Lesson Plan

Title: M & M's Data

Standard: 
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.SP.A.2
Use data from a random sample to draw inferences about a population with an unknown characteristic of interest. Generate multiple samples (or simulated samples) of the same size to gauge the variation in estimates or predictions. For example, estimate the mean word length in a book by randomly sampling words from the book; predict the winner of a school election based on randomly sampled survey data. Gauge how far off the estimate or prediction might be.
Learner Outcome:
The students will gain an understanding of Statistical Data and Probability by observing in a hands on lesson. 

Resources and Materials:
Each student needs a bag of M & M’s roughly 20 oz.

Procedures:
The student’s will all bring in a bag of M & M’s, flavor of their choice. We will then work on how many of each color there is and the total number of M & M’s in their bag. The students will find the probability of various color combinations along with the probability of having so many in one bag since all bags are different. 

Accommodations:
For students with allergies, they can bring in another object that is acceptable. For students with special needs, they would use smaller bags to allow for a better understanding. For students who are advanced, I would have them add together the classroom totals to find the probability of larger numbers.

Webinar & Undergraduate Research Day

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Undergraduate Research Day on campus so instead I have chosen to watch an online webinar. I have chosen Keys to Implementing the Common Core State Standards by The Center for Learning as my webinar to watch. I chose this because as a future educator it is important to have a solid understanding of the Common Core and how to teach under the standards.  

The topic of this webinar was how to implement the Common Core State Standards in the classroom. The narrator, Dr. Reeves, discusses why it is important for teachers to be educated and practice the standards. He believes that the Common Core is a positive change for districts to adapt but as with everything there is room for improvement. 

Some of the things he spoke about were ways to effectively use the Common Core. The best place to start is with what has not changed and use that to integrate the Common Core into your lessons. It is also important to know what the students will be expected to be able to do in the next grade so that they can be fully prepared. The number one tool for the integration is resources. There are so many resources available online that teachers can use and print.

With the Common Core, things may not always work. It is essential to get feedback daily from students, parents, and colleagues while also learning from what you have done in the past. With the adaptation of the Common Core comes a new style of teaching which brings a new way of grading. He discusses how grading standards should be assessed as well.

There are so many strengths to implementing the Common Core in districts. Some strengths are that it is written with clear expectations and connections between the grade levels. Each standard is very specific to the topic. Most importantly it emphasizes on beginning reading and writing for all Kindergarden classrooms regardless of economic standings.

I think the strengths out weigh the weaknesses but of course there are some. Some weaknesses that he describes are that there is an inconsistent grouping of grade levels. He also states that in elementary school students are expected to "spell correctly" while in middle school students are expected to "spell with assistance."

These standards are not meant to be the direct way of teaching, Dr. Reeves states that we should not settle for the way things are written down but instead we should follow them with our own twist. Teachers need to embrace the opportunity given to them rather than fearing it. Towards the end of the webinar he states again that everything starts in Kindergarden. Students in middle school today are having trouble with basic mathematical operations but are expected to have mastered multi-step equations by the time they begin high school. Students are not prepared and the Common Core is trying to change that.

Not only did I choose this topic because it is important to my future as an educator but I also have children so it is important to their future as well. My daughter is in 1st grade and excels in school but she is only in 1st grade and has so much further to go. The standards give us a clear guideline of what the students need to learn, lets get creative and teach them in a way that speaks to them.

EDU 235 ePortfolio Work

Home

Hello, my name is Kaitlynn Charest and I am currently finishing up my Junior year at Southern New Hampshire University. I am working towards earning a BA in Middle School Mathematics where I hope to teach 8th grade math. I have always wanted to teach students and math comes easily to me, especially algebra.

My Vision

Technology is a controversial topic in the world of education. Many educators believe in using as much technology as possible. We are in a world where the children of today are constantly connected to technology and information is at their fingertips. Other educators believe in the old fashioned way of doing things, I am a strong believer in this way of teaching. I have learned very well from my teachers and I hope to inspire my students from my knowledge. I think technology is a great tool to have but not a means to teach.

Now this doesn't mean that I am against using technology in the classroom since let's face it my iPhone, Macbook, and iPad are everything to me and I am not sure how long I could last if they all broke at once. I just think it should be limited to research and projects. Mathematics is a hands on subject and I hope to inspire my students through my teaching.

