Annotated Lesson Plan Form

Name: Kaitlyn Valis

A. Description of Lesson Plan

Academic Subject(s): Algebra II Honors or Precalculus

Grade Level(s): Grades 10-12

Standards Integrated into the Lesson Plan:

Student Content Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.LE.A: Construct and compare linear, quadratic, and exponential

models and solve problems
Indicator.4: For exponential models, express as a logarithm the solution to =
where a, c, and d are numbers and the base b is 2, 10, or e, evaluate the logarithm using
technology (Common Core State Standards, 2014)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.LE.B: Interpret expressions for functions in terms of the situation

they model
Indicator 5: Interpret the parameters in a linear or exponential function in terms of the
context (Common Core State Standards, 2014)

National Educational Technology Standards for Students (2007):

ISTE Standard 2: Communication and Collaboration

Indicator a: Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a
variety of digital environments and media (ISTE, 2007).

ISTE Standard 4: Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making

Indicator c: Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed
decisions (ISTE, 2007).

Learning Objectives for Lesson Plan:

Students will be able to evaluate, solve, and interpret the Compounded Continuously Interest
Function = by hand and by using Excel. Students will also be able to make informed
critical decisions about student loans and communicate their advice using various forms of
presentation media.

Featured Technologies
Internet for research
o http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml
o Assorted College/University Websites

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 Excel
Presentation Application (PowerPoint, Prezi, Screencast, VoiceThread, Glogster)
The environment that will be necessary for this lesson is a Computer lab or Laptop
Cart that can be brought to the class. Each student or pair will need a computer.
Teacher should investigate with Excel to make sure that they know how to use the
functions needed to evaluate and solve the equations necessary. The teacher should
also have basic knowledge of the presentation software so they can advise and
troubleshoot any problems. It would be a good idea to have a cheat sheet of common
formulas and functions to share with the students and use as a reference.

Other Necessary Materials: It would be helpful for students to have their previous notes on
evaluating and solving exponential functions.

Prerequisite Student Skills:

For this lesson it will be necessary for students to know fundamental principles of
exponential functions and the irrational number e. Student should be able to tell the difference
between exponential growth/decay models and understand simple interest problems. Students
should also understand the inverse relationship between exponential and log functions. In terms
technology students need to have basic knowledge of Excel. This includes how to enter data, use
the function tool, and how to use the drag function to evaluate an entire column of data. If you
feel that some students do not have the necessary prerequisite Excel skills then it might be
helpful to have students explore some tutorials created by MS Office online. This could be a
homework assignment before the lesson to watch some of the tutorials which can be linked to the
class homepage. If the MS Office tutorials do not clearly demonstrate what the students need to
know then the teacher could create their own screencast videos with more focused
demonstrations. No prerequisite knowledge of the presentation software is needed, but it would
be helpful.

Brief Overview of Lesson:

This lesson would be a culminating lesson for the concept because students will need to
know many of the prerequisite information about exponential functions. The lesson will begin
with a brief review of exponential functions and an introduction to the Continuous Compound
Interest equation and the meaning of its different variables. Using the interest equation students
will practice by hand and with Excel how to evaluate for the final amount and how to solve for
the number of years it would take to get a certain amount of money. Students will then spend
time investigating college tuition cost, student loan interest rate, and payoff calculators. Lastly,
students will create a presentation using technology to share their advice and knowledge to their
peers applying to college.

Teacher To Teacher:

Teachers who will be teaching this lesson will need to have knowledge of all of the Excel
functions necessary to complete the lesson. Student either will not know or remember the
functions and shortcuts necessary to investigating Interest amounts using Excel. The teacher will

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need to be actively guiding students through the process, troubleshooting errors, and monitoring
for misuse. Also, it will be helpful to be familiar with a few college websites to guide students to
where to look for tuition and loan information. Teachers should also have basic knowledge of
how the student loan process works. For example, the difference between subsidized and
unsubsidized loans because students will inevitably have questions about this. It is not necessary
that you know or understand how payments are calculated or how student loans are specifically
compounded, but you should have knowledge of how to use and input the right information into
the loan payoff calculator online.

