"Transform" your Mind to "Transform" your Students

Algebra 2 can "stretch" the student's brains, because it truly extends what they've seen in new ways. I believe that this course has new topics that students haven't seen, but much can be built on their foundation from Algebra 1 with the help of inquiry-based strategies.

Transformed functions showcased in the Olympics

Transforming functions has a huge impact in the real world, because let's face it, how often do you see a Parent Function staring at you on a day-to-day basis? (Yes, it's okay if you said never...) However, once you transform them using a variety of operations, you've created something incredibly useful and underrated in classrooms today.

I wanted to share this lesson involving inquiry-based instruction that depends on student's to explore the various rules and see them in action using Desmos.

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked WHY!" -Bernard Baruch

Check out this Desmos Teacher Activity that I created! If you haven't used Desmos before, I highly recommend it! It allows students to explore various cases in mathematics within seconds. Students can make connections instantly and feel free to investigate freely.

In the Desmos Teacher Activities, you can:

Teacher Options

1. Select your own "Pacing." This is especially helpful for those courses where chunking is crucial to student success.
2. Select the "Pause" to make connections as a class and bring the group together for a quick formative assessment.
3. Select "Anonymize" to help students share their answers in a stress-free environment. 

Screenshot from a Statistics Desmos
Activity where they were asked
to create a line of best fit.

While you're running the activity, you can determine if students have answered all the questions and leaves you free to assist students as necessary. The grayed-boxes in the picture would help be assist students that are struggling and need additional support with questions or encourage them to work with their team to brainstorm.

I've included some screenshots of previous activities that I've run in my Statistics course as well. The picture below shows my students creating what they believe is the "best-fit" line before we discover how to actually determine the real best-fit.

I can't stress how important it is for students to make predictions first before revealing anything. I couldn't count how often my students surprised me with their intuition and mathematical connections before I shared the "real" answer.

Screenshot of Anonymized Students
and students' Progress

The hardest part of Inquiry-Based Instruction that I've found is allowing your students the freedom to explore and knowing that they WILL discover it on their own without you. I get very tempted to step in, show them the steps, and then have them practice. However, I PROMISE, they will have a firmer grasp if you give them the chance.

Inquiry Based Benefits: My Favorite 5!

1. Nurture students' passions and natural curiosity
2. Increases engagement by relating the content to them personally.
3. Teaches perseverance through tough problems
4. Encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning.
5. Allows students to ask deeper questions.

Interested in learning more about Inquiry-Based Instruction? Wanting to become a teacher?!

Consider the UTeach Program and its sister programs across the United Stated. I am an alumni of the Teach North Texas program at the University of North Texas.