1. A flipped classroom provides another venue for students to learn information taught in class or to gain a different perspective on the topics discussed in class. It also provides a way for students to recapture information they might have missed in their notes and refreshes their brain cells on the material.
For my classes, this would be helpful in cutting down some of the following:
"How did you do that?"
"Could you do that again?"
"I need help but can't come in after school because _________________"
Also, a flipped classroom could be an excellent project for students to create their own screencasts explaining various topics to their peers in ways that allow their peers to gain a better understanding of the material.
2 & 3
http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cli3e9dCT
First of all, this screencast took much longer to make than I thought. Secondly, I stopped counting my re-recordings after ten. Just didn't realize how nervous I could get with recording my own voice on a screencast for the world to listen. Anyway, I showed this screencast to my mom, a retired educator in Michigan and Florida, since I created it while chillin' out with her and my G-ma (grandma). :) Of course she enjoyed it since I'm her child but she also pointed out some of the same things I noticed that would need correcting for the next time. We both agreed that I paused too long in some parts as well as used the words and and so more than what was needed. I know the pausing was the result of me trying to remember what to say during those moments.
The next time I do a screencast I might write out a brief outline of what I am going to say so that I do not pause too long or show my hesitation vocally. I would also go through a couple of dry runs prior to doing the recording so I avoid doing what I did for this screencast.
Overall, I would definitely do more screencasts to add to the resources that are available to my students in order for them to be successful in their math class.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Thing 20
1.With the website I created for my classes last year, I did embed videos from Khan Academy and from phschool.com to help further explain the lessons I taught in class. I also have used videos from Khan Academy as a part of my instruction in the classroom. This upcoming school year I would like to incorporate a few podcasts on a trial basis to see if it would be beneficial within my math classes. Some of my concerns using video and audio resources are as follows:
Will students actually pay attention and possibly take notes during the video or podcast?
Do students have access to the internet outside of school to access the resources?
2. PodOmatic is a site where a person can create and post their own podcast for free as well as view podcasts others have posted on a wide variety of topics. The basic version is free while the pro version will cost some money. With the basic version, a person gets 500MB of storage along with 15GB of bandwidth. A person is also able to follow other podcasts, have access to easy-to-use publication tools, and share podcasts with others. PodOmatic also has another feature called Minicast. Minicast is free software that mashes up photos and audio into a slideshow. Just like PodOmatic, Minicast can be shared with others via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.
3. I think using video resources verses strictly audio resources are more useful in a math class because students have better chance at understanding math if they can visually see things like the process of how problems are solved or how formulas are derived. (Yes, I do understand that there are those who may find the audio resources more beneficial to them. And I know I probably contradicted myself in what I said in question one).
Using a strictly audio resource could possible bore students and make them less interested in listening and more interested in going off task. If there is, however , a well made podcast that would capture the interest of students in math, then I could see the possibility of lively discussion afterward.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Thing 19
1. This digital story was created in iMovie. I did find iMovie pretty easy to use. I will need to play around with PhotoStory since my school doesn't have Macs.
2. Here is the link to my video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgEr3SXTYVM
3. I could see my students using digital storytelling as a way of explaining a topic in math to their peers. There are times when a student just doesn't understand something that has been taught by me. But when one of their peers explains it, it all seems to make sense to the student.
Digital storytelling could also be used for students who are homebound and/or have the tendency to miss ( skip) their favorite class (math). This way, the student doesn't miss out on information that was presented in class.
4. The feedback from the video has been great! The music that was chosen was perfect for the video and my viewers found the captions funny. One viewer said it was perfect. Aww... bless her heart. :) I did have my sister preview it before I sent it to YouTube and she found 2 mistakes that I quickly cleared up. Other than that, everything else was good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgEr3SXTYVM
3. I could see my students using digital storytelling as a way of explaining a topic in math to their peers. There are times when a student just doesn't understand something that has been taught by me. But when one of their peers explains it, it all seems to make sense to the student.
Digital storytelling could also be used for students who are homebound and/or have the tendency to miss ( skip) their favorite class (math). This way, the student doesn't miss out on information that was presented in class.
