Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Ready or not, here I come! (The onset of 1-2-1 technology)
I am feeling a little overwhelmed. This coming fall we make the change. That's right, the high schools in our district will be one-to-one for the first time this fall. To help me prepare, I've enrolled in 4 grad classes this summer, and am working on a blended learning initiative within the district. Talk about busy!
Although I am busy now, and nervous about the school year, I think it is a very good thing. When we reached the point that all of my students had phones, it really impacted the way I taught. However, even then I was limited because not all the phones had the same features, tools, or apps. With all our students having Chromebooks this year, I will really be able to extend lessons because I will know in advance exactly what tools every one of my students can access. The way I see it, my “bag of tricks” as a teacher just got significantly larger. The real challenge will be for me to learn what tools are available, find ways to bring them to bare on the things I’ve done in the past, and then be creative to find new lessons, activities, and assessment methods that really take advantage of these tools and do a better job of reaching and engaging students where they are.
Facebook in class (sorta)
I’ve tried to encourage students to communicate via message boards about course topics in the past, but with very limited success. Interestingly, the most successful use of message boards that I had was when one of my classes’ forums was hijacked by a student that the authors of “Creating and Connecting” would have deemed, “nonconformist.” At first, I was somewhat bothered by the way this student was using the forum as a social outlet, but as more and more students got involved, I found that the discussion began to build a bridge between their lives in my classroom and their lives outside of class. While they did not generate any groundbreaking mathematical ideas, they did build relationships and created an aspect of the course that was entirely their own. This helped establish an in-class environment where dialogue and discussion happened more easily.
With this experience in mind, one thing that I plan to do this coming school year that will leverage my students’ participation in social networks is to use group chats on Facebook Messenger. I know from personal experience that many students use this tool to communicate with groups in which there is some common interest. For example, in our school band most of the different sections of instruments maintain ongoing chats to discuss issues in band, in their section, or to just joke around with each other (which builds rapport and improves the in-class environment). In one of our chemistry courses, students started a chat mid-year last year and used it regularly to discuss homework, labs, and to study for tests. In each one of these cases, the teacher was not in the group.
My plan for this coming school year is to establish these types of groups for all my courses. I plan to tell my students that I may or may not be online to help them via chat (I will probably establish some kind of on-line office hours), but that at any time, they can feel free to help each other all they want. I hope this will allow them to have an ongoing, free-flowing discussion that will occasionally turn to mathematical topics. Meanwhile, I will be able to monitor the conversation and step in as needed to give a “nudge” in the right direction, or to deal with inappropriate actions and comments, or to just provide a comment related to whatever has come up in the conversation. Over the course of the year, I hope it will help me to bond with students in a way I have not been able to in the past, as well as help them with math. I suspect it will also allow give me the opportunity to talk to students about what kinds or conversations are “collaborating” as opposed to conversations that cross the line into the realm of cheating.
With this experience in mind, one thing that I plan to do this coming school year that will leverage my students’ participation in social networks is to use group chats on Facebook Messenger. I know from personal experience that many students use this tool to communicate with groups in which there is some common interest. For example, in our school band most of the different sections of instruments maintain ongoing chats to discuss issues in band, in their section, or to just joke around with each other (which builds rapport and improves the in-class environment). In one of our chemistry courses, students started a chat mid-year last year and used it regularly to discuss homework, labs, and to study for tests. In each one of these cases, the teacher was not in the group.
My plan for this coming school year is to establish these types of groups for all my courses. I plan to tell my students that I may or may not be online to help them via chat (I will probably establish some kind of on-line office hours), but that at any time, they can feel free to help each other all they want. I hope this will allow them to have an ongoing, free-flowing discussion that will occasionally turn to mathematical topics. Meanwhile, I will be able to monitor the conversation and step in as needed to give a “nudge” in the right direction, or to deal with inappropriate actions and comments, or to just provide a comment related to whatever has come up in the conversation. Over the course of the year, I hope it will help me to bond with students in a way I have not been able to in the past, as well as help them with math. I suspect it will also allow give me the opportunity to talk to students about what kinds or conversations are “collaborating” as opposed to conversations that cross the line into the realm of cheating.
Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship is a concept I have studied in the past, but never really felt that I had a significant role in teaching and encouraging good citizenship. As a fairly traditional math teacher, my classroom rarely involved online activities. This coming year there are three things changing in my classroom that alter my position in this regard. First, one-to-one technology. Every student in my class will now have a Chromebook, and I will be expected to take advantage of that fact. This means I will have to find ways to incorporate this technology in my class. Second, one of my courses will be taught in a blended format. This means that beyond just the occasional online activity, my class will be spending time in virtual environments, and producing, editing, and consuming digital content. Lastly, I plan to incorporate an aspect of social networking (Facebook Messenger) into my classes. All of these changes mean that I need to ensure, if for no other reason than classroom management, that my students understand what it means to be a good citizen while in a digital environment.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Lightbulb
I love it when I am teaching and a light bulb goes on - for me!
Today I was teaching my trigonometry students about angles. We were trying to expand from the middle school concept of intersecting rays to the broader concept of a rotating ray. Things were going fine:
Flying by the seat of my pants, I tried to emphasis that "minutes" and "seconds" in this context, do not refer to time, but to a fraction of a degree - blank stares.
Completely off the cuff, I moved on to talk about that 60 was a special number for the people who came up with this crazy stuff. That's why there's 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in a degree - nothing.
That they used a number system that was based on 60, not 10 - so what?
That the concept of 3.2 meaning 3 wholes and 2 tenths would not have made sense to them - kinda weird.
That they would have said something like 6 wholes and 8 minutes.
Then it happened.
LIGHT BULB!
Minutes.
Seconds.
They are the Mesopotamian/Babylonian version of decimals. A minute is the base 60 version of a tenth. A second is the base 60 version of a hundredth. I got excited, I started teaching like mad, and slowly more light bulbs started coming on all across the room.
Man, sometimes I LOVE my job!
Today I was teaching my trigonometry students about angles. We were trying to expand from the middle school concept of intersecting rays to the broader concept of a rotating ray. Things were going fine:
- Rotate the initial ray about its endpoint to create the terminal side of an angle - no problem.
- Angles are measured based on how far the ray was rotated - simple.
- One degree means the ray was rotated one 360th of a full rotation - gotcha.
- Angles can be measured in degrees-minutes-seconds - HOLD YOUR HORSES!
Flying by the seat of my pants, I tried to emphasis that "minutes" and "seconds" in this context, do not refer to time, but to a fraction of a degree - blank stares.
Completely off the cuff, I moved on to talk about that 60 was a special number for the people who came up with this crazy stuff. That's why there's 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in a degree - nothing.
That they used a number system that was based on 60, not 10 - so what?
That the concept of 3.2 meaning 3 wholes and 2 tenths would not have made sense to them - kinda weird.
That they would have said something like 6 wholes and 8 minutes.
Then it happened.
LIGHT BULB!
Minutes.
Seconds.
They are the Mesopotamian/Babylonian version of decimals. A minute is the base 60 version of a tenth. A second is the base 60 version of a hundredth. I got excited, I started teaching like mad, and slowly more light bulbs started coming on all across the room.
Man, sometimes I LOVE my job!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A Tale of Two Numbers
I know that I am not really maintaining this blog, but for some reason I was reminded today of a digital story I had to make in a grad class, and I thought I would share it here. I hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My Favorite Conic
** Disclaimer** This blog entry was created as a requirement for a course I took at Central Michigan University. I kinda liked it, and it definately relates to math, so I copied it to this blog. Feel free to play the role of the student and post your own responses!
We all have one (although some of us have so repressed our inner math geek that we are unaware). We all have a favorite conic section! We have selected our favorites for a variety of unique reasons, the sum of which is as unique as we are. Many senators have selected the ellipse, just as many with poor urinary tracks (link1, link2) have done. Baseball sluggers hate parabolas, but artillery generals live and die by them. The folks at Ticonderoga love hyperbolas, as did the Apollo 13 crew.
