Blog #5: What a strong STEMS^2 unit should look like

A strong STEMS^2 unit should contain:

1.     Clearly defined goals and objectives of the designated content that promote critical thinking and problem solving.

2.     Real World Problem Solving/Application

a.     Content connects to local and/or global community issues.

b.     Focuses on students’ sense of self as a local and global citizen

c.      Explores each student’s own relationship to their environments

d.     Integrates Project-Based Learning opportunities that are cross curricular

e.     Integrates Place-Based Learning opportunities that are cross curricular

                                               i.     Explores each students sense of place

                                              ii.     Teachers sense of place

                                            iii.     Communities perspectives

                                            iv.     Global perspective

3.     Integration of STEM

a.     Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

                                               i.     Scientific Inquiry

                                              ii.     Integration of technology effectively and efficiently

                                            iii.     Engineering design

                                            iv.     Standards of Mathematical Practice

1.     Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them

2.     Reason abstractly and quantitatively

3.     Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

4.     Model with mathematics

5.     Use appropriate tools strategically

6.     Attend to precision

7.     Look for and make use of structure

8.     Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

4.   Differentiated Instruction

a.     Ongoing, formative assessments

b.     Recognizing diverse learners

c.      Group work, problem solving, different representation of material, and activities to engage all students

d.     Understanding interests and motivation

e.     Clarifying misconceptions

5.     Alignment to standards

a.     Common Core State Standards

b.     Next Generation Science Standards

6.     A clear and defined rubric for Formative and Summative Assignments of the Unit

a.     Refers back to the goals and objectives

b.     Clearly defines what qualities as:

                                               i.     Exceeded Proficiency

                                              ii.     Proficient

                                            iii.     Approaches

                                            iv.     Does Not Met

A unit to me should contain on main topic that may cover several standards.  For me, I want to do my unit on Solving Systems of Linear Equations using any method.  This is the last unit of Systems of Linear Equations before the unit on Systems of Linear Inequalities.

For example my curriculum map looks like this for Term 3:

·      Review of Linear Equations                                                                       (3-5 days)

Systems of Linear Equations

·      Unit 1

o   Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing            (7-10 days)

·      Unit 2

o   Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution       (7-10 days)

·      Unit 3

o   Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Elimination        (7-10 days)

·      Unit 4

o   Solving Systems of Linear Equations using any method   (4-6 days)

·      Unit 5

o   Solving Systems of Linear Inequalities                              (4-6 days)     

However, due to the service learning field trip I’m helping to plan for our Math Department, which includes 1,400 students in Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry/MOW, we might have to have the service learning field trip in Term 4 if we cannot fit all the field trip days in the end of Term 3.  We are currently working out all the details such as how many field trip days we will need depending on how many students the site can accommodate at a time and when the site is available.  Also there are buses, chaperones, and funding to consider.  Basically, there is a lot to consider when there are that many students and teachers.  We also need to get the teachers on board…wish us luck…

Blog #4: My Favorite Activities So Far...

This first term of my second year of teaching has gone pretty well.  I feel a lot more confident this year than I had last year.  I think this is mostly because I have a year of experience under my belt.

As a team building ice breaker I had my students do the “Tower Activity” like we had done this summer.  To minimize cost and the possible mess, I had them use only 10 chopsticks that were bundled together by a rubber band and a yard of tape.  The only instructions my co teacher and I gave them were to create the tallest freestanding tower with the materials provided given twenty minutes.  My students quickly got to work and many groups started to ask important question about their materials.  They wanted to know whether they could use the rubber band and the paper that the chopsticks are in.  I would simply answer by saying, “You can only use the materials given to you.”  This led them to think about what that means in the sense of what are their materials and how to use them effectively.  There were several groups that did not use their tape wisely and ended up running out of tape leaving them unable to complete their tower.  There were other groups how created their towers in a way I had never seen before!  Their creative process was very interesting to my co-teacher and I and we really enjoyed it as well as our students.  It was interesting to watch their process and discuss the trails and errors they encountered.  This also helped us to see which students worked well with each other and where their might be issues.  This was the first time I had ever done this activity in my classes and I think it will be an activity I will use every year!

We also recently did an activity with our student involving functions where we looked up the cost of tuition per credit for the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  I showed them what I had paid for a semester during my undergraduate degree and we calculated the fees that were charged and what most of them were such as the UPASS and the Student Athletic Fee.  Then they made a function for a semester per credit of in-state, out-of-state and the WUE program (150% of the in-state tuition) cost with fees.  They were shocked at the cost overall and really surprised with the cost of out-of-state tuition for a full time student.  They asked, “Why would anyone come here for college with that cost?”  I asked them to write where they wanted to go to college and why on their reflections.  It was really interesting to see what colleges my students wanted to go to and why.  For my own reflection, I wish I had added more colleges such as community colleges or colleges from other states.

