April 5th, 2015
Rhae-Ann Holoien
Director of
Education
Good Spirit School
Division
63 King Street East
Yorkton, SK. S3N 0T7
Yorkton, SK. S3N 0T7
Dear Rhae-Ann
Holoien:
I am requesting
permission to change Grade 5 Mathematics. I believe the way that it is being
introduced and delivered to students needs to be adjusted to better serve the
students.
My vision for Grade
5 Mathematics is to have each student working at their own pace and getting
individualized support for the areas that they need help. This change in the Mathematical
program is needed in all schools because:
1. Students learn at different paces.
2. Not all students understand when it is
explained the first time.
3. There are many learning styles and they
need to be incorporated into all subjects.
4. Some students need additional support.
5. Meeting the needs of all students is
difficult for the teacher.
6. It is time consuming to create module based
education that is interactive and relatable to the real world.
The
changes that need to be made to this course include the use of distance
education technology and interactivity.
With these changes students will be more independent and be able to see
the value and application of Mathematics in the real world. Also, students at all levels will be
challenged to succeed and do their best.
I
hope that you agree with this proposal and all that this program has to
offer. I look forward to hearing from
you. I can be reached at (306)-792-2080
or Janine.hardy@gssd.ca.
Sincerely,
Mrs.
Janine Hardy, B.Ed, B.A
Changing
Saskatchewan Mathematics in GSSD
Background
Currently
Mathematics teachers struggle with trying to make sure that all students
understand the concepts being presented and ensuring that they are kept busy
during Math class. This means that
sometimes the quality of work that students are doing is diminished because
they are either ahead or behind their classmates and they are left doing work
that it too easy for them or that they do not understand. By changing Mathematics to module based
learning and incorporating some distance education tools such as Computer Assisted
Instruction, Web 2.0 tools, and Simulation into the classroom students can more
readily work at their own pace and be successful. This will also free up the teacher to help
students who may be struggling more than others or just checking in on the
process of each student and setting realistic goals for obtaining the concept.
How
the course is currently taught
There
are so many different ways to teach a subject.
This Grade 5 Mathematics class is taught in modules. The modules are organized and compiled so
that students can work through the modules at their own pace. Each module thus far has been based on one
outcome but some outcomes may be combined in the months to come.
In
September the modules had videos and games for the students to play built into
the modules. They had to go to Symbaloo
(a website for organizing bookmarks) and click on the videos or games that they
wanted to access. The thought behind
this was that the videos would teach them how to do the concept and some of the
games would reinforce this after completing some of the worksheets. This was not the case. The majority of the students skipped the
videos, went straight into the worksheets and then skipped the games. They just wanted to learn the concept and
move on. This meant that they asked the
teacher how to do things constantly.
This was difficult because there is a split class and both Grade 5 and 6
were doing math at the same time.
The
modules quickly changed. Symbaloo was
eliminated because it took a long time to compile the resources and they were
not being used. As an alternative, more
instruction sheets were added in and more samples on how to do the problems
that students were being asked to solve.
The classroom situation also changed.
Grade 5 and 6 students started doing Math at alternate times which
allowed the teacher to do more direct teaching to groups of students that were
on the same module. It also allowed more
time for answering questions and making sure students were on the right
track.
All
the modules generally follow the same layout.
The modules start with students completing a pretest to see what they
know. They then move into the
activities. There are generally 5-12 activities
for students to work through. During
these activities the teacher is working with students one on one as they need
assistance. Students also have access to
the answers to ensure that they are doing the questions correctly. After completing the activities students need
to meet with the teacher to ensure that students understand the concepts and
see where they have made mistakes and know how to fix them. They then write the post test and complete a
real life problem. If they are
successful at the post test and the real life problem, they move onto the next
module.
Changes
“Change is the law of life. And those who look
only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” (Kennedy, nd) These modules need to change more. Distance
education tools are the answer to these problems. By utilizing tools that are available and for
the most part free, students can be more successful. Some of the tools that need to be integrated
include: Cloud based tools, Computer Assisted Instruction, Web 2.0 tools, and
applications available on devices and computers.
