Our school was established in 2012 to provide a Project Based Learning Environment while preparing students for future careers and integrating a STEM focus. Students at our school have a variety of backgrounds, as our school of choice is a public school serving students from three different school systems with a wide range of backgrounds, home life, academic skills, and socioeconomic status. Meeting the needs of such a diverse population becomes stronger with Project Based Learning.
"It was all worth it," rang out enthusiastically above the sound of collaboration in my room as the first group moved into the creative aspects of a past Project Based Learning experience.
The student, a freshman, excitedly relayed to other groups that "all the time it took to do all the math was worth it!"
In that moment, students found not only relevance, but passion about math. Most of my students have not experienced much success in math in their past. They come into my classroom believing that they cannot "do math." So, I accept the challenge of shifting their paradigm from math doers to problem solvers.
My Project
This year, our math classroom has been transformed into a School of Math and Magic. We have spent first semester exploring "Fantastic Beasts and their Mathemagical Properties." As we move into the second semester, we want to integrate algebraic functions and coding to create our own magic.
Every good mizard (math-wizard) needs to perfect the swish-and-flick of their wand.
We will use algebraic functions, motion detectors and coding to create mathemagical events. Students will create charming motions that will play music, blink lights, and more.
This PBL (Project Based Learning) experience will help students see connections between our math content, careers in technology, and real world applications, providing relevance, rigor, and active engagement.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Murchison and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
