What if the tech doesn't accomplish your goal?
This blog post is painful to write. I had a day where the technology failed (and I don't mean 'internet not working', 'page didn't load', or "wifi speed was really slow").
As I think about that class, I have lots of circumstances to explain it. It was a Friday AND Halloween. It's the second-to-last class period, close to the end of the day. It is a large, social group. This class is my struggle everyday. I could go on and on...
We were starting a new unit on ratios, rates, and proportions. My teaching partner and I agreed we were going to work on a cute activity called Witches Potion, where we have a recipe that make 2 batches of potion and we were going to alter it - for 4 batches, 1 batch, and enough for everyone in the class to have a batch. It is a great Halloween-themed, real-life example of how we use ratios. Her class was going to work in groups with the worksheet.
I wanted to be different. Since I have daily access to tablets, I had an idea. I would use TACKK.
I had learned about TACKK from Rafranz Davis, a instructional tech and former math teacher, and she had used it successfully in math.
I used it in first period and it went okay. A couple kinks to work out, and they reminded me that I should give them time to play, make sure they used their real names and get used to it - so I created a TACKK just for that. But overall, we discussed all three examples.
Then we get to my afternoon class. Overall, it was a different scene.
They actually really loved it.
But there is a group of students who couldn't rein it in. Even after the first TACKK, they continued to say silly things, make fun of others, and change their user names. Two students lost their privilege and had to put away their tablets. I had to delete a bunch of stuff, so the comment stream isn't as bad as it was during class. Even the other students, who wanted to use this for math, got upset and asked them to stop. Overall, we only got about halfway through the 2nd example.
I kept the few after class and explained my frustration. I told them I wanted to yell, but that wouldn't help them or me. I was just utterly disappointed. And then I sent them on their way.
I keep thinking about that class. They are the ones who need engaging, who need to see that math is beyond the four walls of my room, beyond the walls of our school.
This is not a blog post about how I fixed anything, because I haven't. I haven't come to any decision about using this again, because I don't know. I am trying it on Monday with my Pre-Algebra students, and I am curious to see how they like it and use it. Maybe that was my mistake, trying it first with my on level kids and not my accelerated kids.
I won't say I won't use technology again in that class, because that's not true. I will. Just probably not this week.
As I think about that class, I have lots of circumstances to explain it. It was a Friday AND Halloween. It's the second-to-last class period, close to the end of the day. It is a large, social group. This class is my struggle everyday. I could go on and on...
We were starting a new unit on ratios, rates, and proportions. My teaching partner and I agreed we were going to work on a cute activity called Witches Potion, where we have a recipe that make 2 batches of potion and we were going to alter it - for 4 batches, 1 batch, and enough for everyone in the class to have a batch. It is a great Halloween-themed, real-life example of how we use ratios. Her class was going to work in groups with the worksheet.
I wanted to be different. Since I have daily access to tablets, I had an idea. I would use TACKK.
I had learned about TACKK from Rafranz Davis, a instructional tech and former math teacher, and she had used it successfully in math.
I used it in first period and it went okay. A couple kinks to work out, and they reminded me that I should give them time to play, make sure they used their real names and get used to it - so I created a TACKK just for that. But overall, we discussed all three examples.
Then we get to my afternoon class. Overall, it was a different scene.
They actually really loved it.
But there is a group of students who couldn't rein it in. Even after the first TACKK, they continued to say silly things, make fun of others, and change their user names. Two students lost their privilege and had to put away their tablets. I had to delete a bunch of stuff, so the comment stream isn't as bad as it was during class. Even the other students, who wanted to use this for math, got upset and asked them to stop. Overall, we only got about halfway through the 2nd example.
I kept the few after class and explained my frustration. I told them I wanted to yell, but that wouldn't help them or me. I was just utterly disappointed. And then I sent them on their way.
I keep thinking about that class. They are the ones who need engaging, who need to see that math is beyond the four walls of my room, beyond the walls of our school.
This is not a blog post about how I fixed anything, because I haven't. I haven't come to any decision about using this again, because I don't know. I am trying it on Monday with my Pre-Algebra students, and I am curious to see how they like it and use it. Maybe that was my mistake, trying it first with my on level kids and not my accelerated kids.
I won't say I won't use technology again in that class, because that's not true. I will. Just probably not this week.
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