Week #16

Before I took this class, I thought that using technology in education was fairly limited to using the smartboard and document camera. I never realized how many opportunities there were to integrate technology into our lessons, even if it is only in a small way. Being able to use technology in the classroom not only helps to streamline content and allow us as teachers to differentiate our learning to more of our students, but it also holds the attention of our students better. I didn't realize how much education has changed even in the 4 years that I have been out of high school and the shift that classrooms are making to incorporate more and more technology in the classroom.
On a more personal level, before I took this class, I hated technology and didn't like using it. Technology still frustrates me from time to time, and there are days when I want to throw my laptop across a room. But now I realize that technology isn't something I should be afraid of or avoid. Throughout the semester, I have managed to keep a blog as well as learn several new technology tools, such as google earth, flipsnack, storybird, and smart exchange. I guess I'm not as technologically challenged as I used to believe, which is encouraging considering how much I will have to use it in my classroom.

I feel like I have become familiar with all the NETS and used a lot of them. The one I chose to focus on primarily this semester has been

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning

and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter,

teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate

experiences that advance student learning,

creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face

and virtual environments.

Throughout this semester I have been able to apply this by using technology in lesson plans for this class as well as other classes. Using some of the technology I have learned in this class I have been able to adapt my teaching to help my students learn more effectively. I'm looking forward to being able to continue to work on this as well as the other NETS once I have my own classroom.

Tech Project

<iframe src="http://files.flipsnack.com/iframe/embed.html?hash=fzum4m8j&wmode=window&bgcolor=EEEEEE&t=1355179767" width="640" height="385" seamless="seamless" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

Reflection #12

Last week I went to go pick up the girl I nanny from her after school art program. I went into their classroom to get her attention, but as I walked in I was completely shocked. They were all sitting in table groups on their own iPads. I asked Hannah on the way home what they were doing on them, and she told me they were doing art. Occasionally they will do art by hand, but most of the time they do iPad art. She was talking about it like it was completely normal and of course they would be using iPads. I’m sure there are some really cool projects they do with graphic design, but I also feel like 8 year olds should be moving around and making art projects with their own hands, not virtually with their index fingers.

Reflection #11

I was coaching last night and after practice the girls were all sitting around one player’s phone and laughing. I went over and asked them what they were doing and they told me they were snap chatting a teammate who was sick and had to miss practice. I didn’t know what snap chatting was so they explained it to me and showed me the app. It just got me thinking that most of the time, even though I grew up with technology and use it every day, my students will probably be more up to date on trends in technology than I will. There’s simply too much technology out there.

Reflection #10

This weekend me and my friend Melanie we on our way to a dance venue in Capitol Hill for a swing dance event. Neither of us are very familiar with Capitol Hill and Downtown Seattle, so we took one wrong turn. After that one wrong turn we found ourselves completely turned around. We drove around trying to find the right street for about 20 minutes before I realized I had my GPS on my phone. Once I figured that out it only took us a few minutes to get there. I wish I had thought of my technological resources sooner! It was a little embarassing since we were only 2 streets off.

Blog Comments

1. http://amdowns8.blogspot.com/2012/12/reflection-12.html
2. http://tootsievasquez06.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-8.html
3. http://sigridthoreson.blogspot.com/2012/12/reflection-11-online-books.html
4. http://bethanylowesblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-10.html
5. http://sitzleralyssa.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-12.html
6. http://heatherkristinsadventures.blogspot.com/2012/12/reflection-12.html
7. http://angiegarza12.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-10.html
8. http://sarahstoker.blogspot.com/2012/11/reflection-11.html
9. http://wright2whitney.blogspot.com/2012/12/week-10.html

Week #15

When I was on the skype classroom website I found a math lesson called math around the world. It was a 6th grade teacher looking for another class from anywhere in the world to skype with them and solve problems together and discuss math. I thought this would be a fun project idea to use in my classroom. Students could learn from other students across the world from our own classroom every couple weeks.

NETS for students

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

c. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures

d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems

 

NETS for teachers

 

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

Reflection #9

In our final presentations for Instructional Design, one presenter was teaching a unit on shapes. To show us the different shapes she made a Smartboard presentation with pictures for us to identify. Unfortunately, the pictures worked on her laptop but not on the Smartboard in the classroom. In order to get the pictures to show up, she had to put the laptop under the document camera and open the document camera on the Smartboard. It was kind of ironic that she had a technology related problem, and then solved it with a different type of technology.

