Thank you for sharing this great student project idea! I can see the students are leading the video creation and fully involved in the process. I can tell that they are producing high quality work because they know they are informing other students. This was a fun topic and a great way to demonstrate adding decimals! Please view my blog post reacting to the project: https://mshollander.school.blog/2019/06/06/student-blogging-project-math-movie-network/
Mr. Avery’s class found a fantastic way to share their skills with the public using interesting topics and methods. As a math teacher, I found the post including the video about adding decimals impressive. You can read the post and view the video here:
Students used the statistics from the top grossing movies to demonstrate adding decimals. Student anchors introduced each guest and the students made the lesson informational for others struggling with the concept. Students worked together and it was clear that this was a student-led project.
I have been interested in widening the audience for my students and student video creation is one method I plan on using. This student project could be used in my classroom, especially for extension projects at the end of the year. The fact that Mr. Avery’s class’ involves the entire class in the creation of a video is a fantastic idea. All students are engaged and invested. I may modify this and ask my students to create videos in small groups (perhaps on different topics). Either way, my students will practice working with others and will be sharing their knowledge with the world.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
As a long-time education technology “lurker,” I am fascinated by the ways educators are engaging students with web technologies. Math classes have been hesitant to include web technology due to the difficulty and lack of MathType and other programs that allow users to insert mathematical notations. I understand this hesitation as I never want to force technology into a lesson just for the sake of including technology. However, when the tech enhances a lesson, it’s a powerful tool. Fortunately, my priorities for my students have shifted from computation skills and procedural tasks to conceptual understanding and explanations. MathType is still unavailable on many sources and is tedious to include on other sites, but I do not expect my students to rely on it often. Instead, students will use words to explain how their methods help solve problems. In our LMS, Schoology, students can hold discussions with their classmates. I may ask students to create a public blog post about specific problems. Students will use social bookmarking sites to keep track of high quality math resources. Finally, I may ask my students to create videos explaining their process and why it was valid. I cannot wait to further enhance my classroom with web technologies.
Math with Ms. Hollander 