A tool that I use in my classroom is Desmos.com. This website has a couple of features that I tend to use a lot. The first feature that I use is the calculator that students can use. I begin by having students download the app (IOS or android) on their phones (it’s free) and then logging in using their school account. This allows them to graph linear equations, plot points, and create tables of values and save all their work as if it were a document. The other really cool feature I use from Desmos.com is the Activities Bundles.
When it comes to get students to work on these activities I choose an activity that has students review the current content that we are studying in our class. On the students ECHO agenda I provide them with a link that takes them directly to the page where all they have to do is click sign in and they are in the game. Depending on the activity they work alone through math problems or get to play against other students in the classroom in real time. Think of the childhood game Guess Who, well my students get to play a guessing game like that but with linear equations. Here is a link if you are interested in checking it out: Polygraph Lines. One of my colleagues is the one who introduced me to this website as this year we moved to 2-hour clock periods and I wanted to do something fun and interactive in the classroom. The setup is easy since it’s just a click away to get a class code that I then provide for the students with a link on ECHO like I mentioned above. I also get to see student responses in real time and assess what they know or don’t know. Some of the difficulties that I have come across is not having enough devices in the classroom and then have to send students to neighboring classes to borrow classroom Chromebooks. Also, in the beginning and still a bit today I struggle with properly grading these activities and providing feedback. Also I am not able to provide every student feedback since everyone is playing or going through the activities at the same time and every student thinks ad expresses their thinking in their own unique way. I don’t have a lesson plan to share, but the times I used a Desmos activity bundle it was usually on our 2 hour block periods. On those days I hold three 30-minute stations. One station is the Desmos activity, another station is my Collaborative Study groups (similar to an AVID tutorial session) and the third station is more of review/intervention. Students begin working in their station, 30 minutes hits and I announce for them to rotate to the next station. And they rotate until they have gone through all 3 stations.
2 Comments
Scott Marsden
6/12/2018 04:33:56 pm
Sam,
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Samuel Uren
6/12/2018 04:49:57 pm
I can definitely do that. I'll have it ready.
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