and there was mixture of conversion representations showing the answer in decimal, fractional, or percentage format. The students didn't know which one they were getting and quickly found that they couldn't just copy from another person in the group. To allow the students to better understand experimental probability, each student had a die that they rolled 10 times. After recording their data in a frequency table, a reinforcement of prior lesson learning, each group of 3-4 students combined their results on a poster sheet. They posted their results on the front board. The students used the results to calculate the probabilities of the experiments by one group, then combined data from multiple groups to find the probability from a larger sample of data. After that they learned how the theoretical varies from the experimental, but how they converge as we incorporate more samples. Although I was a little leary about giving the students dice while I was being evaluated, surprisingly, most did what was expected without further direction. The students were proud to display their results on the board and the discussion was lively. By pulling it all together in this pictoral format, the students confirmed their understanding by asking pertinent questions and answering higher level questions. They were engaged and the activities moved along smoothly and there was no disruptive behavior which I believe is the result of a well-planned lesson involving individual learning, collaborative group experiences, and class-level discussions. Honestly, the best preparation for the success of this lesson was participating in the Microteach lessons during Methods class. By observing many ARC students, I was able to incorporate a wide variety of skillsets and experiences into my lesson.
ReplyDeleteThe objective for my best lesson was in the Algebra II class on the unit for logarithms. The objectives for the lesson were to review how to rewrite logarithmic expressions using the product, quotient, and power properties of logs. The second objective was to use the change of base formula to rewrite and evaluate logarithmic expressions. The activiies involved (1) having students come to the board (in groups of two) to present one of the homework problems, (2) having students read out loud the large white sheets I had posted that day along the walls showing all of the definitions and properties related to logs, (3) going through some examples together--through question and answer--to illustrate and understand change of base. Assessment was monitoring answers and in-class problems and their work on the board (this is a small class so that is easy to do) and exit slips. What stood out as being most effective was that it really works to keep things simple. This was a day where I didn't try to plan a lot. It was very simple and straightforward, and that resulted in two things--I felt very much in command of what I was doing, and the students did not feel overwhelmed. What also worked and made the lesson very effective, but which I cannot take credit for completely, was that my cooperating teacher had given the class a "carrot" to reach for early on in the year. He told them that by the end of the year they would be able to solve 2^x = 6, and this class was interested in getting there...so I was able to play on that for this class to teach the change of base formula. Each day before I would ask them if we could solve it yet...and today they saw that they could. What surprised me was how much the students responded to the large white sheets around the room with the color-coded information about the concepts. These really engaged them and they also appreciated them. More than one student has thanked me for them.
ReplyDeleteOver this past week and the week before vacation I have circled back to solving single variable equations with my basic level Algebra 1 classes. The curriculum is to go to system equations, but that's not possible given poor performance for much of the year and lack of foundational skills. When teaching solving for x in the fall, the kids were frustrated, I was worn out and things did not go well. We have worked through many behavioral issues and I was hoping they would be more reseptive. Here's how I taught it: Using Geometry:
ReplyDeleteDistribution: using the perimeter of regular shaped figures. Give a perimeter and a side length of an expression involving x. The resulting equation for a square with side x+4 and a perimter of 86 would be 4(x+4)=86.
Combine like terms: using that the interioangles of a triangle add to 180, give the three angles in terms of expressions involving x.
Variables on both sides: using vertical angles being equal, give each angle in erms of an expression involving x.
and Cross multiply: using similar figure to set up a ratio.
In each of the 4 areas I emphasized that when simplifying the equation one often arrives at #x+#=# form. The scaffolding of the lesson, the repetition of basics, and the success that the kids found, as created an environment of kids learning that I have not experienced prior to this. The kids will tackle a problem. The kids are not stressed. So many are finding success that even those who haven't tried all year are willing to give it a go.
I am rejuvenated as a teacher after this week. Frankly, the week prior to break, I could wait to get out, now I am so proud of my students and elited with my recent success in getting through to them.
I think one of the most effective lessons that I did was in the Geometry Class. I have already posted comments on this.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson was on symmetry. The objective was to identify the type of symmetry in a figure and to identify lines of symmetry.
I had two hands on activities.
Hands On Activity # 1 (LETTERS): Using the Mira, find the lines of symmetry in the letters. Do the letters have rotational symmetry?
Draw the lines on the sheet and write YES if there is rotational symmetry.
Does the font make a difference? Yes it could. This was an activity using Plastic reflective pieces called Miras. There were pre-printed sheets with these miras for different activities. I choose one what went with the symmetry.
Hands On Activity # 2 (Polygons)
Find the lines of symmetry for the polygons. Do any of these have rotational symmetry? Let’s try it and find out. This was a sheet of polygons I drew for use in the lesson. The polygons consisted of circle, square, rectangle, hexagon and triangle.
What about the objects the object I brought in?
Let’s look at the umbrella; does it have rotational symmetry or reflectional symmetry? BOTH! Spinning the umbrella around, luckily my son’s umbrella was alternating red and black portions so it helped seeing the rotation.
In Architecture I use symmetry when designing the exterior view of a house. Let’s look at the line drawing and the photographs.
Do you see the lines of symmetry? These were some of my thoughts on what to say to the class.
What made this lesson most effective was that it was something that I could relate to and I brought prior knowledge to the lesson. I did a lot of preparation for the lesson to get it the way I wanted. I also personalized it with photographs of houses that I have designed that show symmetry. The students also liked the personalization, that I created these images. Who would have thought I would have needed to become an Architect in order to engage students in a symmetry lesson?
What surprised me was one student asked me if I liked symmetry. I guess he could see my enthusiasm for the lesson. I said yes I like symmetry; I am a slave for symmetry. I use smaller symmetry with asymmetrical compositions. Looking back now after the 4 weeks, it was that enthusiasm and prep work, which could have come from the enthusiasm that made the lesson effective.
Part II:
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think the lesson went better than I could have imagined. The class was engaged and asking questions. They were interacting with me and the images that I presented. I was able to assess their understanding by walking around the room during the hands on activities and see what they were doing and if they were having trouble.
I think it was also effective because of the hands on activities. These engaged the students and had them wanting more.
I was happy about the lesson. Also, as previously noted, it was also the day of my evaluation. I was nervous prior to the class, but during the class, my focus was on the lesson and the students, not who was watching me and if I was doing it right or not. So I think that says something for how engaged I was in the lesson, and I think it showed, which is good.
I think I had similar success in other lessons in Geometry that were well planned out with hands on activities. The lessons where I used overhead transparencies limited the pace that I could go, as many students were copying at a different pace. I like the black board more for writing. It takes a bit longer, but in the end I think I can move the class along and keep them engaged.
My lower level algebra lessons were just problem solving modeling different types of problems. It was not very interesting to the students. And when we got to word problems, that made it even harder for them to be engaged. They resisted the word problems. I think most people resist word problems, but life is a word problem and we need to know how to solve it.
I need to bring some of the enthusiasm and engagement that I had in Geometry into the algebra classes. I’m still learning and hopefully I will get better at this.