C4T #4

The Title of his Blog: Yo: A Math Teacher's Blog

Post #1 Niko Rowinsky frist post was titled "Is This Going To Be On the Test". He talked about how students would ask him this question and he worried why. He came to the conclusion that students only asked this question to study the material only for the test and forget it later on. I thought he was absolutely right, and I couldn't agree more.

My Comment:Hi my name is Janae, a student at The University of South Alabama. I have asked this question plenty of times in high school, but I never thought there was anything wrong with it. Now that I see how this question is approached from the perspective of a teacher I can see how there is a problem with it. It does make sense that a student would study the material only for the test and forget it later on.


Post #2 The next post Niko told his class to create a video. The prompt was "If you nhad 30 seconds to tell the whole world about math, what would it be? What point would you make? What story about you and math would you tell?" I thought this was very interesting and the students did a great job.

My Comment:  Hi, My name is Janae Ivory, a secondary math education major at the University of South Alabama. All I can say after watching these videos is "WOW!" Amazing! I liked the the second video so much because the number one question I always hear is "When will I ever use math?', and that video addressed that question. Your students did a wonderful job. this makes me so excited to become a math teacher now. Thanks for Sharing!

C4K Summary for November

          Mikaela wrote her blog post on similes and metaphors. She wrote two poems about dogs and best friends. She did a really good job defining these two definitions.
My Comment: Hi Mikaela! My name is Janae, and I am a college student at the University of South Alabama. I remember learning about similes and metaphors when I was in the 5th grade. I love your poems, and the pictures that you posted also. Great job defining a simile and a metaphor then giving examples. GREAT POST!!!!!Her Reply: Thank you! I love writing similes and metaphors! I really enjoy it and I get to share my ideas with people!

          Trey showcased his idea of a product. He created a product of a chair that has heating and cooling,  someone could sit outside whether its cold or hot. .My Comment: Hi, i'm Janae Ivory a student at the University of South Alabama. Wow, what an amazing product design. This is such a smart idea, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would love to sit outside drinking a hot cup of chocolate looking at the beautiful snow, and the only thing that would make better is a warm place to sit. Great Job!!!!!
          Reagan has wrote her post on finishing her first quarter strong and she is looking forward to starting her second quarter. She has even set goals to become a better reader and writerMy Comment: Hi Reagan, my name is Janae Ivory, a student at the University of South Alabama. Great job in finishing the first quarter. It is wonderful that you have learned so much in the first quarter and have set goals for yourself in the second quarter. 

Blog Post #14

Teaching Can Be a Profession by Joel Klein

Problems:
Seniority: Layoffs, Rewards etc.
Pick from the Best

Seniority:
I completely agree with everything Klein had to say on this topic. It is a huge problem that seniority overrules pretty much everything. If a teacher is not willing to change to  help the student learn, or if they may not be a very good teacher they should not be able to have immunity based on how many years they taught. For example, I graduated from a school in Long Beach, Ca, and the school district was unfortunately doing layoffs due to budget cuts. One of my and the school's favorite teacher was given a pink slip because she was a new teacher; she had only been teaching for 2 years.  She was an algebra and geometry teacher and everyone loved the way she taught, she made math understandable, but another teacher who had been teacher for 20+ years wasn't fired because he had been teaching for so long but his teaching methods were not effective. I also agree with proposed solution.

Pick from the Best:
I agree with Klein on this idea as well.It is very true that teachers are hired on degree alone and not on their set of skills. I agree with Klein, it would be a very good thing for teachers to be chosen from the top third of their class.

This article has opened my eyes to the teaching field and has made me think back to realize what I read is often true. These are major problems with fairly easy solutions. I think the main thing that needs to be done is for individuals in the field of education to think of whats best for the students.

Blog Post #13: What did I leave out?

Directions

How could Project Based Learning be used in math? 

We have seen how project based learning is used in history, science, and english, with students doing their own research, and creating a project using some form of technology whether they used iPads, a smart board, or computer. Use the sources below to give an example of how PBL could be used in math. Make sure you answer the question that follows the standards in Writing a Quality Blog Post.

Project-Based Math: Beyond the Textbook

PBL in Math

The Assignment

How could Project Based Learning be used in math?

