Grades 6-8 Big Ideas Math Quick Reference Guide
Grades 6-8 PowerPoint presentation for Camp Au Sable Michigan Teacher's Convention
Friday, August 16, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Reflections on 2007 Instructional Coaching Conference Learning Carousel: Chapter 7
The Big 4
A way to find beginning points to help teachers.
How have you clarified your expectations to your students?
With expectations, you need to reteach the classroom management rituals through out the year.
Use tools to observe what students are doing in relationship to the teacher. Then help the teachers set goals to have better student behaviors that support learning.
Instructional basics - offer ways to increase effectiveness of their instruction - I do it, we do it, you do it model.
Work with teachers to increase skills at questioning. Make a list of all the questions a teacher asks in a class. At what level of Blooms taxonomy do those questions fall?
Advance and post organizers - teachers often neglect to use them.
Content enhancement - routines that include unit and course organizer, framing routines, clarifying table, and formative assessment.
Sometimes you just need to pick one and start there - management or instruction but sometimes a little bit of both is necessary. Observing what a teacher does that works and reinforce that teacher behavior to help students.
PLAN planning model
HALO - high, average, low, and other students
Teachers sometimes need more support than we think they need.
Sometimes you need to challenge expectations that teachers have of their students.
Reflections on 2007 Instructional Coaching Conference Learning Carousel: Chapter 5
2007 Instructional Coaching Conference Learning Carousel: Chapter 5
Getting teachers on board and finding a starting point
What does change look like? p. 87 spiral model of change
96% will fall back into old habits
Where is the person in the cycle of change? We are looking at transformation.
A school that is making progress is not a straight linear path. We must keep going after regrouping and restrategizing. How do we talk with teachers to get them involved?
Teachers will act differently alone than they would when they are in a group. Small groups are further.
If we are expecting resistance, get the smallest group of teachers possible. Sometimes we need to neutralize negativity.
We need to find out what the teachers care about.
Getting teachers on board and finding a starting point
What does change look like? p. 87 spiral model of change
96% will fall back into old habits
Where is the person in the cycle of change? We are looking at transformation.
A school that is making progress is not a straight linear path. We must keep going after regrouping and restrategizing. How do we talk with teachers to get them involved?
Teachers will act differently alone than they would when they are in a group. Small groups are further.
If we are expecting resistance, get the smallest group of teachers possible. Sometimes we need to neutralize negativity.
We need to find out what the teachers care about.
Reflections on 2008 Instructional Coaching Conference with Jim Knight: An Overview fo Instructional Coaching
2008 Instructional Coaching Conference with Jim Knight: An Overview of Instructional Coaching
Four Big Goals for areas of growth through coaching
1. classroom management
2. content planning
3. instruction
4. assessment for learning
http://vimeo.com/16323658
#1 Time - need to spend more time coaching, rather than other things
Negotiate how my time will be spent with Mrs. Fuchs
Big Rocks First!
Think about roles and projects within those roles in a word document
Have a ritual of when we actually sit down to think about these roles and projects
Unfortunately this doesn't work, you have to cut something out in order to really do what is necessary. I have to learn how to say NO!
book "power of the positive NO!"
"I have to say no because I have made a commitment to something that is more important to me."
#2 Relationships
Affirmations - find a way that you can connect with them. Go into the situation expecting the good in someone.
Look for common denominators. Avoid common dividers.
Align yourself emotionally to connect, rather than judge when someone is hot from an issue.
#3 Walk-throughs
Must be tied to specific teaching practice
internal commitment precedes external commitment.
#4 Workshops
They make a difference even when there are people who get annoyed by them. It introduces things that are being introduced. Must have supported professional learning afterward.
Use practice, not just theory in th workshop.
#5 Reflection
They must have autonomy - someone else cannot do the thinking for other teachers. Teachers will resist this.
Reflection is having the chance to say NO!
#6 Trust
credibililty plus reliability plus intimacy (feel comfortable talking to them) divided by self-focus (the more it is about the other person or their students and the less it is about me, the better)
#7 Experience
People are not persuaded by talk ( the water pump story).
Want to try this out for yourself and then see what you want to use. Set up an experience for them to experiment for themselves and then they will be persuaded.
#8 Evaluating coaching programs.
#9 Teaching Practices
#10 Community
Teachers do not generally come to a workshop excited about professional learning. Conduct one to one interviews before whole group workshops. Some people are better not to be at the workshop because they would be destructive to the team.
Coaches are used to build the cohesiveness between teachers who come to the workshops with support to teachers after the workshop.
Intensive learning teams focused on practical teaching moves things forward.
A coach can't hold teachers accountable and provide support - it will backfire.
Don't keep meeting with people who don't want coaching support. It won't help the most kids by doing that.
Four Big Goals for areas of growth through coaching
1. classroom management
2. content planning
3. instruction
4. assessment for learning
http://vimeo.com/16323658
#1 Time - need to spend more time coaching, rather than other things
Negotiate how my time will be spent with Mrs. Fuchs
Big Rocks First!
Think about roles and projects within those roles in a word document
Have a ritual of when we actually sit down to think about these roles and projects
Unfortunately this doesn't work, you have to cut something out in order to really do what is necessary. I have to learn how to say NO!
book "power of the positive NO!"
"I have to say no because I have made a commitment to something that is more important to me."
#2 Relationships
Affirmations - find a way that you can connect with them. Go into the situation expecting the good in someone.