Reflection #8

Today I had to do a final presentation in Instructional Design. We could include an anticipatory set to introduce the lesson for the day. My lesson was on the unit circle, so I went on youtube to try and find a cool way to introduce the unit circle to my class. I was able to find a funny song about the unit circle that another teacher had made. Using technology to introduce my topic with a video and song seemed to be more interesting than me trying to explain it using pictures and logic. It ended up being more fun for the students and they were more energetic and excited to do the activity after I showed them the video and they heard the song relating measurements to the unit circle.

Week #14

I looked at a few articles relating to technology and education. However, since we have been talking recently about digital citizenship and I presented on social media, I found this article to be very interesting:
Social Media and Education
Basically, there have been many studies recently that linked using social media in the classroom with higher retention abilities in students, especially in the first years of college. Using social media as a form of digital engagement seems to be the way education is headed, and educators and students alike are using social media at an increasing rate. I think using social media to engage students can be a powerful tool as an educator, but we also have to be careful that we don't start integrating technology for technology's sake.

Reflection #7

I was talking to my sister today about the new inspire graphing calculators that they use in the Issaquah School District. She told me that one of the new things you can do on an inspire that you can’t do on a TI84 is type in logs of different bases. If you were using a TI you would have to use the change of base formula to accomplish this. Because the entire district uses inspire software, students in the Issaquah School District don’t know the change of base formula. It was strange for me to think about the way technology can actually change the content of a class and the material that students learn.

Week #13

Word-typing, spell check, tables, bullets and numbered lists, outlines, subscript and superscript to write equations, inserting symbols and equations

Excel-I don’t use Excel on a regular basis, but I have used it before to make and edit schedules

Power point-slideshow, pictures, different layouts and backgrounds, linking videos to slides

 

3 projects I could use to help teach students

-Students could use excel to complete a project involving compound interest. By using features in excel they could make a spreadsheet of a mock budget.

-Students could use Powerpoint in the technology project I am already planning to use for this class. They would present geometry theorums and real life examples in a powerpoint presentation.

-Students could use word to complete their IA projects. They would be explaining in words and mathematical language the process of a specific problem. They would use a normal word document but also learn how to use the math tools in word to use exponents or subscript.

Week #12

Teaching with Interactive White Boards was Dr. Marzano article I found. It basically summarized a study involving teachers using or not using interactive white boards. The classrooms that used the white boards to present the information was associated with a 16 percentile point increase in student achievement. One thing I learned is that even though the teachers used the technology, it was not a guarentee that the students would achieve more. The technology had to be integrated with the essential content, rather than the technology and graphics taking the focus away from the actual lesson. Something else that was mentioned was that it is important for teachers to explain why an answer is correct/incorrect when taking polls of student responses. This is something that I could apply in my classroom. I sometimes have a tendancy to acknowledge correct answers and then move on, but that first of all, isn't engaging to students, and second of all, isn't going to help anyone who wasn't correct. Going along with that, what he said about pacing the classroom is also something that would help me to engage more with student responses.

Week #11

Blog Comment -(at the bottom-currently awaiting moderation)

The blog I read was about double-dosing algebra classes. The basic idea is taking students that are struggling and placing them in a second algebra class in addition to the normal algebra class. In the second class, they solve word problems and explain processes to the class. One interesting thing that resulted from this program is that not only did the math scores eventually increase, but ACT verbal scores increased among these students as well. My comment basically stated that even if our students might not use algebra after high school, this program has other benefits and for that purpose alone it is beneficial to the student.

Week #10

Bloom's Taxonomy

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy#end

Bloom's Taxonomy is basically a teired model of cognitive levels of complexity. In order from lowest to highest, the levels are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Integrating technology into the classroom can help to create a more individualized learning environment for the student. This relates to Bloom's Taxonomy by allowing students that are ready to move on to the higher levels of thinking to move on at their own pace. Using technology in the classroom also provides an opportunity for students to take the time to make sure they understand the first levels before they move on.

Technology Project

Audio and voice recording >>

I am planning on doing a high school geometry project. The learning standards that apply are 2)Know and apply the core concepts and principles of mathematics; social, physical, and life sciences; civics and history, including different cultures and participation in representative government; geography; arts; and health and fitness; 3) Think analytically, logically, and creatively, and to integrate technology literacy and fluency as well as different experiences and knowledge to form reasoned judgments and solve problems; and

Flipped Classroom

I think this flipped classroom is a really interesting concept, but if feels like it would take a lot of work on the teacher's part. I do like the idea of sending some content videos home so students can take them home and watch them as many times as they need to. I don't know how I would feel about completely flipping my classroom because I think that direct instruction is helpful in a math class so students can get their questions answered right away. But for some indivudual lessons it could be beneficial. I'm not completely sold on this idea, but knowing that this is available as a tool for my students is a good thing to keep in mind.

