In my previous post, I posted a tutorial on how to update the operating system for the hand held TI-84 Graphing Calculator. Today's post will involve updating the TI-SmartView's graphing calculator software. This process is very simple, and it only takes a few minutes. Please view the video for instructions.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
VIDEO TUTORIAL: Upgrading the TI-84 Graphing Calculator's Operating System
From time to time, Texas Instruments releases an updated version of the TI-84 Graphing Calculator's Operating System. For the most part, these changes are minor, and there was no compelling reason to upgrade your calculator. With version 2.53 released, now is definitely a great time to upgrade your calculators. The newest version now allows users to enter expressions in mathematical form, just like what you would see in regular textbooks. For those individuals new to upgrading their calculators, a video tutorial is provided.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Effective use of Instructional Computer Programs
Let’s face it; there are more computers in schools today than at any point in history. Each year, schools find more money to put more computers in classrooms. Now, it would be an ideal situation for each student to have access to a personal computer for each class. However, very few schools can afford this option. This means that other schools must have teachers share the computers among themselves.
Using computers for individualized instruction is very powerful. Our district has purchased several different programs over the years to help students get that individual attention they need to succeed in school. Our district recently purchased Destination Math for use in the Math Support classes. This program is designed to get students engaged while providing them with additional instruction to fill in weak areas.
In my experience, students love the computer program at first, but after a while, it starts to get boring. Some of the features of the program get repetitive. Students get tired of hearing the same voice over and over again. Eventually, if the students are exposed to a computer program too much, then they start to lose interest and eventually become disengaged. This is why teachers must not rely solely on computer programs to provide instruction.
While students are working on the computer, I walk around the room to monitor where they are in the lesson. I could do this by sitting at a desk and pulling regular reports or use live monitoring software. However, I choose to walk around the classroom. The students need to see me walk around so that they feel they can ask me questions. If I see a student struggling with a concept, I will go that student and provide direct instruction. I would also pull a group of students having the same issue and go over that concept with them so that they can get it. This prevents them from having to repeat the same skill over and over again on the computer just because they don’t understand the concept.
After the students become accustomed to the computer program, the teacher can allow them to use other Math resources to provide additional help or enrichment. For example, a teacher could allow a student to access a math video to better understand centers of triangles. A teacher could have some students work on a real world situation using Geometer’s Sketchpad. Having computers in the classroom naturally opens the door to differentiated instruction. The students are learning, and they are engaged in their tasks.
In conclusion, computers are a great tool in the 21st century classroom, but computers cannot be used as the sole source of instruction.
Resources
Destination Math: http://www.hmlt.hmco.com/DM.php
Impero: http://imperosoftware.com/
Geometer’s Sketchpad: http://www.dynamicgeometry.com/
Using computers for individualized instruction is very powerful. Our district has purchased several different programs over the years to help students get that individual attention they need to succeed in school. Our district recently purchased Destination Math for use in the Math Support classes. This program is designed to get students engaged while providing them with additional instruction to fill in weak areas.
In my experience, students love the computer program at first, but after a while, it starts to get boring. Some of the features of the program get repetitive. Students get tired of hearing the same voice over and over again. Eventually, if the students are exposed to a computer program too much, then they start to lose interest and eventually become disengaged. This is why teachers must not rely solely on computer programs to provide instruction.
While students are working on the computer, I walk around the room to monitor where they are in the lesson. I could do this by sitting at a desk and pulling regular reports or use live monitoring software. However, I choose to walk around the classroom. The students need to see me walk around so that they feel they can ask me questions. If I see a student struggling with a concept, I will go that student and provide direct instruction. I would also pull a group of students having the same issue and go over that concept with them so that they can get it. This prevents them from having to repeat the same skill over and over again on the computer just because they don’t understand the concept.
After the students become accustomed to the computer program, the teacher can allow them to use other Math resources to provide additional help or enrichment. For example, a teacher could allow a student to access a math video to better understand centers of triangles. A teacher could have some students work on a real world situation using Geometer’s Sketchpad. Having computers in the classroom naturally opens the door to differentiated instruction. The students are learning, and they are engaged in their tasks.
In conclusion, computers are a great tool in the 21st century classroom, but computers cannot be used as the sole source of instruction.
Resources
Destination Math: http://www.hmlt.hmco.com/DM.php
Impero: http://imperosoftware.com/
Geometer’s Sketchpad: http://www.dynamicgeometry.com/
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The "Interactive" Whiteboard
The 20th century classroom had chalkboards or dry-erase boards. Those boards were used primarily to give students notes to copy or problems to work out. Typically, the teacher writes information on the board, and the students copy the information into their notebooks. Sometimes, the teacher will underline or circle important pieces of information on the board for emphasis. Many teachers would also allow students to come to the board to work out problems. Now, what if the students didn’t understand the notes or pictures on the board? What if the students could not flip the shapes in his or her mind to see that the two polygons were congruent? These are situations in which the “interactive” whiteboard comes to the rescue.
