As I start my unit on polynomials, I wanted to take advantage of a few things I'm learning about. First was the ability to email photos to an online picasa album along with encouraging students to make use of their digital cameras or camera phones. Last Thursday I introduced students to the use of algebra tiles and spent most of the class playing with them. For the most part they seemed to be doing OK and I did see a few have a bit of a light turn on about integers (I wish I had done this in September). The true test would be if they could go home and model 6 expressions, four that I gave them and two of their own creation. As to be expected only a few kids did it right away and the rest left it to Sunday night. These photos were so much more illuminating that any piece of homework that I could take in. There were examples that clearly demonstrated their understanding, but the more interesting ones were those that showed what part they misunderstood. With these I was able to find two ideas that were not clear and I can incorporate them into my subsequent lessons. This may end up being a daily assignment for students as we work through this unit!
As I start my unit on polynomials, I wanted to take advantage of a few things I'm learning about. First was the ability to email photos to an online picasa album along with encouraging students to make use of their digital cameras or camera phones. Last Thursday I introduced students to the use of algebra tiles and spent most of the class playing with them. For the most part they seemed to be doing OK and I did see a few have a bit of a light turn on about integers (I wish I had done this in September). The true test would be if they could go home and model 6 expressions, four that I gave them and two of their own creation. As to be expected only a few kids did it right away and the rest left it to Sunday night. These photos were so much more illuminating that any piece of homework that I could take in. There were examples that clearly demonstrated their understanding, but the more interesting ones were those that showed what part they misunderstood. With these I was able to find two ideas that were not clear and I can incorporate them into my subsequent lessons. This may end up being a daily assignment for students as we work through this unit!
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