4. The feedback from the video has been great! The music that was chosen was perfect for the video and my viewers found the captions funny. One viewer said it was perfect. Aww... bless her heart. :) I did have my sister preview it before I sent it to YouTube and she found 2 mistakes that I quickly cleared up. Other than that, everything else was good.
Thing 18
1. My district has an online program for students that has been in place for 4 years now. Because of this online program, all teachers have access to e2020/education2020 for all courses that are taught within the building. There have been several traditional classes that have blended online learning with traditional learning with some success.
Personally, I have used e2020 to prepare my students for the ACT/MME test. Naturally, some students did find it beneficial and chose to continue working on e2020 at home. For them, they felt better prepared for the actually ACT/MME. Other students didn't take it seriously because there wasn't a grade attached to working on e2020 or they became frustrated with the content and decided to give up.
For this upcoming school year, I hope to incorporate the e2020 program as well as phschool.com more in my planning for the classes I will be teaching. I know I have students that would find learning some of the content online beneficial to their success in math. Plus it would give students another view on how math can be taught. It would also give them the opportunity to learn upcoming topics before they are taught. I know I loose a few with some of my lectures. Hopefully, by giving them another avenue of learning, they will use it to gain a better understand of the topics taught in class.
Downside: Being able to get into a computer lab when every teacher in trying to do the same thing. Too few labs and too few working computers is a big issue.
NOTE: e2020 and phschool.com are at no cost to our students.
2. Instead of writing a paragraph I decided to list some things that would enable a student to be successful as an online student.
Personally, I have used e2020 to prepare my students for the ACT/MME test. Naturally, some students did find it beneficial and chose to continue working on e2020 at home. For them, they felt better prepared for the actually ACT/MME. Other students didn't take it seriously because there wasn't a grade attached to working on e2020 or they became frustrated with the content and decided to give up.
For this upcoming school year, I hope to incorporate the e2020 program as well as phschool.com more in my planning for the classes I will be teaching. I know I have students that would find learning some of the content online beneficial to their success in math. Plus it would give students another view on how math can be taught. It would also give them the opportunity to learn upcoming topics before they are taught. I know I loose a few with some of my lectures. Hopefully, by giving them another avenue of learning, they will use it to gain a better understand of the topics taught in class.
Downside: Being able to get into a computer lab when every teacher in trying to do the same thing. Too few labs and too few working computers is a big issue.
NOTE: e2020 and phschool.com are at no cost to our students.
2. Instead of writing a paragraph I decided to list some things that would enable a student to be successful as an online student.
- Commitment to taking online courses with the knowledge that you will be working independently.
- Being a self-sufficient independent (for the most part) learner
- Knowing the cost, if any, for taking online classes
- Willingness to increase skills for the workplace
- Willingness to learn new ways of communication(i.e. Skype, blogging, creating own website)
- Take on the responsibility for own learning
- Knowing if the course can be accessed at home, school, library, etc.
- Having a computer
- Knowing if working ahead is allowed
- The limit on the number of courses that can be taken in a semester
- Knowing who to contact for tech support
- What teachers are available and when to help when topics need more explanation
- Will online courses count towards graduation?
- Are the online courses accredited?
- Will in-school lab time be required?
- Learning how to use the program that provides the online course
- Knowing how homework (if any), quizzes and tests are to be turned in.
- What happens when passing the course isn't possible?
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Thing 17
1. Interesting and informative site to have joined. Im particularly interested in some of the course catalog offerings that are online. Im not really sure if I would use the collaboration center but would definitely use the Reference Center seems to provide resourceful information that I could use in my classroom.
2. Since I have a Facebook acct that is strictly for my personal use, I went ahead and signed up for Twitter. One of the people that was suggested to follow was J. Lo. Really?? Anyway here is my Twitter page. Just following 11 so far. Don't know if I would ever use this though with students. Honestly, I wouldn't have my students follow me or be a part of my Facebook page even if it was strictly used for academic purposes. I just see too much of a risk with what can be posted on Facebook and Twitter by students. Plus there are plenty of other avenues to communicate with students via online sources.
3.
4. Below is the screenshot of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics website. The purpose of this organization is as follows according to their mission statement :
The cost for membership varies from $104 for Individual membership to $40 for a Student membership.
