TPACK Lesson Plan and Reflection

TPACK Lesson Plan

• Learners: anything from late elementary or early middle school through pre-algebra
• Learning outcomes: The point of the lesson is to give my students a simpler and better grasp on a math principle that is vital to learn before they reach any other required math class
• Assessment: At the end of the lesson, the students will have an opportunity to show what they know with practice questions on the board in front of the class and end with a competition using the Kahoot app. They will leave class with a worksheet for homework.

Second, break down your activity into a timeline of planned events and procedures. Here you should describe what students and the teacher will be doing chronologically during the activity. Below is one of the good examples from previous reflections:

• The lesson begins with two analogies to help them hopefully have an easier time when adding and subtracting integers and showing them how the analogies tie in to what they are learning.
• For some initial practice, the students will come up to the smartboard and complete some practice questions.
• Once the students get a little more comfortable, we will end class with a competitive quiz created using the Kahoot app to ensure everyone gets a chance to show what they’ve learned in a more fun way.
• The students will leave class with a worksheet for homework. They will also be encouraged to visit interactive and fun math game websites that can be found on my class website.

Reflection

1.       What are your strategies and why do you think your strategies are appropriate to teaching this specific content?  What makes you believe it would help your students comprehend this particular content? Give specific examples from your described activity.

Let’s be honest. Very few students enjoy math on its own. So I believe that real life analogies and applications like comparing numbers to money are by far the easiest way to give the students a good grasp on what they’re learning. Then letting them practice on the board in front of the class makes them want to work harder so they can show off what they learned in front of the class which is ultimately what I think most students wish do in school.

2. What would be some conceptions and pre-conceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them when learning this particular content? What would you be concerned about students' prior knowledge, experiences, motivation? Again focus on the content and your teaching strategy, not the technology!

Math in its general form may come a lot easier to students with parents that have gone to school and gotten an education at the higher level. But for the lower income and especially all first generation students, all subjects and especially math may be incredibly hard for them to grasp and retain so using real world analogies like represent the numbers with money or positive and negatives being different affiliations whether it be different high schools or, for more inner city districts, gangs or other parties that these students have much more experience with and can take it in easier than just a bunch of numbers.

3.       What main instructional strategies would this technology use serve in your activity? How would using the technology support the way you teach this activity? Please give examples and be specific to your described activity. Think about your main teaching strategies that this technology would support.

To start, using the smartboard and having the students come up to answer practice questions forces them to get involved and is much more intriguing than making them do book work. It also provides immediate feedback from the teacher and also the students looking on. Then allowing them to compete using Kahoot compels students to try harder and grants more motivation to learn more so they can, in return, show off more.

4. What different classroom management strategies you might need to consider when using this technology in the activity? Give examples and be specific to your described activity.

One thing about technology is that it can be extremely distracting at times. The key to incorporating this technology properly to be most effective is to keep the students on track. This is easy to do with the smartboard as you are the one controlling what the students are supposed to do. But with some apps that allow the students to be independent, we must regulate what they’re doing to ensure that they get the most out of the lesson and do not get off track.

5.       How would using this technology enhance the way the content is represented in your activity (e.g. demonstrations, explanations, examples, illustrations, analogies, and etc.)? That is why you think the selection and the pedagogical use of this technology may enhance what you teach (the content in your activity). Give specific examples from your activity to support your answer and keep in mind the learning objectives that you stated previously. 

As I stated before, math is probably the toughest subject for most students to comprehend. With the aid of technology, this content can be directed in a way that all students are more familiar with. We must adopt our students’ embracement of technology and use it so that they can attain this knowledge in the best way that they learn.

6. In what different ways students practice or understand the content in your activity that would otherwise not be possible without the use of the technology? In addition to motivational benefits, what else can students do with this technology as they are learning the content?

Without technology, the students would be sent home with traditional straight out of the book homework which for many students is more of a chore than it is another opportunity to brush up on what they’re learning. With it, they have access to countless helpful tools that they can pick up easier than just reading the textbook. As they are learning the content, the students can also use websites that combine learning with entertainment by playing educational games so that they can get even more practice while still staying interested.