Project-Based Math: Beyond the Textbook

In this video we saw students working together in groups on assignments and a project. I think the students learned more, and understood things more because they were able to discuss with each other. The students enjoyed creating projects and they all said they learned a lot more through PBL. They were excited about learning more and getting better grades.

PBL in Math
When using PBL in math it is important to have students move around and work together as a group. Its even better when students are able to go outside and use real world examples to solve math equations.Most students are not able to understand math by doing multiple problems out of a textbook, they want to learn in a fun way.

Project Based Learning  could be used by using real world examples, and situations to learn math. It could be used by working in groups and discussing everything with their peers where it's more understandable.

Project #12 Smart Board Instruction Part B

C4T #3

I commented on Lois Lindemann's blog. The title of the first post I commented on is titled Back to School-Time to Set some Goals. This post was about what she expected for the school year ahead and goals she set for herself for the beginning of the school year like remembering all of her new students' name by the end of the first week. She also says how she would like to establish routines so she would not have to reinforce practical classroom routines every lesson.

My Comment:

Hello my name is Janae Ivory and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. My major is Secondary Mathematics Education. I am very excited to become a high school math teacher, and reading your post about the goals you have set for yourself for the beginning of the school year has me more excited than ever. Setting goals are very important to me because it is a way for me to stay organized and to keep up with everything. I also want to commend you on trying to learn every students name in only a week’s time because im sure its a lot of names to learn. It was great reading your post, I hope you achieve all of your goals and have a wonderful school year. 

Her second post is titled (An Unusual) Measure for Measure. This post was about an experience this teacher had when trying to figure out how much weight would be enough for her car to carry and how many trips would she have to take. She stated in the post that she wasn't good at converting kilograms however she knew how much a cyclist weighed, so she used that to determine how much she could carry i n her car at once. She said in the end thatb was a great unit of measurement to use and she will be using Fabian Cancellaras (the name of the cyclist she used) in the future.

My Comment:

Hi my name is Janae Ivory, a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama, and I am a secondary mathematics  education major. This was a really cool post to read. It was so interesting to read how you used math in an everyday situation. When people learn what my major is they ask me why and say "when will you ever use math", but I just respond with "I love Math". But thanks for sharing this story, it was very entertaining to read. 

Blog Post #12

      Math is tough alone, and the hardest subject in school for some. I could only imagine how difficult it could be for a blind individual. In the video Teaching Math to the Blind Professor Art Karshmer introduces a tool that allows blind students to still use Braille, something they're familiar with, and electronic feedback. Instead of the math problem written in one horizontal line the student can align the math problem the way it should be. They are also able to receive verbal feedback of the math problem.
          I think this tool is very useful for blind students. It is important for them to understand math because as Professor Art Karshmer said in order to get a job in engineering, technology, computer sciences etc. math is an important part of the equation, and the easier it is to practice and understand it the better,  with this tool its definitely possible. As a future math teacher I am excited to know that there are instruments like the one in the video to help these students understand math more and gets them ready for the future ahead of them in what ever career path they choose to go on.
     The website  Teaching Visually Impaired has numerous articles of tools available for teachers to use with their students. In the article Math Adaptations by Carmen Willings she talks about what teachers can do to make math more understandable and even suggests which instruments ans tools work best with each area of math. -Janae Ivory

This short six minute YouTube video, Braille in the Classroom, it helps you understand how braille works, how it is helpful, and some of the different types of braille. One of the devices they use is called braille display. This device will connect to the computer and will transfer the text from a computer screen into braille for the student. In the YouTube video iPad Usage for the Blind usage for the blind</a> he shows us how to use the iPad from a blind person point of view. As he demonstrates, you can hear how he has the voice control instructing him in he background. The voice control helps him  find his apps, tools, or whatever item he is looking for. Having an iPad in the classroom would be very beneficial to the student. Especially since everything is changing into technology. -Macy Roe :)

Assistive technology can help students with learning disabilities leverage their education. It can be a wonderful tool for students that have Dysgraphia which affects a student's writing ability. This disability primarily affects handwriting and coherence. Students with this writing disorder will not perform efficiently when being taught how to form letters. Furthermore, they will probably forget how to correctly form words later because of improper movements of muscles required to write. However, there have been technologies created to help them counter this problem.