In the past several years, interactive whiteboards have entered the classroom. I have been in classrooms that had either a Promethean ActivBoard or a SMARTBoard. Regardless of the type of board, the interactive whiteboard opens many doors for student learning. No longer is instruction from the board limited to just lecture and note taking. For example, students in a Geometry class can manipulate shapes on the board to gain a stronger understanding of the theorems or postulates.
The teacher can create visually compelling lessons to grab students’ attention and interest. Instead of just listing a question and four possible choices on the board, the four choices could be on a balloon. The student would pop the balloon of the answer he or she believes is correct. The correct balloon will have positive feedback (i.e. something that says, “Good job” or a positive picture). The incorrect balloons will have something to let the student know that the answer is not correct (i.e. a sad face or something that says “try again”).
The interactive whiteboard is a big touch screen. This allows the interactive board to be used with virtually any application installed on the computer. In other words, the website with an interactive applet to help students understand congruent triangles can be shown and manipulated with the entire class. If a teacher has access to the TI SmartView emulator, then the teacher (or student) can demonstrate the correct keypresses on the screen so that the students can understand how to graph the function on their individual graphing calculators.
When the “interactive” whiteboard is used correctly, student achievement will increase. Now, if the board is used incorrectly, then the students will not benefit. For example, teachers should not use the “interactive” board as just another regular whiteboard. Though the teacher can use the board to write or display notes on the board and keep them across multiple pages, this is not its primary purpose. I am not saying that the teacher must always have interactive lessons on the interactive board, but the teacher should not use the board only to put notes on the board for students to copy on a daily basis. The teacher must use the board to his or her advantage.
Now, one of the major keys to student learning is by getting the students to do the work. The teacher must allow the students to go to the interactive board and manipulate the figures themselves. Now the teacher must keep in mind that there will be some students who will be apprehensive to using the technology. Therefore, the teacher must teach the students how to use the board and encourage them while at the board. Even if the student does something wrong, the teacher must reassure the student that he or she can do it. The teacher can show the student, but the student must work the board for himself or herself. Only by letting the student interact with the board will he or she learn from doing the task.
Interactive boards are great tools. Don’t just use it as a regular whiteboard. Use it to show students the concepts in ways that make sense to them.
Resources
Promethean Board: http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.15
SMARTBoard: http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Classroom+solutions/Product+news+and+resources/SMART+Board+interactive+whiteboard/
TI-SmartView: http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_smartview.html
In the past several years, interactive whiteboards have entered the classroom. I have been in classrooms that had either a Promethean ActivBoard or a SMARTBoard. Regardless of the type of board, the interactive whiteboard opens many doors for student learning. No longer is instruction from the board limited to just lecture and note taking. For example, students in a Geometry class can manipulate shapes on the board to gain a stronger understanding of the theorems or postulates.
The teacher can create visually compelling lessons to grab students’ attention and interest. Instead of just listing a question and four possible choices on the board, the four choices could be on a balloon. The student would pop the balloon of the answer he or she believes is correct. The correct balloon will have positive feedback (i.e. something that says, “Good job” or a positive picture). The incorrect balloons will have something to let the student know that the answer is not correct (i.e. a sad face or something that says “try again”).
The interactive whiteboard is a big touch screen. This allows the interactive board to be used with virtually any application installed on the computer. In other words, the website with an interactive applet to help students understand congruent triangles can be shown and manipulated with the entire class. If a teacher has access to the TI SmartView emulator, then the teacher (or student) can demonstrate the correct keypresses on the screen so that the students can understand how to graph the function on their individual graphing calculators.
When the “interactive” whiteboard is used correctly, student achievement will increase. Now, if the board is used incorrectly, then the students will not benefit. For example, teachers should not use the “interactive” board as just another regular whiteboard. Though the teacher can use the board to write or display notes on the board and keep them across multiple pages, this is not its primary purpose. I am not saying that the teacher must always have interactive lessons on the interactive board, but the teacher should not use the board only to put notes on the board for students to copy on a daily basis. The teacher must use the board to his or her advantage.
Now, one of the major keys to student learning is by getting the students to do the work. The teacher must allow the students to go to the interactive board and manipulate the figures themselves. Now the teacher must keep in mind that there will be some students who will be apprehensive to using the technology. Therefore, the teacher must teach the students how to use the board and encourage them while at the board. Even if the student does something wrong, the teacher must reassure the student that he or she can do it. The teacher can show the student, but the student must work the board for himself or herself. Only by letting the student interact with the board will he or she learn from doing the task.
Interactive boards are great tools. Don’t just use it as a regular whiteboard. Use it to show students the concepts in ways that make sense to them.
