Meredith's Experience with 11 Tools: August 2012

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Tool #9

Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective? I think that we as a society are becoming a much more digital age. Things have even advanced since I was in the classroom 4 years ago. Without equipping our students with the tools to use and adapt to technology, they will feel lost when they enter the job market. Training them to use technology gives them a skill set that could set them apart from another candidate for a job in the future.

Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers? If we don't hold the students accountable for the things they come in contact with at the school, then they don't learn to respect property, whether it be their own or someone else's. It is important that they learn to take pride in the things that they have. It also creates great team building skills if you give them an "accountability partner."

Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I REALLY like like Studyladder one. Groups of students could work together as a team at stations. It will really help individualize the learning experience because if we are ending a unit and I see that different students are struggling with different things, I can group them together and have them go to a station to use that study tool. Also it will be great for review. I also like InterActivate. It looks a little more advanced than Studyladder does, so I might consider advancing into that website. It has games, as well as quizzes which I really like!

List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? The AFactorTree will be really helpful for the factors lessons. Everyday Math Equivalent Fractions will be good for review when we are getting ready to learn to convert to decimals and percentages. Then I might move into Freddy Fractions to help advance their understanding and practice the converstions.

What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station. I think that anytime you can get students working together in small groups of 3 or 4 students it will allow you to pair strong students with weaker students and give everyone the chance to learn. I might put them in groups of 3 and number them off so I can say "Pass the board to #2, etc." and use it as a whiteboard for solving a problem that I put on the board.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Tool #8

I really like that the netbooks are smaller than normal laptop. I think that it is necessary for middle schoolers. What I found to be so great about the iPads and iPod touches is that you don't have to synch them with the computer to get something onto there, you can do it from the store by entering your id. For management of the materials, I will have a log. To check a piece of technology out, out must sign in, give me something of yours as collateral, and when you return it in its proper condition, you will get your item back. At the end of every class, it will be a student job to double check the technology before anyone can leave the class. The log is important because it lets you see who used what in the case of damage or error, and the student job helps because you have already checked it, but it is a student keeping the other students accountable at this point. Always a plus!

Tool #5

Today I learned a lot of really great tools that I can use in my class. Blogspot is one of the coolest because I can use it to connect with other people to seek help and share ideas. I also will be able to use it to create a blog for my class so students can work on the homework together and seek my help on any problem. I will upload the homework for the night to remind them as well as make myself available to help. Another really cool tool I learned to use is a Prezi. I know that our Active Boards make our presentations more engaging, but the presentation methods of this company are too great! I tested it out a little bit using my class rules.

<div class="prezi-player"><style type="text/css" media="screen">.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><object id="prezi_3xim0wsn09ab" name="prezi_3xim0wsn09ab" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="550" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowFullScreenInteractive" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=3xim0wsn09ab&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_3xim0wsn09ab" name="preziEmbed_3xim0wsn09ab" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowFullScreenInteractive="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=3xim0wsn09ab&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><p><a title="Math Rules!" href="http://prezi.com/3xim0wsn09ab/math-rules/">Math Rules!</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com">Prezi</a></p></div></div>

I am not sure if I would use it a lot, but maybe more for speed drills like review fractions, multiplication, common factors, etc. It will be great for a do-now in the first 5 minutes.

Tool #3

Being able to find helpful videos for students will be an important part of my lesson. It will never be used to replace instruction, but as a supporting material. For example, I remember when I started pre-algebra and heard "combine like terms." I immediately shut my teacher out like WHY ARE THERE LETTERS ON THE BOARD?! THIS IS MATH! The way this teacher explains it is really helpful and breaks it down step-by-step!

Also, KhanAcademy is a really helpful supporting material! This video really reinforces converting decimals to fractions!

<b>Converting decimals to fractions 1 (ex 1)</b>: Converting decimals to fractions 1 (ex 1)

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Basically what I learned is that we can use some stuff online without copyrights, but that it's a good idea to attribute credit to where you got the work. I found it interesting that copy rights have no limit. I would think that it would have a term limit kind of like a patent. Feel free to copy my stuff!

Tool 2

I think that building an online community is really important because it allows you to network so much better. I can spend one day on the internet and create a network of teachers all over the nation and even the world. PLNs can be really helpful when used in the right way. I think the most interesting thing that I will be able to apply is to invite comments. When I am struggling with something, blogging will be a good way to do it because I might get more answers, and more objective ones, than what I would from just asking fellow teachers at my school. It expands the learning experience to further than just the students at your school.

I plan to visit this blog frequently to check in the kind of assignments he is using in his class. They are really helpful! http://duncan7thgrademath.blogspot.com/2011/08/order-of-operations.html#comment-form

What a great blog idea! Posting math homework assignments to a blog would be a great way to remind students what is due!
http://slavens7thgrademath.blogspot.com/2012/05/homework-due-this-week-57-to-511.html#links

Also, I might try posting some examples or help for some problems on the blog.

Tool #1

This is pretty easy so far! The avatar thing was a little frustrating because I would make one then it told me I had to join a couple of times so I had to do a basic bunny!