Mini Lesson Brainstorming

I teach a small-group math class for students with a variety of learning disabilities, and I plan on using word problems and right triangle trigonometry in my mini lessons. When working with word problems that relate to the “real world,” students are given a picture of how a particular concept may be used. Most teachers teach the formula and then list numbers that students must plug in the formula. When a teacher gives the students a word problem, they are required to figure out which piece of information correlates with which part of the formula. Due to the complexity, this may involve me as a teacher spending more time to come up with problems that relate to each student’s life.
I plan on using a few types of assessment. I will assign the students a project – to create their own word problem that involves solving using trigonometric ratios, which addresses Principle 1 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 2). This assignment will also have a rubric to help guide them through this thinking and brainstorming process. Additionally, their word problems will relate to a “real-world” situation, addressing Principle 2 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 6). After they create their word problems, I would like to have the students use Educreations to present and solve their problems. This will be shared with me digitally, and I will grade according to the rubric presented. The rubric is in place not only to help structure the students’ projects but also to provide a road map to help explain their learning goals and deepen their understanding, addressing Principle 3 and Principle 4 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 9; Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 11).  After necessary changes are made and each one is accepted, I will have the students help me create a Kahoot! quiz (or some type of quiz using technology) with the word problems that they each made. The class will then get to work through each of their peers’ problems. Naturally, the use of technology in this project addresses Principle 5 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 14).
Since the students’ work is going to be used in a game for the entire class, I believe that they will try a little harder (hopefully). Instead of just reading word problems that I assigned them on a worksheet, solving the problem, and moving on to the next one, they are having to move from being “passive learners to being active learners” (Keren-Kolb, 2013, p. 22). The students are being challenged to use technology in solving their problems, which is a little different for them. By having the students “teach” their word problem on Educreations, the other students in the class will be able to refer to this if they answer the question wrong. Some of the disabilities that my students have hinder them from preforming to their full potential in front of a crowd (which is why they are placed in a “small group” environment), but if they recorded themselves teaching in an environment by themselves, this would not be an issue. It could just be played back, having them still “Publicly demonstrate understanding” (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 18), addressing Principle 6. Therefore, students have access to multimedia that provides them the necessary information upon request, addressing Principle 8 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 22).  This application would also help them in demonstrating their understanding of the content in a way that they could not using traditional tools (Keren-Kolb, 2013, p. 22).
Also, with using Educreations, I can begin my lesson by showing students an example of one that I have created, perhaps consulting someone in an outside field for help on developing my example word problem, addressing Principle 7 (Implementing Inquiry, n.d., p. 20). As Tolisano (2013) states, “Only with that new kind of experience in learning, collaborating, communicating, thinking… can we not only understand but also adapt and tweak the technology tools to serve as tools FOR modern literacies, student learning and amplification.”  

References
Implementing Inquiry. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/MadisonCityAL/MadisonCityAL/SubDepartments/DocumentsCategories/Documents/Implementing-Inquiry.pdf
Keren-Kolb, L. (2013, May). Engage, enhance, and extend learning! Learning & Leading with Technology, 40(7), 20-27.

Tolisano, S. R. (2013, May 29). Get over it! Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/05/29/get-over-it/

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 11, 2017 at 1:50 PM

    I really like your idea to have the students create their own problems. I agree with you that this will be motivational for the students. Creating a word problem would require the student to apply knowledge about the content. It would be very hard to create a concept if you didn't understand it. I'm not even going to lie, I couldn't create a word problem about trigonometric ratios. I would have to study up on that!

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