Resources
Promethean Board: http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.15
SMARTBoard: http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Classroom+solutions/Product+news+and+resources/SMART+Board+interactive+whiteboard/
TI-SmartView: http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_smartview.html
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Formative Assessment Using the CPS Response System
Today’s educators face many levels of accountability concerning student achievement. No longer can the teacher just “teach” and “hope” the students grasp the material. The focus on education has shifted to the student. Administrators are no longer concerned with whether a teacher can “teach.” They are looking at how much the student is learning.
Now, how can teachers ensure all students are learning? Formative assessments are the answer. These assessments are designed to diagnose problems in the learning process. Effective formative assessments are short (no longer than 5 questions). Teachers can easily “grade” them and use that information to decide the next step.
My school purchased 5 class sets of Classroom Performance System (CPS) Responders last year. Everyone calls them “clickers.” During that year, a few teachers used them sporadically for summative assessments (big tests for a grade). I have used them for quizzes and tests. In addition, I used the clickers to get students engaged by using the two built-in games. However, I was not using the clickers for the purpose they were intended, to keep track of each individual student’s progress throughout the unit. I was not using them for formative assessment.
This year I started experimenting with using the clickers primarily for formative assessment. Though I received a two hour training on the many features of the responders last year, I did not know how to use the clickers during my lessons. Eventually, I just decided to try it out and learn as I work with the clickers and the software. After a few days using the clickers to assess my students’ understanding, I am now able to use the clickers on a regular basis (at least twice a week) to keep track of each student’s progress. With that information, I can group students based on their weaknesses to provide additional remediation.
During instruction, I can use the clickers to determine whether students truly understand the concept very quickly. After my students have entered their responses, I can view a chart to determine whether my students truly understand the concept. The chart only displays how many students entered the various responses; thus students are free to enter their responses without fear of embarrassment from their peers. I can pull a report after class to determine which student(s) truly didn’t get it.
The CPS Response system can be used in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard using just about any software for presentation. For the past two days, I used the CPS Responders for my “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” PowerPoint game. During each question, I had the students enter their answer with the clicker. If everyone got it correct, we moved on to the next question. If a few students missed it, I had a student who did it correctly explain the process to solve the problem. If the majority of the class missed it, I went over it with the entire class. This ensured that I didn’t waste instructional time on a problem that everyone understood while using that time on the questions the class actually needed.
The clickers are the best way to assess student understanding of concepts. For the quiet student who fears embarrassment in the classroom, the CPS Response system allows that student to communicate to the teacher without ever being noticed by his or her peers. Overall, the CPS Response system allows teachers to assess student understanding while maintaining the flexibility teachers need in their instruction.
CPS Response System: http://www.einstruction.com/products/assessment/cps/index.html
Now, how can teachers ensure all students are learning? Formative assessments are the answer. These assessments are designed to diagnose problems in the learning process. Effective formative assessments are short (no longer than 5 questions). Teachers can easily “grade” them and use that information to decide the next step.
My school purchased 5 class sets of Classroom Performance System (CPS) Responders last year. Everyone calls them “clickers.” During that year, a few teachers used them sporadically for summative assessments (big tests for a grade). I have used them for quizzes and tests. In addition, I used the clickers to get students engaged by using the two built-in games. However, I was not using the clickers for the purpose they were intended, to keep track of each individual student’s progress throughout the unit. I was not using them for formative assessment.
This year I started experimenting with using the clickers primarily for formative assessment. Though I received a two hour training on the many features of the responders last year, I did not know how to use the clickers during my lessons. Eventually, I just decided to try it out and learn as I work with the clickers and the software. After a few days using the clickers to assess my students’ understanding, I am now able to use the clickers on a regular basis (at least twice a week) to keep track of each student’s progress. With that information, I can group students based on their weaknesses to provide additional remediation.
During instruction, I can use the clickers to determine whether students truly understand the concept very quickly. After my students have entered their responses, I can view a chart to determine whether my students truly understand the concept. The chart only displays how many students entered the various responses; thus students are free to enter their responses without fear of embarrassment from their peers. I can pull a report after class to determine which student(s) truly didn’t get it.
The CPS Response system can be used in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard using just about any software for presentation. For the past two days, I used the CPS Responders for my “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” PowerPoint game. During each question, I had the students enter their answer with the clicker. If everyone got it correct, we moved on to the next question. If a few students missed it, I had a student who did it correctly explain the process to solve the problem. If the majority of the class missed it, I went over it with the entire class. This ensured that I didn’t waste instructional time on a problem that everyone understood while using that time on the questions the class actually needed.
The clickers are the best way to assess student understanding of concepts. For the quiet student who fears embarrassment in the classroom, the CPS Response system allows that student to communicate to the teacher without ever being noticed by his or her peers. Overall, the CPS Response system allows teachers to assess student understanding while maintaining the flexibility teachers need in their instruction.
CPS Response System: http://www.einstruction.com/products/assessment/cps/index.html
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)