Look for common denominators. Avoid common dividers.
Align yourself emotionally to connect, rather than judge when someone is hot from an issue.
#3 Walk-throughs
Must be tied to specific teaching practice
internal commitment precedes external commitment.
#4 Workshops
They make a difference even when there are people who get annoyed by them. It introduces things that are being introduced. Must have supported professional learning afterward.
Use practice, not just theory in th workshop.
#5 Reflection
They must have autonomy - someone else cannot do the thinking for other teachers. Teachers will resist this.
Reflection is having the chance to say NO!
#6 Trust
credibililty plus reliability plus intimacy (feel comfortable talking to them) divided by self-focus (the more it is about the other person or their students and the less it is about me, the better)
#7 Experience
People are not persuaded by talk ( the water pump story).
Want to try this out for yourself and then see what you want to use. Set up an experience for them to experiment for themselves and then they will be persuaded.
#8 Evaluating coaching programs.
#9 Teaching Practices
#10 Community
Teachers do not generally come to a workshop excited about professional learning. Conduct one to one interviews before whole group workshops. Some people are better not to be at the workshop because they would be destructive to the team.
Coaches are used to build the cohesiveness between teachers who come to the workshops with support to teachers after the workshop.
Intensive learning teams focused on practical teaching moves things forward.
A coach can't hold teachers accountable and provide support - it will backfire.
Don't keep meeting with people who don't want coaching support. It won't help the most kids by doing that.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Final Capstone Reflection Things 1-21
Two technological items that I was introduced to while going through 21 Things for 21st Century Educators were Evernote and Diigo. I think both of these technology applications will make me a better professional because I can learn and share with others so they can learn more as well. I can be more productive and save paper from printing by looking at my diigo highlighted articles and with Evernote I can actually clip the entire article for reading later even if the website disappears.
I see Diigo and Evernote as tools that help both me and my students to better summarize and take notes so we can see the similarities and differences between the different author’s points of view. We can also take our summaries and use them to generate and test hypothesis as we extend our knowledge.
I think that digital storytelling is a thing that I will be incorporating more into my classroom. I see digital storytelling as a combination of visual learning, digital images, and sometimes screencasting. Digital storytelling requires students to think through what the main message is to be shared with their audience through succinct digital images - either still or video - with a sound track or captions that will catch another person’s attention. Digital storytelling requires students to put into practice all of the NETS-S. Most specifically the student must be creative in production of an original story covering a particular topic that requires multiple types of technology to complete. Students must communicate and collaborate with their team partners as well as consider how they communicate appropriately with their audience. Students must research how to best photograph or video record their subject. Students must evaluate, synthesize, and process all of the information about their subject into the creation of their story. Managing a project like this requires deep critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making to create the best project. Students will become better digital citizens when they see how human, cultural, and societal issues converge in their story. Because of the different facets of a digital story, students will learn how to select and use technological applications to create their story. Trouble shooting these applications and transferring what they know to others will happen because projects require those skills. It will be exciting to see what happens as I use digital storytelling with my students.
One thing that I will use to continue growing professionally is developing my professional learning network through Twitter. I want to give myself 15 minutes a day to log in, read the pithy thoughts of others and read through linked articles that others have found useful, and collect their tweets in my diigo library or collect the articles in my Evernote notebook. I also want to interact with the individuals I follow on twitter by commenting on their tweets and links that they share. My interaction on Twitter has been a priceless to my growth and ability to connect with others who think deeply about ideas that I care about and share what they learn with others.
One aspect of digital citizenship that I want to do well and teach my students and co-workers to do well is to create a positive digital footprint. I want students to see how I interact with people on Twitter and in my blogging and for them to model that behavior in their own online presence. I want students to understand that there must be boundaries about what personal information is shared online. I want them to live a life without regret and guilt over a status update, photo or video that they have uploaded. I want to remind them of the Golden Rule - treat others as you would want to be treated. I want them to think critically about how they use digital resources and to contribute to online communities in a positive way to build up others. My views have been widened through this course because I have come to see how wide technology is and where students could get into situations where negative choices could be made. Helping students have positive experiences and helping students learn positive ways of behaving will make all the difference as I move on in the way I educate young people about technology.
Battle Creek Michigan Community Garden Tour
Have you tried Google Earth? Take a look at this Battle Creek Michigan Community Garden Tour. I have been involved with the Verona Community Garden but it was exciting to see all the other community gardens that were visible from the satellites. Our beautiful lines of raised beds can be clearly seen on almost every location that is noted on the Sprout Urban Farms website.
Portfolio 21 Things for 21st century teachers Final Submission
- Welcome or Landing Page: http://www.digbelyea.blogspot.com/
- Google Document: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-2-google-drive-link-embedded-in.html
- Diigo Links: The link to my Diigo account is found on the right under my blog archive and just above my Creative Commons license.
