Week Five-Conference

Quite a bit of information!  The most important was the assignment is not due until midnight 4/1/2013!!!  The awesome Dr Borel had mercy on us with Easter Sunday and gave a grace day ---YEAH!

Week Five-

What a week! What a whirlwind of a course!  This week in the readings and the videos the point that really stuck in my brain is reforming the school environment.  Seriously, I have been thinking about this for the last year.  I am also involved in a collaborative through my Region Service Center called Transformational Teacher Cadre. Through that cadre, I have learned about project based learning activities, creating a universal design lesson plan, as well as 'thinking outside the box' teacher.  This weeks lesson is about the 'thinking outside the box' facilitator and teacher.

 From what I have learned, I feel that it is through the 'project' the moves the learners to the skills found in our textbooks.  Rather than the teacher teaching from the 'book', it is the teacher presenting the problem or situation for students to solve. As James Paul Gee stated in his video, Big Thinkers:  James Paul Gee on grading with games, '...scientists learn the language of science by doing science...'.  To put our students in the problem situation of a mathematician, will create an environment of learning mathematics.  I cannot wait to rework the entire curriculum for next year!!


Edutopia.org (nd). Big thinkers: James Paul Gee on grading with games. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video

Week Four-Web-Conference

This week's web conference was very informational about this week's lesson.  Seems like there was quite a bit of conversation about what was being asked in assignment.  Questions about the ebook were also being asked. Personally, I really think that we needed the week three web conference.  I had a ton of questions and just had the rubric to go on and did the best I could with the help of my two members of the group.

Week Four-Reflection of Readings, Videos, Activities

There are times in your personal and working life that you go  'AHA!'.  I reached that moment this week.  As I was reading the selections, listening to the videos, reflecting over past workshops I have been in this year, links began for me as a teacher, facilitator and for my future classroom redesign.  Collaborating in google docs has wheels turning in my head about how I can make this happen in my math classroom.  I just need some lap tops or IPADS yes, about 10, well for now the work stations will have to do.  Assigning partners to work with not in the class, not in the school, but somewhere in the state to work on an assigned math project. So onward I pursue to find such students in the world and what project would I have them do.  I truly believe my students will love this.

Implementing math in collaboration will take some creative lesson planning.  I mean after all, we do teach math computation as an individual skill development.  I can see teaching probability and statistics collaboratively much easier than area and perimeter.  Maybe looking through some project based learning activities will give me some ideas.  

Week Three Learned Tinkerings

Another great week in learning, I think.  I feel like I may be dense, because I had to keep reading over and over to get the hang of what was needed for the desired requirements.  I like the structure to the UDL lesson template.  It is all encompassing and really individualizes education for students.  Learning all the components of the lesson as well as understanding what each part does to complete and prepare for the next step in learning.
I learned about the six big goals of technology.  I knew of these because we have state standard for technology that we are to be teaching in our regular content area.  I really love the ISTE simple list of technology goals.
I also learned how to move my way through the CAST website to make a lesson and an Ebook.  I do not like all the words on this website.  I really wish it was a lot simpler looking.  I just was overwhelmed with the words everywhere.  Cannot wait for another week this week!
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/download.php?op=download&book=73960&down=13379

Week Three-Teaching with Technology

Welcome Week Three!!  Oh MyLanta!!  So many questions, so much to do and google docs is a pretty neat little device...I am excited about what all I have learned and am learning...there was no web conference, but we (my Group) did meet about three times this week.  I have quickly learned I am the novice and the colors at the top of a Google Document are very important.  One must not change colors because it matches the colors of the viewers.  No! No!  One must follow the colors at the top of the document.  We had a bit of a misunderstanding due to me not having the right color text.
I really like Google Docs and learning to work within the document.
With the lesson done, the ebook complete, trying to figure out how to share is the next task.  Had a great week.

Week Two Findings from Web Conf Call

First important item I learned is always run your internship plan through Dr. Boral!! I am a fast learner, I knew this in the first 5 minutes of the web conference where we spent 20 minutes or so on this topic.  Second thing was to keep it simple!!  Now I have applied this theory in many areas of my life --but have now understood one more use for this theory.
The last item of importance I learned was this week --the third and the fourth require a large amount of collaboration with my project team.  AND no web conference this week..thank you for reading.