My Apple Distinguished Educator Global Institute 2014 “1-in-3” Presentation
Thursday July 17th, 2014 in San Diego, California
Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to present to my fellow Apple Distinguished Educators at the 20th Anniversary of the ADE Program. The ADE Showcase follows a familiar “1-in-3” format used at the 2013 Institute where showcase presenters speak about their “One Best Thing” for 3 minutes or less.
Special thanks to fellow ADE Canadian Board Member, Eric Moccio (@emoccio) for capturing the video for me. I have transcribed the video here and will also add links to other showcase presentations when I become aware of them.
ADE 2014 Showcase Transcribed
Three years ago when I applied for my part-time, one-to-one iPad project, the idea was simple: go paperless to save time and effort copying useless facts and instead use a tool promoting student engagement, interactivity and creativity.
Now, things look very different in my classroom and I am continuously looking for new ways to redefine what it means to learn mathematics in the 21st century.
When students walk into my classroom, they grab their iPad for the period, click on a Web Clip to our course website and download a math task template. This PDF file serves as an organization tool with details about the learning goal for the day, photos related to each task and practice problems to assist students in the consolidation and reinforcement of our new learning.
A quick tap on the screen allows students to open the file in… GoodNotes 4, a great app allowing users to annotate directly over any PDF file. This app has allowed my math class to go completely digital ensuring we can take advantage of the many great mathematics tools at our fingertips including: HTML5 math manipulative websites, algebra touch, MyScript Calculator, FluidMath and many more.
Creating material involves snapping photos and capturing video on my iPhone to make math real. These resources are then modified and enhanced on my MacBook Pro using a variety of apps such as Keynote and Final Cut Pro to help students visualize the math we are learning prior to introducing their algebraic representations.
Each lesson begins with a “Minds On” providing an opportunity to revisit the learning goal from the previous class while scaffolding to the next. Diagnostic and formative assessments can be completed instantly with tools such as Socrative to determine where students are comfortable and where more attention is required.
The discovery portion of the lesson often involves a media-rich real world problem requiring student collaboration to solve the task through the inquiry process. Students come up with very unique ways to solve the problem with many steps and calculations required. The digital format of our course allows students to share their work via AirPlay to the Apple TV for an experience similar to Bansho, but in much less time.
After students share their solutions, we then “Make Connections” between them in order to develop a more efficient method involving the algebra related to the learning goal for that lesson. This allows students to want the math rather than ask why they need it. Similar practice problems assist in the consolidation of the newly introduced algebraic representation.
Students then reflect on their learning by “app smashing” their work with a summarization of their understanding via a free blogging network I created called mathblogs.ca prior to saving their created content to the cloud for access from anywhere.
While Apple technology has dramatically transformed the way I teach and my students learn, the true redefinition of mathematics education has just begun.
Links to Other ADE Showcases
Check out the following showcases by fellow ADE’s at the Global Institute last week. If you have links to other showcase videos, please let me know so I can add them here!
- Eric Moccio – Creating Music and Video With Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X
- Daniel Garcia – Using iBooks Author and iTunes U to Create Interactive Content – Application Video
- Rihanna Sparkes – Teaching Critical Thinking in Math With iPad
- Meg Wilson – Global iBooks Project
- Shaun Krikwood – Creating Digital Portfolios With iPad
- Jane Ross – The Backpack Classroom
- Cathy Hunt – Enhancing Creativity in Art and Beyond With iPad
WANT TO LEARN HOW TO TEACH THROUGH TASK?
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About Kyle Pearce
I’m Kyle Pearce and I am a former high school math teacher. I’m now the K-12 Mathematics Consultant with the Greater Essex County District School Board, where I uncover creative ways to spark curiosity and fuel sense making in mathematics. Read more.
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