Some benefits include subscriptions to Journal for Research in Mathematics Education or Mathematics Teacher just to name a few. There are also discounts on all conferences for being a member.
Skills that I could bring to this organization would be my knowledge of teaching students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, learning and social economic backgrounds the fun of learning math.
Thing 16
1. The pair of databases that I took a look at were InfoTrac Junior Edition and InfoTrac Student Edition. What I decided to search for was information on the Pythagorean Theorem for students to find material for a research project.
a. Appropriateness
Both sites are appropriate for high school students to use and from the links that I did click on, nothing seem inappropriate .
b. Usability
Both sites were easy to use and their page layouts are not messy and confusing. There are various tabs that allow for searches of material (i.e. basic search, advance search and publication search)
c. Content
In searching for information on the Pythagorean Theorem I found that both sites really didn't produce enough information that I would want my students to look for. InfoTrac Junior barely had anything on the subject while InfoTrac Student had more news articles, journals and books available. The one thing, however, that is making me think both databases wouldn't be useful on the subject of the Pythagorean Theorem is the fact that there are articles that contain the words Pythagorean Theorem but have nothing to do with its creator or how it is used.
d. Credibility
Although the both databases didn't impress me when searching for the Pythagorean Theorem, I would still let students know about both. There are other topics in math and other subject areas where both databases could prove very useful to students.
2. The database I took a look at was the General Reference Center Gold. I chose to do a search on cyber bullying since it has been a hot topic in schools across the country for the past couple of years.
a. Appropriateness
Yes, this site is appropriate for students to use in researching information on the topic of cyber bullying.
b. Usability
Just like the other sites, this one easy to use and its page layouts are not messy and confusing. There are various tabs that allow for searches of material (i.e. basic search, advance search and publication search).
c. Content
I did find the content to contain reliable information that would be useful for students doing research on the topic. I also clicked on several videos that were a part of the search. The only downside was that I had to install Flip4Mac software in order to view some of the Windows Media videos.
a. Appropriateness
Both sites are appropriate for high school students to use and from the links that I did click on, nothing seem inappropriate .
b. Usability
Both sites were easy to use and their page layouts are not messy and confusing. There are various tabs that allow for searches of material (i.e. basic search, advance search and publication search)
c. Content
In searching for information on the Pythagorean Theorem I found that both sites really didn't produce enough information that I would want my students to look for. InfoTrac Junior barely had anything on the subject while InfoTrac Student had more news articles, journals and books available. The one thing, however, that is making me think both databases wouldn't be useful on the subject of the Pythagorean Theorem is the fact that there are articles that contain the words Pythagorean Theorem but have nothing to do with its creator or how it is used.
d. Credibility
Although the both databases didn't impress me when searching for the Pythagorean Theorem, I would still let students know about both. There are other topics in math and other subject areas where both databases could prove very useful to students.
2. The database I took a look at was the General Reference Center Gold. I chose to do a search on cyber bullying since it has been a hot topic in schools across the country for the past couple of years.
a. Appropriateness
Yes, this site is appropriate for students to use in researching information on the topic of cyber bullying.
b. Usability
Just like the other sites, this one easy to use and its page layouts are not messy and confusing. There are various tabs that allow for searches of material (i.e. basic search, advance search and publication search).
c. Content
I did find the content to contain reliable information that would be useful for students doing research on the topic. I also clicked on several videos that were a part of the search. The only downside was that I had to install Flip4Mac software in order to view some of the Windows Media videos.
d. Credibility
The General Reference Center Gold just like the others is creditable and useful. And just like the other databases, students will either find a wealth of sources or very little depending on what they are searching.
3. Citation for a video in MLA format using the citation tool in MEL:
4. A citation using EasyBib
Thing 15
I chose to use iGoogle because like most things with Google its easy to learn and navigate. Google, however, has decided to retire iGoogle in November 2013. Great...
Anyway, using a RSS aggregator would be helpful to my students in keeping up with the latest news, entertainment, interests and educational resource feeds all in one place.
Anyway, using a RSS aggregator would be helpful to my students in keeping up with the latest news, entertainment, interests and educational resource feeds all in one place.
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