WWP Part C-Wicked Problem-Research....

I have started digging around and have come up with three separate categories:

1. Teacher Resources- mostly teacher driven items, such as interactives, resources for the whiteboard, ect.

2. Student Resources- games

3. Student Resources- systems that allow students to learn and grow individually, exploration.

Here is one of the first ones I looked at (that's Melissa White for your incredible wiki!).

Gizmo's from Explore Learning.

First impressions-wow! Very cool interactive activities. I decide to jump right in and invite my kids to use one of the Science labs (I want to concentrate on math, but this was just too appropriate) so I assigned them the Germination Lab. This was an excellent example of a controlled experiment where the kids could choose factors affecting germination (light, water, heat and different types of seeds) and then experiment by themselves or with the pdf document.

The sign in for students was very easy, I sent them an email with the log in link and a code to get to the specific class, they created a log in using their school email and they arrive at the lesson. Here is where it got messy (which admittedly happens a lot with our little net-books which have what we call "problem magnets" on them), only a few of them had the upgrade needed so only a few of them could do the interactive by themselves. I quickly adjusted and we went through the interactive on the active board together, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

Immediate thoughts:

• It is not clearly posted how much this would cost, so asking for funding would prove difficult. If you want to find out you contact them, someone contacts you, they give you prices and blah blah blah... A lot of work..... (Update on pricing 2/3- This was the quote we received, it is WAY too expensive for us to get this... bummer, because it is GREAT, the price fits something we would use on a daily or weekly basis but after experimenting with these lessons this would probably be used two or three times monthly... ) The quote: Definitely. The site license covers all teachers and students at the school for a full year for $7 per student, with a minimum total of $2,995 (all prices are US dollars). A department license would cover all teachers in either math or science and their students for $4.25 per student, with a $1,995 minimum total. Our Teacher Plus Students licenses cover one teacher and all of their students for $799 per teacher, but the rate drops to $599 per teacher if you have at least three teacher subscriptions.
  
  Our online training is $75 per teacher and is mostly self paced. We do include a weekly web conference with our trainer to ask specific questions and provide feedback, but the bulk of that is done in the US, so the times aren't what I would call "Warsaw friendly" (nor would the phone bill!). But what we would do is make sure that one of our trainers is available to you to answer any questions that you have.
• The tech issues will have to be dealt with, so I will try and have my students do another one...My computer was able to play the interactive day 1, but day 2 I needed another update... This can cause confusion with students, especially elementary students.
• It would be worth it for the school to have access, especially with the Activeboards. I will send an email with a link to the librarian who is in charge of databases, it could be a possible addition.....

Implementation thoughts (Feb 8,2012):

• This week I assigned the students a fractions lab. It consisted of 4 pages that they completed along with the interactive. The interactive was really interesting looking. I reviewed the Gizmo and the sheets with the students on Monday. We logged in and made sure that they could access the Gizmo. All this went exceedingly well. However that night I received a few emails from my kids. All of them were asking "Do I have to use the Gizmo if I can just do the math on paper?". Perhaps this is too easy? Looking for a harder one for next week....

Next... Khan's Academy...

Part A-Description of a Need-Wicked Problem Project

The problem:
At my current school we use a very experiential mathematics curriculum (Investigations by TERC) which is perfect for the younger grades, but not as comprehensive for the upper elementary grades. The curriculum is based on a lot of games, group activities and not a lot of actual pencil and paper. It is a great program, however, the transfer from elementary to Middle School, especially in math, can be traumatic for some students as they use a more conventional curriculum. It is not only the transition between schools, it also the fact that the curriculum comes with no resources for implementing any sort of differentiation within the math class for either high or low students. It also does not provide any sort of extra work in case students are struggling with a certain process. While I am at it, I certainly would not mind making math fun by adding some gaming into the equation (see the Ted videos embedded at the end of this post.)
How will technology help?
In general right now we differentiate using the copy machine. We make copies, and then more copies, we assign extra work, give homework, and gather small groups. However I believe with technology it would make a big difference to my different levels of student. I believe especially it would be great to come up with some self study programs for the higher level students who are motivated to continue their mathematics on their own. If I can find some internet based games, programs and/or downloadable programs that can be individualized and teach higher level skills to allow the students to take their futures into their own hands.
What is the scope?

I am hoping to find, review and test at least four different programs for the students. The time the students spend on each program will depend on the scope of the program (Does it focus on one mathematical principle or many?) I will have my students who finish their math early use it, and I will assign as homework for a few students instead of the regular math homework.
Relevant research and resources

I will be using several resources. Aside from general internet searches I will use our Professional Development Library (Mathematics Teacher Magazine), Cool Tools for Schools and our school belongs to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) where I can research their databases.
I plan on adding a web page to my current classroom website that will contain the listing of the resources for the students. I also plan to poll my students when they are using a specific program to see what they like about it and what they do not so I can compare the different tools that I find.

Indicators of a successful project

A recommendation for my fifth grade team and a list of resources that can aid us with implementing a better program for differentiation in math. What will it look like? At first just a website, hopefully ranked by my students, that lists resources as they are found and contains a precise descritption for the user before they choose which resource they will use (if they have not been assigned).

A Funny Thing Happened to Me and Introduction

It's time to start CEP812! My last class before my certification. Yeah!
In order to introduce ourselves we had to tell a funny story about technology.
You can hear it here!
And here is my Video Introduction. I used Prezi and then Jing!