Phase IV

Phase IV:

Implementation of Solution

Implementation & Data Collection Plan

             As part of daily instruction, I demonstrate several different methods of data collection. The table below illustrates the types of data collection strategies that I will implement during this geometry unit.

            As the unit progresses, I will keep track of student progress on a color-coded spreadsheet. For each assessment, students will be given a numeric score. If they score 90% or above, they will be labeled green; if they score between 70% and 89%, they will be marked yellow; and if they score 69% or below, they will be marked red. This spreadsheet will start with the geometry pre-assessment and demonstrate student growth as the unit progresses. This color-coding method will help me determine who needs re-teaching and how to group students.

 Below is a sample of my data collection spreadsheet:

Daily Notes & Updates

Monday, October 15^th

• Geometry pre-assessment was administered.
• The pre-assessment took the entire class period to complete (1 hour). Two students were unable to finish and receive extended time accommodations, so they were invited in to continue working during lunch.
• Students were reminded to bring their computer cards to the next math class, as many of them have not memorized their passwords.

Tuesday, October 16^th  - “Lines, Rays, and Angles”

• Students were familiar with lines and line segments, but confused about rays, angles, and planes. Only about 60% of the class (11 out of 18 students) recognized the terms.
• Students were confused about the difference between symbols and representations. Required lots of repetition and modeling to achieve mostly “thumbs up.”
• I demonstrated how to use IXL Math on the Promethean Board and provided a list of steps to navigate to the activity. Students were very excited to use computers in math!
• The Netbooks were very temperamental. They took almost 20 minutes to distribute and for all students to log on. Some Netbooks didn’t connect to the network, so they needed to be switched out. To prepare for this, I signed out all 30 Netbooks, even though there are only 18 students in my math class.
• While Netbooks logged on, I started all students on page 322 #5-22 and monitored individual students.
• The Netbooks finally logged on with about 20 minutes left in class. Fortunately, students still had enough time to complete the activity.
• As students finished, I recorded their scores out of 14. We did not have time for the exit card. Rather, students who finished first were able to start working on their homework.
• At the end of the school day, I decided to sign up for the computer lab during tomorrow’s class time. Hopefully these computers will work better than the Netbooks!
  

Wednesday, October 17^th  - “Line Relationships"

• Students completed the warm-up activity while I monitored the room. They completed the activity well. Only 2 students needed support.
• We checked the homework together. Based on answers to questions, students seemed confident in their responses. Everyone answered at least 1 question during the discussion.
• During the lesson, students struggled with the word “relationship,” but recognized parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting names and symbols. A little more than half the class (about 10 students) were confused with the difference between perpendicular and intersecting lines.
• Students were very excited to look at the map and “discover” parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting lines. They practice greatly increased their confidence.

• Students completed “Angles in the Real World” with 100% accuracy and displayed a lot of creativity. They were very enthusiastic and excited.
• Based on informal polling, discussion, and observation, worksheet 23.1 seemed very easy. We started working on it together, but I let students work at their own pace and finish independently.
• With about 30 minutes left in class, we went to the computer lab. These computers are much more reliable and easier to use. I reminded students how to access the site and let them work on the activity.
• There are several students in my room who are members of a before-school program that I run called Techsperts. These students are trained to use the technology that we use in school. These students were available to help their classmates with technology issues while I worked with small groups.
• I formed the small groups randomly because of the lack of time for the exit card yesterday. This provided opportunities for students to learn from both me and their peers.
• Students reported their score to me when they finished and started working on their homework.

Thursday, October 18^th

• Lines and Linear Relationship quiz was administered.
• Students were very confident and very few needed to ask clarifying questions.
• Some students with accommodations (ESOL and read-to) needed to ask for words to be read to them.
• The quiz took between 20 and 30 minutes to complete. Students then worked on an addition and subtraction fact review packet.
• All students scored a 90% or above.
  
• There was no homework assigned for tonight since it leads to a weekend.

Friday, October 19^th  - No school due to MSTA convention

Monday, October 22^nd  - “Measuring Angles”

• Students needed reminding about acute, obtuse, and right angles, but they were very confident when prompted.
• Students were very excited and energetic when using their bodies to demonstrate angles.
  
