The Lesson
The teachers developed a
lesson that was organized by a whole class SlideshowToGo presentation
followed by paired students using pie charts and spreadsheets on their
own PDAs. Students each received a numbered Palm m130. The lesson outline
is displayed in Figure 2.
Lesson Outline: “WHO WANTS PIE?”
1. The teacher led a whole class refresher of fractions, decimals,
percents, and degrees in a circle using a SlideshowToGo presentation,
analogous to PowerPoint.
2. Student pairs sorted the twelve months of the year by the
number of syllables in each month’s name.
3. Then they completed a spreadsheet to convert the syllables
frequency to fractions, decimals, percents, and degrees in a
circle.
4. Next they turned on their PDAs and opened up the SheetToGo
software to a file named “Syllables” with the columns
already labeled four, three, and less than three syllables.
Each student entered the numbers from the frequency table (See
Figure 3).
5. Then the students highlighted the column with the syllable
amounts and selected pie chart to display the relationships.
Students were given a sheet of directions on opening the SheetToGo,
data entry, and plotting. Students checked their PDA pie chart
displays with each other and also with the degrees computed
in their pencil and paper spreadsheet. The teacher then displayed
a pie chart with the SlideShowToGo presentation for the students
to verify their own PDA display.
6. After this somewhat directed mini lesson students continued
to work in pairs to determine how they spend the twenty-four
hours of a day (i.e. 7 hours in schools, 2 hours of sports,
1.5 hours of homework). Then, as with the syllables task, they
found the fraction of a 24-hour day spent doing each activity,
entered the data, and created another pie chart on their PDAs.
7. Pie charts were compared with peers and a whole class discussion
of the number of degrees and hours in the day spent doing each
activity ended the approximately 50 minute lesson.
|
Figure. 2: PDA Lesson
The students
were actively engaged with the new equipment. They worked well together
and helped each other use the stylus and enter data. Many of the middle
school students either had their own handheld device or have used or
seen one in their home. Experiencing the ease of creating pie charts
and navigating electronic spreadsheets were new experiences for many
of these students. The tasks selected and developed by the TRT were
related to real life contexts. The teachers were originally concerned
about student behavior and technical difficulties with the equipment
but neither proved to be a major issue during implementation.
Figure 3: Student entering data into spreadsheet
While each teacher
implemented the technology research lesson in his/her classroom he/she
was videotaped. Following the Japanese Lesson method, after each implementation
the TRT met to view and critique the lesson before the next teacher’s
implementation.
The TRT made
several changes to the lesson: (1) The teachers decided to number each
of the PDAs and assign a number to each student in order to create a
sense of accountability for the equipment. (2) With respect to the lesson,
one teacher decided to add her own introduction to the lesson asking
students to tally as a whole group their preference for desserts of
different temperatures as an introduction to frequency. (3) Minor wording
changes were made to the lab sheets distributed. (4) As the lesson moved
from teacher one to teacher four, the whole class SlideShowToGo became
more abbreviated and less teacher-directed as a result of watching and
discussing the video.
One of the teachers commented that in reflection she thought the lesson
was too teacher-centered. Although we agree, the purpose of this project
was to allow the teachers to develop a task and method meaningful to
them and their curricula. However, it is not surprising, given the teachers’
initial fear and intimidation about technology, that the lesson was
developed in a more traditional and controlled manner. This was the
first PDA lesson which allowed the teachers to overcome their reservations
about using handheld devices in their classroom.
Benefits of TRT
As the teachers reflected on their experiences and the progress of the
TRT, Bob said, "We’ve made great strides each time. Two-hour
chunks seemed to work well. That one full (professional) day that we
had, we got a lot done. I’m learning a ton each time.” And
Anna also felt proud of the group’s progress.
We’ve learned
a lot about the Palm Pilots… We’re trying to find out
exactly where it can be used. And so we’ve learned what it can
and can’t do to a larger degree. I think the process of us developing
a lesson, I think, that’s been positive. And, I think, people
have been able to talk about what’s useful in their own classrooms
. . . it’s much easier to do it together.
Tom found collaborating and
interacting with his peers on the TRT useful and insightful. “It’s
helped me in that I’ve got to talk some outside the class with
different people, to see what works for them and what problems they
run into that are mutual…. [It] makes you feel a little better.”
Bob believed the real strength of the TRT was that unlike other professional
development training he has experienced, this was a small group of only
mathematics teachers. “We’re focused on a math project,
and [with] a small group of people, you can get a lot done. You can
go as fast as is feasible. If we had a large group, we wouldn’t
be able to go near as fast.” Recalling her experiences and thinking
of the future of handheld devices Anna said, “You really will
be able to replace your computer with a Palm.” And Bob enthusiastically
expressed his optimism about more immediate implications of his participation
in the TRT.
I know just from what I’ve been doing, and then talking
to people here at the school, the people are kind of dazzled that
I’m getting into this realm, and they’re kind of looking
at me in awe a little bit, like, ‘Wow, this person’s really
getting into something’. . . . I know that when you get into
state-of-the-art stuff, you’re exhilarated, and you get respect,
and you feel good, and you know when you’re helping out others
it’s, you know, things are going in the right direction.
As illustrated in the comments
above, the teachers felt pride and a sense of professionalism because
they were part of a team that they saw as enhancing the learning opportunities
for their students. As is obvious in Bob’s comment and evidenced
in the TRT meeting transcripts, the teachers are talking to their building
level peers about the technology and getting others interested. The
group also considered ideas for the team’s future steps and best
ways to share their knowledge and experiences with other teachers in
their building. At the start of the project teachers were consciously
selected from different buildings to avoid any building-level politics,
but also with the hope that they would be technology “seeds”
in their building to foster interest and intrigue. Fortunately, because
of their hard work and continued enthusiasm, the TRT teachers’
ideas and zest are succeeding in pollinating their colleagues’
imaginations through informal in-school conversations and local media
attention.
