Journal 11 Middle Level Mathematics

My math philosophy

What does mathematics mean to me? How should It be taught in middle level education?  What do I believe works or not works? What are good practices? What is the role of the teacher?

          Math is a difficult subject to describe, but I believe it is essential to life. Everyday people use math to function, most careers require math research or understanding. The objects we use are possible because of many mathematical practice. Math should be respected and taught very delicately. What's Math Got to Do with it?, describes the typical math experience for most students. Generally people do not  have good memories of Math in school. Further, "math classrooms leave students cold, disinterested, or traumatized" (Boaler, 42). I know I struggled in math and found it overwhelming. Math students should find math refreshing.
          Math is used to describe the world and should be taught with great importance and with practical applications. With any subject the teacher should apply their lessons to the students. The students should feel connected to the objective or subject being covered in class. Every student should be included when teaching math.  The classroom should contain students who are actively engaged in the classroom. I  often find teachers will only teach to certain styles. In a classroom, I believe the students have several different  types of learning styles. Some are visual learners, and listening to a teacher lecture is challenging. Other students are kinesthetic learners that benefit from a physical movement in the classroom. Staying seated in a chair for an entire period would be difficult to them. I believe it is the teachers responsibility to discover each student's learning style. In addition, the teacher should educate each of their students so that they Learning about math wars, I find traditional math is memorizing and repeating.

Journal 10- NETS 5

Still, B. (2012). Ten surefire ways to destroy your twitter cred. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(6), 32-33. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/DigitalEditionMarch-April2012.aspx

Before

 Summary: In Still's writing she summarizes the improper ways to use a Twitter account as an educator. She states that there are "norms to remain in good graces of our peers and to set a positive examples of how educators can use Twitter to develop a strong and meaningful personal learning network (PLN) (Still, 2012). Furthermore, when using Twitter for educational purposes it is important to have a profile developed,  to stick to using twitter for educational development, to not post inappropriate images, videos, slang, language, and excessive blog promotion, to not retweet a post that you haven't read, and playing the drama or sympathy card too frequently.  


Q1:How could one recover from breaking some of the "no-no's"?
A1: Educators could first stop one of the habits that are affecting their personal learning network. They could also start to build their network by participating in chats and even hosting them. By hosting a successful chat Twitter users gain friends or "followers". Educators can also familiarize themselves with hash tags and use them to reach a wider audience.

After

 Q2: What is the worst "no-no" listed?  

A2: Posting inappropriate images and video, I think has the largest consequence and negative effect. Sharing images that should be kept off the public timeline can destroy my Twitter cred and my professional reputation. In the article the author gives the example of posting a picture of other educators engaging in drinking is most likely frowned upon and it might not go well with the district.  Educators could benefit from reading this article by explaining/cautioning  to students that they can perform these negative actions as well, with friends and future jobs when advertizing themselves.

Journal 9- NETS (2,3,4,6)

Page, L., Sheehan, T. & Worrell, C. (2012). How to do more with less. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(6), 18-23. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/DigitalEditionMarch-April2012.aspx

Summary: In, How To Do More with Less, the authors focus on an issue that teachers are responsible to "educate more children and skills at higher standards with less time and money" (Page, Sheehan, Worrell, 2012). They pose the solutions and suggestions to save time, money, increase student engagement and digital age competencies. Furthermore, changing how you teach and using free tools can create an opportunity to develop research and internet literacy.

Q1: What is an example of a lesson/idea that incorporates a few tools offered in the article?
A1: Student could be constructed to use the tool My Fake Wall, which enables a false Facebook wall for fictitious or historical characters. Further, in a history class students will create a biography on one of the presidents or political leaders and then create a Fake Wall to share to the class.  This also incorporates blended teaching. According to the article, blended teaching is a cross of traditional face-to-face instruction and online learning practices. Overall, teachers could use the resources, and tools to enhance, extend, and transform the learning process (Page, Sheehan, Worrell, 2012).