• The Promethean Board protractor tool was used to teach students to measure angles.

• “What’s the Angle” was started with students one step at a time. I used the ELMO document camera to project each step of protractor use. While students worked through each problem, I observed every student to ensure proper alignment and positioning of the protractor and angle.
• “What’s the Angle” was collected for a grade.
• Student partner work on worksheet 18.2 Reteach was very good. Each partnership demonstrated confidence and accuracy when measuring the angles. I worked with several groups who had questions.

Tuesday, October 23^rd  - “Measuring Angles” continued

• Students recalled with a bit less than100% accuracy the different types of angles and the steps they needed to use to measure angles.
• The worksheet “Acrobatic Angles” (planned for use yesterday) was completed as a warm-up activity today and collected for a grade. About 89% of the class (16 out of 18 students) achieved a 90% or higher.
• I decided to again try the Netbooks with the class to complete the IXL activity. Today, they were a bit more reliable, as few of them had difficulty connecting to the network. I decided to pass out the Netbooks, power them up, and have students log in before correcting last night’s homework. This way, when we had finished with the homework, all Netbooks would be logged in and ready to use.
• After reviewing the homework, I determined that a majority of the class was confident in their ability to accurately measure angles.
• We had enough time left (about 30 minutes) for students to complete both IXL math activities that were planned for today.
• The first activity (Acute, Right, Obtuse, and Straight Angles) was a great review and students completed it with 100% accuracy. The second activity (Measure Angles with a Protractor) was a bit more challenging. Students didn’t have to manipulate the protractor, but they did have to practice reading the measurements. Some students struggled at first, but they were much better by the end (about half of the class achieved a 90% or higher).
  

• Students in small groups were able to measure angles much more accurately by the end of group time.

Wednesday, October 24^th  - “Classifying Quadrilateral & Polygons”

• Students seemed unfamiliar with the terms “quadrilateral” and “polygon.” This is something that they should have been introduced to in third grade. The flipchart lesson seemed to jog their memories a bit.
• Students had much more success identifying shapes by their attributes than the other way around. The prefix vocabulary (tri-, quad-, hex-, oct-, etc.) was difficult for them to grasp. I gave examples of counting in different languages, which seemed to help. They at least thought it was funny.
• As soon as students saw me taking out the geoboards, they got very excited. They love using manipulatives and this really increased their interest and motivation.
• While a bit confused in the beginning, students were quite confident by the end of the activity. They were able to quickly identify shapes based on the attributes I gave them.
  
• We did not use IXL Math today.

Thursday, October 25^th  - All day field trip – No math class!

Friday, October 26^th  - “Classifying 3-Dimensional Shapes”

• I set up the Netbook stations around the room before students arrived this morning. I logged in to all the Netbooks using my username and password. My homeroom students were really disappointed (and some jealous) when I told them they were for use with my math class.
• Students retained much of the information from yesterday’s lesson and were able to quickly identify shapes based on provided attributes. They were also able to describe shapes using appropriate geometry vocabulary.
• The differences between 2- and 3-dimensional shapes was very familiar to students. The only trouble they had was in identifying the differences between faces and bases.
• I explained each Netbook center and how they were to be used. Students (although getting used to using computers almost every day) were very eager to get started. In addition to center procedures, I explained the difference between helping someone learn and giving them the answer. This is very important for students to know when they’re working with groups.
• With 45 minutes left in class, students were assigned a Netbook center. They had 15 minutes at each center. Since there were so many different programs in use, I was not able to record student scores. Rather, I monitored the room and made note of students who seemed to be struggling.
• From my observations, students were very confident and comfortable. If they weren’t, the other students at their center helped explain to them.

Monday, October 29^th & Tuesday, October 30^th – No school for Hurricane Sandy

Wednesday, October 31^st  

• Review for Unit 1 Assessment.
• Students were given a review packet to complete in class and finish for homework.
  

Thursday, Nov. 1^st, Friday, Nov. 2^nd, Monday, Nov. 5^th, & Tuesday, Nov. 6^th

• Unit 1 Assessment was administered.