Week 8 :(

This is my final week for this class and for the first time since starting my masters class, I am actually sad to be finished with a class. I have really enjoyed this one. It has exposed me to a variety of topics, technology, and people that I am positive I would have never connected to. It is not that I did not know the technology was out there, it was more that I never had the opportunity to truly check it out. I have also connected to some great educational articles, that I would have never read if I had not been following them. It is amazing the opportunities technology can give you!

How to Have a Healthy, Brainy and Fun Summer | Edutopia

How to Have a Healthy, Brainy and Fun Summer | Edutopia:

I enjoyed this one too, and I think it can apply for ideas throughout the entire year and not just for summer. Parents are always saying to me that they can't help their students because they don't understand their homework most of the time.  I think that parents often forget that they are the ones who are teaching their kids the most. It is not always about sitting down with them and helping with their homework. It is much more. In this article, Lisa Murphy, ECE specialist and author is quoted

"Learning is occurring all the time, whether we label it as such," she writes. "In fact, sometimes the best learning occurs when it isn't called learning. Sometimes you just have to know when to be quiet and let things happen and observe from afar."

 There are so many lessons we can teach our children. I especially love the reminder from the article on teaching Math and Empathy in one setting just by talking about tip from dinner. Most parents don't realize they have all of these mini lessons they could be going over with their children that could greatly improve their academic skills.

More School Districts End Ban on Cell Phones and Embrace BYOD | EdTech Magazine

More School Districts End Ban on Cell Phones and Embrace BYOD | EdTech Magazine

I found this interesting since my own school is debating about this right now. As of right now, students are not allowed to have them on their person. I usually stick to the "if I don't see it or hear it, then I won't take it." I wonder how this will work for these schools that are opening up their schools. There is a lot of pros to students having these devices in the classroom. I let my students have their Ipods and Ipads, and readers in the classroom but not their cellphones and I always feel like I am be prejudiced to the cell phone.  Cell phones do just as many things as the other technologies. I think just like anything staff just needs to learn how to monitor for inappropriate behavior. Don't get me wrong, I do think this will be tricky.

My Summer Math Reading List

My Summer Math Reading List

Alright so normally when I read on my own (especially during my summer) it is not educational in at all. I read for pure enjoyment. I don't even look for anything educational. But I saw this in my NCTM New and Noteworthy RSS feed. I just went and checked it out to see what was listed. 


Which was interesting on it's own. But the math nerd in me loved this find The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse by Jennifer Ouellette.  I completely agree with NCTM President Linda Gojak, it's the subtitle that catches your eye. Ouellette is an English Major that feared math but goes on a journey of rediscovering Math. She learns how to apply calculus to all these real life situations. The kicker is she really enjoys herself! I love that because it seems that so many people always say they "hate math" or they are "horrible at math." I just like the idea of someone discovering it is not all bad. I think I will be checking this book out.

NCTM President Linda M. Gojak

 

NCTM President Linda M. Gojak

NCTM President Linda M. Gojak

NCTM President Linda M. Gojak

NCTM President Linda M. Gojak

7 Steps to Ready Loaner PCs for Classroom Use | EdTech Magazine

7 Steps to Ready Loaner PCs for Classroom Use | EdTech Magazine

How nice would this be if you had people donate laptops or PCs even. This article tells you how to get a computer ready for your classroom if you do happen to have someone from your community donate a computer for you. Although, I suggest checking with your distract first because not a lot of schools will allow you to get any old technology you want. I know in my district we have to get a approval first before we bring in technology.

Top 20 Ways to Share a Great Blog Post

Top 20 Ways to Share a Great Blog Post

Okay, because of this course, I have been posting blogs on a lot of great articles I have found. I will tell you though because I am pretty new to all this sharing and blogging I have been a little frustrated sometimes. I find this great article and I want to blog about it but when I go to share it, there is no blog button on the article. I really like that blog button when other articles have them. It makes it so much easier to share the article on my blog directly. It is probably pure laziness that I just don't create a link myself on a post but I don't care. Well I did want any person of my generation would do I "googled" a solution. I found this article which is great but they also gave a way to share what you find with your social media sites without having to visit them. (Which was really just what I was looking for!)

