I’m a little behind in posting my action plan but I’m glad I waited because in the course of just one day, it has been radically transformed. Initially, I was investigating ways to alleviate the logging in time and frustrations that grade one students working with laptops and IXL were facing.By utilizing some excellent apps (namely ToDo Math and MathDuel), the problem of making skill practice engaging and easy to set up was solved!
In conversations with Cohort coaches and peers today, I realized that within my role, I have the opportunity to widen students’ conception of mathematics through math club. While students will continue to have the opportunity to practice skills through the apps we have already introduced, I am now interested in exploring coding with students. As Leslie McBeth so brilliantly put it, coding preserves the notion of “x + y = ?”, but instead of 5+5=10, now ‘arrow + arrow + switch = movement of a character in a computer program”. Using child-friendly coding apps might allow students who do not have strong memories for facts engage in larger mathematical contexts. Creating the opportunity for young students to code also fulfils one of my own objectives in teaching: to engage students in authentic learning and ‘doing’, instead of just preparing them to do “real” tasks in the future.
My next step for my action plan is to pitch coding to the Math Club next week and see what their prior knowledge is. I hope to do minimal modelling and let them try the apps on their own. In most of my experiences using apps, students tend to throw themselves into the experiences offered and figure things out as they go. I am hoping that students can understand math as a creative pursuit and build their own programs while also having opportunities to practice skills!
