Reflecting on Grade 9/10 Applied Leading Learning Activity
This week, I would like to reflect on the two activities that were done in class today. One activity was for grade 10 applied which was a relay race that was grounded in the new spiral curriculum that has been implemented in many modern day mathematics classrooms. This activity also made me think about all of the times we talked about spiralling last semester in 8F83, and ultimately deepened my understanding of spiralling in a mathematics classroom when I actually was a participant in this activity.
The purpose of this relay race was a formative assessment tool which was to aid students for their next test. Something I learned from this type of assessment is that it is extremely engaging! I truly loved being a part of the relay race, and my peer who ran this activity even mentioned that when she did this with her grade nine class (who was often disengaged) that they loved this activity as well! This was my favorite part of the class, and I know that in my future practice that I will definitely be incorporating this 'relay race' activity into some of my classes. Some questions I have is if this activity would be equally beneficial for academic learners as well? I also want to reflect on spiralling as a whole. Spiralling is something that I am interested in using, as many modern day mathematics teachers have said it is beneficial for students in terms of staying focused, and focusing on a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. What I learned from spiralling when my peer was discussing her activity is that sometimes students can feel that the lessons can become unstructured and can lead students to being confused. This activity will definitely make me think about how I would use spiralling in my classrooms (if applicable).
The second activity was an online website called Pixton. Pixton was used for a grade 9 applied level class, where students were expected to formulate comic strips where the theme of the comic was about real-life three-dimensional shapes that are taught in the grade nine applied curriculum. What I found particularly interesting about this activity is that it was so unique in comparison to any other activity I've seen throughout my education degree. The artistic side of this website really evokes students' critical thinking skills, and gives a student-directed learning outlook. I never thought I would see comic strips ever be in connection to mathematics in the classroom, but I thought wrong!
I really liked how Pixton was a true authentic inquiry-based learning tool. Another thing that makes Pixton so different from the other assessment tools we have seen in the education program is that it has potential to be a cross-curricular assessment with subjects in the arts disciplines. The Pixton technology was also advanced in terms of the teacher being able to give feedback and monitor student work throughout their comic making process. This activity really inspired me to look for other educational websites that I have not discovered yet and attempt to make some cross-curricular activities within my two teachable subjects (i.e., math and chemistry) to maximize student learning! Overall, reflecting on these activities really deepened my understanding on what an authentic assessment task truly is, and reinforces the idea that mathematics can be fun in the classroom setting, which is what we always discussed last semester in 8F83!
References
Pearce, K. (2018). Spiralling Your Math Curriculum. Retrieved from https://tapintoteenminds.com/spiralling-guide/spiralling-your-math-curriculum-009-downward-spiral-surface-to-deep-learning/
The purpose of this relay race was a formative assessment tool which was to aid students for their next test. Something I learned from this type of assessment is that it is extremely engaging! I truly loved being a part of the relay race, and my peer who ran this activity even mentioned that when she did this with her grade nine class (who was often disengaged) that they loved this activity as well! This was my favorite part of the class, and I know that in my future practice that I will definitely be incorporating this 'relay race' activity into some of my classes. Some questions I have is if this activity would be equally beneficial for academic learners as well? I also want to reflect on spiralling as a whole. Spiralling is something that I am interested in using, as many modern day mathematics teachers have said it is beneficial for students in terms of staying focused, and focusing on a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. What I learned from spiralling when my peer was discussing her activity is that sometimes students can feel that the lessons can become unstructured and can lead students to being confused. This activity will definitely make me think about how I would use spiralling in my classrooms (if applicable).
The second activity was an online website called Pixton. Pixton was used for a grade 9 applied level class, where students were expected to formulate comic strips where the theme of the comic was about real-life three-dimensional shapes that are taught in the grade nine applied curriculum. What I found particularly interesting about this activity is that it was so unique in comparison to any other activity I've seen throughout my education degree. The artistic side of this website really evokes students' critical thinking skills, and gives a student-directed learning outlook. I never thought I would see comic strips ever be in connection to mathematics in the classroom, but I thought wrong!
I really liked how Pixton was a true authentic inquiry-based learning tool. Another thing that makes Pixton so different from the other assessment tools we have seen in the education program is that it has potential to be a cross-curricular assessment with subjects in the arts disciplines. The Pixton technology was also advanced in terms of the teacher being able to give feedback and monitor student work throughout their comic making process. This activity really inspired me to look for other educational websites that I have not discovered yet and attempt to make some cross-curricular activities within my two teachable subjects (i.e., math and chemistry) to maximize student learning! Overall, reflecting on these activities really deepened my understanding on what an authentic assessment task truly is, and reinforces the idea that mathematics can be fun in the classroom setting, which is what we always discussed last semester in 8F83!
Pearce, K. (2018). Spiralling Your Math Curriculum. Retrieved from https://tapintoteenminds.com/spiralling-guide/spiralling-your-math-curriculum-009-downward-spiral-surface-to-deep-learning/
Comments
Post a Comment