Let me introduce you to Shareaholic for Firefox users. So far so good for me. I actually used it to share this article. I hope this helps any of  you with the same frustration.

10 Summer Options to Keep Students Learning | PublicSchoolReview.com

10 Summer Options to Keep Students Learning | PublicSchoolReview.com

If you are a teacher like me, all your friends/family are asking you what can they do for their child over the summer right now.  It's a great question and I love that my friends are asking me. I always try to give them some options but I am really liking this article. It has some great suggestions that I will be pointing my friends to.

Debating iPads or Chromebooks for 1:1? Why not both? -- THE Journal

Debating iPads or Chromebooks for 1:1? Why not both? -- THE Journal

I am excited... My school is getting a set of Chromebooks for this next school year. I have an Ipad in my room but it is only one, so I use it more as a reward for my students. Obviously we are getting a set and so it will have to be shared but I am thinking they are going to be way more user friendly than the net books.

It is kind of nice to know that the author, Leila Meyer points out that they are beneficial for for the middle school age group since that is setting I am in. However, she also pointed out that Ipads were more friendly for Math. Maybe I should work on a grant application for my classroom this summer. :)

Either way I am excited!

Transition Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Administrators | Edutopia

Transition Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Administrators | Edutopia

So, it is the end of the year.. Found this blog on Edutopia. I think it is a good one. It has a lot of links for students that are making the transition from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school. It also has early el to elementary and an off to college section.  However, I am in the middle school so the first two apply more to me. I picked this one because I always hearing in the lounge or at staff meetings how students are not adjusting well so I think that maybe some of these links might help.

Check it out!

Five Tips for Supporting Grieving Students | Edutopia

Five Tips for Supporting Grieving Students | Edutopia

I am sharing this as a follow up as a to one of my previous post on how grief is handled in schools. Most teachers have no training on how to handle students that are grieving. So this article gives 5 tips on how to help your students. While it is some what common sense, it is nice to be reminded.

Week 4 Reading/Assignment

Week 4

So this week from our textbook we read Chapters 5 and 8. Well Chapter 8 was Podcasting, Video and Screencasting and Live Streaming. Which is probably why our assignment was to create an audio podcast. Let me tell you, this was a blast! I don't know why but I enjoyed working with Audacity and creating my podcast. It looks somewhat overwhelming at first but it is very similar to Windows Movie Maker. Once I had the hang of things it became much easier. I can't wait to mess around with it a little more.

I would like to point out that Audacity is FREE!! That's right, FREE! This is nice for everybody really, but it is really nice for the school setting. The computer teacher and I were talking about how she can't do some things she would like to because they usually only let you do trial memberships or it cost money to buy a program. So this program was a real winner!

When I started the assignment, I Goggled "math podcasts" because I was not really sure where to get started. I had no idea how to create an audio podcast on math. Well I did it, but along the way I got to see some really great podcast that actual students created (I would like to add they got to use pictures/videos though). Anyway think of the possibilities your students could do with Podcasting! I know I am.

I am actually very proud of my podcast. So feel free to check it out!

Bad Online Behavior Jeopardizes Students' College Plans

Bad Online Behavior Jeopardizes Students' College Plans

I am sharing this article for a few reasons...
A. This is part of the topic my group is writing about in our class wiki essay.
B. I also think a lot of kids need to read this (not that any are reading my blog). 
C. The strange thing I just went over this with my softball players due to some inappropriate behavior online.

Not many students (or even adults for that matter) understand how the things that they post on the internet can affect them. Even though this article is talking about how bad online behavior can influence whether a student gets into a college, it can also influence a job position later. I can't tell you how many friends  tell me they Google someone or check them out on Facebook before they hire them.