Week #9

After reading “Caught on Video”, it gave me few really great ideas about how I could use video in my classroom to help my students. There were three ideas I think would be most helpful to a secondary math classroom.
1. Film important lesson highlights so absent students can review what they missed.- Many students struggle with keeping up with the pace of math classrooms and fall behind after missing even one day of instruction. Having important concepts on video would help because they could see the process and re-watch it as many times as needed.
2. Ask a student to demonstrate how to solve a math problem and capture his exact process (rather than just the answer).- Personally, I find that math is about finding a correct process that makes sense to you, even if it is slightly different than the way your teacher does it. This would help students to understand and explain their process and then they would have a video of it to refer to later if they need to.
3. Never write another long note for a substitute teacher.- Substitutes don’t know where we are in our unit, and they might not even be math teachers. This would help me as well as my students. I could make a short recap video of the previous day for the substitute to show my students what we’ve done and where we’re headed on days that I’m not even there.

Flipsnack

Week #8

I was on Twitter earlier today and I saw quite a few posts from teachers asking if there were other classrooms that would be willing to do various projects with them on things like Skype Classroom. Twitter could be used as a professional development tool as a teacher because there are so many opportunities for teachers to collaborate with other educators across the world and develop connections with them. Also, there are so many resources and creative ideas being posted by educators that it is a great way to broaden your creativity within your own classroom and help your development. Due to the nature of Twitter, most educators that post on it are also successfully integrating technology in their classroom, and are good resources for ideas on that as well.

Reflection #6

Today as I was driving to school I was listening to a commercial on the radio that was advertising a new smartphone or nook or something. The selling point was that you can sit back and enjoy a latte instead of chasing your toddler around because you can instantly stream his favorite movie and just give it to him to watch. Technology is becoming a band-aid solution to parenting, and if you dont know what to do with them, just stick them in front of a tv and they will take care of themselves. This is only going to perpetuate kids' dependance and need for technology in and out of the classroom. Anyway, it just got me thinking about where we're headed with technology...

Reflection #5

This weekend I was volunteering at a dance event in Seattle. As a volunteer I was mainly working with registration and making sure the instructors had everything they needed and knew where they were teaching. Yesterday, I was helping set up the studio for the day and the staff members in charge of the sound systems were coming late, so me and my friend had to set up all the speakers and figure out the sound stystems in 3 different rooms ourselves. Though neither of us are particularly adept at technology, thankfully we were able to figure out how to run everything after only a brief moment of panic and had it ready before the instructors arrived. This made me realize I might not be quite as technology challenged as I previously thought and I have no reason to be afraid to use it in my classroom.

Reflection #4

I was just going through trying to finish all my comments before this weekend. I don’t have any internet at my apartment, so I have to use the mobile hotspot on my smartphone to get internet on my laptop. Not ideal, but functional. I was just remembering before I got my new phone how I would have to go down the street to Starbucks and steal their free wifi. It was frustrating and inconvenient to have to go there almost every day to get work done. It made me realize that not every student I have is going to have a smartphone, laptop, or even internet outside of school, and that some technology projects could add some stress to their lives, as it did to mine.

Blog Comments

1. http://www.sitzleralyssa.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-1.html#comment-form
2. http://www.sarahstoker.blogspot.com/2012/09/reflection-3.html#comment-form
3. http://www.heatherkristinsadventures.blogspot.com/2012/09/week-4-smart-boards.html#comment-form
4. http://www.amdowns8.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-4.html#comment-form
5. http://angiegarza12.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-6.html#comment-form
6. http://tootsievasquez06.blogspot.com/2012/10/reflection-5.html#comment-form
7. http://sigridthoreson.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-7.html#comment-form
8. http://wright2whitney.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-7-blogs-for-educators.html#comment-form
9. http://www.bethanylowesblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/week-5.html#comment-form

Week #7

I spent some time looking at the Guerrilla Season Book Blog. The students had to post different mock interviews and make book covers for the book they were reading in class. While it wasn’t about math it did give me some ideas about how to use a blog for a math class. I could easily do a similar blog for a topic such as “math in the real world”. Students could create blog posts about things in nature that use math concepts (sunflowers or seashells), interview people who use math as part of their job, or investigate geometry concepts that are used in architecture (like the aesteometry used in the Golden Gate Bridge). That would easily integrate technology into a math classroom while also applying math to outside the classroom.

