This week we learned about the many tools that google offers. It was extremely informative. I knew that google docs existed and had used it a little bit, but this semester I have utilized it more than ever before. I have been able to collaborate much faster with my peers. The really nice part is that you can both work on it at the same time and see what the other person is inputting. Although I'm not sure how I would ever use this in my math class, there were many tools google did offer that would be applicable in my classroom.
I also like exploring google forms. I had never heard of this program before and I can already think of several ways I could use this in my class. I think it would be a great way for students to take quizzes at home when there is less pressure, turn in homework assignments, or just perform basic surveys about how much the students are understanding.
It was also beneficial to look around the google excel and presentations programs. Both of these will be very useful in my classroom. I saw another site that google manages called knol. It is a website where people go on and share things they have learned. I think this could be a great resource for my students to collaborate with students across the world and read about different things they are learning.
The movie I am what I learn was very interesting. I have been in one of your other classes before and most of the time I really like the suggested clips that you post for us to watch. This one however didn't really catch my attention too much. I wasn't sure what the message was that Renee was trying to portray- it just seemed a little choppy. I do however like that she talked about how students aren't what their situation tells them they are. That they can be whoever they'd like to be. "Here in America you can write your own destiny." I hope that when I am a teacher I can help children recognize their potential to be something great. I think if we teach our students this, no matter what subject area we teach, we will impact the future.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
24 January- MLK day
After I attended our first class session, then had a week off- I have had a lot of time to ponder how each of my classes will affect my classroom. During our first class I thought, “I don’t think there is any way that this class will apply to my content area (math).” But over the last two weeks I thought about the different types of instructional media and how I might be able to apply them to teaching math in the near future. The first thing I thought about was using different types of media to reach the different interests of my students (differentiation). I came up with a short list of ideas that may be useful in my future classroom.
· Have the students use excel to solve problems involving statistics
· Show how to properly use the functions on a graphing calculator
· Use overhead projections of graphs and other models to display different ways a problem could be solved.
· Use the program Maple to display graphical data. (One of my math professors used this program in my Calculus III and it made the problems come alive, and more interesting).
· Have the students take a problem that is in their field of interest (business, sports, finance, biology, physics, cosmetology, drama…) and create some sort of math problem they would use in their field- create an example and solution. Present to other members of the class through a classroom blog. For example a student interested in cosmetology may want to run their own business some day, they could calculate how many clients they would have to have and what their prices should be in order to generate a profit.
· Watch a documentary/biography on people who use math in their career every day.
· Use a SmartBoard. Let students write on it- teach their peers how they did a problem.
· Play interactive math games online or software games.
· http://www.coolmath.com has interactive games for classes including pre-calculus, geometry, algebra, and pre-algebra.
· http://www.math-videos-online.com/index.html is a website full of educational videos.
I also read this great article about a study done to math teachers about using instructional media. It has great suggestions for me as a future teacher. I really liked how in the conclusion it states some of the things that make using technology difficult and ways to overcome those difficulties. This is the link to that article http://www.ait.net/technos/e-zine/articles/math_teachers.php. I’m excited to have my own classroom someday and utilize the things that I have learned in this class.
Monday, January 10, 2011
17 January- Introduction
Educational Heroes.
As I ponder on my educational experience- starting as an eager 5 year old in kindergarten to the awkward junior high days all the way through high school and now into college- several teachers come to mind who have had a huge impact on my love of learning. All of these teachers have one thing in common. They have a passion for what they do. The teachers I've had who are excited and passionate about the topics they teach make me anxious to learn about the subject as well. These teachers respected us students and in turned gained the respect of us students. When there is a mutual respect between teacher and students the learning atmosphere seems to be much more open and the short class time is used productively. Of course during high school we'd try to get the teacher to go off on tangents, but when we respected the teacher and what they had prepared it was much easier to keep focused.
If I had to pick one educational hero, it'd have to be my high school teacher for AP Calculus. Mr. Smith. I'm not sure the words to describe him. He was simply amazing. When you walked into his classroom it was inviting and very comfortable. Not because of things on the walls or the temperature of the room- but because he was so kind to everybody and always, always smiled. He had the perfect teaching style. He had such a deep understanding of not only math but teaching as well. He used just the right types of motivation to make each of us want to do better and learn more. I'm not sure how it's possible to instill a love of math into somebody but he did! I suddenly loved learning knew ways to use numbers to calculate integrals and derivatives- then learning how to use that knowledge in real life. It was so satisfying. Mr. Smith was a good teacher because he was such a good communicator he could tell when somebody didn't understand a concept. Then he'd point them out and say something like, '(name)- what part would you like me to clarify.' He was always willing to explain and re-explain topics to somebody- stay after school, come before school, or even meet during lunch. He is a great example of how I want to be when I am a teacher. He is one of the main reasons that I would like to be a math teacher and one day a professor. I have a hope that one day I will be able to instill that same love of learning into my students that he instilled in me. Thanks Mr. Smith.
As I ponder on my educational experience- starting as an eager 5 year old in kindergarten to the awkward junior high days all the way through high school and now into college- several teachers come to mind who have had a huge impact on my love of learning. All of these teachers have one thing in common. They have a passion for what they do. The teachers I've had who are excited and passionate about the topics they teach make me anxious to learn about the subject as well. These teachers respected us students and in turned gained the respect of us students. When there is a mutual respect between teacher and students the learning atmosphere seems to be much more open and the short class time is used productively. Of course during high school we'd try to get the teacher to go off on tangents, but when we respected the teacher and what they had prepared it was much easier to keep focused.
If I had to pick one educational hero, it'd have to be my high school teacher for AP Calculus. Mr. Smith. I'm not sure the words to describe him. He was simply amazing. When you walked into his classroom it was inviting and very comfortable. Not because of things on the walls or the temperature of the room- but because he was so kind to everybody and always, always smiled. He had the perfect teaching style. He had such a deep understanding of not only math but teaching as well. He used just the right types of motivation to make each of us want to do better and learn more. I'm not sure how it's possible to instill a love of math into somebody but he did! I suddenly loved learning knew ways to use numbers to calculate integrals and derivatives- then learning how to use that knowledge in real life. It was so satisfying. Mr. Smith was a good teacher because he was such a good communicator he could tell when somebody didn't understand a concept. Then he'd point them out and say something like, '(name)- what part would you like me to clarify.' He was always willing to explain and re-explain topics to somebody- stay after school, come before school, or even meet during lunch. He is a great example of how I want to be when I am a teacher. He is one of the main reasons that I would like to be a math teacher and one day a professor. I have a hope that one day I will be able to instill that same love of learning into my students that he instilled in me. Thanks Mr. Smith.
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