Procedures/Activities:
Day One:
1. Introduction/Warm-Up: Students will do 3-5 exponential function problems where they
will evaluate and identify whether it is a growth or decay function. These problems will
come in the form of a Quick Quiz where students are given the opportunity to recall prior
knowledge and review vocabulary. One problem will also be calculating simple interest
and describing in their own words what Interest is.
2. Teacher Led Instruction: After students are given an opportunity to correct each others
Quick Quiz and to ask any questions that might have come from it, students are
introduced to the idea of compound interest. The teacher will use a guided worksheet
where the students can input the definition of compound interest and the formula for
problems where interest is compounded continuously and incrementally. The guided
worksheet will also discuss the variables and what they mean. Compound Interest
formula: = . The teacher will then do 3 guided problems together with the class.
The first will be a problem where the students are given values for P, r, and t and asked to
find the amount. The second will be a word problem where students are asked to interpret
the information to figure out the values of P, r, and t. The final question will also be a
word problem, but this time the students will be asked to solve for the number of years
(exponent) that it would take for the amount to reach a certain value. During this time the
teacher will be writing the notes on a tablet or SmartBoard for access later if students
needed clarification on the material or were absent. These materials will be uploaded to
the teachers webpage.
3. Introduction of Project: The teacher will direct students to the assignment document on
their teacher page, and then ask students to follow along and ask questions when
necessary. The teacher will describe the expectations for the Excel work, the research
aspect, the Payoff calculator, and the short presentation. All of these activities will be
completed with a partner.
4. Excel: Each person in the pair will create their own Excel document, but they are
encouraged to work collaboratively. Students will be given a guiding worksheet to enter
data into an Excel document. The data being entered will be various Principle values (for
example the amount of the original loan taken out). Students are given 3 different interest
rates to work with (they may use different sheets if that helps them organize) and asked to
represent the amount of money that students would pay back after 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25,
and 30 years. Students are encouraged to use function tools to expedite the process. On a
sheet of paper students must do one example by hand to show that the Excel sheet is
calculating correctly. The teacher will be rotating throughout the classroom to answer
questions about the assignment and the features of Excel.

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 5. Summarizing Questions: On a separate document to be turned in students will answer
summary questions about their reaction to the values. Is this interest function a growth or
decay model? What surprised you about the data? What did you already know about
interest? If this activity is not completed in class, it will need to be completed for
homework.
Day Two
1. Introduction/Activating Prior Knowledge: The teacher will lead a discussion about
college tuition, student loans, and interest payments. College is a topic on many high
school junior and senior minds so this is an engaging topic that will allow them to share
what they already know. It will also be an opportunity for the teacher to clarify any
misconceptions right at the beginning. Some of the questions might be; have you thought
of where you wanted to go to college? Have you had a conversation with your parents
about the cost of going to school? What is the difference between a loan and a
scholarship? What other cost might be involved in going to college other than tuition?
What are the different types of loans? If students dont know about private loans,
financial aid, subsidized vs. unsubsidized loans now would be a good time to discuss this.
This will definitely be a quick overview and students should be encouraged to speak with
their parents and college counselors for further information.
2. Introduce Activity: Students will still be working in pairs for this project. Students are
asked to first research the college or university of their choice, find the cost of tuition,
and find the cost of room & board. Then they will use an online Payment Calculator to
calculate loan payments. The teacher should emphasize the similarity to the exponential
functions discussed on the previous day but explain that the calculations of making
payments while interest is being added complicate the calculation so that is why they are
using this resource. Using what they know from their investigation students will create a
brief 2-3 minute presentation on advice they would give to students applying for college.
3. Research Cost: Students will use the internet to research the college or university of their
choice. Both members of the pairs should do this, but the pair should choose one to
continue with together. Students should also be encouraged to research other colleges,
community college, and technical school if that is of interest to them. The teacher should
monitor this process to make sure that students are not spending too much time looking at
campus pictures and the student life activities. The college should be one that the students
is interested in to engage them in the process and make it feel more authentic. The
teacher should also remind students that the information and amounts on the schools
website are for one year and most programs are 4 years.
4. Calculate Payments: Students will use the calculator to enter the principle, interest rate,
enrollment status, years in college, and number of years until payoff. Students should
investigate various scenarios, record their findings, and make conclusions about what are
responsible monthly payments and how long it would take to pay the loans off.
5. Presentation: Students may choose the presentation software of their choice, but should
be encouraged to use one they have never used before, such as Prezi, VoiceThread, or
Glogster. The audience of the presentation will be fellow high school students applying
for colleges. What information should they know to make a well informed decision?
What advice would you give them when choosing a college and applying for loans?
Students should include definitions and specific examples from the loan calculator as
well as resources for finding scholarships, financial aid, and further information.