Reflection #3

I was just thinking back to a camping trip that I took with my friend and her family this summer. One night we were all sitting around the campfire talking, when her teenage brother comes out of his tent with his iPad. We spent the next half hour or so playing Sporcle before we realized that we were in the middle of a forest and yet we were still all glued to technology. After we realized what we were doing, we talked about how dependent on technology society has become.

Animoto Video

Try our video maker at Animoto.

Week 6

Generation IM article

The information at the beginning of this article was mainly prior knowledge. However, one interesting thing I took away from it was that in today’s technology driven world, there has been a shift in learning from being a rote learner to a critical thinker. One thing I really enjoyed about this article is that it actually offered several practical ways to use different types of social media in the classroom, ones that I would have never thought of on my own. One way you could use this in a science classroom is have them create blogs and have them post something every couple days while they are doing a project in biology, and have them record observations from their project in a class blog.

Reflection #2

I’ve been taking a swing dance performance class over the past month. The instructors created a performance class Dropbox so we would all have the same version of the song we would be performing. They have also used it to uploaded demos of routines that we are working on. As our group works, we can also add small sections of choreography that we finish so everyone in the group can look at it and give feedback during the next class. It has been extremely useful to have that shared resource. Dropbox could also be a useful tool in the classroom, maybe for homework assignments or to upload short video demonstrations to show how to solve equations or graph data…just got me thinking about how I could try to integrate that into my future classroom.

Week 5

http://www.prometheanworld.com/en-us/education/solutions/whole-class-learning

The Promethean ActivBoard allows teachers to streamline and simplify lessons while being able to personalize them to the individual student. Using an ActivBoard allows teachers to engage students from multiple learning styles simultaneously. ActivBoards and the interactive technology encourage students to get involved in their own education and become active learners. ActivBoards are also designed to increase productivity in the classroom.

 

I know that the Inspire graphing calculators are one of the ActivBoard tools that math classrooms have been using, and I have heard a lot about different things they can do. So all of my questions are more about how to use the inspire software in the classroom. Other than that, I don’t think I have any specific questions about how ActivBoards work.

Reflection #1

Today my sister and I were driving back to campus for class and we were stuck behind a school bus as it pulled over to let off students. As the students got off the bus, I was a little bit shocked to see every single one of them looking down at their cell phones and texting, rather than talking to each other. It hasn’t been that long since I was in junior high like them, but I don’t remember me or my friends being so completely immersed and dependent on technology. At age 13, I didn’t even own a cell phone. While this image made me feel a little bit sad and wish these kids didn’t have iPhones glued to their hands, it also made me realize the importance of technology in education. Kids today are so involved in technology that I have to teach with technology to even have a chance of connecting with them. This class is a great opportunity for me to start thinking about every way I can integrate technology into my lessons so my students will stay engaged and responsive.

 

Assignment 2

I will be using a modified version of this lesson:
Introduction to Probability

SMART Board features I will be using:

Rolling dice, spinner, magnifying glass, pictures, infinity cloner, linked pages

 NETS for Students

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving,

and Decision Making

Students use critical thinking skills to plan and

conduct research, manage projects, solve problems,

and make informed decisions using appropriate

digital tools and resources.

a. Identify and define authentic problems and

significant questions for investigation

b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution

or complete a project

c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions

and/or make informed decisions

d. Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives

to explore alternative solutions

This standard applies to my lesson because students are using critical thinking skills to solve problems involving probability, while also using technology to present and manipulate the information they are given.

NETS for Teachers

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning

and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter,

teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate

experiences that advance student learning,

creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face

and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative

and innovative thinking and inventiveness

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues

and solving authentic problems using digital tools

and resources

c. Promote student reflection using collaborative

tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual

understanding and thinking, planning, and

creative processes

d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by

engaging in learning with students, colleagues,

and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

This standard applies to my lesson because I am using technology to help my students better understand the concepts behind probability. With the use of technology in this lesson I can engage more students and increase my students conceptual understanding behind how to find simple probabilities with dice and coins.

 

I think part of the reason many students struggle with math is because they don’t find it interesting. By using an interactive white board to help visually represent problems, students will hopefully become more engaged in lessons. Being able to use an interactive white board effectively will also streamline lessons, giving students more time to work on problems in class, rather than listening to me lecture all class.

