An Amazing Teaching Experience
My amazing teaching moment was experienced in a sixth grade math class. The objective of the lesson was for students to gain a long lasting conceptual understanding of mean through real world applications. Students often times confuse mean, median, and mode without knowing the purpose of central tendencies or when to apply them. The learning objective was for the students to explore the purpose of mean and the operational procedures for finding the mean.
The lesson began with each student receiving their own miniature bag of Skittles. Students were directed to make predictions about which color would be represented the most in their package. Students were then allowed to share their preferred Skittle color. The class used the survey to decide what color was most preferred, red won. Next, they opened their bags and counted how many red Skittles were in their personal bag. I gave special attention to the one who had the most red Skittles hoping the other students would begin to feel envious. We then engaged in a class discussion on fairness. I proposed the following questions:
Is it fair that we all have different amounts of one color?
What amount of red Skittles should each buyer expect?
What could we do to find a fair number of red Skittles?
Next, students suggested that we put all the Skittles together and then pass them out one by one so that everyone gets the same amount of red Skittles. I followed their suggestion and collected all the Skittles in a container and redistributed them one by one. I asked why were we doing these steps and used this as a springboard to introduce the concept of mean as being a “fair” number. We discussed the mean as a number that can be expected. Students reviewed the two steps taken to find the mean/fair number as a method of finding mean.
This lesson was full of amazing moments including students working together, rich discourse, student discovery, and content exploration. It was amazing to hear the students share the step-by-step process for finding the mean without them knowing the term. They were diving into mathematical concepts using a real-life student application.
The lesson began with each student receiving their own miniature bag of Skittles. Students were directed to make predictions about which color would be represented the most in their package. Students were then allowed to share their preferred Skittle color. The class used the survey to decide what color was most preferred, red won. Next, they opened their bags and counted how many red Skittles were in their personal bag. I gave special attention to the one who had the most red Skittles hoping the other students would begin to feel envious. We then engaged in a class discussion on fairness. I proposed the following questions:
Is it fair that we all have different amounts of one color?
What amount of red Skittles should each buyer expect?
What could we do to find a fair number of red Skittles?
Next, students suggested that we put all the Skittles together and then pass them out one by one so that everyone gets the same amount of red Skittles. I followed their suggestion and collected all the Skittles in a container and redistributed them one by one. I asked why were we doing these steps and used this as a springboard to introduce the concept of mean as being a “fair” number. We discussed the mean as a number that can be expected. Students reviewed the two steps taken to find the mean/fair number as a method of finding mean.
This lesson was full of amazing moments including students working together, rich discourse, student discovery, and content exploration. It was amazing to hear the students share the step-by-step process for finding the mean without them knowing the term. They were diving into mathematical concepts using a real-life student application.
The BIG 5 Components
- Teacher Facilitator - Using both teacher and student interests, a creative facilitator orchestrates lessons with a balance of structure and flexibility, including various techniques that cultivate students’ desire to learn and inquire.
- Real World Explorations - Students explore real world problems in order to develop 21st Century skills: critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration and innovation.
- Student Self-directed learning - The learning environment encourages student collaboration and higher order thinking to make sense of the world. Students reflect and communicate their findings taking ownership of their learning.
- Various Probing Questions - Questioning that drives instruction as well as allows for expansion of thoughts, at multiple levels, is essential to STEM. This process is open to all: not only should the instructor pose questions, but students should as well.
- Transferable Application - Students apply and transfer their understanding to novel situations. This fosters creativity, imbues students with confidence & deepens their understanding of and appreciation for the content.