Q2: Are there any negative effects to blended teaching?
A2: Blended teaching a very beneficial style, but can be limited. Often children who are in grade school can not complete all online activities. This blended environment efficiently works in higher grade levels. Teachers could still offer class in computer labs, but it still wont be as free as online teaching. Overall, blended teaching allows students to learn the material at their own pace by attending class and then using resources (class notes, slideshows, videos) to review after class or at home.

Journal 6- NETS (1,6,4)

Vaidyanathan, S. (2012). Foster in creativity and innovation through technology. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(6), 24-27. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/DigitalEditionMarch-April2012.aspx

Summary: In, Vaidyanathan’s writing she summarizes the possibilities of creating innovation by teaching through the use of technology. She argues that teachers can use the NETS (National Education Teaching Standards) and still educate students in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics through the use of  "experimentation  because it leads to creativity and innovation"  (Vaidyanthan, 2012). Furthermore, using technology often creates a open  and safe environment were students can explore with activities and inspire to improve.


Q1: What is one lesson/example in which teachers could create innovation?
A1:  Teachers could ask their students to create art with programing using the tool Scratch. With this tool student "can create geometric shapes, angles, changing angles and number of sides" (Vaidyanthan, 2012). These concepts with help teachers follow the NETS (National Education Teaching Standards) in math. Further, students could program concepts of statements, and loops. The entire assignment would create a technological atmosphere for children to grow.


Q2: What are some of the benefits of using technology for project instead of the usual hand-written/hand-drawn way?
A2: First, students can create a error-free drawing board, were erasers are no longer need because student can "undo" mistakes (Vaidyanthan, 2012). Students also can become familiar with technology at an earlier age and technology operations and concepts (NETS 6). Lastly, this software described is free and can be used at home, which is needed because of the current historic budget cuts.

Journal 8-Adaptive Technology

Tools for Communication & Tools for Accessibility

Communication 

 Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is a term used to describe different resources and tools of communication that individual with a speech or language impairment can use.Often alternative communication can be accomplished through the use of  technology and sign language. AAC is used for a temporary aid also by those with congenital impairments such as autism, intellectual impairment, Parkinson's disease and cerebral palsy.

 Low-tech communication aids often do not use batteries or electricity. They mainly consist of simple communication boards or books. For example, Elliecards can be used to properly communicate with children who have speech or language impairments. Elliecards (pictured on the left) are small laminated photographs of items students can choice to communicate with their caretakers. Students can properly communicate everyday speech like what food to eat and which activity to teachers in the classroom.



High-tech communication aids often  contain storage and retrieval of electronic messages. Sometimes these aids include a speech generating device (SGD) The iPad Communicator is a technology that allows multiple vocabularies , 12,000 communication symbols, and premium HD voices. This device is very similar to the Elliecards, only electronic. The benefit of this device is that it can hold so much more symbols than physical plain cards. The downside is that it is priced from $895.

Accessibility

A input device are tools used to input information on the computer. Some devices that computers accept are a mouse, a keyboard and number pad. Students who have a disability might have difficulties using the input device because of their impairment, so different types of hardware and software were made to make the devices more accessible.  

A software used to help speech impaired students is word prediction. This tool analyzes spelling and syntax in order for users to make choices, find words, and complete sentences. In particular, Read & Writes 5.0 by TextHELP works with Windows based applications and standard word processors. In this software users can also add words to the custom dictionary to personalize their vocabulary. Teachers can use this program encourage students to communicate.

Hardware can also be modified to ensure proper communication. Big Keys Plus is an alternative keyboard with a simple layout, large keys and limited punctuation. The keyboard offered orders the keys alphabetical so it is much easier to type. Teachers can use these keyboards to help motivate students to communicate and learn about technology.


 NETS-T 4.  Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Fellow Peers' Blog I Commented:

 Breelin Obmann

 Gina Bullock

Journal 7: My Personal Learning Network

NETS- 5 
       An educationalist must overcome many trials when in hopes to accomplish the challenging goal of enlightening the youth to develop into life-long learners. A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a very useful tool, that helps make this goal possible. A PLN is a system of connecting with people and collecting ideas, sharing of resources, and contacts to better improve oneself as an educator. When building my PLN, my purpose is to be surrounded by other educators and scholars with similar interest, in hopes to academically ameliorate my career. I created my PLN through the use of Twitter, Diigo, The Educator's PLN (Ning), blogsites, and Classroom 2.0.These tools helped me become a better teacher for my future students. When creating a PLN I am able to grow by obtaining resources, ideas, and most importantly feedback from affiliates in my PLN.  Many educators share a similar struggle and could benefit from learning to find a similar solution in a PLN. Further, some solutions work best for certain situations, but a PLN provides an endless solution to all educational struggles.

