I just took some time and went back through the book to access the tinyurls that I highlighted. I found I was most interested in the Flickr ones. However, I was not impressed. I think I was expecting an easier time finding things. I dug for a while and read a bunch of things off of Dave's page. I think I will start basic with a few photos of my own that I will use I the classroom.
The productive part of my search led me to podcasts. I started looking for tidbits of news at The New York Times. I also accessed iTunes for their educational section. Scientific American has some podcasts called 60 second Science. I put a few of them into my RSS feed. I also found a comic strip at xkcd.com. this site will probably be for my humor. Some of the comic strips aren't appropriate for the classroom. I subscribed to that as well. It will be interesting over the next couple of weeks to see how much of that information I will implement into my classroom and exactly how.
Funny note: We read a lot about people policing the information posted. I was on a Flickr page and as I was reading through the posts, I found one woman who replied to the writer that his grammar was awful and needed to fix it. Awesome.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Chapter 10 What it all means
As I read this chapter, I kept thinking back to all of the conversations I have been having with my math colleagues. The ideas in chapter 10 mesh with the Common Core Standards. big idea 10 talks about students learning through practice and reflection. Teachers need to see themselves as connectors of content and people. Due to the Common Core, I am doing things in my Algebra 1 that I did not do in. My algebra 1 class five years ago. What I did five years ago was probably totally boring to those kids. I am definitely asking them to conjecture more, write more and think more ( think differently).
Mastery is the product, not the test. I am ambivalent about this one. I think it is a mix. when kids get together to do something that is graded, there is usually one student who does nothing. I believe that accountability is key. If the group then suffers, then the grade may not be accurate. Of course, other lessons are learned, the "working with people" lesson. I still believe that working independently for an audience of one (me) is a good thing for kids. In this world of technology, the kids lack patience. I find I am always referring back to teaching kids about patience and perseverance.
There were a lot of good things presented in this book. I believe that it still comes down to the teacher being a good teacher and knowing how to balance everything.
Mastery is the product, not the test. I am ambivalent about this one. I think it is a mix. when kids get together to do something that is graded, there is usually one student who does nothing. I believe that accountability is key. If the group then suffers, then the grade may not be accurate. Of course, other lessons are learned, the "working with people" lesson. I still believe that working independently for an audience of one (me) is a good thing for kids. In this world of technology, the kids lack patience. I find I am always referring back to teaching kids about patience and perseverance.
There were a lot of good things presented in this book. I believe that it still comes down to the teacher being a good teacher and knowing how to balance everything.
Chapter 8 Casting call
I knew there were podcasts on iTunes, but I thought they were all about entertainment. I had no clue there was an education section. I will definitely check them out. It is nice to know that I can subscribe to them as well. Since podcasting is new to me, I will have to do some research on this one. I am looking for anything that is valuable and can enhance my instruction or supplement my curriculum. I will also check out the Education Podcast Network. We might have a snow day this week.
I didn't realize that all of Khan Academy's videos were in the category of screen casting. I love those things. If I could make one of those for my students, I wonder if they would look at it differently knowing it came from me. It looked like Jing was really easy to use. With all of the things that are possible to enhance my classroom, the one that I am not ready for is videotaping my classroom. however, I have seen some of my students' foreign language videos. they cannot wait to show me what they produced. Uploading them to You Tube was the coolest thing, No more burning to a disc.
In the back of my mind is a video project for a class of mine. I know there is.
I didn't realize that all of Khan Academy's videos were in the category of screen casting. I love those things. If I could make one of those for my students, I wonder if they would look at it differently knowing it came from me. It looked like Jing was really easy to use. With all of the things that are possible to enhance my classroom, the one that I am not ready for is videotaping my classroom. however, I have seen some of my students' foreign language videos. they cannot wait to show me what they produced. Uploading them to You Tube was the coolest thing, No more burning to a disc.
In the back of my mind is a video project for a class of mine. I know there is.
Chapter 7 Fun With Flickr
I think the easiest way for me to start using the Internet for school would be through the use of Flickr. Some of us just came back from a conference where the use of photos popped up in a few sessions.
The first assignment I thought of was to have my Algebra kids take photos of their initials from signage. Each initial would need to be from a different sign. The kids could then superimpose the pictures onto Geometer's Sketchpad and create the equations of the lines that match those figures. I am also thinking that I would have them add in a personal component like decorating their project with something that is of interest to them or something that describes them. My second assignment is for my Calculus students to capture images of curves and determine rates of change along those curves. I could also have them add on to that assignment to determine different attributes by using Calculus concepts taught later on.
My next thought would be that when teaching a new unit like conic sections, I would have a bunch of pictures that would be examples of those figures. A visual overview of real world examples would hopefully improve students' curiosity and enthusiasm. The students could then add to our picture gallery only pictures they have taken themselves of the concept. This idea will make them stop and observe what is around them. I don't think they often do that.
