Content Standards

Sixth grade mathematics is a continuum of elementary school mathematics with an extensive in-depth curriculum needed to further build a solid base of understanding in mathematical concepts. The following topics are the adopted standards for sixth grade mathematics: rational and proportional relationships, the number system, expressions and equations, geometry, and statistics and probability.

California State Standards

Ratios and Proportional Relationships 6.RP

Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.

3. Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about

tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations.

a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with wholenumber measurements, find

missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to

compare ratios.

b. Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For

example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then at that rate, how many lawns could be mowed

in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed?

c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the

quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.

d. Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units

appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.

Expressions and Equations 6.EE

Represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables.

9. Use variables to represent two quantities in a real-world problem that change in relationship to one another; write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation. For example, in a problem involving motion at constant speed, list and graph ordered pairs of distances and times, and write the equation d = 65t to represent the relationship between distance and time.

ISTE Standards for Technology

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:

a. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become

active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

b. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

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Evaluation

Evaluation: Survey

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Collaboration: Key to Success and Time

Collaboration allows me to be a better student and a better teacher. When you work with other people on a project, or seek input from others, you end up with a superior product. In business it is called team buy-in when you are brainstorming and collaborating on a project, and as many people as possible are included in the process in order for the project to be successful.

In my first year at NDNU, most of my EDU foundation courses required at least once to collaborate on a group project or assignment. Each time, our group used Google docs and worked together to write the final paper submitted. This method was especially important in the multi-cultural case study presentation. Each of the team members edited and inputted extensively over the course of the assignment. The beauty of working this way allowed us to work on the project whenever we wanted to and we did not have to worry about emailing documents back and forth. Google docs allowed for flexibility given each of our different schedules, while at the same time made us all equal contributors.

The document that I have shared in this blog post is a document that a peer and I collaborated on for the EDU Special Education Course. Both of us were familiar with Google Docs, having worked on a multicultural project together in a previous class. We each contributed to the document, inputting as necessary all of the brainstorming steps we needed for instructional accommodations. Each of us picked a color to keep track of our edits and inputs. What I have shown is the final project that we submitted.

While I was a paraeducator in 5th grade, the most successful events, projects, lessons and assignments came from the collaboration of the 5th grade team. Often times, one teacher would have an idea and she would float it by the entire team. Sometimes the teachers wouldn't necessarily agree on the approach, but eventually one teacher would join her colleague and they would start to collaborate on the lesson plan. Before you know it, they would have this awesome plan going and their excitement would start to build. As the teachers worked together, their excitement would then bubble over to the other 5th grade teachers and before you know it, all would be working together. The end result was always perfect and well-thought out. Collaboration made for a better experience for the teacher and guess who won in all of this? The student, because they received the BEST of all of the teachers.

Terms and Definitions

Researching the terms and definitions made me realize that while I may understand how to navigate around the internet and understanding the tools available to me, I do not have command of the technology jargon. Words such as captcha and Digg were unfamiliar to me while other words such as tweet, avatar and cloud computing were terms I was comfortable both using and defining. Web 2.0 is the phase of the internet that allows for interaction and has definitely changed the way the internet is used. Again, looking at how this will play out in the elementary and middle school environments beyond the typical project using PowerPoint is still being refined. Think about your students needing to learn vocabulary to understand the concepts in math, science, English, language arts and social studies; we are there too, learning the vocabulary of the future.

TERMS	DEFINITIONS
aggregation	a composition technique for building a new object from existing objects that support some or all of the news object’s interfaces
avatar	subject in a virtual world that represents a person
blog	a series of informal articles
cache	a place to store something momentarily where it con be retrieved quickly instead of having to get it from the server
captcha	letters and numbers randomly generated by program that are inputted for “security” of a process on the computer to insure the inputter is human
cloud computing	allows for web-based applications as opposed to purchasing software i.e. Google Docs
Digg	social news site that allows for users to submit and rate input. allows for users to popularize the content and “digg” it.
hashtag	a tag used to categorize posts on Twitter according to topics
HTML	the language of the world wide web - a system of markup codes and symbols inserted into a file that is intended for use on the world wide web. The markup tells the web browser how to display the images and words for the user.
podcast,webcast	a broadcast sent over the world wide web or ipod
tags	a language element descriptor
tweet	a message or post on Twitter- must be 140 characters or less
web 2.0	interactive services that the web now offers such as online banking, photo sharing, webmail
wiki	content management system that allows people to input and edit sites without knowing HTML
source code	human readable instructions that a programmer writes