- Accessibility Piece: I added a VozMe “Hear this Post” link to my blog by using the instructions on http://vozme.com/webmasters.php?lang=en. I figured out how to add a button in the header of each blog post so when a person clicks on it, vozme will read the words on the page. It doesn’t read it using proper breathing points and punctuation, but at least the words are said out loud to help people who struggle with vocabulary and reading use my blog. Check out http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/portfolio-piece-thing-6-adding-vozme.html
- Digital Citizenship: I created digital citizenship page outlining a great link to Common Sense Media which has resources for teaching digital citizenship. http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/digital-citizenship.html
- Creative Commons License: This is found on the right under blog archive and my Evernote and Diigo links
- Digital Images:http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html
- Digital Story: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-19-digital-story-how-to-use.html
- Presentation:.http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-11-portfolio-piece-general.html
- Rubric: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-12-portfolio-piece-rubric-for.html
- Interactive Activity: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/01/thing-13-flashcards-portfolio-piece.html
- Video or Audio Resource: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-20-portofolio-piece-carla-belyea.html
- Productivity Tool: I have included a link to my Evernote “For Teachers” notebook because I would like to connect my readers to the great blogs I read and write notes about. Hopefully they will share with me in return.
- Research & Reference Tool: I included a link to the Michigan Electronic Library so they have a quick link to the databases that mel.org has available.
- RSS Feed: I have an RSS feed to posts and comments on the right hand side at the top of the column there.
- Virtual Classroom: I created a site use and expectations page outlining how visitors should use my site. http://www.digbelyea.blogspot.com/p/site-use-and-expectations.html
- Visual Organizers: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-8-visual-learning-using-bubblus.html
- Screencast: http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/2013/02/thing-20-portfolio-piece-video-for.html
- Finally: I have been and will continue to use my web presences to connect with students, parents, co-workers, and other people interested in the technological and educational ideas I write and share about. It has been exciting to get more resources to use as I become more proficient in technology use.
- A link to your web presence site. #1 http://digbelyea.blogspot.com/
- Provide your answers to the five questions that are listed in blue on the Portfolio Checklist; include each question's assigned number before each question (#4, #5, #13, #14, #19).
Portfolio Piece Thing 6 Adding VozMe link to blog
I found instructions at VozMe for Webmasters. I wanted to include a text to speech button so users could listen to the blog posting if they wanted to. Now I know VozMe is not probably the best text to speech tool as far as fluent reading with proper stops in a sentence for breathing and punctuation but it gives another tool to help all people be able to access my blog. I did make one change to the directions. The original directions on line 3 said <div class='post footer'> but I wanted my readers to see this link when they first opened my blog posts, not when they have already looked at it. I want to anticipate what my readers needs are, rather than giving them a resource when it is too late. So I found <div class='post-header-line-1'/> instead and now there is a button that a reader can press to hear the post read to them.
Portfolio Piece Thing 8 Visual Learning using Bubbl.us
I love Bubbl.us for creating mind maps and other connected representations for students to use. I created this connected spoke activity to help students see how balanced they were in their work.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Capstone 15-21: Research paper on Educational Technology
In
the last seven things, there were many different ways to get resources
and to share them with others that are interested in the same things.
The Michigan Electronic Library is an awesome tool with full text
articles about all areas of thought. It has improved my practice by
giving me access to materials that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to
afford.
The Michigan Electronic Library provides an excellent collection of databases that students can use to take notes and summarize a topic. With these summaries, a student can identify similarities and differences between author’s writing and generate and test hypotheses about their thesis statement for their research based on what they have read. Having a wide body of peer-reviewed articles to chose from that have been verified for use in research helps students to create better research papers.
Objective:
Students will create a research project about a current or new technology using the Michigan Electronic Library. Students will use Evernote to create notebook of their research. They will cite their sources using MLA format. Students will share their reports in a short video presentation.
Introduction:
Students have many different technology resources around them. Helping a young person understand the background and growth of a current technology will help that young person to better use the technology in the present. This project will put together research using digital tools like the Michigan Electronic Library and screencasting for effective communication of ideas that they have learned.
Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including
at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results
Materials:
internet access, computer, ip address in Michigan, login information for Evernote.
Activity:
Students will be introduced to the databases in the Michigan Electronic Library. The teacher will discuss the merits of the Academic OneFile and Expanded Academic: ASAP databases for research. Students will create, if necessary, and use their Evernote account to clip articles for their research project.. Students will download the “add to Evernote” button to their toolbar.
Students will write a hypothesis about educational technology that they want to research. They will develop a thesis statement based on that hypothesis. Once students have developed an initial thesis statement, they will be directed to search for articles that both support and refute that thesis statement. We will discuss how to tag articles in order to categorize based on similarities and differences. and to write notes about the articles that are clipped to their Evernote account. Students will be asked to expand on their tagged similarities and differences between individual articles in their notes in their Evernote notebook. Students will accumulate sufficient articles to develop a basis for the body and conclusion of their research paper.
Practice:
Students will revise their thesis statement based on their research and develop their logical argument to support their hypothesis. They will create a research paper using a word processing software package. Students will perform peer edits on 2 other students papers in the classroom using the attached rubric.
Assessment:
Students will revise their research papers based on their peer edits. They will submit their papers for assessment by the teaching using the same rubric used by the students. Students will create a 2 to 3 minute screen cast using Windows Movie Maker, Ink2go, Jing, or Screen-cast-o-matic. These screencasts will be used to assess the student’s understanding of their research topic. Students will be assessed using the video production rubric.
Resources:
Research Paper Rubric on Google Drive
Video Production Rubric
The Michigan Electronic Library provides an excellent collection of databases that students can use to take notes and summarize a topic. With these summaries, a student can identify similarities and differences between author’s writing and generate and test hypotheses about their thesis statement for their research based on what they have read. Having a wide body of peer-reviewed articles to chose from that have been verified for use in research helps students to create better research papers.
