Model Classroom Lessons # 3

The Link-to-Learn Website has an archive of lessons for teachers to use when they want to integrate technology into the classroom. All of the lessons are arranged by Content and it even includes lessons in the areas of Fine Arts. One of the most common misconceptions that teachers have about technology is that it “doesn’t fit into my lesson plan.” However, I have discovered that there is a place for technology and it can indeed enhance the lesson if it is done correctly. As an inclusion teacher I work in all four content areas: ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. I do not just focus on one subject area. So today I would like to share with you some technology integrated lessons that you might be able to use in your own Middle School Classroom.

First of all, you will need to remember to use the Technology Integration Planning Model (TIP) that I mentioned in last week’s blog when you are planning to use technology in your lesson. Secondly, you will need to make sure that you know what TEKS you are focusing on and also what Essential Questions you will want the kids to answer and the Big Understandings that you want the kids to come away with! Today I would like to focus on using technology in the Middle School Mathematics Classroom. I think that this is one of the areas that many teachers may not realize they can integrate technology into.

After searching on the Link-to-Learn Website Archive I found three Middle School Level Mathematics Lessons that I would like to introduce to you today. The First Math Lesson that I found is called Miles of Tiles. I like this lesson because it teaches students how to problem solve using real life issues. One of the most valuable lessons that students can learn in Mathematics is how they will use this information later on in their life. In this particular lesson students learn how to measure the length and width of the classroom in order to compute the total area of floor space in the room. One of the central reasons that this lesson is so beneficial to students is because it is also a lesson on measurement that goes right along with TEKS from all three grade levels in Middle School. The TEKS that it aligns with are: Mathematics 111.22 6.8B (6th Grade), Mathematics 111.23 7.9 (7th Grade), and Mathematics 111.24 8.8 (8th Grade). If this particular TEK is represented in all three grade levels then it must be an important concept that the students need to learn. I love how the lesson includes learning goals, materials, and websites for enhanced learning, but what I would like to see this lesson include in the future is essential questions and big understandings for the learning goals. This is definitely an area of the lesson that I would add to it in order to teach the concepts better.

The next lesson that I would like to focus on is a lesson that introduces students to probability. Once again, all three grade levels in middle school learn about probability. Probability is essential to teaching students how to problem solve. Students learn through probability and chance that the solutions to problems are not always easy to solve. They also learn that sometimes you must make a decision about a problem and then go back and revise and edit the decision that you made to find a better solution. In this lesson students actually use the internet to help build a better background knowledge of what probability is. Next, students actually invent their own board game that uses dice and includes within it an element of chance. This lesson plan is great because students are able to learn about probability by actually creating a board game that uses probability. This helps students apply what they have learned almost immediately. Once again I love the aspects of this lesson that include learning goals, materials, and websites but I would like to see it also include essential questions and big understandings. I think it would also be beneficial to teachers if there was a way to link it right back to the National Technology Standards that students learn in the classroom.
The final lesson plan in Mathematics that I found that would be valuable to middle school math students was a lesson on mathematical ratios and proportions. This is a fundamental skill that must be learned in 6th grade. However, I work in an 8th grade math class with both general and special education students who are still struggling with this concept. I have seen this concept taught to students in all three grades. However, because the students are still struggling with this concept this actual lesson plan might have to be adapted for the students who do not quite understand the concepts of converting from fractions to percents. Because this is an area that students struggle in I do believe this lesson plan would be good. We might not be able to do the entire lesson as it is stated but we could definitely pull out parts of the lesson to teach and re-teach important concepts such as proportions. I like the websites that are provided that allow students to go online and work with proportions and ratios.