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 Student Assessment and Evaluation

Formative Assessment: The Quick Quiz will be a formative assessment (not counted for a
grade) at the beginning of the lesson that serves two purposes. The first is that is gets
students to recall prior knowledge and ask necessary questions. Second, it provides the
teacher with an idea of what might need to be discussed further before moving on. If
students are not able to evaluate or solve, they will not be able to successfully complete
the assignment.

Excel Assignment: Accurate completion of the activity, including the checked work by
hand. If it is completed successfully it will be a good indicator of whether the goals have
been met. In assessing this activity the teacher should be looking for accurate
calculations, organized data, and correct use of the features of Excel. The reflection
questions at the end of the Excel activity provides students an opportunity to reflect on
what they have discovered through the process. This is also a good formative assessment
of whether the students understood the big idea of the lesson and whether they can
interpret the exponential function.

Presentation Self-Evaluation: As a part of the presentation to high school juniors and

seniors, students will be required to complete a self-assessment of their research,
investigation, and synthesis of information in the form of advice. They will also reflect
on the collaborative aspect of the presentation.

Advice Presentations: A rubric will be used to assess the different aspects of the
presentations including professionalism, accuracy of info, and how students
communicated their ideas and opinion to their peers. Clear expectations will be set out
ahead of time and students will have access to the rubric before they begin.

Unit Assessment: The summative assessment for this unit (which includes more than this
lesson) will be a test that assesses the students ability to work with and interpret
exponential functions. Students will also be asked to apply their skills to real-world
problems and describe how their study of student loans has changed or informed their
college search process.

B. Analysis (Rationale)

Rationale for Activities

Students are engaged in learning when they can see the relevance to their current lives as

well as their futures. Making learning relevant and engaging encourages students to take

ownership of their own learning rather than just something they are told or memorize. The lesson

and activities described above were specifically chosen to meet the Common Core Standards and

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ISTE standards established at the beginning and are in line with my educational philosophy of

collaborative and investigative learning. The content is relevant and engaging to the students

because for many they are working through the real world decisions of choosing their next step

after high school.

The activities in this lesson plan were chosen specifically for the mastery of the two

Common Core State Standards referenced at the beginning of the plan. The Excel activity and

the investigation into student loan payments require students to interpret data in the context of

exponential function involving interest. This is clearly in line with

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.LE.B.5 which states that students will interpret the parameters

in a linear or exponential function in terms of the context (Common Core State Standards,

2014). Also, having students solve exponential functions using logarithmic functions both by

hand and with Excel gives students exposure and practice expressing solutions of exponentials as

logarithmic functions. This clearly highlights standard CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSF.LE.A.4

which states that for exponential models, express as a logarithm the solution to = where

a, c, and d are numbers and the base b is 2, 10, or e, evaluate the logarithm using technology

(Common Core State Standards, 2014).

This lesson and activities clearly fit with my philosophy of teaching because although

there is a short period where material is being demonstrated and modeled by the teacher, the

majority of the two days are spent with students investigating and researching on their own.

Students are asked to make their own conclusions and are asked to effectively communicate their

ideas to others in the form of advice. The Excel activities encourage students to make their own

conclusions and share their own reactions from the data. The research done on student loan

payments requires students to form their own views and share advice that they will hopefully use

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themselves as they are making future decisions. The constructivist approach to education

believes that students come to the class with prior knowledge and experience and the discussion

before the loan calculator activity will give students an opportunity to share what they already

know about interest with the rest of the class. Lastly, by giving students choice in their mode of

presentation delivery and by allowing them freedom in how they organized their Excel data, the

lesson is valuing the unique learning style of students and differentiating instruction.

