5313 Podcast finished project

The podcast episode discusses the importance of integrating technology in the classroom to make math more engaging for students. The hosts, who have different levels of teaching experience, share their insights and ideas. They emphasize the use of technology, specifically a web-based data analysis platform called CODAP, to help students collect and graph data on a coordinate plane. They suggest an activity where students analyze temperature changes in different cities using CODAP and a website called visualcrossing.com. The hosts highlight the benefits of giving students the freedom to choose cities and discuss their individual thoughts and opinions. They also mention the potential for cross-curricular integration and authentic learning experiences. The episode concludes with the hosts expressing their excitement to share more ideas in future episodes. Welcome to Making Math Meaningful, a podcast that gives ideas on how to integrate technology using real-life situations in your classroom. My name is Sharon Staggers. I taught junior high and high school math and science for 20 years, and I now work for Writing Curriculum Company. Hey, that's awesome, Sharon. Welcome. Hello, everybody. My name is Sarah Thomas. I'm currently in my 14th year of teaching math in Texas. I've taught all levels of high school math, from Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, to STAR, and even TAX retesters. I was also the head cross-country coach for many years at my school. You have a lot of experience. Hey, my name's Haley. I teach Algebra 1 in Oklahoma. This is my first year teaching Algebra 1. That's why I teach all day long the same subject, but it's only my second year teaching in general. Last year, I taught second grade. Many people get shocked when I say that. The reason why is because I – my whole life, I've always wanted to teach upper-level math, and last year, there were no positions available. So I just took a leap on second grade just to see if I liked it. It was okay. I didn't love it, but I did learn a lot, so anyways, that's – Wow. That is a big difference between second grade and high school. That's awesome. Yeah, it's very much a huge difference. There's – high school has a lot of learning aspects that I've had to learn, but I've been able to use a lot of my elementary skills, so I've been doing good. Hey, y'all. I'm Terri. I'm a tax preparer. I'm not a teacher. I've never been in a classroom before, so this is all new for me. I'm eager to get started this fall in teaching math. All right. Let's get into our topic. The most common way of teaching is paper and pencil. Students and teachers know that as the norm. Those of us who have taught for many years are used to paper and pencil activities. Those activities do not engage students as much as using applicable technology. The activity we would like to discuss today involves having students collect data to then graph on a coordinate plane. Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me there's better ways of displaying data than just having students plotting points on graph paper all the time? Absolutely. After students have been instructed on how to graph values on a coordinate plane, there are many resources available with technology to help develop a deeper understanding of what is trying to be taught. I agree. Technology is a valuable resource that we need to be utilizing in our classrooms daily. I know. No, I'm just kidding. Right. Plus, many of our students, they've been using technology for the same amount of time that we have or maybe even longer. Usually, we give students a blank coordinate plane to work with, but a good idea resource that we are suggesting to use is CODAP in our classroom. CODAP? What is that, Haley? CODAP stands for Common Online Data Analysis Platform. It's a free web-based data analysis application for students' grades 6 through 12. CODAP has created data sets for first-time users. You can also use CODAP to find classroom activities and other downloadable resources. This technology can help engage the students in math. That is amazing. What if we have students complete an activity analyzing temperature changes in certain cities? That sounds like a great activity. Students would collect data and then display it visually using a graph. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good website for students to use to complete this activity? Maybe something you have used in the past that has been engaging but also effective? I actually do. Students can select a city using the website visualcrossing.com. They can look up weather data and find the highest and lowest temperature for that city each month. Using the data that they have collected, students can then graph the information using CODAP. It's really neat. CODAP allows them to analyze the data and then represent their information in a variety of ways. Students would really enjoy engaging in this activity. It gives them that opportunity to explain why they chose the city they chose. Giving the students the freedom of choice will also enhance their engagement and give them independence. Absolutely. We could also let them choose a city they would like to visit or have visited with their family. The ownership of them choosing lets them talk about their individual thoughts and opinions. It will also allow students to have time to talk about themselves, which many students would enjoy that time. After collecting their data, they will enjoy using CODAP to analyze and represent that data in a variety of ways. Students can share their results with their class. They can calculate the average temperature of their city and then, as a class, graph each city's average temperature for another graph to analyze and compare. Discuss where they would most like to live and why. This activity could actually cross multiple different curriculums. Students could also talk about the geological aspects of the city that they chose. They can even talk about the history or events that happened in their city. Wow. They could integrate this lesson into other classes and really expand on their research if they wanted. It is important to design authentic learning activities for your students. It is also helpful to change the common way of learning to actively engage students. This is just one of the many ways technology can help with those. I totally agree. I think students will benefit from learning how to use different online resources that they can add to their toolbox. Talk about a toolbox that students have and then they just pull from it as needed. I agree. I know I teach freshman and I know that my students would love to research a place that is important to them. And I also know they would love to be able to stand up at the front and talk about themselves without being controlled. Absolutely. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Making Math Meaningful. Yeah. We can't wait to share more ideas that we have with you. Math can also be fun. Join us next time for Making Math Meaningful. Bye.