Week 4

Playing around with the SMART Board and software this week was really fun and interesting for me. Most of my teachers used SMART Boards when I was in high school, but I have never used one for myself so it was really cool to see how they work and everything they are capable of doing. One thing in particular that I liked was all of the math tools that I could easily use in my own classroom. Being able to use this software in my classroom would make it both faster and easier to show math concepts ranging from 3-dimentional shapes in geometry to the slope of a line on a coordinate graph. I also imagine it would make my lessons more interesting and engaging to my students. As of right now, I don’t have any specific questions about using the SMART Board, I just need to mess around with the software more and find more fun math tools that I could use!

Week 3

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

I thought this was a really interesting article. I wasn’t necessarily surprised by the fact that the difference between digital natives and immigrants is a real challenge in education today, being a “native” myself and encountering this problem firsthand as a student only a few years ago. Students in today’s classroom process information differently because of their mass exposure to technology. Implementing technology into our classrooms will undoubtedly have the advantages of our students becoming more engaged in lessons. Technology is certainly something that should be used more in the classroom and can be a great way to teach. My only concern is that if we take this idea too far we will lose some advantages of teaching without technology. Using a math example, what I’m trying to say is that calculators are great, but students should still know how to do calculations with a pen and paper. We need to be able to differentiate when technology is going to be beneficial and when technology is really just functioning as a shortcut to doing any actual work.

Demographics Write-Up

*The following is a mock demographic write up and some information is fictitious*

 

Classroom demographics

            In my 7^th grade math classroom at Kenmore Junior High there are 27 students, 15 male and 12 female. Of these 27 students, 6 of them have IEPs and 2 of them are ELL students. Parents are involved when it comes to their students’ grades and progress in my class, but I do not receive any help from parents during the day. In my classroom, there are several different types of technology available. I have a document camera as well as an ActivBoard. I have a classroom set of calculators for my students to use in class as they work through their problems. There are 4 extra calculators that are available for students to check out overnight if they do not have their own calculator at home, which are loaned out on a first come first serve basis.

 

School demographics

            Kenmore Junior High is located in the suburban area of Kenmore, WA, about 30 minutes north of Seattle at the top of Lake Washington. The demographic breakdown is as follows:

 

Grade Level	Reading	Math	Writing	Science
7th Grade	82.5%	75.9%	84.2%
8th Grade	75.2%	65.7%		77.1%
Enrollment
October 2011 Student Count				704
May 2012 Student Count				717
Gender (October 2011)
Male			334	47.4%
Female			370	52.6%
Race/Ethnicity (October 2011)
American Indian/Alaskan Native			6	0.9%
Asian			81	11.5%
Pacific Islander			3	0.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander			84	11.9%
Black			16	2.3%
Hispanic			62	8.8%
White			490	69.6%
Two or More Races			46	6.5%
Special Programs
Free or Reduced-Price Meals (May 2012)			162	22.6%
Special Education (May 2012)			100	13.9%
Transitional Bilingual (May 2012)			30	4.2%
Migrant (May 2012)			0	0.0%
Section 504 (May 2012)			49	6.8%
Foster Care (May 2012)			0	0.0%
Other Information (more info)
Unexcused Absence Rate (2011-12)			44	0.1%

 

Community demographics

Kenmore does get financial support from the Northshore School District as well as from fundraising from the PTSA. A large part of the current budget is going into the complete renovation of our campus, which will hopefully be completed this year. The Northshore School District has also put a greater emphasis on using technology in the classroom, and one result of this is the ActivBoard in my classroom. Parent involvement at Kenmore is usually very good. We always have enough chaperones volunteering for various events held on and off campus.

 

Technology Standards for 7^th Grade

 

http://www.k12.wa.us/EdTech/Standards/TechStandards.aspx

 

EALR 1 – Integration Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems.   Components 1.1: Innovate: Demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge and develop innovative products and processes using technology.   1.2: Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.   1.3: Investigate and Think Critically: Research, manage and evaluate information and solve problems using digital tools and resources.

EALR 2 – Digital Citizenship Students demonstrate a clear understanding of technology systems and operations and practice safe, legal and ethical behavior.   Components 2.1: Practice Safety: Practice safe, legal and ethical behavior in the use of information and technology.   2.2: Operate Systems: Understand technology systems and use hardware and networks to support learning.   2.3: Select and Use Applications: Use productivity tools and common applications effectively and constructively.   2.4: Adapt to Change (Technology Fluency): Transfer current knowledge to new and emerging technologies. (Grades 6-12 only)