Agnes Timar
Mathercise with GeoGebra
Agnes Timar
A.D. Henderson University High School / FAU High School
I taught middle and high school math classes at Henderson/FAU High School for 10 years. I am currently working as a Data Specialist in our school. My responsibilities include collecting and analyzing data for our K-12 school, for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program grant, and supporting middle and high school math curriculum. I am a student in the Ph.D. program in the Department of Curriculum, Culture and Educational Inquiry at FAU.
My passion is to help students believe that they can excel in math.
Description of workshop:
Mathercise which is math exercise that I use in my classroom. It covers the basic math concept of transformation of functions that sometimes does not seem that simple for students.
In Geogebra, I graph a parent function then a translated one using sliders. I start with absolute value then move on to quadratic, cubic, etc. functions. Students stand up, form a V with their arms to show the parent function and “act -out” the way the function will behave due to transformation. For example, shift up would be standing on their toes, shift down squat, shift left step left, etc.
This activity also covers most of Marzano Design question 5:
Element 24: Being aware of when students are drifting off. The sooner a teacher realizes students are not engaged, the sooner he or she can implement a strategy to re-engage them.
Element 25: Provide a game that combines academic learning with having fun.
Element 26: Use questioning to spark students’ attention.
Element 27: Engage students physically, to get their blood pumping and energize them.
Element 28: Provide for smooth transitions, change the tempo and activities of the class and keep students engaged.
Element 29: Being enthusiastic and showing a love for what you are teaching goes a long way with students.
Element 30: Help students look at issues from many different perspectives, particularly controversial perspectives that hold students’ attention.