We also did an activity using a watt meter to help our students understand independent and dependent variables through cause and effect.  One of the other algebra I teachers told me about this activity and which science teachers had the watt meters that I could borrow.  We had our students work in groups to find the wattage of different items in our classroom.  Students found the wattage of different fans, a microwave, a TV, a Promethean Board, an iphone charger, a Samsung charger, a printer, a refrigerator, an XBOX 360 (I brought in my fiancée’s) and a portable AC unit (since we had just got them).  They did several trails with different items such as a fan plugged in but not on, on low speed, medium speed and high speed.  I don’t have the exact numbers with me, (I’m on Maui for Fall break) but I believe they found that an XBOX 360 plugged in but not on would cost approximately $2.00 a month.  That would add up to about $24.00 a year if the XBOX was plugged in and never turned on.  I told them they owe their parents some money!  I feel that this activity gave them a better understanding of how to determine an independent variable from a dependent variable by being able to show them how the cost depends upon the wattage of an item.  Also they learned what wattage is and how it relates to cost.  They also reflected on how they can reduce their energy usage by unplugging items when they are not in use.

Blog #3: What Does Sense of Place Matter?

"Why does Sense of Place matter and what does it mean to the practice of teaching for there to be multiple sense of place in any one moment and in any one place (i.e. a classroom)?"

From all of the readings and the assignments we did on our School Portrait as well as the Multilayers of My Place have taught me a lot about sense of place and my own sense of place.  If you had asked me a couple months ago whether I knew what sense of place was and if it were important, I would have told you “yes I do” and “yes it is” but I probably couldn’t have explained why very well.  However, from our readings I have learned about so many different layers of sense of place and it’s importance.  On a personal level I have learned that sense of place is more than just a geographical place and particularly not just the place you were born.  My sense of place had always just encompassed places on Maui where I grew up.  Those places are very special to me have shaped my beliefs, life experiences, and culture.  I originally felt very uncomfortable teaching anywhere else besides Maui since that was the only place I knew for 21 years of my life.  I figured I would be able to relate to the students on Maui better an anywhere else since we mostly came from the same place, particularly central Maui.  I never really thought about Kapolei and Ewa Beach really being apart of my sense of place since I have only lived in Kapolei for two and a half years and I’ve only been teaching at Campbell for a little over a year.  At first, I really didn’t see me fitting into these places.  However, after a year of teaching at Campbell I definitely feel a stronger sense of place in the community, my school, and my classroom.

There was and still are so many things I don’t know about Ewa Beach, Campbell High School, and my students.  I really didn’t know what to write when it came to my Profile of School assignment.  However, as I started writing it I realized that I did know quite a bit more than I thought.  I really have learned so much about Ewa Beach, Campbell High School, and my students in the last year.  I didn’t know that there was a distinction between Ewa Beach and Ewa or the two intermediate schools in the area.  I was really lucky to have a good friend, Ms. Jo-Hanna Valdez, who graduated with my from UH Manoa who is a Campbell grad and is also a new teacher at Campbell with me.  It was extremely helpful to have her share her sense of place of Ewa Beach and Campbell with me.


I always felt that placed-based education was extremely important.  In the beginning of my education I always felt that it was all about the “place” that made place-based education work.  However, it’s not just about the “place” itself.  Placed-based education means nothing without our students feeling a connection to that “place” through experience such as service learning or through other’s sharing their sense of that place with them.

The "place" does not always have to be off campus.  The most important "place" for us as teachers and our students are our classroom.  It is where I will spend the most time with my students.  We need to have our classroom a positive an safe environment.  To do so we need to give our students experiences in our classroom to give them a sense of place that it a safe place to share and so they become invested and engaged in class discussions and activities.

As a teacher, I want my students to leave my class at the end of the year better than they when they started.  Whether that is with a better understanding of mathematics or just a better understanding of themselves or life itself.  As a second year teacher, I always understood I would have students from different backgrounds and with different life experiences.  I didn’t really think about those things as multiple senses of place.  Now with a better understanding of what sense of place means and my own sense of place in Ewa Beach, Campbell High School, and our classroom I can be more aware of the difference sense of places of my students to help engage them in the content.  I also hope that by my co-teacher and I sharing our different senses of place with our students and our students sharing their sense of place we can all grow through understanding and become more aware of and proactive in our classroom, school, and community.