I do feel it is our job as educators to make our students aware of this. I don't think students mean everything they say online but they are also impulsive and don't think their actions through. Sometimes I don't think they are even aware of the consequence. We need to make our students aware of this but we also need to relate their consequences to their age. Most of my 7th graders right now would not care if their online behavior would keep them from getting into college, but they might care if they could end up getting kicked off the basketball team for their behavior.

I finally have my textbook!

Actually it came on Wednesday  and I didn't get home until 9 though from our softball game and I did have some reading to catch up on. So here goes...

Just a reminder that our textbook is Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom  by Will Richardson

Week 1: Chapter 1 The Read/Write Web

"Before you attempt to bring these technologies to your students, first be selfish about their use in your own learning practice" (Will Richardson). This statement just pops out to me from our textbook. I think that sometimes when we are introduced to new things as educators we have tendency to just jump into things without looking, without thinking. I think the author is pointing out that we must first become comfortable with these technologies before we go off and try to use them in our classroom and then feeling frustrated. Our students are using technology and we need to be able to work with them not against them.There are so many ways out there to use technology and we need to feel comfortable and believe in what we are using before we try to have our students use these tools.

Week 2: Chapter 2 and 3 Weblogs.... 

In Chapter 2 Richardson goes into what Weblogs are and how we can use them in the classroom. I am not going to lie I am usually pretty skeptical about using tools such as Weblogs in my math classroom. I can see the advantage that they could play in many classes but I am always thinking in the back of my head...  "now how am I suppose to use that in mathematical setting?" 

I swear Richardson must have known that others would have that thought because right about then the next paragraph is showing an AP Calculus blog. Then of course I start running with ideas in my head about how I could use them in my classroom.

In Chapter 3, Richardson goes on with how to get started using a Weblog and how to use them safely with our students. I sure wished my textbook would have came a little sooner. But there was still a couple pointers in the chapter that I have flagged. 

Week 3: Chapter 4 and 7

 Chapter 4 is all about Wikis.. 

The chapter starts off by talking about Wikipedia ... All I have to say is that our students will click on this first when doing research. I know this, because it is usually the first thing I click on. We as educators need to show our students how it works and how to use it. It is a great starting point but not the only place to find information. After the little part on
Wikipedia, Richardson goes on to talk about how one could use Wikis in the class... and I love that the entire time I am reading, all I can think about is how I need to talk to the other teachers in my building about this. There are so many ways we could use them. Not just with our students but as a way to work as a staff. Like I said, I can't wait to talk about it!! 

Chapter 7... Flickr

Flickr is a way for you to upload, share photos and connect with millions of others. It allows one to take their photo and tell a story with it. You can then share your photo with others and they can leave comments on it. You can also look at tons of photos that others have uploaded. Richardson discuss ways to use Flickr in the classroom. Another technology tool I think I will have to share with my coworkers.

Rethinking How We Use Calculators | Edutopia

Rethinking How We Use Calculators | Edutopia

OMG!! Yes Calculators! What a debate. José Vilson nails it when he says you are "either old school or new school."

I think there is a definitely a fine line on when to use them. It is a difficult decision too. I actually have 2 sets of different calculators. Since one of our calculators does so many functions (like operations with fractions) which makes it really hard to decide if your students know how to work with fractions or they know how to punch it into the calculator. But when we are finding area of a shape, I don't want them to get tripped up on the math with the fractions. I need to know if they understand area, not multiplying with fractions at that time.

So I am with Jose, sometimes I am for them and sometimes I am not. I really think it depends on what is being taught. Sometimes I give them the basic calculators just for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.  But I will tell you I am silently banging my head against the wall waiting for students to divide by 2! (And in case you forgot, I work in a middle school)

So yes, back and fourth I go when deciding about that calculator.

