Artifact # 8
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
Context: These activities were done as a part of the math methods class in my Elementary Education Block in the Spring of 2002 at Appalachian State University.
Impact: I would use these online mathematics labs with students in my classroom to expound upon the classroom teaching I had already done according to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in mathematics for the fifth grade.
Alignment: This assignment is an example of a resource that is appropriate for the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and is available for teachers on-line (Tech. Competency 10.3, 10.6, INTASC Standard 1). The site is a selection of information and activities that other teachers from NCTM have found useful for their students. There are tutorials for the teacher and thinking questions that focus on the lessons' use and purpose for the classroom (INTASC Standard 9).
The lessons for students expound upon and clarify lessons in symmetry, line graphs and many other mathematical concepts in a logical, well-presented manner. Students are able to strengthen their knowledge of necessary mathematics by doing these activities on the computer (Tech. Competency 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, INTASC Standard 6). The very format of the activities, the interactive computer game, is a format that many students are familiar with and enjoy using so that students will be more actively involved and engaged in their own learning and will spend more time on task taking responsibility for their own learning (INTASC Standard 2, 5).
By using these programs in a computer lab situation, it will be very clear which students understand the math involved in the lab and which students do not (Tech. Competency 12.2). Assessment is very simple due to the format of the on-line lessons which include follow-up questions for students about the activities themselves and extension thinking questions (INTASC Standard 8).
Also by being in a computer lab, each student will have their own computer and students can explore the mathematical concepts on their own and with the teacher's assistance only when it is needed (Tech. Competency 12.4, 12.5, 12.7, 14.2). The teacher can make sure that each child has access to the on-line information and has experience with the math labs no matter what the students' level of understanding before starting the lab. Students who could not grasp the concept in a classroom situation, especially learning disabled or students who have a faulty grasp of English, will be exposed to the same material, taught in class, in a different setting--one in which the student may work at his own pace and have hands-on experience that responds to his touch on the computer mouse (4Tech. Competency 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4., INTASC Standard 3).