Project #15- Project Based Learning Plan #3

For this week's lesson plan I decided to address different mathematical expressions and distributive properties. Students will be introduced to the concepts at the beginning of the week. After they have an idea of what they are being taught they will be instructed to do their own research to find additional instruction. Students will work in groups of two. The students will research videos that clearly explain the concepts. The reason for this is so students can find additional ways to learn. There are times where students need to be taught concepts in multiple ways to truly understand the topic and not every person teaches exactly the same. After the students find a video they will collaboratively write a blog post about the topic and embed the video. At the end of the week students will share with the class their post and video. The last day of the week the teacher will answer any unresolved questions the students may have.

Here are a few resources:
Overview
Calendar
Checklist
Rubric
Buck Institute of Education

Blog Post #10

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson?

Sir Ken Robinson's lecture at TED is amazing! He manages to break down and point all that is wrong with education in 15 short minutes. He points out that reforming education is pointless. Why should we spend time and resources on trying to fix something that is severely broken? This is why Sir Ken Robinson proposes that education needs a revolution. He proposes taking away the linearity, narrow, manufacturing means of education and acknowledge that education should be agricultural. Education must get away from standardization and realize that not every person is the same. People are made of different talents and will succeed in different ways. When the educational system begins to respect that people flourish differently we will see better education. It is not possible to control every humans outcome but it is possible to control the environment in which people develop. Students are no longer passionate about education. It is important for people to love what they are doing. If a person does not love or feel moved by something they are never going to enjoy it.

Overall Sir Ken Robinson's lecture has me motivated and excited about revolutionizing education in today's world. However, he is right about it not being easy. According to Sir Ken Robinson, in order to innovate something we must challenge something we take for granted or label as obvious and that is extremely hard. I am not sure how to revolutionize education across America just yet but I know for my classroom it will be to move away from a standardized style of learning to a more creative and interactive style.

SMARTboard Project #12 Part A

Blog Post #9

For this week we were able to get a inside peak into Kathy Cassidy's first grade classroom. After watching Little Kids...Big Potential I was completely shocked at how much first graders can accomplish. I can remember as a first grader playing games on my brothers gameboy or playing a computer game but never did I do something as advanced as doing blog posts, web pages, or using skype. I think that it is amazing that she has allowed her students to get a early start at utilizing practical every day technology.

In the first interview with Kathy Cassidy she tells Dr. Strange that on the very first day of school a letter is sent out to parents discussing student involvement with technology and internet. Students being on the internet always brings about concerns but there are limitations that can be put in place. She also teaches her students to protect their identities by not using last name or personal pictures. She also talks about why students like blogging over pencil/paper type work. She points out that students would rather do work and publish it to a blog for the world to see rather than just for their teacher. Cassidy also mentions that her class skypes with other students and experts around the world to gain valuable information.

Cassidy suggests in her second interview to start using technology that interests you. She also discusses developing her PLN with twitter. When people first think about twitter they think of people tweeting about random things. While some may only tweet about what they ate today or who they think is cute, twitter has the potential to educate others. People are able to tweet links to articles or pages that can be extremely helpful. I definitely would like to teach my students to utilize twitter for educational purposes.

Interviews:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Project #14-Project Based Learning Plan #2

The lesson plan for this project is titled What is fair? This project addresses the Common Core State Standards for the field of Mathematics. The projects allows students to "investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models."

The students will be instructed on probability and games of chance as a class. After students are taught the concepts of probability, they will be split into groups of four. Each group will create their own game of chance and present them to the class at the end of the week. For this project students will be forced to think critically, work collaboratively, and utilize technology for their presentation. The only precaution I would take with this project is limiting the types of games of chance the students create. I would make sure to stay away from gambling or casino type games.

Here are a few resources:
Calendar
Overview
Checklist
Rubric
Buck Institute of Education

Blog Post #8

For this assignment we were asked to find some 21st century learning and communicating tools that are not covered in EDM 310. Due to my concentration being Mathematics, the two tools I found to be most appropriate were Wolfram Alpha and Khan Academy. Wolfram Alpha is a program that helps make "the world's knowledge computable". Wolfram alpha can be used to obtain answers about nearly anything but I am more focused on the Mathematics portion of Wolfram. This program can compute anything from elemtary mathematics, discrete mathematics, applied mathematics to graphing, calculus, and number theory. This program can be used to help students learn and understand math problems when they do not have access to a teacher. I think this tool would be best used for students when doing their homework. Wolfram gives step by step instructions on how the problem is solved. This program is very student friendly and is easily accessed.

Khan Academy has been around for several years; however, it continues to grow and get better every day. Khan Academy's mission is to "provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere." This tool offers information in regards to math, science, economics/finance, humanities, and even test prep. Of course I would focus on the math section. There are video lectures on math courses beginning at a third grade level and going all the way through differential equations. Khan Academy is a program that can be used by students for their entire education. While this tool is beneficial for students, it is also beneficial to teachers. Like I have said before teachers are not perfect and there may come a time when we need a quick refresher.