P.S.
I think it is great that the person that commented on this blog is a professor I had at GVSU!

In Newtown's Wake: How Grief Is Handled at School | Edutopia

In Newtown's Wake: How Grief Is Handled at School | Edutopia

Alright, I am sharing this because I completely agree with the article. I don't think anyone could be prepared to deal with a tragedy such as Newtown's but that is not what the article is all about. This article hits home on when students have to deal with tragedy, how do we deal with them. Not in one of my college classes did they actually talk even about how to handle students that are grieving. I have only been teaching for 3 years, but in those 3 years we have not done any training on this either. However, in those 3 years, I have had students who have lost parents, siblings to suicide, and grandparents that have pretty much raised them. Most of the time we are notified when a student has lost someone but not always. I will tell you that is usually the most frustrating. When you are wondering what happened to your student. "Why are their grades dropping?" "Where is the attitude coming from?" Then come to find out their grandparent died 2 weeks ago. It can be very frustrating. Even more so when you don't know what to say to the kid. 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Fall? | Edutopia

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Fall? | Edutopia

I love this one!!

I always think of things during the year and even right about now that I want to do differently for next year. Then next year rolls around and I end up forgetting all these brilliant ideas I especially love the "Master List" idea. I am not sure why I haven't done it before really. I am big on to-do-lists. I also like the idea of having students give inputs on what to do differently.

I think the important part is to make the list now and not put it off which I think is what I usually do... hence why next year rolls around.

Textbook Week 1 and 2 still waiting

Alright, so I didn't realize that we needed a textbook at the start of the class. I think I was just overwhelmed at first with all the things we had to get setup. 

Anyway, I ordered my textbook late. It was suppose to be here around the 6th or 7th... but as you can see I now have to wait to the 15th!  

So anyway I wanted to apologize that I have not been able to write about the textbook. It will be coming as soon as I get my book! 

Why I Flip-Flopped on the Flipped Classroom

Why I Flip-Flopped on the Flipped Classroom

What Makes Project-Based Learning a Success? | Edutopia

What Makes Project-Based Learning a Success? | Edutopia

This Article has really caught my attention. At the start of this school year our superintendent  really wanted us to use the Project-Based Learning (PBL) process. One of our required professional development at the beginning of the school year was spent on it.  We sat for the morning listening to a speaker introduce PBL and watched a video on a school that demonstrated how they have used PBL. The data that suggests it works and that was the extent of it.... 

While I do think it is a great idea and the presentation was well done. There was no follow up.  I wonder how it works and not just the overall details. Where do you even start when creating these projects. How do you get the students to work on them without you having to answer their every question? Especially in a math classroom. I know in my room, my students very much struggle with attempting to solve the problems independently. Most the time they have not even read the question! They just panic because they see words.

So when I spotted this article (or actually the video that is linked to it) I just had to check it out. The problem with when you start a school year is you have all these wonderful ideas that you want to check out but then everything just goes crazy. You have all these things that have to be accomplished (data meetings, calendars, planning, school improvement meetings, paperwork...etc.) So I think the thought of doing PBL got put on the back burner. 

Although, I do know you need one thing. TIME. Time to figure out what to do. A sub article of this one is the Step - by - Step Guide on how to develop these projects. At least this is a  start and maybe I will be one step closer to developing these lessons. :)

Welcome

Hello All!

Alright, I am going to give this "blogging" thing a try! I am new to it all so wish me luck!

First I thought I would start with an introduction. Currently I am a middle school math teacher in Michigan. I graduated from Grand Valley State University where I earned my Bachelors Degree.  My major is mathematics and my minor is psychology with an emphasis in secondary education. I am currently working on my Masters Degree at  Central Michigan University. I have started this blog because of a class I am taking. I will be posting about articles I read from my subscribed RSS Feed, readings from our textbook, and other readings or videos from our course.

Enjoy!