Gradebook and Excel

Excel is a very powerful tool. I had used Excel extensively in my prior business career and never really thought about its usefulness in education other than in math and science to create data tables. Excel was used by Site Council to create our strategic plan every year as it was both a budget as well as goal oriented project. Using Excel to create a gradebook as well as other documents makes it extremely versatile. I thought the concatenation tool was super cool and one that I had never used before. Working collaboratively with another teacher, administrator or parent in your classroom can minimize the paperwork or repetitive actions that can happen when paper is passed from person to person. Being able to create a document in Excel, download to a web based solution such as Google docs and then share it with those who need the information, makes it a tool to keep in your arsenal. It will be important to continue to hone those skills in technology and identify my weaknesses in order to seek the necessary training I will need to minimize wasted time trying to figure something out. Asking questions of a colleague more knowledgeable than me in order to learn is also important.

Lisa Hennefarth's gradebook is accessible to be viewed.

Social Networking and Privacy

Call me old-fashioned, or perhaps it is generational, but as much as students like and use social networking sites outside of class to connect with friends and family, I just can't seem to buy in to allowing it in school. I have to ask what value does social networking bring to a classroom? I guess I have been in too many classes where students use Facebook, checking in on friends, their statuses and chatting, all while the professor is lecturing. I expect respect and common courtesy from students when a teacher and professor are delivering a lesson or lecturing on a topic. Some may say that teachers need to be make their lessons and lectures entertaining and interesting, and bring them into the 21st century with the use of technology and interaction. Even when this is done, students still feel the need to be connected, and I think that sometimes we need to be “unconnected” from the internet and technology. I know how hard some teachers work on delivering curriculum to their students, and for some students, they fail to see what value some topics bring to their life. I “get” it and often have used this argument before when I was younger, but now, my age tells me differently. We gain perspective, understanding, and critical thinking skills when we learn outside of our disciplines. This is important as we add tools to our basket of knowledge.

As I thought about this reflection, I decided to research some other opinions to see what others thought about the subject. One opinion in favor of using social networks in school likened it to the invention of the printing press. If we look at social networking sites as books, they too were considered inappropriate, threatening and people were scared. But, not everyone was scared; there were those who stepped forward and forever changed civilization. Could we be on the verge of a new renaissance era with new thoughts and ideas forever changing the way we "do" life? I can wholeheartedly agree with this position of stepping forward, and I am willing to be open-minded about the use of social networking in school; however, we need to teach the courtesies of using social networking, especially to young students. Social networking sites can be brutal and I worry about bullying and distractions, but if we can monitor and teach, then these sites can be powerful; we can reach those students who are on the fringe of the academic circle. I believe it can be used to compare and contrast topics across communities as well as be used as a way to brainstorm ideas and gather as much information as possible. Have I changed my mind? No, not really, but I am willing to take a second look.

Slope Dude

Slope Dude
This adventurous young man can teach us the important terms behind learning slope, including the dreaded algebra term ... undefined, all the while being on a ski slope, high on a mountaintop. Intriguing? Interesting? Designed to capture a student's attention? Perhaps, if you have never heard of the slope concept before, like in a pre-algebra class, this video might be the perfect, goofy way to grab the student's attention.

While preparing for a SDAEI Lesson in my ELL class, my colleagues and I found this funny YouTube video on Slope. At the beginning of the math lesson on slope, this video was used to grab the student's attention. A ski slope with a skier demonstrated positive, negative, zero and undefined slope while learning the key terms around this important part of Linear Functions. As part of the NDNU program, we have been taught to use a "hook" to draw the students into your lesson. YouTube videos serve this purpose because they allow teachers to be creative by giving them access to all sorts of materials. YouTube videos also help students, by giving them options to learning. For example, Khan Academy started as uploads to YouTube and there are also many other online and video tutorials for math including songs and games. Recently, while teaching a lesson on Distance, I found a rap song on the equation of Distance=Rate x Time. This was taught to a 6th grade class and they loved the song and remembered the equation easily. Students need to learn and we, as teachers, need to teach. Keep it creative and get your students hooked.