Webb of Thoughts

For one of my ECMP mentorships I put together another problem for them to solve.   I put it together for the sixth grade math class in Michigan (you can see their class wiki here).  The class is currently learning about decimals, fractions and percentages.  Mr. Kaechele said he has been trying to explain to the students how the concepts apply to sports.  In a Skype call with him, he told me that he tried to get his students to use the internet to find some sports stats.  He found that this didn’t work as he had planned, and figured it was a little too vague of an assignment.  We came up with the idea to put together a question relating to the sports stats and fractions, decimals and percentages.

I decided to make the problem relating to hockey, mostly because it is my favorite sport and it allows the students to learn something new about me.  I wasn’t able to make a fancy video like I did for my last problem, mostly because I didn’t have the time this week with papers and a midterm piling up.  For this problem, I simply put together a Google Document and posed some questions for the students.   The video is just a screen  recording of the doc (nothing fancy) and me talking about it briefly.

The Google Doc I used can be found here, and is accessible to the students so they don’t have to hear me repeating the questions over and over again (I feel sorry for anyone that would ever have to sit through that).

I wish I would have more time to make a nicer looking video. However, I think the problem will be effective for getting the students to use their new decimal, fractions and percentage skills. I tried to use Dan Meyer‘s recommendation of being less helpful from his comments on my last problem. I think I was less helpful than the last problem and hopefully I can get the students thinking on their own without me guiding them towards the problem. However, I do feel like this could be a problem you find in a text book.

I would love to hear some comments and criticisms on this problem.

For my final project in ECMP 355 I’m putting together a wiki dealing with implementing iPods into Math education.  I have been bookmarking sites through Delicious that may be useful for the project for the past while, you can view them here.

(from Flickr)

The wiki will include:

• Math-related application reviews (as well as some non math related, but useful apps) including screen shots, a brief summary, and some possible uses
• Requirements (what would need to happen before implementing iPods)
• Podcasting (what it is, how it can be used)
• Protection (how you can prevent the iPods from getting wrecked)
• Examples (where iPods have been used)
• Tips & Tricks / Tutorials (I will probably just link to great resources I’ve found)
• Resources (other resources)

I’ve started putting everything together with Google Sites (you can see what’s been started here, all that’s really been done is a review on a Battery Status app), however I’ve just realized it doesn’t function very nicely as a wiki.  I may switch it over to Wikispaces since the University of Regina has set up a wikispaces area for students and staff.

Do you have any suggestions for the wiki?  Or do you have anything you think you could contribute?

When I was putting together an assignment for my ECS 100 class a few weeks ago (which I posted here), I came across the following from an article entitled Real-World Issues Motivate Students…

“If schoolchildren are given the gift of exploration, society will be the beneficiary, both in practical and in theoretical ways, scholars say. “This is the way that mathematics started,” notes MIT’s Seymour Papert. “It started not as this beautiful, pure product of the abstract mind. It started as a way of controlling the water of the Nile, building the pyramids, sailing a ship. And gradually it got richer and richer.”

I didn’t really think much about this quote at the time, but I have been thinking more and more about it.  Currently, we are teaching students how to do math from a textbook, from a set of rules that we tell them and that’s how it is.  I don’t think too many students are able to discover something on their own when they are taught this way.    The closest event would be figuring out how to solve a more complex question.

Wordle of this post (wordle.net)

Those who discovered and created math in the past weren’t told how it works from a textbook.  They had to figure it out.  They learned it because they wanted to.  Because they were curious to understand the world that they lived in.  If someone told them right from the start that this is how it is I highly doubt that the discoveries they made would have occurred.  Perhaps someone else down the road would have, but not them.  They likely wouldn’t have had any desire to explore new things if they were told how everything worked by someone.

I understand that not everyone can master math without help.  But, perhaps they can if we simply guide them along, allow them to make their own discovers, possibly by conducting studies and projects where they begin to see things clearer through their own eyes, not the pages of a text.  I think that if we started this at the beginning of a students education, they will be much more capable of grasping new concepts later in life and more able to figure things out on their own.

