Final ITouch

I have enjoyed exploring the Ipod touch this last quarter. I had never looked at it as a means of education. The endless educational applications are intriguing. I wasn't really able to use my ITouch in my main placement, but I was able to use it in my experiences through literature class. I also got the chance to use it with my math assignments and explore the opportunities it brought me through this. Mostly I've been given a stepping stone to find resources to expanding my teaching and education through technology. This was major part of the steps I'm taking to keep technology present in my teaching and in my own learning.

The most efficient way I've been able to consistently use my ITouch is through the option of voice memo.During all my one on one meetings with my literacy buddy, I was able to use the recordings to further my learning from my buddy. It wasn't too difficult to keep track of my conferences with E during these visits because I only was dealing with one student. However, when I have twenty one on one conferences these recordings will be extremely helpful. I can keep track of growth and progress in a more detailed and exact way! I can use it to show the students their personal growth. Conveniently it can all be stored in my pocket! I hope I am able to bring the many other applications and uses that I've been learning about through both other technology blogs and my cohort member. Even if the voice memo is the only thing I get to apply for now, that is still a tremendous help. I look forward to expanding my use with the ITouch for differential learning and sharing technology skills. 

Final Math Blog

Throughout this quarter I’ve been given a very unique and inspiring view on teaching and mathematics. The inspiration is continually growing. The tools you’ve given us are things and ideas we can apply in any subject while teaching. You’ve shown us ways to continue growth in ourselves and our students. These are incredibly valuable skills. I aspire to always be learning and as a teacher, I believe that’s something we must always be willing and seeking to do. Throughout the quarter I’ve been learning tools for myself and my future students.

Ideas and thoughts that I’m taking away are:

I’m thankful for the more emphasis and ideas about creating opportunities for integrated learning, specifically creating opportunities for connecting abstract concepts with practical application. I love the idea of having multistep problems that benefit the cohesive understanding of math concepts.

 

The missing and lack of use of manipulatives in the classroom has definitely stayed on my mind. I’m brainstorming how I can bring manipulatives into the class to strengthen the concrete understandings my students will have of mathematics. They deepen and strengthen my own understanding; I know they will help my students too. 

The need for alternative explanations is great! We as teachers need to be searching for ways to help students understand things in any way that we can. It is our responsibility to learn to teach other ways. It is a goal of mine to immerse myself in as much math as possible and in all different ways, even the forgotten ways such as the Mira!

I am experimenting planning my lessons backwards in creative ways. I’m still thinking about what I want them to learn and how I am going to get them there. How can we do this and use confidence as a motivator in math? We need to have “open ended work that can be assessed in different ways and taken in different directions.” We can do this in multiple ways, one way is by embracing and utilizing integrated lessons to build up students’ strengths and let it transfer over to math.  This even lets us get a whole different way to assess our students. It can be more cohesive for us and our students if we bring writing into math, or any other way of bringing other subjects to show students strengths.

Technology lets us access both math and education in a totally new and dynamic ways. I’m looking forward to finding electronic manipulatives with both the computer, applications and any other ways I can find for my students.  This is another tool to help create interest for our students.

Overall creating interest and confidence in our students is at the upmost importance and should be what governs our decisions so we are always making the best decisions for our students.

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

This week was the birthday of our dear old Dr. Seuss! As I took a moment to reflect on him, I remembered something lovely I once read by him...still I wonder if it wasn't really from a hymn!? Well anyway, I could even read it in the gym.

Okay but seriously, my most favorite book by this clever crook, is Oh, the Places You'll Go! Why do I say you need to go buy it? It is full of the most inspiration quotes that you'll ever give a child...or yourself for that matter. A simply wonderful book to push you farther and make you strive for more.
The inspiration can be found for almost anything...
I was thinking about the importance of reading and I remembered this quote from the most wonderful book of them all....“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”


I know it's a simple quote, but that is what draws me in deeper... 
Well if you haven't read it yet, please do. You know... in all our spare time. 
Tah-Tah for now! “And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed!”

“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” ~Dr. Seuss (not from this book)

It doesn't hurt to ask...

Today, in math we learned...so many things...but what's sticking in my mind is how important it is to know what you need and want for your classroom. Just as important, know how you might use it in the classroom, and why it would make you a better teacher/ help students learn. If you don't ask for the things that will help your career and help students, then how on earth are you going to get them?? You have to ask! And if they say no...No big deal! At least you can reroute and know how to ask again later if needed or if you get the opportunity.


I need to apply this element of preparedness into my life, into my career, into my classroom, because I want to be prepared to help my students and colleagues. Really, it's just a part of being prepared...prepared with ways to grow, learn, and teach. I need to apply this by quite literally having a list of the things I could use and need. So I will be making my list...both in  my mind and physically on a handy piece of paper...My need list!