The scaffolding of the lesson was strategically planned to allow students to recall prior

knowledge and then build on what they already know about the concept. On the first day

students were asked to recall their prior knowledge about exponential functions and those

concepts were built on to support deepening understand of the content and its application to the

real world. The second days opening discussion would allow students to share their own

experiences and opinions about loans and then dive into greater detail; making learning more

meaningful. Each day the lesson moved from teacher directed to student directed giving students

more autonomy over their own education. Since most of the activities are individual or with a

partner this gives the teacher time to walk around and give students individual support if needed.

A different learning environment is established then with a lecture style lesson. Also student

collaboration is a great way for students individual needs to be met not only by the teacher but

by their peers.

Many times in my class students ask why they need to learn a particular concept or how

will this ever help them in real life (especially if they dont become an engineer). These activities

engage students in concept that will affect them in the near and far future. Understanding how

exponential functions work and how interest is calculated is essential to understanding financial

loans at its simplest level. In my experience many of my students have never had these

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conversations with their parents and are completely oblivious to the cost of college and financial

implications for their future. Through these activities students can clearly see the relationship

between what they are studying in math and their own lives.

Explanation of Technology Integration:

Technology plays a key role in the lives of our students and society in general. It has been

used to solve problems and enhance life in many ways. Technology can do the same for teaching

and learning if it is integrated in a purposeful way. In the lesson, technology is used to solve a

few problems. For example, to draw conclusions about exponential functions you need to see

more than a few sets of data and to evaluate these functions by hand, or even with a calculator it

could take valuable instructional time. Excel allows students to easily investigate and test out

what would happen if the rate was changed or if the initial amount was changed. Students are

able to make observations and discover important characteristics of exponential functions. Also,

the activity fostered students creativity by allowing them to choose how they wanted to present

and share their advice with classmates through the open-ended nature of the assignment.

Brookhart (2010) suggests that both choice and open-endedness bred creativity. Technology in

this way transforms learning into something that it was not before, a dynamic creative process.

Allowing students to investigate and discover their own ideas makes learning meaningful

and should be valued for the important skills that are developed. There are clear advantages to

these experiences and in this case they would not have been possible without the use of

technology. If we did not use Excel, students would most likely lose interest in the calculations

or there would have been errors which may lead to misconceptions. As the teacher I could have

used the technology and demonstrated this to the class, but allowing students to work at their

own pace and make discoveries on their own without the teacher is important. Lastly, the use of

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presentation software is an important life skill to have. Students need to develop their ability to

communicate their ideas through different media outlets and applications like Prezi, PowerPoint,

and Glogster. The technology in this lesson is integrated in a way that transforms learning

beyond what is was before.

C. Reflection

Your Learning about Technology and Teaching:

Every day I ask my students to challenge themselves, take risks, and stretch further then

they went before. The best way for me to encourage this is to model it in the way that I teach.

For this lesson I have personally used most of the technology, but integrating it into my

classroom was a new challenge.

My own knowledge and experience with the technology used in this lesson connects with

two aspect of the TPACK model discussed by Roblyer and Doering (2013) in Integrating

Educational Technology into Teaching. In reference to the Excel activity I feel I have the

Pedagogical Content Knowledge necessary to teach the concept and I have my own

Technological Knowledge of Excel, but what is lacking is the Technological Pedagogical

Knowledge. I dont have a lot of experience teaching students how to use Excel. Most of what I

know is from figuring it out on my own, so I am also lacking formal training with it. I think the

activity might also be overestimating students exposure to Excel and their ability to learn it. The

presentational software, specifically Prezi and Glogster, are also fairly new to me in terms of

using them as a resource for students presenting knowledge in class. As a math teacher,

presentations have never been a consistent form of assessment for me, but I am working on

varying assessment and incorporating more of this into my teaching. Again, the area that is a

stretch for me is the Technological Pedagogical Knowledge because I am not sure which

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expectations to set and what the rubric would look like. Lastly, given that I am allowing students

to choose other presentation applications they might choose something that I am not familiar

with, but hopefully that could be an opportunity for me to learn something from the student.