Regardless of my thoughts on it, many school districts are encouraging it as much as possible. I have observed teachers who utilize their technology and there are ways to make it work. The students get excited to use something they are familiar with and can easily maneuver. The one piece of technology I am interested in learning more about is a TI Graphing Calculator. This may seem like a silly choice but I use mine on a daily basis for basic things and I would really love to learn more about all of the features they have.

Global Trends

When I was in high school, I needed a TI graphing calculator for all of my mathematics courses. I remember using it for graphs and equations along with simple operations. It has been many years since I was in high school and using many of the features. There are many features that I never learned about nor have I ever used them. This would be helpful for me to show my future students. Texas Instruments has a headquarters in Manchester, NH. This is as local as it can get for us.

It is not a resource that is limited to the united states though, Texas Instruments has locations all over the world. A few of their locations are in China, Italy, and Brasil. Students of all nationalities and economic standings have access to the technology that Texas Instruments offers. I think this is a great tool for everyone since the calculators can be set in a variety of languages. A calculator is a basic tool that can benefit all students. The one thing to be careful with when allowing students the chance to use these specific calculators is that students can download games to their calculator. So, it is a good idea to make sure they are using them for the purposes of education.

Lesson Ideas

Coming soon!

Technology Resources

My PortaPortal holds a variety of technology resources. It is a work in progress and will grow greatly throughout my career.

Technology in the Classroom

We all have seen some sort of technology used in the classroom at some point whether it was when we were in school or when we were observing a teacher. Technology doesn't always have to be the most expensive piece of equipment just another technique for catching the attention of your students. While I attended elementary through high school the most technology we had were over head projectors and computer labs. Now many schools have interactive whiteboards and iPads.

I interviewed Kailey Crockett, a reading specialist and 6th grade Explorations through Literature teacher from Berlin Middle School in Berlin, NH. I have known Ms. Crockett for many years and knew that Berlin was increasing the amount of Technology in their classrooms. 

She believes that children in this generation are able to understand information better when it is presented through the use of technology. In addition to understanding it better, students are given the opportunity to express their learning in a way that makes the most sense to them. Technology is used to increase learning since using technology in the classroom allows you to easily modify the work for your students. In doing this, you are able to ensure that all students are learning at their level.

Within Ms. Crockett’s classroom she uses a smartboard, projector, iPads, computers and Microsoft Office. Many of the books at their school are falling apart and the district isn't able to keep up with the cost of replacing them. “With the use of ebooks, we would be able to change the books that we read more often because we wouldn't have to worry about constantly replacing them.”

Berlin Middle School is currently in the process of setting up Kuno Classrooms. Until that goes into full effect she won’t know the results of how it will help the students. Budgeting does not effect the usage of technology in Berlin since they were given a grant, in September of 2014, to provide 1:1 access of tablets to the students. I think this is amazing for the students and teachers to have access to tablets at any given time and have enough so that students are not sharing.

Ms. Crockett uses technology on a daily basis. She spends most of her day completing data analysis, which is all done on the computer. “In the quarter course I teach, we complete two projects using technology per quarter.” In her short experience as a teacher she has not seen any disadvantages to using technology in the classroom.

A main concern to any educator with technology is that students will misuse the devices for purposes other than academics. She has seen this in her classroom. They tried “bring your own device program” where the students were required to have their parents sign a permission slip. Since the students brought in their own devices the school could not regulate the apps that were already on their devices. So students were using apps like Facebook and Snap Chat during school hours and sending inappropriate things to their friends. “We collected all personal devices, found the ones that were misusing, revoked privileges, and suspended a few.”

Now to look into the future and predict where technology integration may be. She believes that in five years most schools will have 1:1 access. “I think that teachers will be required to get more training in technology and how to effectively use it.” In ten years, she believes there the majority of classrooms will be flip classrooms and potentially little to no in school time for lectures. She enjoying integrating technology into her daily lessons and looks forward to what the future holds.

Investigating a Website using the 5W's

When it comes to incorporating technology into our classrooms we need to be extra careful. Our main priority is the safety of our students. We never want them to have to enter any personal information in order to gain access to a website. So, as an educator it is important for us to do research on a website before allowing our students to use it. The best way to do this is to utilize the 5W's system.