As a math geek, at one point I believed all I needed for math was a pencil, paper, calculator, and a teacher to teach me. I am now realizing learning math is much more than that. In order for students to learn in a more efficient way they may have to use outside tools from time to time. And guess what? That is OK!

Video Book Project #9

C4T #2

For this C4T I was assigned to David Sladkey. David is a teacher at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, IL. The first blog post I commented on was 8 Ways to Incorporate Empathy into Your Teaching. In his post he discusses how teachers need to practice their empathy skills because sometimes teachers forget what it is like to be a student. David tells his readers that the first step is to Shadow a Student for a Day. David had a link to a summary of how his day of shadowing went and it was awesome. He was able to follow a student around all day and he learned a lot about student life at his school. The second step is to create a questionnaire for your students. With a questionnaire teachers are able to get immediate feedback. Teachers can also make them anonymous to get more genuine answers. The third step is to listen to the goals your students have. This allows for teachers to get a better understanding of their students. The fourth step is to do the homework. Many times teachers assign students homework that is not realistic. Students have more than just one class and they have other activities outside of school. This helps teachers to see whether or not the amount of homework they give is reasonable. The fifth step is to think about (pray for) each student. Teachers should think about their students as more than just a kid in a desk. It is important for a teacher to know who their students are in the classroom but also who they are outside the classroom. Teachers should think about a child's strengths and weaknesses. The sixth step is to call home early. Teachers need to realize that parent insight is priceless. The seventh step is to look at the records. David mentions that this may seem like an obvious step for teachers to do but sometimes they may be overlooked. The final step is to find activities that your students are involved in. There are many students who play sports, are in the band, go to youth groups, etc. Teachers need to remember that students have lives outside of your classroom. My comment for this post was "Dave, My name is Holly Shaw and I am an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama. Throughout my day I always catch myself saying "Does this teacher think his class is the only one that matters?”. Unfortunately I do believe there are some teachers who genuinely believe their class is most important. I hope to never be a teacher who is like this. I love the concept of student shadowing you have presented here. If more teachers would take the time like you did, I believe it would benefit students all over tremendously. I also like the idea of getting direct feedback from my students. I know as human beings we are NOT perfect and any feedback would be extremely helpful. Overall this post has given me so many great ideas for when I have a classroom and has me so excited. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences! I will be sure to keep them in mind."

The second blog post I commented on was Making a Face with DESMOS.com. The blog post shows teachers a new, exciting way to teach students about things such as circles, sine or cosine waves, and parabolas. The application is called desmos and the idea it to create a face using functions. In the post he gives a link to examples that his students prepared. This post was a cool idea that I would love to use in the future. For this post, my comment was "Dave, Thank you for introducing me to such a cool applicaiton. I love how students are able to learn about functions in an interactive way. I loved Tara Ramni's "Funny Lil Grandpa" example! I believe Desmos makes the learning less dull and more exciting. I am a huge math geek (proud of it) and I can remember being slightly bored when learning this material. From what I have seen I believe that this application is something I could very easily see myself using in the future."

After being assigned to Dave's blog and getting to read some of his posts, I have decided to add him to my PLN. His posts are informative and interesting. He gives incredible insight and ideas for math teachers. I thoroughly enjoyed my C4T assignment and look forward to future posts from Dave.

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. It was not until August 2007 that he was told his diagnosis was terminal and he only had three to six months to live. Instead of throwing himself a pity party, he delivered an inspiring, uplifting last lecture on September 18,2007. During his last lecture, Randy Pausch ironically spoke about how to live while he was dying. This infamous lecture has inspired many people around the world including myself.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture taught me many things about being a learner and a teacher. My favorite part of the lecture was when he discussed brick walls that pop up from time to time. Mr. Pausch claims “brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” This claim reminds me that I am going to struggle from time to time and I am not going to know everything. There will be times when I come to a wall and I will have to regroup, think, and find a different solution. I can also take this principle and apply it to my students. As a teacher I must realize that there will be times where my students are stuck staring at a brick wall and will need my guidance to help defeat that wall. Without pesky brick walls in our lives we could potentially miss out on something extremely important or be led down a wrong pathway. So we should embrace all life hands us even if it comes in the form of a harsh brick wall.

Another brilliant statement Mr. Pausch makes during his last lecture that applies to all teachers is the following: “When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore that means they’ve given up on you…you may not want to hear it but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you and want to make you better.” I agree with this statement 100%. If there comes a time when I become so nonchalant and unconcerned with my students, I would hope I would have someone there to remind me of what my purpose as a teacher is. When you as a teacher no longer correct or discipline your students it is a strong sign you no longer care about them or their success. The same goes for when administrators no longer correct their teachers when they do wrong. Of course there is always an appropriate and productive way to help and correct your students. I think as a teacher, you should always consider what is best for the student.

As a future educator I hope to have the wisdom and ability to impact as many lives as Randy Pausch did. The first step in accomplishing this enormous dream is to take advice from Mr. Pausch himself and learn to "focus on other people, not on yourself".

What would you say if you only could give one more lecture?