As I was planning this lesson I tried to keep in mind a few of the different models of

technology integration. The most recent that we learned was the Technology Integration Matrix

(TIM) produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (2011-2014) which I believe

is the best model that we have discussed so far. In my opinion this lesson falls between the

adaption and infusion level of integration because as the teacher I am guiding students

independent exploration as well as providing them opportunities to choose the technology they

want to use to demonstrate their knowledge. The best part of this model is the element that

focuses on the environment. I believe that this lesson has a combination of characteristics from

the collaborative environment and the authentic environment because students are working

together in a collaborative nature and they are interacting with real world content that

authenticates the learning experience.

Future Explorations:

Students have various levels of experience with Excel, what are quick ways to introduce students
to the features of Excel without wasting the time of the entire class? See Prerequisite knowledge

Next time I want to explore using web-based Excel applications (GoogleSpreadsheet or Office
365) where students can work in groups on the same document to make adjustments and
observations. This way students would get experience collaborating online, not only in a face-to-
face setting.

Learning from Peer Review:

The peer review process was very helpful in developing a meaningful lesson where
technology was integrated to further and transform learning. For me the peer review was an
affirmation that the lesson that I developed was one that tied in real world skills, encouraged
collaboration with peers, and fostered creativity. Based on the peer review feedback the lesson
was not changed, but details were added to expand and further the lesson, as well as clarify some

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ambiguity in the directions. The only aspect of the review that I choose not to incorporate into
the lesson is something that I plan to incorporate in the future. I intend to further the lesson in the
future to utilize web-based spreadsheet software such as GoogleSpreadsheet, but would like to
do the lesson once with in class collaboration before moving to the cloud based collaboration.

Peer reviewing of my partners lesson was a great way to learn about different types of
technology and how to best implement them into the classroom. From reviewing Matt Yergers
lesson I learned about video recording devices as well as moviemaker applications and software.
I have never incorporated these into my classroom so it was good to see what type of
expectations he set for his students and how he structured the activities. One specific way that he
structured the activity was having students make a plan for their video with storyboards so that
when they went to record they were organized and the recording process was efficient. The
structure of the lesson left little room for off task behavior and created an environment that was
fun and engaging.

The process of the peer review was very structured and organized which lead to effective
collaboration with my peers. I really liked that the group set expectations and agreed upon the
timeline of the process. This alleviated any miscommunication and frustration over the timeline.
Also the clear expectations of what comments and suggestions should be made in the peer
review was great because we were both able to give clear and productive suggestions and
feedback. Setting the expectations for a timely, professional, and courteous review helped to
make the process a positive learning experience.

D. References and Annotated References

Brookhart, S. (2010). Chapter 9: Assessing Creativity and Creative Thinking, Titled: How to
Assess Higher Order Thinking Skills.

This resource was used to discuss the importance of developing creativity skills in
students and ways to better challenge students and assess their ability to think creatively.
Allowing students to use choice and giving more freedom with open ended assignments
fosters creativity in the classroom.

Common Core State Standards. (2014). High school: linear, quadratic, & exponential models.
Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/HSF/LE/.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). ISTE standards-S. Retrieved from
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf.

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2011-2014). The technology integration matrix.
College of Education, University of South Florida. Retrieved from
http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php.

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 Using this resource I analyzed my use of the TIM model of technology integration and
how effectively I integrated technology into the lesson. I highlighted the levels that I felt
the lesson was at as well as the environment in which the lesson occurred.

Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A.H. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching.
Boston, MA: Pearson.

This resource was used to highlight the TPACK model and I analyzed what type of
knowledge was used in creating this particular lesson.

E. Preview of Lesson Plan Implementation

I plan to implement this lesson in the fall of the 2014-2015 school year during the Precalculus
unit on exponential functions. It will also come at a good time because most seniors will be right
in the middle of the college admissions process.

References

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2003). Early adolescence and young
adulthood English language arts portfolio. Arlington, VA: Author.

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