busymomof3

On the evening of June 17th, I was looking forward to a TappedIn session on how to incorporate technology into your math classes. I had also planned on joining the session Learning from Lyrics if the math session went well. These two topics intrigued me, but unfortunately both were offered on the same night. As it happens, my math session was cancelled due to the instructor having a personal emergency. I was disappointed because ever since grade school math has been my favorite subject! However, my disappointment did not last long and I was quickly happy again when the Learning from Lyrics session started. The instructor was J. Chase and he was a middle school social studies teacher. He spent an hour sharing with us how he uses current and popular music in his lessons to inspire and motivate his students.  The main feature was his music video project for his eighth grade class using the song ‘How Far We’ve Come’ by Matchbox20.  He showed us the criteria his students were given, his example to them of his finished product, and included several finished projects from different students.  I was very impressed at the varying interpretations they came up with for the same lyrics, yet the underlying theme of progress was evident in all of them.  Music is such an integral part of our culture and is a very powerful medium in which to communicate.  Think of the benefits here for our at risk students or any student who has trouble communicating his or her thoughts and feelings in the standard school medium of pencil and paper.

Mr. Chase’s session was very enjoyable and gave me much to think about.  Chat rooms certainly lack the energy you have with face to face conversations, but the ability to connect with other people from all over the country who are interested in the same topics, and share resources, thoughts and ideas with them, is really quite extraordinary!  And I can do it in my pajamas!

Last week in class we learned how to create a podcast using Podomatic, a free online site where you can post your podcasts to share with others who may have the same interests as you. I found this resource to be very cool. Creating an audio file and getting it out there to share was incredibly easy to do. I first created my audio file using the sound recorder on my laptop, then uploaded it to Podomatic. Since this was an assignment for class it needed to be posted on our web portfolios. I would like to be able to use my portfolio as a supplement to future interviews, so I wanted my podcast to be useful for that purpose. I chose the subject of Why I Want to Teach and used my admission essay of the same subject as my script. I was impressed at the clarity of this type of file. It was very easy to understand with very little background noise. I am not sure yet how I would incorporate this technology into my lesson plans, but am looking forward to figuring that out! I do get larygitiis a lot, maybe if I could predict when I will lose my voice, I can record all my lessons!

What is critical thinking and what will it look like in my classroom? To me, critical thinking means knowing how apply logic and reason to problems which must be solved. As educators, we must teach our students the skills necessary to apply critical thinking to their problems in order to reach a logical conclusion or solution. Children are not born with these skills, they are learned. Some develop these skills faster and more efficiently than others, but we must provide the tools and the guidance for each child to develop these skills to the best of their ability. According to the article by Hony, Culp and Spielvogel (2005) this means teaching “skills such as comparing and contrasting data, classification, sequencing, cause and effect, patterning, webbing, analogies, deductive and inductive reasoning, forecasting, planning, hyphothesizing, and critquing.” In other words, it is no longer beneficial to know 7×8 = 56. Today’s students need to understand this sentence represents seven sets of eight objects and know how to draw the array to successfully reach a conclusion of 56. Knowing the answer by rote is not as important as knowing how to apply knowledge to obtain an answer that makes sense; skills which than can be applied to all multiplication number sentences, not just one.

In my classroom, critical thinking skills will be learned using many tools such as brainstorming, Venn diagrams, sequencing exercises, group discussions, games and other resources. I’ve always taught my students to brainstorm before many activities. We brainstorm independently or as a class depending on the task. In our assigned reading, I read about ‘carousel brainstorming’ which I plan to try at the first opportunity which presents itself. In carousel brainstorming, the class is divided into stations and each station is presented a question pertaining to the topic. Groups rotate from station to station, adding to or providing support and thoughts to the previous groups input. When rotations are complete, each group presents the final outcome of each question to the class for discussion.

Technology can play a critical role in encouraging critical thinking among students, providing the teacher models this on a consistent basis. Encouraging students to write and edit each other’s work on a common online environment, having students seek out answers and research topics in a web quest, and using as many concept games as possible during computer time are all ways to promote technology in the classroom as well as hone your students critical thinking skills.

This past week in class another technology mystery was solved! I always wondered ‘how did they do that?’ when I watched a prepared presentation using what I now know is called a screen cast! Well after last Tuesday night’s ITEC class, where Dr. Coffman explained how to create one using Camtasia, the mystery was finally cleared up for me! We played around with Camtasia and experimented with creating a simple screen cast explaining some basic functions of an Excel spreadsheet. Then we recorded our screen cast. Alas, mine has no audio on it, since I did not have time to hook up the microphone. I plan on experimenting at home on my laptop with the Screenomatic website. I know I can incorporate audio on that screen cast since my laptop has a built in microphone. It is so much easier to follow along and understand what the narrator is doing if you have voice along with visual.

What a powerful tool this could be in the classroom! After our introduction to TappedIn (previous post), I was thinking about how to successfully instruct students on how to make use of the student campus resources. Recording the lesson ahead of time and playing it back on the large screen in class while they follow along on their iBooks, would create a lesson with lots of visual impact. This would enhance the lesson and would be advantageous to our students retaining the information provided. Never underestimate the power of visual learning!

Reflections on TappedIn:  an online community of education professionals.

            I just completed my first encounter with TappedIn in the form of an orientation tour called Tips and Tricks.  This online, chat based web site is designed to be a virtual academic campus, including many different classrooms, groups and even a campus just for students grade K-12.  I was completely amazed and very impressed with the intricacy of the entire set up.  This site will prove to be a very valuable resource for me as well as my future students.  I plan to become thoroughly familiar with it in the very near future.

            TappedIn is my very first experience with chat rooms.  I did not know what to expect and was very pleased at the end of my first encounter.  I signed in a few minutes early feeling very fearful and afraid to make a mistake.  What if I got lost in cyberspace?  Our guide proceeded to greet us as we entered and was very helpful throughout.  She introduced us to herself and to each other, and showed us how to ‘know’ the people in our chats by accessing their profiles.  She then carefully guided us throughout the site.  Her directions were very explicit and she was very patient.  The site itself is incredible and packed with valuable resources of varying subjects.

              Of most interest to me was the idea of setting up a student group within TappedIn.  My students then have a safe and secure environment where they can learn how to chat with others, share information with peers from all over the world, post their work for others to see, participate in discussion boards and a multitude of other benefits.  The beauty of it is the teacher is sent transcriptions of all her students’ chats and postings, which can then of course be assessed accordingly (or addressed with parents and administration if you get my drift).  I plan on taking advantage of this free and valuable resource in my classroom.  For now, I am still a little intimidated by the sheer intricacy of the entire site, but with use I will get very comfortable with it.  Now I know I can depend on someone in TappedIn to guide me if I do get lost within the site.  It is not scary at all, just a new experience for me which I enjoyed very much.