With that said, for this blog, I chose Math III. One, I am a math teacher. Two, I really enjoy upper level math. So, if I was ranking these...I would say 75% involve critical thinking. You still see words like recognize, organize, understand BUT you also see communicate, analyze, explore, relate, interpret, etc. And those words imply some level of critical thinking in order to do that! NOW, with anything...you can just memorize and figure out the steps BUT most teachers do try to explain the why behind some of this...or they should!
I picked the following standard:
MM3G3.
Students will investigate planes and spheres.
a. Plot the point (x, y, z)
and understand it as a vertex of a rectangular prism.
b. Apply the distance formula in
3-space.
c. Recognize and understand equations of
planes and spheres.
Now, the reason I picked this is because it does seem to just be...OK...plot some points, use the distance formula and recognize the area of a plane, the area of a sphere, the volume, etc.! HOWEVER, you could totally apply these concepts to a globe. You could have students go in and pick dream destinations...Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Paris, Venice, and so on! Then they could actually plot some points and use distance. They could construct 3-D artifacts to show this IN THE REAL WORLD! And some times it is hard for kids to "see" 3-D when trying to draw it out...so why not really do it! There are also several different softwares out there that could actually construct this for them.
So again, this is a concept that a lot of teachers could just say...OK let's do this, plot that, plug this in, etc. BUT they also could allow their students to go deeper! I think we are moving more that way...and I think there is a happy medium! So let's try and attain that!
I really like the idea of a standards based reporting system. What I mean is not using the A - F system, but assigning a number to a standard that the student should be learning. This reminds me of the reporting we get from AP test scores. You are looking for the 3's and 4's from a teacher perspective. I wonder if we would have a lot of push back from teachers if we tried to implement this on a bigger scale. Don't think I don't like the standards you discussed in your post, but the thing that really stands out is we need a better way of providing feedback where we are telling students "you have demonstrated an understanding of this standard at high levels but you need to work on this standard".
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the new report cards. If I remember correctly you have young kids in elementary school...do you know it they'll receive the same kind of report card in middle school?
ReplyDeleteI love you lesson idea. You're right, a teacher could just have kids meet the standard with a simple assignment, but you're idea would really push kids to think critically about the concept. It would also help them make a real world connection to something they learned in math. That would be a huge accomplishment...since so many kids wonder why they have to take math!
I think it is always a good idea to relate what students are learning to how it could be applied to the real world. They remember it better if it has a purpose to them. Students miss out a lot on opportunities to apply what they have learned due to time constraints. Just like Courtney said above.
ReplyDeleteTwila, I really love the idea of applying to a globe. First, I was somewhat disappointed at the low-level of the standard itself; but, I enjoyed reading your examples of how you could proceed to the further level! As concerned with 3-D artifacts, i think the use of technology can be very beneficial!
ReplyDelete