Objective:
Students will create a research project about a current or new technology using the Michigan Electronic Library. Students will use Evernote to create notebook of their research. They will cite their sources using MLA format. Students will share their reports in a short video presentation.
Introduction:
Students have many different technology resources around them. Helping a young person understand the background and growth of a current technology will help that young person to better use the technology in the present. This project will put together research using digital tools like the Michigan Electronic Library and screencasting for effective communication of ideas that they have learned.
Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including
at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results
Materials:
internet access, computer, ip address in Michigan, login information for Evernote.
Activity:
Students will be introduced to the databases in the Michigan Electronic Library. The teacher will discuss the merits of the Academic OneFile and Expanded Academic: ASAP databases for research. Students will create, if necessary, and use their Evernote account to clip articles for their research project.. Students will download the “add to Evernote” button to their toolbar.
Students will write a hypothesis about educational technology that they want to research. They will develop a thesis statement based on that hypothesis. Once students have developed an initial thesis statement, they will be directed to search for articles that both support and refute that thesis statement. We will discuss how to tag articles in order to categorize based on similarities and differences. and to write notes about the articles that are clipped to their Evernote account. Students will be asked to expand on their tagged similarities and differences between individual articles in their notes in their Evernote notebook. Students will accumulate sufficient articles to develop a basis for the body and conclusion of their research paper.
Practice:
Students will revise their thesis statement based on their research and develop their logical argument to support their hypothesis. They will create a research paper using a word processing software package. Students will perform peer edits on 2 other students papers in the classroom using the attached rubric.
Assessment:
Students will revise their research papers based on their peer edits. They will submit their papers for assessment by the teaching using the same rubric used by the students. Students will create a 2 to 3 minute screen cast using Windows Movie Maker, Ink2go, Jing, or Screen-cast-o-matic. These screencasts will be used to assess the student’s understanding of their research topic. Students will be assessed using the video production rubric.
Resources:
Research Paper Rubric on Google Drive
Video Production Rubric
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thing 21 Screencasting Reflection
I
have been creating screencasts since May 2012. I have found out how
important it is for me to wear my headset so extraneous noise doesn’t
distract from the video and how important it is to use text tools to
type as much text as I can for a student to see. I find having my
picture in the picture useful to connect with students when they are
viewing my videos outside of my classroom. My students have told me that
shorter videos are better than longer ones. Also keeping one main idea
to a video is best so students can focus on that idea and then create
their connections before moving onto a new idea.
When I think about my screencasts, I know that screencasts with step by step directions are very useful for students who lack confidence in their problem solving skills. As I think about the videos that I have posted on my youtube channel, the ones that are watched the most are the ones where I balance chemical equations. The fact that people view them from all over the world is amazing. It gives me such a good feeling to know that I am helping many people not just those that are in my classroom. Some things that my math students struggle with the most are ratios, fractions, the distributive property, and solving for a variable. I have made some of those tutorials already but I would like to rework some of them to better connect my students to the necessary ideas to be successful.
When I think about my screencasts, I know that screencasts with step by step directions are very useful for students who lack confidence in their problem solving skills. As I think about the videos that I have posted on my youtube channel, the ones that are watched the most are the ones where I balance chemical equations. The fact that people view them from all over the world is amazing. It gives me such a good feeling to know that I am helping many people not just those that are in my classroom. Some things that my math students struggle with the most are ratios, fractions, the distributive property, and solving for a variable. I have made some of those tutorials already but I would like to rework some of them to better connect my students to the necessary ideas to be successful.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thing 20 Portofolio Piece: Carla Belyea on Youtube
I have been creating many different video resources for my students on Youtube. You can follow my channel at Carla Belyea on Youtube
Thing 21 Portfolio Piece: Video for General definitions of Trigonometric Functions
I created this video for my Algebra 2 class on how to calculate sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant, and cotangent values. General Definitions of Trigonometric Functions
Thing 14 Portfolio Piece: Evernote notebook link
I have edited my html for my template to include a link to my Evernote notebook "For Teachers".
Thing 12 Portfolio Piece: Rubric for project
I created a rubric for a Right Triangle Project. It can be found at Right Triangle Application Project Rubric
This rubric can be used by math students to critique and assess their project as they develop some connections to non-linguistic representations of right triangles.
This rubric can be used by math students to critique and assess their project as they develop some connections to non-linguistic representations of right triangles.
Thing 11 Portfolio Piece: General Education Planning Prezi
My seniors are creating their own college plan in a written form. I discussed how to select general education classes given an example from Andrews University. I used Prezi to connect them to each step of the way to fulfilling general education requirements.
General Education Planning
General Education Planning
Thing 2: Google Drive link embedded in web presence
My students in my Algebra 2 class can go to our quarterly plan that is a Google Drive document embedded in our Algebra 2 web presence. This quarterly plan gives them the goals for each day, the in class and out of class assignments, and links to any additional resources. The link to the page with this document is Algebra 2 Quarterly plan, syllabus, and course content .