But what about you, what is your favorite conic??? Myself, I love a good circle any day, especially for desert! Pi anybody?
Return to class wiki.
We all have one (although some of us have so repressed our inner math geek that we are unaware). We all have a favorite conic section! We have selected our favorites for a variety of unique reasons, the sum of which is as unique as we are. Many senators have selected the ellipse, just as many with poor urinary tracks (link1, link2) have done. Baseball sluggers hate parabolas, but artillery generals live and die by them. The folks at Ticonderoga love hyperbolas, as did the Apollo 13 crew.
But what about you, what is your favorite conic??? Myself, I love a good circle any day, especially for desert! Pi anybody?
Return to class wiki.
Video Textbook
This site has a video textbook on the concept of dimensions. I really like the way they talk about connecting the vertices of an object to their shadows as a way to visualize the corresponding object in the next dimension. I think I might use this with my students in the future, especially when discussing higher dimensions.
http://www.dimensions-math.org/Dim_reg_E.htm
http://www.dimensions-math.org/Dim_reg_E.htm
Monday, June 1, 2009
Who knew???
NEWS ARTICLE: School of the Future: Lessons in failure How Microsoft's and Philadelphia's innovative school became an example of what not to do
NEWS ARTICLE: Gates Foundation: Teachers trump class size
You mean that you can’t just throw a bunch of money at education and expect it to get better? You mean quality teachers actually matter? Maybe those crazy Republicans are onto something… Naaahhhh!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Gun Control to Major Tom...
A couple of quick posts re: gun control
First of all, realize that in general I am against gun control, though I do support the idea that guns should be sold with accompanying safety devices (although it is the owner’s option whether or not to use the devices).
Second of all, I am very interested in following the story related to a recent law passed in Montana. It seems that they are using the 2nd, 9th, and 10th amendment to effectively repeal federal gun control laws in their state. The 9th amendment allows the federal government to regulate intrastate commerce, so anything the crosses stateliness can be federally controlled. However, if the courts determine the inverse to be constitutional (which maybe the case as per the 10th amendment), then anything that does not cross state lines cannot be federally controlled. (There are some really interesting things going on here if you are a fan of logic, and the validity of conditional arguments). So, Montana has said that any gun made, sold, and owned within the state boundaries is not subject to federal gun control laws.
This has interesting and obvious implications. It will be neat to see the outcomes associated with this. The most interesting aspects are associated with the legal implications. What other federal laws could be “repealed” under States’ Rights and the 10th amendment? The fireworks should be fun to watch. As a fan of the Constitutional Party, I love the possibilities!!!
On another note, it seems Utah and Texas are considering similar laws, and for you who are worried about your children being able to use their guns, here is a nice puzzle for them.
see more pwn and owned pictures
First of all, realize that in general I am against gun control, though I do support the idea that guns should be sold with accompanying safety devices (although it is the owner’s option whether or not to use the devices).
Second of all, I am very interested in following the story related to a recent law passed in Montana. It seems that they are using the 2nd, 9th, and 10th amendment to effectively repeal federal gun control laws in their state. The 9th amendment allows the federal government to regulate intrastate commerce, so anything the crosses stateliness can be federally controlled. However, if the courts determine the inverse to be constitutional (which maybe the case as per the 10th amendment), then anything that does not cross state lines cannot be federally controlled. (There are some really interesting things going on here if you are a fan of logic, and the validity of conditional arguments). So, Montana has said that any gun made, sold, and owned within the state boundaries is not subject to federal gun control laws.
This has interesting and obvious implications. It will be neat to see the outcomes associated with this. The most interesting aspects are associated with the legal implications. What other federal laws could be “repealed” under States’ Rights and the 10th amendment? The fireworks should be fun to watch. As a fan of the Constitutional Party, I love the possibilities!!!
On another note, it seems Utah and Texas are considering similar laws, and for you who are worried about your children being able to use their guns, here is a nice puzzle for them.
see more pwn and owned pictures
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