ITEC 7400 : Core-Content Area Report

1. ITEC 7400: Core-Content Area Report Erica Sisk Fall 2011

2. When teaching students about the properties of circles, a technology that is very useful for discovering these properties is Geometer’s Sketchpad. Teachers can assign the students pre-packaged assignments from the Geometer’s Sketchpad resources located on the interactive disc or create assignments from scratch. • Geometer’s Sketchpad allows the students to create or manipulate an existing circle in order to prove that the theorems work with all circles regardless of size. MM2G3 Students will understand the properties of circles. Understand and use properties of chords, tangents, and secants as an application of triangle similarity. b. Understand and use properties of central, inscribed, and related angles. c. Use the properties of circles to solve problems involving the length of an arc and the area of a sector. d. Justify measurements and relationships in circles using geometric and algebraic properties.

3. Geometer’s Sketchpad • Pre-packaged GSP files allow Special Education students to “compete” at a level playing area and reinforce the students’ knowledge about the parts of a circle. For example: If the assignment says to create a circle that has two intersecting chords, then the file in the upper right hand corner of the image to the left would appear on the window. A question could ask, “What are the two chords that intersect in the circle?” Therefore, reinforcing the vocabulary for those types of learners. Additionally, if a teacher is needing the differentiate the lesson for different types of learners, this software is ideal.

4. Graphing calculators are an excellent resource in technology when finding models to best fit a scatter plot or set of data. • Using the tables feature, allows graphing of the data the be produced much easier than by hand. • Additionally, graphing calculators lends itself rather well when teaching the median – median line. • Another form of regression and data that students will see on the EOCT is exponential data. MM2D2 Students will determine an algebraic model to quantify the association between two quantitative variables. Gather and plot data that can be modeled with linear and quadratic functions. b. Examine the issues of curve fitting by finding good linear fits to data using simple methods such as the median-median line and “eyeballing”.

5. Graphing Calculators • When using graphing calculators, students will need to learn the steps it takes for the calculators to produce the type of information needed. For Special Education students it would be very beneficial to have the steps printed out for them or to at least have the steps modeled as fill-in-the-blank notes. This method allows students to have a list of steps and a visual that is easier to memorize.

6. For teachers who are planning to teach students about trigonometric ratios to students for the first time, a technology that accompanies and reinforces this topic well is Gizmos. • Gizmos is a software that Cobb County School District has a license for all teachers. The content can be broken down my standards and strands. • All teachers have a log-in and password information available to them. MM2G2 Students will define and apply sine, cosine, and tangent ratios to right triangles. Discover the relationship of the trigonometric ratios for similar triangles. b. Explain the relationship between the trigonometric ratios of complementary angles. c. Solve application problems using the trigonometric ratios.

8. A good source of technology to use in order to investigate exponential functions is TI-Interactive. TI-Interactive is a software that allows students to graph functions. By altering the function by parts, students can see what transformations take place with each piece of the function. • TI-Interactive also graphs each function a different color and can be easily placed on a document for printing or saving. MM2A2 Students will explore exponential functions. b. Investigate and explain characteristics of exponential functions, including domain and range, asymptotes, zeros, intercepts, intervals of increase and decrease, rates of change, and end behavior. c. Graph functions as transformations of f(x) = a(x).

9. For students with Special Education needs, guided notes or a guide for them to know what transformations to try to use assist them in completing assignments on TI-Interactive. A pre-packaged template or visual with steps would help.

10. A form of technology that is useful for checking the level of understanding of students is USA Test Prep. This program is located on the internet. Cobb County School District has a license for this program and teachers will need a user name, password, and school code. This software reviews material broken down by domain or standard. Teachers may limit students to domains they are weak in or allow students to work the entire program. Benchmark tests and review games are located here as well. MM2A3 Students will analyze quadratic functions in the forms f(x) = ax2 + bx +c and f(x) = a(x – h)2 + k. Convert between standard and vertex form. b. Graph quadratic functions as transformations of the function f(x) = x2. c. Investigate and explain characteristics of quadratic functions, including domain, range, vertex, axis of symmetry, zeros, intercepts, extrema, intervals of increase and decrease, and rates of change.

11. USA Test Prep will allow teachers to set up a benchmark test that shows which standards the students are having the most difficulty. By using this information, teachers can better gage the students’ knowledge to set up quizzes, games, and other resources off the site that will reteach or reinforce the standards. This aspect allows for students to get the help that they need individually.