First, to launch my PLN, I became a member of Twitter. On Twitter I set up a TweetDeck, which allows me to create multiple customizable columns to follow different streams. I have been able to follow a home stream, new teacher chat (ntchat), edchat, ed422spring12, my inbox, and any mentions about me. My network consists of many fellow future educators from education 422 class. I am also following Tom Whitby which is the founder of edchat, and EDU PLN Ning. He is a great inspiration, and I strive to educate for the sole benefit of others just as he did for several teachers. I also followed the moderators and co moderators of the edchat I participated in, Jerry Blumengarten and Shelly S Terrell.  I followed a few other people from edchat because, they were either experienced teachers, technology specialists, or they gave multiple links that were great resources. These people included: Chris Rambo, Aaron Perrell, David Wees, Chad McGowan, and Leslie Whittington.

On Tuesday, March 27^th at 9am, I participated in the edchat discussion. The subject was, “What is the proper way to teach, and is it the coaching model for teaching, observation?”. This chat was very hard to keep up with; luckily there was a pause button. I learned that some educators believe that coaching creates a learning atmosphere among colleagues. Others think teachers should focus on a positive atmosphere, and coaching helps people learn how to improve, create starting points for new possibilities. In contrast coaching can make teaching too competitive. Through this experience I built a stronger PLN by following many experienced educators.

Next, I created a Diigo account for my PLN. Diigo allows a user to create online bookmarks, and even tag the resources with specific topics.  In Diigo you can also follow people with similar interest and benefit from the resources they have tagged. By searching the community I found many educators, which delivered valuable resources. These people included: Therese Mastro, Ms. Ronning, Elizabeth McCarthy, Dan Gibson, and John Goldsmith. I also tagged three sites under PLN. First, I tagged a site that teaches how to become an educator by building a PLN and creating a blog. Then I tagged a resource from edchat which explains doable homework activities for all students (of multiple intelligences). Lastly, I tagged a site that showed numerous ways to use Twitter in the classroom. These sites will help me benefit when developing a PLN and a teaching career.

In addition to Twitter and Diigo, I became a member of the Educator’s PLN, which is a Ning site dedicated to the support of a Personal Learning Network for educators. With this website I watched a video entitled: “Not on the Test”, which highlights the result of the pressure from standardize testing. Further, schools often lose essential programs and funding for students in areas like music and physical education. Students often are missing core educational values like life-long learning when only studying for what is on the test. Lastly, I commented on the video that this cycle can be changed starting with the teachers.

Journal 5- Nets (1,4,6,2)

Cohen, D. J. (2012). Connected books: Introducing the t-book. Learning and Leading with Technology, 39(5), 28-29. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/February-2012.aspx


Summary: In, Cohen’s writing he summarizes the benefits of a Transmedia book in a classroom. A T-Book is a “cross between physical and virtual images in a digital textbook” (Cohen, 2012). Furthermore, with the digital textbook students can be given activities to form physical objects of which they are given a more hands-on approach to learning compared to a traditional textbook.


Q1: How would a Transmedia Book help students learn?
A1: Transmedia books can help children become more involved with T-Books because the traditional text creates limits. Text cannot create links to broaden knowledge and produce critical thinkers, problem Solvers, and promotes creativity. These results are also included in the NETS (National Education Teaching Standards).


Q2: Why would a T-Book make a traditional textbook obsolete?
A2: A traditional textbook does not spur any thinking, it gives the student something to read but it does not get the student involved. The information is fed to them and not explained or even made fun. The interactivity allows the student to learn on their own level because of how they react to the activity in the T-Book. A traditional textbook does not offer this because there is only one way to learn and that is to read the information.