Dragon Dictation is a speech recognition application that  produces words you speak  by recording your voice. It allows you to update social media statuses such as facebook and twitter by speaking. Dragon allows you to speak and send emails or text messages. Additionally, people can create notes and reminders to help them navigate throughout the day. This technology could be useful for students in the classroom who have Dysgraphia because it would allow them to complete their writing assignments by speaking out their words. As a teacher I could allow a student to use their device to assist them in the writing process. This is another way technology is affecting education in a positive way because it is assisting students who have learning disabilities.-Justin Thomas

My family has a history of hearing impairment. My maternal grandfather wore hearing aids from his 40s on to his death at 89. My mother is very hard of hearing, as are most of her siblings. I have lost a significant amount of hearing in my right ear due to military service and I imagine my genetics don't help with that. I have often thought of what it would be like if I was afflicted with my family's impairment at a school age. This post was a great chance to see what would be available to me if I was a hearing impaired student today. The Hearing Loss Association of America has a section of its website dedicated to Hearing Assistive Technology. In the link they talk about an FM system. I have vivid memories of my grandfather using one of these to listen to the TV. After multiple complaints from my grandmother about him blasting Braves games at full volume they invested in one of these FM systems. He placed the receiver close to the speakers of the TV and he had it hooked into his hearing aids. As an educator, I can see this working well in the classroom. The teacher could simply wear the receiver around his or her neck, or keep it on the desk if it was powerful enough, and the student could take it from class to class. It seems kind of primitive in today's technological world, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it. I guess.

Linked here is a video from Oklahoma about Assistive Technologies that educators can use to help deaf/hearing impaired students. Around the 5:30 mark of the video, the iPad is discussed. It seems as though iPads are becoming quite the norm in classrooms these days. I found this short section of the video to be very interesting, as I'm expecting to have iPads available to me in my future classrooms. Here is a short video of deaf students using iPads for the first time. You can see how excited the children are, but also look and see how engaged they are in their learning. My wife, God bless her, is an avid Pinterest user and heard me talking about this blog post. She very quickly found this board. I don't really know how Pinterest works, but there is some really great information on that link. That's what's so great about our modern world today; there's so much information out there. I think that if we just put forth the effort, real effort, to find it, then we will always be in a position to help our students. -Kyle Parrish

Blog Post #11

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

Back to the Future
Brian Crosby, the speaker and the teacher in this video has shown plenty of examples on how he is able to capture the interest and encourage his students to learn in a fun and enthusiastic way. He allows his students to be involved in hands on activities such as the hot air balloon project or the soda can project. Crosby then has his students post what they learned during the science project to their blog instead of taking a 20 question test. I think what we can learn from him is that their isn't just one way to teach, that teachers should teach in a way that benefits the student the most. By doing this the student learns in a fun way and is most likely to remember what they learned.

Blended Learning Cycle
In this video Paul Anderson introduces Q.I.V.E.R.S., a system that proved well for his students. It stands for question, investigate, video, elaborate, review, and summary quiz. This is one method of teaching that I have not come across in this class yet. What we can learn about teaching and learning from this video is that teachers don't have to teach from power point presentations or just write notes on the white board, there are other ways like QU.I.V.E.R.S. that allows students to learn and be engaged in what is in front of them.

Sam Pane 4th Grade - Building Comics
In this video Mr. Pane was very active in his class. He opened class with a driving question and led a discussion with his class. They discussed their topic and he assigned them to create a comic about what they discussed, But before they did their own they built one together. I think what we ca learn about teaching and learning from Mr. Pane is to engage the class in a discussion to get them interested in what they will be learning and to get them involved in a test run for an activity before they do it on their own

Project 14: Project Based Learning Plan #2

Our group decided to assign a group project for 11th grade high school students. They will create a digital media project of their choice showing the whether or not the events of Pearl Harbor had an effect on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.They will have one week to complete the project. I have provided links to the rubrics that will be used, the project overview, the calendar that shows when each part of the project should be done, and the checklist we used to make sure our project our project was up to standards.

Project Overview

Project Calendar

Rubric for Individual Performance in a Group

Rubric for Evaluation of a Project

PBL Checklist