Thing 20: Online Video and Audio Resources Reflection
Online
video and audio resources are a great educational tool that has become
very useful and easily acquirable in the last decade. Tools like
youtube, teachertube, discoveryeducation, and learn360 are all great
locations where videos have been collected. Now even better curation
tools are making their mark to create collections of videos for
educators and students. Curation sites like mentormob and sophia are
free tools that help educators find videos that are the best of the
best. These curation tools make it easier for teachers to find what they
need, when they need it, quickly. Audio tools like iTunes often have
videos attached to them so a student can see what is going on in a
podcast. These videos and audio resources help me to connect students
early on to something interesting and in a media format that catches
their attention. Video and audio resources are a great way to motivate
an opening to a lesson.
Videos are great for seeing and hearing the big picture for a particular topic so a student receives the information in more than one way. Videos require the ability to view as well as hear so a video can’t be used when walking or driving. An audio resource could be used while walking or driving because listening is all that is required. I think it is best to remember that a compilation of resources is best without focusing on just one mode of learning.
Videos are great for seeing and hearing the big picture for a particular topic so a student receives the information in more than one way. Videos require the ability to view as well as hear so a video can’t be used when walking or driving. An audio resource could be used while walking or driving because listening is all that is required. I think it is best to remember that a compilation of resources is best without focusing on just one mode of learning.
Thing 19: Digital Storytelling Reflection
Digital
storytelling has several great ways it could be used in my classroom. I
could use photographs and captions to create a sequence of images
related to story problems that students work out. Having students see
the step wise progression of solving a problem through pictures would
help them to connect the non-linguistic representations of math and
science to the concrete problem solving algorithms. Using digital story
telling to create mnemonics for problem solving would be another great
use. Having students create their own digital stories to show how they
solved a question would give them yet another way to see the
similarities and differences between how they solved a question and how
another student solved a question.
So far the feedback I have received on my project has been positive and points to creativity in my creation. This was helpful in that it was reassuring but I would like more creative critique next time. This thing was probably the most intense learning curve for me of the entire set of Things because first I had to create a storyboard with succinct ideas that I wanted to get across in my story. Then I had to find pictures that conveyed this idea that were copy-right free or could be used under a Creative Commons license. I made great use of http://pics.tech4learning.com/ , http://www.morguefile.com/archive , and www.flickr.com . As I consider my project there are two things that I would like to edit, now that I have completed the project. With the captions, sometimes the colored background used to separate the caption from the underlying photo weren’t big enough. Next time I would either edit my captions to be much smaller or figure out a way to make the colored background larger. Also I had found a piece of music that I really liked however it wasn’t quite long enough for my presentation. I cut and pasted the pieces together but the transition from the end of the first loop and the second loop is very distinct. Having used Movie Maker for the first time, I think my next uses of Movie Maker will be better and I can play more with other features.
So far the feedback I have received on my project has been positive and points to creativity in my creation. This was helpful in that it was reassuring but I would like more creative critique next time. This thing was probably the most intense learning curve for me of the entire set of Things because first I had to create a storyboard with succinct ideas that I wanted to get across in my story. Then I had to find pictures that conveyed this idea that were copy-right free or could be used under a Creative Commons license. I made great use of http://pics.tech4learning.com/ , http://www.morguefile.com/archive , and www.flickr.com . As I consider my project there are two things that I would like to edit, now that I have completed the project. With the captions, sometimes the colored background used to separate the caption from the underlying photo weren’t big enough. Next time I would either edit my captions to be much smaller or figure out a way to make the colored background larger. Also I had found a piece of music that I really liked however it wasn’t quite long enough for my presentation. I cut and pasted the pieces together but the transition from the end of the first loop and the second loop is very distinct. Having used Movie Maker for the first time, I think my next uses of Movie Maker will be better and I can play more with other features.
Thing 19 Digital Story: How to use Twitter for Personal and Professional Growth
I am so glad that http://pics.tech4learning.com/ , www.morguefile.com/, and www.flickr.com exist with individuals who use Creative Commons licenses for others to use their photos.
Watch my digital story at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLeLDk_or5k
Watch my digital story at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLeLDk_or5k
Friday, February 22, 2013
Things 8-14 Capstone Project: Using Digital Images with Right Triangle Real World Applications
Helping
students connect with non-linguistic representations of the sometimes
abstract concepts in math is my goal. I would like to use digital photos
as a way for students to summarize what they have learned, identify
similarities and differences, and generate and test hypothesis about
right triangles. With today's electronic devices that so many students
have, I want to have them do a cooperative project where they use photos
and information about the photo or video to create story problems for
math. Using technology like cameras, cell phones, smart phones, and
tablets with photography capabilities, I can help students connect the
technology they already own with real world contexts and hopefully will
be generalizable to later learning.
Right Triangle Real World Applications
Objective:
Students will use photos of real world applications of right triangles to determine lengths of the legs or hypotenuse or the angle measure of the incline or decline. Create digital images that connect mathematics with real life.
Introduction:
Students have been introduced to the Pythagorean theorem and fundamental trigonometric identities of sine, cosine, and tangent. This lesson will allow students to connect their knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometry in order to find find unknowns involving right triangles. Real life applications of right triangles are used in construction, manufacturing, quilt design, home improvements, land surveying, and other areas.
Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2
NETS-S: 1a, b, c; 2a, b, d; 3a, b, c, d; 4a, b, c, d; 5b, c
Materials:
Digital camera, presentation software, clinometer, trundle wheel or measuring tape
Activity:
Students will create a project that contains 20 real life photos of right triangles. Students will use a clinometer and trundle wheel or measuring tape to measure the triangle leg lengths and/or angle of inclination or declination. Students will create story problems that use the photos and real world information. Students will create triangle overlays on the real life pictures. Students will create worked examples to accompany their initial picture and overlay. These story problems and photos will be used by other students to understand the Pythagorean theorem and sine, cosine, and tangent. Students will create a presentation using Prezi or another presentation software package to show their photos to the class. Students will share their presentations on the class website so that students in other schools can make use of them.