There
are still students that do not understand the concepts because they need to
start with concrete materials. “Manipulatives enable
students and teachers to represent concretely the abstract concepts that they
are learning in mathematics class and to link these concepts to prior
knowledge.” (Cited, nd) These manipulatives are no longer limited to buying
cubalinks and having them available in the classroom. Students can go on the computer and access
the manipulatives on a variety of websites such as: National Library of Virtual
Manipulatives (http://nlvm.usu.edu/) Glencoe (http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html) and Math Playground (http://www.mathplayground.com/math_manipulatives.html) By using manipulatives and having students explain their
thinking
using technology such as Explain Everything, Voice Recorder
Pro, Jing or any number of applications or programs they can demonstrate that
they understand the concept concretely and abstractly. “Most
students benefit from presenting this explanation as it helps organize their
thoughts. You can also assess the use of the manipulative based on the
student's explanation.” (Outside the Box Teaching Ideas, nd) This also allows students to demonstrate their knowledge
independently and share it with the teacher using Google Drive or Dropbox. This technology integration is at the heart
of the changes that need to be made to this mathematics course.
As mentioned previously, Symbaloo
and YouTube were used and were not being utilized to the best of their
ability. These needs to be included back
in the modules but students need to be made accountable for the information
that they are viewing or the games that they are playing. They cannot just be left to do it or not do
it. By making activities to go with the
videos such as questions to answer after watching will make students
accountable and ensure that students learn the intended concept from the
videos. By using YouTube, Khan Academy,
and other math tutorial sites it frees up the teacher to help with problems
instead of teaching the lesson. Computer
Assisted Instruction has become very popular and students frequently watch
videos in other situations when they do not know how to do something, so why
not apply it to mathematics.
Another change that needs to be made is application
to real life situations. Students are
constantly asking, “Why do I need to know this?” and saying “I will never need
this.” They need to understand how the
concepts relate to real life and how they will use it in the future. Hiebert (2003) says that “We understand something
if we see how it is related or connected to other things we know.” One way to do this is by using pre-existing
computer based simulations or online games to learn the concept. There are several online simulations
available but many are aimed at the higher grades. Games are geared towards any grade level and "Well-designed games embed
the elements of effective education: content, communication, interactivity,
knowledge application, and assessment. Gaming is problem-based learning" (Brown,
2006). By using games along with
other mediums students will gain a better understanding of the concept and be
engaged in the process.
How
to Change
Each of these changes listed above will be merged
into the modules. The modules will
include at least one of the listed changes and will have an expected time frame
included. The changes are going to be
implemented immediately and resources and activities are already being
gathered. The resources that are needed
to create and change the modules are all available free or at the school
level. There are computers and Ipads
available in the classroom for students to access and use.
Evaluation
The
change in modules will be evaluated by the students and the teacher. Evaluation includes: a survey for students to
fill out anonymously, conversations with the teacher, observations, teacher
comments, and grades for the module.
Each of these will be taken into consideration and used to evaluate the
effectiveness of the changes. Ultimately
there should be less questions from the students about the concepts, students
should be engaged and the teacher should be able to meet with students
individually to check their process and set goals.
Conclusion
By
adding distance education technology to this Grade 5 Mathematics course it will
improve student learning and teacher’s ability to be as effective as
possible. A few simple changes will
benefit everyone involved and can also help other teachers in the future once
it has been trialed and adjusted where needed.
References
Brown, R. (2006). ECON 201: A
University Economics course as an online computer
game. Campus Technology SmartClassroom.
Retrieved from http://campustechnology.com/articles/2006/09/econ-201-a-university-economics-course-as-an-online-computer-game.aspx
Cited. (nd) Learning Mathematics with Virtual
Manipulatives. Retrieved from:
http://www.cited.org/index.aspx?page_id=151
Hiebert, J. (2003) Signposts for Teaching
Mathematics through Problem Solving In F. Lester
& R. Charles, Teaching Mathematics Through Problem Solving, Grades
PreK-6. NCTM: Reston, VA.
Kennedy, John F. (nd) Brainy Quote. Retrieved from:
Outside the Box Teaching Ideas. (nd) Manipulating
Math: Concrete vs Abstract Thinking.
