An "Average" Ad - Day One

It has begun. The first technology project of the TRC grant. To set the scene, we discussed student interactions with the internet. What do you use the internet for? Have you ever used the internet to learn a new skill, if so, what was it? Do you use the internet to look up specific information (mapquest, prices, etc)? The discussion that followed in each class was amazing. I have to admit I was a little nervous to be opening up this topic of conversation, but I learned a bunch about my students and we were able to talk about some pretty important things.

Areas Students Use the Internet For

1. Facebook

2. Research

3. Pictures

4. iTunes

5. YouTube

6. Games (this should be higher on the list as it was always one of the first mentioned)

Interesting Discussion Items

1. The internet is a great tool. It can be used for many positive things. However, if one does not use proper internet etiquette and does not demonstrate responsibility, the internet can be a negative thing (this had to be addressed as students brought up that how-to information for hacking into systems and building bombs can be easily accessed).

2. Positive responsibility when using communication tools such as Facebook, IM, and such.

3. It was brought to light to me as students talked about finding pictures of things they liked and saving them to their iPhotos that I did the exact same thing as a junior high student, only I got my pictures out of magazines. We also talked about digital photography and how much easier it is to work with pictures on Shutterfly and such to create albums w/o developing film and using photo albums.

So...after we realized what a great tool the internet was for so many positive things, I had the groups find a common interest. This was a little difficult for some, but everyone succeeded in coming up with something. Some of our groups' choices were: gaming systems, cell phones, laptops, iPods, swimming pools, cars, hunting gear, Taco Bell, etc.

Lastly, as time was running short, we reviewed the group roles: leader, recorder, technician, and presenter. I had found cards that described these four roles and tailored them to fit our needs. Students were able to see and even hear what these roles would look like and sound like in action. Luckily, I was on a church committee this summer and got to be in three of the four roles so I could share some real life experiences in how it looked for me and what I had to do.

Monday...we're going to gather the data for their common interest...10+ prices. We'll then get to the math portion of finding the central tendencies for these items, and then go over the rubric for the ad project.

MAJOR CONCERN: A lot of time will go into the technology portion of this project, which doesn't necessarily reflect the math involved. We could easily stop this project after Monday's data day. However, I have chosen to keep going as this is the 3rd week of school and this will help generate interest in the technology, show that math is all around us, and help us to reinforce the Fish! Philosophy skills by working with others.