Practice:
Students will work through a presentation of another group in the classroom. They will compare their worked answers with the creators worked examples.
Assessment:
Students will critique the presentation using the attached rubric. Students will make adjustments to their presentations based on classmates critiques. The teacher will critique the presentation after final edits are completed.
Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avkkz2Vwt_UrdFZqNmxob29XaE12U2VGZnRRM19pcEE&usp=sharing
Resources:
How to make a clinometer:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Clinometer
Outdoor learning idea:
http://numberloving.com/2012/03/05/outdoor-learning-the-first-instalment/
Pages about triangle applications:
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/Applicationpp.html
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/FinalReview.html
Right Triangle Real World Applications
Objective:
Students will use photos of real world applications of right triangles to determine lengths of the legs or hypotenuse or the angle measure of the incline or decline. Create digital images that connect mathematics with real life.
Introduction:
Students have been introduced to the Pythagorean theorem and fundamental trigonometric identities of sine, cosine, and tangent. This lesson will allow students to connect their knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometry in order to find find unknowns involving right triangles. Real life applications of right triangles are used in construction, manufacturing, quilt design, home improvements, land surveying, and other areas.
Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2
NETS-S: 1a, b, c; 2a, b, d; 3a, b, c, d; 4a, b, c, d; 5b, c
Materials:
Digital camera, presentation software, clinometer, trundle wheel or measuring tape
Activity:
Students will create a project that contains 20 real life photos of right triangles. Students will use a clinometer and trundle wheel or measuring tape to measure the triangle leg lengths and/or angle of inclination or declination. Students will create story problems that use the photos and real world information. Students will create triangle overlays on the real life pictures. Students will create worked examples to accompany their initial picture and overlay. These story problems and photos will be used by other students to understand the Pythagorean theorem and sine, cosine, and tangent. Students will create a presentation using Prezi or another presentation software package to show their photos to the class. Students will share their presentations on the class website so that students in other schools can make use of them.
Practice:
Students will work through a presentation of another group in the classroom. They will compare their worked answers with the creators worked examples.
Assessment:
Students will critique the presentation using the attached rubric. Students will make adjustments to their presentations based on classmates critiques. The teacher will critique the presentation after final edits are completed.
Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avkkz2Vwt_UrdFZqNmxob29XaE12U2VGZnRRM19pcEE&usp=sharing
Resources:
How to make a clinometer:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Clinometer
Outdoor learning idea:
http://numberloving.com/2012/03/05/outdoor-learning-the-first-instalment/
Pages about triangle applications:
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/Applicationpp.html
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/emt668/emat6680.folders/brooks/6690stuff/righttriangle/FinalReview.html
Monday, February 18, 2013
How to use Twitter for Personal Growth
I am working on a story boarding exercise to create a digital story of how to use Twitter for Personal Growth. Have I missed anything in my story boarding that would be necessary to make my story better? I updated my presentation to include @ mentions as communications tools.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Thing 18 Virtual Classrom
Virtual
classroom experiences can be tricky. As I navigated through the “Land
of Online Learning” looking at the requirements from a student
perspective, I was reminded just how important collaboration is to
success in the virtual classroom. There are so many slippery slopes
where student can fall down and it is possible that the student will
never recover from those falls. As a private school, the swamp of
surprises has held up some students from taking an online class for lack
of a mentor to be sure the student is registered in an online course.
Next is the importance of a student having enough connected time to
access the material he or she is to cover. Then the slippery slope of
completion. I have seen such a difference between several students that I
have mentored - some get right into the work, work steadily, and finish
before time is up for the class while others make excuses and never get
up to speed nor complete the course they started. For me, the
infrequent feedback and lack of time with the teacher that is
synchronous really thwarted my initial work into the 21 Things for 21st
Century Teachers. As an adult learner, I needed to know that my work was
being critiqued and I needed feedback to feel confident about my
forward movement. My students need that same measure of confidence.
The CAPSpace (TWICE) site was an amazing resource that I think I could use more if I was a teacher of an English, History, or World Languages class. Most of the projects I saw were in those categories. I like the idea of using video conferencing to connect with classrooms across the state or around the world. I would like to develop a network of professionals that I could “bring into my classroom” via skype for a videoconferencing presentation on career items necessary for student success. I think that video conferencing has power over even watching videos because an individual can talk back in forth in real time and see the responses of his or her fellow conference attendee.
I would like to use moodle to extend my classroom online. There are several different ways I could use moodle to streamline the careers course I teach which would make it easier to give students feedback as they work through their career development plan. An online classroom experience using moodle or google drive would allow students to communicate and collaborate as they learn new information and synthesize the information into different mediums for redistribution to others. I have loved the way that Google drive has allowed me to give feedback on work that students have completed and to see the transitions in their learning as work is reviewed and critiqued. I think this kind of review and critique allows students to use their critical thinking skills and decision making skills to develop the best learning products. This transfer of knowledge from introduction to completion is a great reason to use a virtual classroom to moderate the flow of information. This moderation is one way my teaching and learning will be positively affected and it will help my students meet several NETS-S.
