Measuring Height with a Mirror

Just as my students are starting to get that "Spring Fever," I was feeling that way myself. So, I was extremely pleased to hear that we were going to spend some class time outdoors to work on an activity. As I'm always looking for ways to relate this course to my own classroom, I thought to myself, "I really need to get my own students outside to do something like this. They would love it!"

I learned that this activity was not as simple as it sounded when I first read through it. Of course any activity that involves measurement may be inaccurate if any small mistakes are made. There were many important factors that could throw off the results. My group's first answer for the height of the light pole was 11 feet. I thought of my own students and how they would accept this answer and say that they were finished. However, my group knew that the light pole looked taller than 11 feet - we must have made an error or two. We had to re-do the activity and check our measuring points. Then our answer was closer to 14 feet, and this answer was more accurate. I enjoyed this activity and found it to be a valuable lesson.

Article Review

I read the measurement article in Chapter 6, and really enjoyed it. It was easy for me to relate to the common misconceptions which those students had. When I gave rulers to my high school students and asked them to measure a few lines, they stated that it was "baby stuff that 1st and 2nd graders learned". However, they still made many errors! It's very true that a lot of our students do not understand the meaning of measurement, often due to the lack of experience.

I found the article to be a valuable resource because I may need to try some of the same activities in my own class. Our assessment data always shows that students struggle with measurement. This is unfortunate, as it is one of the most "everyday life" skills they will need to possess. This article was actually kind of a wake-up call for me as it made me reflect on my teaching content.

ISTEP testing

My small school staff of 10 teachers had an interesting discussion the other day regarding the ISTEP test. We were brainstorming for more ways to help prepare our students for those DIFFICULT standardized tests.

I work mostly with 9th and 10th graders in Special Education. The majority of them lack basic math skills, but they are able to catch on to Pre-Algebra concepts when relying on calculators for support. During our meeting, a middle school teacher said, "I'm not really sure what I should be teaching these guys. In order for them to move on to Algebra, they have to know their basic operations. They won't understand Algebra if they don't understand what multiplication means." A few other teachers shared the opinion that it was more important to focus completely on the Algebra skills, because that is what the ISTEP would be testing. This is just another example of the phrase "teaching the test" that we hear so often.

Master's Project

Since I am a music lover, I plan to work with the music tool in Logo. I am hoping to create songs to go along with images (all created with the Logo program). I may be able to add some animation, so it could almost be like a cartoon with a musical score! However, since I am just starting, I'm really not yet sure how it will all turn out.....we'll see.

What would you like to ask each other?

In response to Amy Olsen's question (If you teach Algebra, what Geometry concepts do you see?), I teach Pre-Algebra and some Algebra to students with mild disabilities. Our textbook often gives problems involving perimeter, area, circumference, and angles. I must admit that before this class, I often felt that I lacked the expertise in fully explaining these types of problems. I strongly needed to review some basic geometric concepts. Now I often find myself talking about my own learning to my students and having more "geometry" discussions in class.

Now (to go back to your original question), when learning to solve proportions, my students really struggle with using two similar triangles to set up a proportion. Unless they've had some experience with geometry, then these problems will continue to be difficult for them.