This week we talked about grade 11 functions, and how we could incorporate hands-on activities. A lot of the activities dealt with angles and using SOH CAH TOA correctly. What I found interesting was that the activities were created in order for students to practice in a hands-on way rather than just at their desks. The activities were not quite to teach the lesson, but rather to practice. Most students do not like to sit and do work, we all know this. To combat it, one student proposed a scavenger hunt type practice, where there answer from one problem, would be at the top of a different page scattered somewhere around the room. Once they got their answer, they needed to walk around to find their answer, and hence the next question they needed to work on. I found this was a great idea, as it made it a race, everyone likes to be competitive, and also got students up and moving which isn't always easy in a math classroom.
Another students activity was to show what a sin graph really represents. I think this is a very hard concept for many students. He had an app on the computer that allowed you to follow one seat on a Ferris wheel, and it plotted its path, as a sin function. I think this is super important as even I never used to put much thought into what I was really representing. This is a great visual to show where it can be used in real life situations. As well, he showed a few different dances for each of the different graphs. Although this wasn't his activity, it really resonated with me. Students rarely get to move or represent things in a math class, so for kinesthetic learners, it allows them to move to remember something, which I find extremely useful ! I completely wish I had seen something like that when I was a student. Although I cannot dance well myself, I would love to share it with my classes in the future.
The last thing I wanted to share with you was my teachers idea. She said she used to get her students to practice by making it a relay race. She would have all the same practice questions as she would normally just give them on a sheet, but she cut them up into strips. Students worked as partners and when they finished the question they would run up to get it checked, and then receive a new question. It was also a race, which makes students want to do so many more questions ! Rather than waste a period where students pretend to work, this forced them to be proving their answers and help each other through the review. I will definitely use this idea in my classroom as well !
Do you have any neat ideas to get students to practice more efficiently ? Do you see yourself using any of these ideas ?
Let me know your thoughts !
That's all for today, Miss Sydor
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