The CAPSpace (TWICE) site was an amazing resource that I think I could use more if I was a teacher of an English, History, or World Languages class. Most of the projects I saw were in those categories. I like the idea of using video conferencing to connect with classrooms across the state or around the world. I would like to develop a network of professionals that I could “bring into my classroom” via skype for a videoconferencing presentation on career items necessary for student success. I think that video conferencing has power over even watching videos because an individual can talk back in forth in real time and see the responses of his or her fellow conference attendee.
I would like to use moodle to extend my classroom online. There are several different ways I could use moodle to streamline the careers course I teach which would make it easier to give students feedback as they work through their career development plan. An online classroom experience using moodle or google drive would allow students to communicate and collaborate as they learn new information and synthesize the information into different mediums for redistribution to others. I have loved the way that Google drive has allowed me to give feedback on work that students have completed and to see the transitions in their learning as work is reviewed and critiqued. I think this kind of review and critique allows students to use their critical thinking skills and decision making skills to develop the best learning products. This transfer of knowledge from introduction to completion is a great reason to use a virtual classroom to moderate the flow of information. This moderation is one way my teaching and learning will be positively affected and it will help my students meet several NETS-S.
Thing 17 Professional Learning Networks
Wow,
MACUL is free! I had a friend who talked about attending the MACUL
conference and the information he was sharing was excellent and gave me
tools that I have been able to use in my classroom to improve
instruction. It is awesome that the purpose of MACUL is to keep up with
the ever changing world of educational technology, collaborate with
people who enjoy using technology in their classroom, and learn new
things from those that are members in MACUL. I can contribute to an
organization like this by my excitement to use technology to improve
instruction and support my students new learning.
LearnPort is great and it is how I learned about the Calhoun ISD courses. I like LearnPort because it leads me to webinars that I could watch to grow as an individual and get involved with groups of people who are doing technology based things like I do. I am glad places like LearnPort exist because it inspires me to connect with others to grow as a professional.
The purpose of Twitter, Facebook, and MACULspace is to connect with others who are excited about learning about what others are doing and how we can join others in doing things we find interesting. I see the greatest pro of Twitter is its linear nature. I can go through my tweetdeck with my multiple columns of hashtags and read what is important to me with #edtech or #edchat or #mathed. Tweetdeck helps me not be distracted by streams of information that are unimportant to me or totally off the topic I am interested in at the moment. Another pro of Twitter is that you can follow what another person tweets about without being a member on twitter and without them necessarily following you back. For people that are hesitant to use a social media platform, twitter allows an individual to see a stream of tweets without requiring a sign in. But that leads to a con for Twitter where if I want to communicate with someone on Twitter, I must be signed in to my account. A pro for Facebook is that many people use it personally so that a transition to professional use isn’t so daunting. However a con of Facebook is that you have little control over the stream of content that comes through your news feed and much of the content can be distracting from a professional viewpoint. Although MACUL looks like a great professional organization, MACULspace seems to have gone the way of Myspace, because there seemed to be little relevant new content there. Instead MACULspace seemed to point to twitter as the location to get up to date information. I know that I appreciate social networking sites that make my professional growth easier, not more complicated and distracted. For me Twitter has become my go to social media and networking site for its ease of use and linear stream of content.
LearnPort is great and it is how I learned about the Calhoun ISD courses. I like LearnPort because it leads me to webinars that I could watch to grow as an individual and get involved with groups of people who are doing technology based things like I do. I am glad places like LearnPort exist because it inspires me to connect with others to grow as a professional.
The purpose of Twitter, Facebook, and MACULspace is to connect with others who are excited about learning about what others are doing and how we can join others in doing things we find interesting. I see the greatest pro of Twitter is its linear nature. I can go through my tweetdeck with my multiple columns of hashtags and read what is important to me with #edtech or #edchat or #mathed. Tweetdeck helps me not be distracted by streams of information that are unimportant to me or totally off the topic I am interested in at the moment. Another pro of Twitter is that you can follow what another person tweets about without being a member on twitter and without them necessarily following you back. For people that are hesitant to use a social media platform, twitter allows an individual to see a stream of tweets without requiring a sign in. But that leads to a con for Twitter where if I want to communicate with someone on Twitter, I must be signed in to my account. A pro for Facebook is that many people use it personally so that a transition to professional use isn’t so daunting. However a con of Facebook is that you have little control over the stream of content that comes through your news feed and much of the content can be distracting from a professional viewpoint. Although MACUL looks like a great professional organization, MACULspace seems to have gone the way of Myspace, because there seemed to be little relevant new content there. Instead MACULspace seemed to point to twitter as the location to get up to date information. I know that I appreciate social networking sites that make my professional growth easier, not more complicated and distracted. For me Twitter has become my go to social media and networking site for its ease of use and linear stream of content.
Thing 12 Evaluation & Assessment Tools
Currently
in my school we have a student information system, RenWeb, which allows
access to student demographic information, grades, and medical
information. It has been helpful for parent communication and co-worker
communication because we can see how students are doing in each others
courses. I look forward to using course management systems like moodle
to streamline how students access and complete work. Data warehousing of
item level information for assessment would also be helpful for
teachers to use to inform instruction. The biggest challenge right now
is getting our data into a tool that allows us to run reports, find
similarities and differences, and look at trends.