The first assignment I thought of was to have my Algebra kids take photos of their initials from signage. Each initial would need to be from a different sign. The kids could then superimpose the pictures onto Geometer's Sketchpad and create the equations of the lines that match those figures. I am also thinking that I would have them add in a personal component like decorating their project with something that is of interest to them or something that describes them. My second assignment is for my Calculus students to capture images of curves and determine rates of change along those curves. I could also have them add on to that assignment to determine different attributes by using Calculus concepts taught later on.
My next thought would be that when teaching a new unit like conic sections, I would have a bunch of pictures that would be examples of those figures. A visual overview of real world examples would hopefully improve students' curiosity and enthusiasm. The students could then add to our picture gallery only pictures they have taken themselves of the concept. This idea will make them stop and observe what is around them. I don't think they often do that.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Chapter 6 The Social Web...
Halfway through the chapter I said to myself "My brain is full." How would I absorb more technology information that yet again, I don't know how to really use and right now I have barely the time to go the bathroom. Knowing that ideas would come to me by the end of the chapter was not comforting. I am definitely the type of person who would get sucked in quickly and want to use it even knowing my time constraints.
I signed up for a twitter account so I could access information from an AP conference that I couldn't attend. I started thinking about that and through that I should access it and see if there is any information for me there. I also started thinking about all the Common Core stuff and how it would be great to have a high school community dedicated to the implementation of the Common Core. There isn't much information about the assessment piece but if I tag it the right way, it will come to me instead of me trying to find it.
Ta Da! By the way, I am typing this on my new iPad that I am not sure I am keeping. Laptop or iPad? But I am sitting in bed doing this, so that has to count for something.
I signed up for a twitter account so I could access information from an AP conference that I couldn't attend. I started thinking about that and through that I should access it and see if there is any information for me there. I also started thinking about all the Common Core stuff and how it would be great to have a high school community dedicated to the implementation of the Common Core. There isn't much information about the assessment piece but if I tag it the right way, it will come to me instead of me trying to find it.
Ta Da! By the way, I am typing this on my new iPad that I am not sure I am keeping. Laptop or iPad? But I am sitting in bed doing this, so that has to count for something.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Chapter 5 RSS
Really Simple Syndication
That's really what it is! I thought the concept of the RSS feed was really cool. Now I know what it is everytime I see it on a website. It was encouraging to now that someone throught of this to help make searching easier.
My first thought about classroom use of this was I wished I taught something other than math. Relative to student use, there is so much inappropriate information out there for high school math students. Take for example, Calculus. If I were to search with that word, I would get so much more information than just first year high school Calculus. A lot of that information would be over my students' heads. Also, if we google search for Algebra, what usually comes up are other teachers' notes or problems for students to look at. So, I know I would need time to set up RSS feeds to get me access to the 'good newspapers' and magazines and look for connections to the math that my students do.
For myself to get a true ides of what's really out there, I would start one for me only and spend some time with it. It would give me a better understanding of what the kids might experience. Also, I would then be able to redefine what it is I am looking for. At this point I am not too sure. I am thinking about the statement, "Where are we ever gonna use this?" that I get from the lower level math students or the disinterested math students. The good news is that over the last 10 years or so, that statement pops up less frequently. The RSS feed can help for the kids who are not naturally mathematically inclined or interested. It would also enhance all of our learners.
I am liking this one.
Chapter 4 Wikis - Easy Collaboration for All
OHHHHH! A Wiki! I see.....
I loved the origin of the name Wiki. I knew that people contributed to a wiki but didn't really think about the caliber of information until I read, "Each entry is the group's best effort, not any one person's." I was astounded at the rate of edits on Wikipedia (duh!) of about 400,000 per day. It finally dawned on me what Wikipedia is.
I have investigated other teachers' wikis relative to AP Calculus. One wiki is only for teacher use and set up for sharing how to teacher AP Calculus topics or show best practices. Other wikis I have seen are for the students to develop either understanding of topics, share AP Practice tips and post video lessons. Right now, I would only probably do this with my seniors in Calculus due to how much work it would be for me. I need the time to investigate what I would do with it. My expectations need to be clear and the older kids would be able to juggle the added work better. For my freshman classes, it is not the technology that is the problem, it is the math that they need to be able to process, analyze and synthesize. The seniors just have a much broader knowledge base.
My concern is that since most of what I do is concrete, that discussion is usually very short and to the point. I think there is more flexibility in the humanities. If I were use use one, I would go for a site that allows the student sot post what they need for preparing for the Ap Calculus exam. I actually have a group that is very connected with each other anyway. It can only benefit their learning.
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