I'm still wondering how to do we create interest in math? Some students find relevance in school or subjects very easily compared to others. How can we help students find interest to do the work and to do it well?
 For that matter, how do we encourage a passion for education that will continue throughout their lives so they can use it to create opportunities in life?
Yeah..lots of questions..that's just how I think.

Acorns take a long time to grow...

Thank you for the acorns today. I do love those trees...but man do they grow slowly!

I'm thinking about the many ways we learned to be active and interactive while teaching math. Today was full of wonderful tips, ideas, inspiration! I'm letting it all setting in and looking forward to how these ideas will grow with me and become a rooted part of my teaching.

The manipulatives that we worked with today were helpful in numerous ways. The geometric shapes we were interacting with helped me in numerous ways. Being able to understand which shapes and rules apply to each other and can or cannot change in various ways, deepened my understanding of geometry. It helped my technology skills working! That's interdisciplinary (at least for me ;)!

Using the program and interaction with shapes on the "Can you make it" program helps build technology skills AND mathematics; it could be use with students of various ages. I work with second graders and I could see them benefiting from the interaction of these virtual manipulatives. It not only will sharpen their understanding of the quadrilaterals, or other shapes, but it helped them use their motor skills and technology skills at the same time. Sounds like a great way to keep kids of all ages (even in college) interacting with technology and math of all shapes, sizes, and styles....

I'm still wondering about...  How on earth did you get that "Buzz Light Year" to show you exactly the motion and   bounce that you wanted to demonstrate!! That is some serious corduroy, jumper, teacher skill!!

Literacy

I've been having a wonderful time getting to know my buddy, E. He has welcomed my partner and I with smiles and loads of information each time we've been able to visit with him. He shares his interests, skills, and strengths willingly. In school, he likes math the best, although he excels in all subjects that we've seen. His communication is entertaining and exciting; I'm always looking forward to what things I will learn of him next! Amongst his many talents, his reading and writing are exceptional! Although he doesn't claim it's his favorite, he does spend a lot of time immersing himself in both. His favorites are fantasy, fiction, and futuristic style of reading and writing.We were able to get through both the 4th grade reading passages and he scored solidly in the 75th percentile! Only making one or two miscues in each passage! His comprehension is good, and his retell is impressive. Details of the text stay in his memory seemingly effortless.

This last session with E finally revealed something we can work on with him. His comprehension was excellent with explicit questions; however, the implicit questions strained him. He was able to get about half of them right without looking back into the text. When able to look back he found implicit answers quickly and used good strategies to look through the text quickly to help him find the place of interest to the question.
I would like to work with E on his implicit comprehension. Inference skills are always in need for improvement with readers of all levels. I would like to work with E in a book that is favorable to him; a fantasy or futuristic style book would probably be the best. I would like to take the time to slow his reading down and prompt his thinking of the text. E's reading is fast and he is usally eager to hear the story, so he might be missing key parts of the text that allow inference to be embedded. Using prompting questions, predictions, and slowing him down would help him grasp the hidden, deeper meanings that texts can hold.
What have you learned about your buddy’s needs, abilities and interests?
As a result of this knowledge, what learning objectives and materials are you considering using for your lesson?

Tangram! Just make a square...how hard can it be?

Today I learned a new way of using writing in math as a method of interdisciplinary instruction and as a tool to better understand mathematics. In our discussion about creative writing in mathematics, my mind was opened to endless opportunities of mathematical writing. (This discussion  was based off the fun and enlightening article we read, Using Creative Writing and Literature in Mathematics Classes). This interdisciplinary idea is using math as a tool in so many different ways: creativity, assessment in their understanding of mathematical concepts, expression, etc. This isn't a way to assess grammar and fluency, this is a way to understand the mathematical ideas and concepts that they are grasping and/or struggling with.

This would be so great to use in the classroom. It opens the door for students who struggle in math. They are able to use their writing, drawing, and/or story telling skills to express themselves in math in a better way. They no longer have to feel as if they are not "good at anything" in math. Their "strengths" in other  subjects will let them do well in math too. It could help them feel more confident and secure with their work in math. Because after all, math is connected to everything else right? Well lets show the students how, and maybe ourselves! This is useful to both the teacher and the students! Beautiful!

I am still wondering if this lesson can be used often in our "scheduled curriculum" that I'm being more immersed in? I'm picturing teachers struggling with implementing this, because it is a little more time consuming than just asking a student questions via worksheet to find out what they know about concepts and ideas etc. But it is such a valuable resource, isn't it worth the time for both us and our students? If we (as teachers) only resort to the worksheet questions for evaluating how are students understand the material, then we will miss so much that they have to offer. They have much more to offer us in their understanding if we expect them to express it, and if creative writing is the way to get them there, then let's do it! Plus it's fun, refreshing, and supportive of their varying strengths! So how can we get more teachers to take the time to use this lovely interdisciplinary lesson?

Also, I'm still wondering if I'll EVER solve a Tangram puzzle on my own!!!??? It's been slowly eating at my ego my whole life!