The FERPA/HIPAA quiz was informative because I wasn’t aware of some of the particulars of FERPA. I thought that once a student turned 18 and graduated from high school, that their parent no longer had access to their child’s educational record. I learned that was false, as long as the parent still claimed the child on their IRS forms, the parent had the right to see the child’s educational record. Another interesting thing I learned is the lack of length of time required for maintaining student records. As a counselor I get calls all the time asking for verification of attendance for students who did not graduate from our institution or for verification that students completed GED testing at our school. I often do not have any records, yet other educational agencies expect that I will have them. It seems obvious that a student should be allowed to see his or her educational record, but then I wonder what purpose it would hold. Keeping FERPA information close at hand is probably the best way to decide if a record should be shared or not.
Rubrics allow me to give students more freedom to complete requirements for a given task. It also allows them to self score themselves to see if they are completing work that is worthy of demonstrating mastery and advanced skill. It helps me to better assess in an objective way, rather than subjectively.
Educational surveys like Google forms are great to collect large amounts of data and summarize that data for further consideration. I used the Google Forms as a survey tool to determine where students were feeling the most need to get practice for the upcoming ACT. In the past I have used Survey Monkey to do needs assessments for our school guidance program. The ease of use for both Google Forms and Survey Monkey make them very user friendly surveying tools.
The FERPA/HIPAA quiz was informative because I wasn’t aware of some of the particulars of FERPA. I thought that once a student turned 18 and graduated from high school, that their parent no longer had access to their child’s educational record. I learned that was false, as long as the parent still claimed the child on their IRS forms, the parent had the right to see the child’s educational record. Another interesting thing I learned is the lack of length of time required for maintaining student records. As a counselor I get calls all the time asking for verification of attendance for students who did not graduate from our institution or for verification that students completed GED testing at our school. I often do not have any records, yet other educational agencies expect that I will have them. It seems obvious that a student should be allowed to see his or her educational record, but then I wonder what purpose it would hold. Keeping FERPA information close at hand is probably the best way to decide if a record should be shared or not.
Rubrics allow me to give students more freedom to complete requirements for a given task. It also allows them to self score themselves to see if they are completing work that is worthy of demonstrating mastery and advanced skill. It helps me to better assess in an objective way, rather than subjectively.
Educational surveys like Google forms are great to collect large amounts of data and summarize that data for further consideration. I used the Google Forms as a survey tool to determine where students were feeling the most need to get practice for the upcoming ACT. In the past I have used Survey Monkey to do needs assessments for our school guidance program. The ease of use for both Google Forms and Survey Monkey make them very user friendly surveying tools.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thing 14: Productivity Tools
I
really enjoyed learning about some of the productivity tools that were
in this lesson. I had never heard of Zamzar before and I think it has
great possibilities for my work. Being able to convert a text file to a
pdf so a student or parent can’t cause the format to be ruined is
priceless. Zamzar also allows me to convert files that are in older
formats into newer formats especially some work that I did using Corel
WordPerfect.
I love using my Google Calendar. I have an app on my phone that takes me directly to all the Google Calendars that I subscribe to so I can keep up with both school and personal events in one place. Each calendar has a different color so I can reference who is doing what and where. I could see using Google Calendar to note test dates and other unique homework assignments. I use a Google spreadsheets for my quarterly plans currently but I could transition those assignments to a Google Calendar for students and parents to follow.
I like using productivity tools like this that are online web based rather than computer application based because I can share my work with others in the cloud without having multiple versions of a resource. I liked using Evernote and its web clipper function to create notebooks. I haven’t shared any yet, but I think that Evernote is a tool I would like to use for students to create portfolios of what they are studying. I see it complimenting diigo as a research organizational tool. I appreciate using a tool like Evernote because it will help keep my class paperless in the research process yet organized.
A big disadvantage of all these great tools is that if the internet isn’t working or the electronic device isn’t working, students, parents, and coworkers can’t use the tools. Another disadvantage is that sometimes lessons get thwarted from forward progress because access is limited by IT stipulations on which what tools are allowed for use in a school. As a technology using educator, it is my challenge to educate my co-workers, administrators, and IT staff about the great tools available and the rationale for their use.
I love using my Google Calendar. I have an app on my phone that takes me directly to all the Google Calendars that I subscribe to so I can keep up with both school and personal events in one place. Each calendar has a different color so I can reference who is doing what and where. I could see using Google Calendar to note test dates and other unique homework assignments. I use a Google spreadsheets for my quarterly plans currently but I could transition those assignments to a Google Calendar for students and parents to follow.
I like using productivity tools like this that are online web based rather than computer application based because I can share my work with others in the cloud without having multiple versions of a resource. I liked using Evernote and its web clipper function to create notebooks. I haven’t shared any yet, but I think that Evernote is a tool I would like to use for students to create portfolios of what they are studying. I see it complimenting diigo as a research organizational tool. I appreciate using a tool like Evernote because it will help keep my class paperless in the research process yet organized.
A big disadvantage of all these great tools is that if the internet isn’t working or the electronic device isn’t working, students, parents, and coworkers can’t use the tools. Another disadvantage is that sometimes lessons get thwarted from forward progress because access is limited by IT stipulations on which what tools are allowed for use in a school. As a technology using educator, it is my challenge to educate my co-workers, administrators, and IT staff about the great tools available and the rationale for their use.
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