Time Vs. Technology

The countdown is on.  I'm feeling the time crunch.  We are in the second semester and the state assessment is looming in the horizon.  I see it...taunting me..."Are you ready?"  "Do your students have what it takes?"  "Have you prepared them for this moment?"  Aaahhhh!!!

But there is another countdown...the TRC grant.  We are in the second semester and I need to continue to develop and integrate quality technology lessons to move my students thinking...which will ultimately help them for the test.

Wow!  That's a lot for three months.  How am I going to do this?  On one hand, I want to stay with the familiar.  The tried and true.  For three years I have tweaked a curriculum to best suit my students and the tested standards.  It has worked so far.  Why change something that is working?  But on the other hand, as I read "Motivating Students From A-Z", I am again reminded of the importance of keeping Rigor (chapter R) in the classroom and moving my students toward Understanding at Higher Levels (chapter U).

So, to meld the two together...technology and Chapter R and U,  I am going to move away from the familiar and branch out to something new.  Keeping my fingers crossed the whole way through!

The plan:
Students will research a career that uses Pythagorean's Theorem, create two problems that might be used in the career.

Objectives Covered:
1.  Website Evaluation Checklist/Research Skills (see Handout section for complete Checklist)

2.  Careers related to math
3.  Writing skills
4.  Bibliography
5.  Higher Order Thinking:   Applying and Analyzing
6.  Pythagorean's Theorem

My hope?  Students will see the broader picture than just completing a worksheet to demonstrate the needed skill.

Something to think about...We could use the BackPack in the Kan-Ed website finally.  I got the classes all updated and the assignment loaded.  Students will be able to turn their assignment in via the laptops. Something new.  :)