In my eyes, this approach would not only stimulate individual problem solving and thinking skills in students, but boost the need to share information and communicate with their peers.  No one can possibly expect a student to discover everything on their own.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised if a group of students did by constantly building upon each others work.  students would learn how to network ideas, how to constructively criticize, and  work with one another as a team.  They would have to work together to accomplish their goals.

I haven’t really figured out how this would look in a classroom.  These are just some thoughts I had once I reread the quote.  Does anyone else think this approach has some potential?  What are your thoughts?

So far my mentorships have been going very well.  I’m really enjoying working with all of my mentors and we have been learning alot from one another.

With Mr Kaechele, in Kentwood, Michigan.  I created a math video for his class that went over very well.    You can view it here, and his students’ response here. His class also has blogs, but I’ve honesty struggled trying to keep up with them and comment.  I will be trying to do this more in the next while. I’m not entirely sure what is next for me and this class, but I cannot wait to find out.   Hopefully we can arrange another Skype meeting or I can make another video or problems for his class.

I got overwhelming feedback on the video but I still felt it could  have been better.  I wanted to get the students thinking more outside of the box.  Really, it was just a textbook-type problem put into a video, and I didn’t want it to be a typical math problem.  Then I noticed Dan Meyer had created a post on his blog, dy/dan, regarding my video:Redesigned: Kyle Webb.  He went into some great detail about what I could have done different to make this problem less like a typical textbook problem.  ”The fix is simple but difficult: be less helpful.”  He told our ECMP 355 class this when he presented to us.  His feedback was priceless and something I would have never received had I just presented it to a class.  It’s been awesome having an audience outside of just our class to get some more comments on my work.  So far there have been 366 plays of the video.

Skype with Mr. Poluk

With Mr. Poluk, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  I have been having Skype meetings with him and his class.  In the last meeting we did a quick Q & A session where we talked about Bitstrips, a comic site they are using, some science, and about podcasts.  His class had created an awesome podcast, which you can view here.  I also told them about my math problem video, and they are going to use it as well.  I told them about my final project about using iPods in the classroom and Mr. Poluk is planning on having his students do some sort of writing assignment about using them in the classroom, which will be great for giving me a student perspective for the project.  I hope we can do another Skype call again this Friday.

Adobe Connect with Ms. Ionno

With Ms. Ionno, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, I haven’t been doing too much because she has been in the middle of some class restructuring.  However, last weekend we were able to use Adobe Connect and talk one on one for a while and make a plan for what’s coming up.  Last Thursday, I was going to do and Q & A session with her students and their parents, however we encountered some technical sss difficulties and had to reschedule.  You can read more about that here.  We are now meeting on this upcoming Thursday for a Q & A session and I will also do a quick lesson on area and circumferences of circles and present my video for a problem with her students.   I’m a little nervous for it, but at the same time very excited to do it.  It still blows my mind that I’m working with students 4000+ km away from me!

Overall, I’m really happy with how these mentorships have been going.  I just wish I  had more time to dedicate towards them!

One of my mentors, Michael Kaechele,  asked me if I could come up with some sort of problem for his math class.  His math class is currently taking a unit on perimeter, area, and volume.  I wanted to do something a bit more than just a little word problem . I decided to use a video and create a real-life problem, similar to what Dan Meyer does (although nowhere near as good).

I used the University of Regina’s Academic Green as my example and asked how far of a walk it would be to walk around the perimeter of it (assuming it is a perfect circle). I measured in steps, mostly because I didn’t have anything capable of measuring a large distance and partly because I felt it brings a real life aspect to the problem. I then took it further to incorporate an area problem and asked how big of an ice rink could I fit into the green if I wanted to do so.  To close off the video, I ask what is wrong with how I measured for problem, hoping to spark some thoughts that maybe steps isn’t the best or most consistent way to measure.  I also hope they discuss the fact that the green isn’t a perfect circle, and how that could change the problems.

Anyways, this is my final product:

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for any future videos!