2011

Jose L. Bautista
University of Texas
at El Paso
6/29/2011
Lesson Plan: Mathematics and
Technology
Jose L. Bautista
2

Lesson Plan

With a background in mechanical engineering, I decided to teach in math and science. To reach
out to more students, critical pedagogy is fundamental. The purpose of this plan is to improve
math comprehension, knowledge retention, critical thinking, and students interest in math in a
high school learning environment. This plan applies to any mathematics class at a high school
level. This plan utilizes the following two elements:
Livescribe smartpen, only for
the teacher. Not required for
students. See figure 1.
Web-based MathXL Pearson
educational program,
Students and Teacher must
have access, see figure 2.




Figure 1: Smartpen
(Livescribe, 2010)
Figure 2: MathXL
(Math XL, 2010)
Jose L. Bautista
3

Assumptions:

Duration of the class is 1 hour and 20 minutes
Class is given three days of the week, making a total of 4 hours of math instruction per
week
Teacher is knowledgeable in Math
Teacher is not afraid to use new emerging technology
There is access to computers and internet in the classroom, at least one computer per
every three students.

The Livescribe smartpen costs about $99 for the model with 2 GB and $149 for the model with
4GB which can store up to 400 hours of audio. This pen can then be connected to a computer
interface and the audio and writing recordings stored in the hard drive. The software allows the
user to see the notes on the computer screen and listen the audio to the exact point in time when
it was recorded while writing. It can also be fast forwarded or fast back warded
Below is a proposed sequence for classroom application:

Minutes Activity Result
0 Class starts
Teacher gets prepared,
takes attendance
0 - 20
Teacher provide general instructions, explains the topic using
power point slide shows/short videos that are interesting and
Logical sequence,
material delivered
Jose L. Bautista
4

attractive. Solve several related problems on the board. Lecture
must be prepared to provide interesting graphics and teacher must
solve several problems on his or her livescribe notebook. A
projector shows the teachers steps for the students to follow.
While doing this, his voice is being recorded as teacher explains
the steps of the solution.

appropriate to learning
goals
20 - 40
Teacher arranges teams of two or three people each, rotating the
teams or randomly choosing every day would allow for consensus
building. The teams work MathXL quizzes in the classroom using
the computers with internet access. Teacher supervises the
process and is ready to answer questions.
Provides collaborative
learning
40 - 60
Teacher accesses the quizzes results, and assesses if the students
grasped the content. If at least 70% of the teams passed the quiz,
then the teacher can move to the next topic.
Assessment procedure,
continue to next topic
60 - 80
If overall passing grade less than 70%, continue explaining for the
reminder of the class, using more examples.
Assessment, find better
ways to explain

At the end of the class, the teacher then downloads contents of the smartpen to a computer and
creates a pencast. This is then placed on a specific folder specific to this class in the schools
website. Students can have access to these pencasts and review the solved problems in their
houses if they so desire to do it, see figure 3. Pencasts are organized per date.

Jose L. Bautista
5


Figure 3: A Pencast (Livescribe, 2010)
Diagnostics
MathXL
Based on students results from working on quizzes in the classroom and the grades of
the homework, the teacher can assess and personalize the next class based on students
needs.
Teachers can see the students strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly.
Using the MathXL, the students can see interactive media that motivates critical thinking,
animations and PowerPoints to better understand the topics.
Teachers avoid grading too many tests.
Smartpen
Students can review and listen to the teachers voice while he or she was solving and
explaining the problems.

Jose L. Bautista
6

Evaluation and feedback

MathXL
Students have instantaneous feedback about their grades.
Students grades are saved in teachers grade book.
Teachers can assign homework through on MathXL. When students log in, they would
receive a message stating which homework is due and when, the time allowed for
completing it and the points assigned to it. Here, students can see videos that explain the
content and work on examples before starting the homework for points.
Smartpen
Teachers can show pencasts at a later date to review topics.
Students can access them at any time.
These elements, smartpen and MathXL have the potential of increasing the teacher-students
relationships. Teachers can focus on topics where students need the most help.
Jose L. Bautista
7


Works Cited

Livescribe. (2010, January 10). Livescribe. Retrieved June 28, 2011, from Livescribe Smartpen:
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/echo/
Math XL. (2010, September 22). Retrieved June 28, 2011, from Pearson:
http://pearsonschool.com/live/customer_central/landingpage/mathXL_Scalable/mathXl_Base.ht
ml