Week+5+Reflection



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December 17, 2009

I really enjoyed this class as I learned a considerable amount about integrating technology into my math curriculum, as well as working collaboratively in a group with an online document. My role was a lesson designer and gifted and talented modifications advisor. Jamie Gustin was a group leader and kept us all motivated. Everyone contributed according to their area of expertise and experience.

We decided on 4th grade geometry because one of our group members teaches it and had a lot of good ideas for the types of units to create. I thought the UDL and CAST site was an invaluable part of writing a lesson to reach an array of diverse learners.

In the area of integrating technology into my lesson, my specific topic covered transformations, including reflections, rotations, and translations. I included two videos in my lesson. The first I found on YouTube and was a collection of various scenes from Transformers where the robots are transforming from cars to robots and vice versa. I thought this clip would really get the students thinking about what the word means and get them hooked into the lesson. I then had students working in groups to make mini-posters (meanings and images) of each transformation using computer software. Students are working collaboratively, being creative, and deciding which images and words to use in order to effectively communicate the meaning and idea of each word. I then wanted students to actually practice with paper and pencil how to create the 3 transformations and also how to identify each given an illustration. For individual practice, they worked in pairs or individually on a website for an interactive game-type activity. This activity keeps the students engaged and helps them hone the skills they just learned. The second video was found by one of my teammates from Discovery Education on YouTube. This vidoe illustrated how motion geometry is used in creating animation. I thought this would be a nice ending to the lesson to illustrate to students when this type of mathematics is used in the “real world”. For homework, they had to create a drawing using shapes and illustrating the various transformations. I thought that a drawing would be fun and creative. Since all students do not own a computer or have access to the internet, I wanted the homework to be something they could do without one, but that was still a fun and engaging activity.

For the group collaboration, we had an awesome team. It seemed that everyone sort of found their niche and was able to contribute to the project in their area of knowledge or expertise. The brainstorming sessions were productive and we all seemed to respect each other's thoughts and opinions while adding our own ideas. We were able to give positive feedback to one another and respond without stepping on anyone's toes. All team members did their part and I think our solution to the scenario is well planned, designed, and could be implemented easily. I really enjoyed working collaboratively with such professional people, and also making a few friends throughout the process.

Group Website: []

Transformations UDL Lesson: []

Example of Culminating Assessment: []