This past week in class we had a lesson instructed to us by two of our peers. They each chose a different activity to teach a lesson from the same grade and strand of math. This pair chose to present on Grade 9 and 10 Academic math.
During their presentation, I was introduced to a website provided by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (https://www.nctm.org/classroom-resources/illuminations/interactives/algebra-tiles/) where students could use algebra tiles to model and solve equations. This technology blew me away! I was originally introduced to algebra tiles in the fall when a partner and I prepared a lesson on Polynomials to teach to our cohort class as part of an assignment. We had never heard of or used this manipulative before, but we quickly taught ourselves how they worked and were able to use them with ease. Our lesson went very well and I found that students who were unfamiliar with the mathematical concept of adding and subtracting polynomials, or who were not confidant in their abilities were able to easily implement the tiles to help them solves various expressions. On the other hand, students who knew what they were doing tended to use the manipulative sparingly disregard the tool altogether. While using the tiles was a great activity, they were difficult to find and the kit we did find did not have enough tiles for each student to have their own or for polynomials involving larger coefficients to be modeled.
I had the chance again to work with Algebra Tiles in one of the first few classes of this course, and again, I enjoyed working with them. I discovered new uses for them, such a factoring, and was able to learn how to implement them in various ways in my classroom.
Discovering this online resource for Algebra Tiles is a game-changer. Not only can each student use the website individually, the possibilities are endless and the interaction is fun and engaging. I played around on the website for quite some times and explored the various modes that were available: Solve, Substitute, Expand and Factor. The technology was easy to use and understand for someone who already had knowledge of how to use the tiles. I think this resource would be great for use in a classroom where the teacher might not always have access to physical tiles. Furthermore, students can use this to practice at home or any time where they don't have tiles available. This is also a great way to differentiate instruction depending on the student's needs. Overall, I see this resource being a great tool for me to use in Grade 9 and 10 classrooms, and I look forward to being able to use it with my future students.
During their presentation, I was introduced to a website provided by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (https://www.nctm.org/classroom-resources/illuminations/interactives/algebra-tiles/) where students could use algebra tiles to model and solve equations. This technology blew me away! I was originally introduced to algebra tiles in the fall when a partner and I prepared a lesson on Polynomials to teach to our cohort class as part of an assignment. We had never heard of or used this manipulative before, but we quickly taught ourselves how they worked and were able to use them with ease. Our lesson went very well and I found that students who were unfamiliar with the mathematical concept of adding and subtracting polynomials, or who were not confidant in their abilities were able to easily implement the tiles to help them solves various expressions. On the other hand, students who knew what they were doing tended to use the manipulative sparingly disregard the tool altogether. While using the tiles was a great activity, they were difficult to find and the kit we did find did not have enough tiles for each student to have their own or for polynomials involving larger coefficients to be modeled.
I had the chance again to work with Algebra Tiles in one of the first few classes of this course, and again, I enjoyed working with them. I discovered new uses for them, such a factoring, and was able to learn how to implement them in various ways in my classroom.
Discovering this online resource for Algebra Tiles is a game-changer. Not only can each student use the website individually, the possibilities are endless and the interaction is fun and engaging. I played around on the website for quite some times and explored the various modes that were available: Solve, Substitute, Expand and Factor. The technology was easy to use and understand for someone who already had knowledge of how to use the tiles. I think this resource would be great for use in a classroom where the teacher might not always have access to physical tiles. Furthermore, students can use this to practice at home or any time where they don't have tiles available. This is also a great way to differentiate instruction depending on the student's needs. Overall, I see this resource being a great tool for me to use in Grade 9 and 10 classrooms, and I look forward to being able to use it with my future students.
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