I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be part of MSUrbanSTEM cohort. I went out of my comfort zone and dove into new waters with my students. The design process was a great learning experience. I decided on a goal that would strengthen my student’s math knowledge. I created a plan, tested it with a focus group then made necessary adjustments before rolling it out to the entire classroom. I wanted there to be a clear fluidity in the processes but at times we had to overcome some challenges with technology and time. The focus group allowed me to reflect and see changes that needed to be implemented; I received feedback from my coworkers and peer prior to execute of my plan.
I realize that I can learn with my students, meaning I did not have to have all the answers for technology. We also had to be patient and flexible with one another. One student shared, “I like creating videos at first I felt nervous but I like what we did, we need to do this more.” Another shared “we all work together when everyone helped.” My student’s enjoyed experimenting with technology and were willing to share with others and critique one another’s work in a positive manner, my students were taking ownership of their own learning. I have also thought of changes that would be implement for next year, in order to make it even more interactive for my students and in the same time take them to another level.
As this school year comes to an end so does my ImagineIT. My goal was for students to see pattern in math and therefore translate their understanding into other areas of math. One of my biggest challenges is to know the math vocabulary words and feel comfortable in using it during student discourse. We have created memes and short videos that my students found exciting. The students were engaging in activities like solving real word problems and participate in activities where they had to use their math processes to problem solve the problem. The students have a better understanding of preserving the math and deepen their conceptual knowledge in math. My students have seen patterns in math and are progressing forward as they strengthen their math skills. Throughout all these activities student discourse and group work has increase in my classroom. I am excited to see how this will translated on their NWEA test scores.