The 5W's are basic tools we learned in elementary school in language arts. We would use these to get more information on a story to determine its credibility. I will be doing the same thing with a website that I have found off of Porta Portal. To pick a site I had to think of what interests me. Well, I want to teach algebra to middle school students which lead me straight to 8th grade math. 

The website I wanted to research was Free Training Tutorial. This site has a ton of free games for children for all subject areas. Right away I noticed the flashy animations and graphics that would easily catch the eye of any student. So, I implemented the 6 click rule to get a but more information. First I wanted to find out who created the website, so I clicked on About and Contact Us. 

Right away I find the author of the page, his name is Barak Sofer and his email is listed right there for any feedback that a viewer may have for him. He goes into detail about the history of the website and why it was created. The author created this site because after years of teaching and his experiences with his own child, he wanted to create something for other educators to use as a resource tool. He spends hours a week updating it and trying to create the best user-friendly site possible.

My next step, was to play a few games of course! What better way to know if this site will be appropriate for my students other than to test it out myself? The big Farm game that was the first thing you could see on the site is suitable for an 8th grade class but the students do need to create an account to play, this keeps track of their particular farm. This is also a game that would need to be played over a long period of time as it has an upkeep to it.

Next I played Rags to Riches; it is very similar to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. This game would be good in a classroom as practice for lessons in algebra. No log in or sign up was required for this game which is very beneficial and safe for the students. I highly recommend educators using this site as a resource. I do believe it is credible and will be saving it to my own Porta Portal.

Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Clouds

In today's world, technology is everywhere. The younger generations are far more advanced than the older ones. My oldest daughter was able to fully function a computer, playstation, and television by the age of 3. My youngest two are only two and three and can practically any device given to them; they do struggle from time to time though. Over the last few years we have increased the amount of technology in our home greatly.

Technology in the school is no different. I observe a classroom for two hours every week and the teacher uses an iPad in their everyday routine. My daughter's classroom has an iPad and an interactive smart board. When I was in elementary and middle school, I did not have the luxury of using this type of technology. The most we had were over head projectors and TV's with VCR's on a rolling cart.

The "Build a School in the Clouds" video was inspirational. I liked the idea of having someone use a video cast program, such as Skype, to give the students the opportunity of learning from a highly experienced teacher. I would use a tool like this to teach students a subject like a foreign language. I struggled in Spanish classes even though my family come from Venezuela and Portugal. I wish I had the opportunity to spend one hour a week learning from someone who lives in the environment everyday.

Dr. Mitra discussed how people of wealth believe their children are smarter because they have the funds to expand their child's knowledge. Dr. Mitra has spent a lot of time traveling to various areas of high poverty to do a case study. This study is known as The Hole in the Wall. He believes that if children of poverty decent are given the opportunity to have a computer they will teach themselves.

This picture represents a hole in the wall. The children flock and line up for the opportunity of a lifetime to use a computer. This is something many of us take for granted on a daily basis. We witness similar interest when new technology comes out. There are lines of people at midnight who wait for a new game, game system, or even Apple products to come out.

Vision of Technology in the Classroom

Sorry for the delay, I am finally almost completely back to feeling normal. 

As a future teacher, I know how important it will be to keep up-to-date with the latest technology to keep the students intrigued in the content. I also believe that technology should not take the place of the teacher. Technology can have its advantages and disadvantages and it will be important as the teacher to maintain balance.

Students today can be so distracted by technology that most of them do not care to get fresh air. Students have so much uncensored access to technology through applications such as snap chat, Facebook, and Instagram.

I think technology should be integrated within the classroom curriculum on a daily basis without over doing it. The classroom I am currently observing in uses an iPad instead of a chalkboard or whiteboard. This integrates the interest of the students with technology but is also equivalent to just using the tools every classroom comes standard with. Now personally, I enjoy using whiteboards it gives us plenty of space to work out the problems step-by-step allowing the students to easily follow along. The iPad used with a projection screen creates a larger view so the entire class can see it but does not give the students enough space to work out their problems. 

I'm a bit old fashion when it comes to teaching math though. I struggle to find a usable connection between math and technology. I am sure there are things out there that in time I will find that I will use in my classroom.