Final CEDO 525 Reflections

As a seasoned teacher, I have used and continue to use many of the learning strategies presented in this course. However, through this course I have learned how to enhance them. I feel that I now have some strategies for approaching various problems I’ve encountered as a math teacher. Some of these include:
-improper note-taking
-groups that become social outlets
-assignments not done properly
-students staring at me as I lecture but really being off in their own thoughts
-lack of critical thinking skills as well as the ability to synthesize learning
New to me is the creation and use of graphic organizers. What a great way to set the tone of a unit and keep students on track. These organizers also serve as a reference guide for students throughout a unit. Though I’ve always known about rubrics, I’ve never used with my students. With rubrics, students will know exactly what’s expected of them. They can also use them for self evaluation. With the use of Cornell note-taking templates and a discussion on how to use them, students can learn how to properly take notes. Additional nonlinguistic activities can serve to get students more involved in their learning—keep them awake!
Using the discussion and blogging tools included in the BlackBoard Learning System can serve to get students from the mechanical mode of math to the thinking mode. These tools also provide an outlet for collaboration. Including writing assignments in a math course for promoting critical thinking and as a form of mathematical written expression is important. Google Docs is a good tool for this exercise since it lends itself so well to collaboration. Since the presence of technology tools in MATC classrooms is lacking, any computer work would have to be done independently by students in one of the computer labs or on their home computers. This poses a problem since there are different levels of student computer literacy. But forcing students to use computers also forces them to prepare for today’s technological world. Finally, this course and all previous courses in this program have opened doors of exploration to me as an instructor. I am now aware of many wonderful sites to research and get ideas from so that I can continue to grow as a math teacher.

A Review of Three Mind Mapping Sites

I reviewed Bubbl.us, Education Oases, and ExploraTree. All three sites are free which is a plus. All three sites deal with mind maps or organizers.
Bubble.us is the most basic of the three. There is a starting parent bubble and by clicking or tabbing on the bubble or any resulting bubble, sibling or child bubbles can be formed and connected to the other bubbles. Bubbles can be different colors, text can be added to bubbles, bubbles can be moved, and as the mouse falls on different features contained in a bubble, the feature is explained. The mind maps can be saved as an image and printed, e-mailed, embedded in a website or blog, and shared. One other feature Bubble.us has is multi-lingual support. I think this is a fun and easy to use site students can use to create their own mind maps.
Education Oases is a website that has 58 ready made graphic organizers. All of the organizers are in PDF format and therefore require Adobe Reader to view and print them. There are five categories of organizers and some of them allow text entry. I liked the organizers that I reviewed. I was not able to find one that I could edit and I was able to add text to only a couple that I reviewed. I suppose this could be a limitation. All in all I consider this to be a very useful and easy to use site for instructors.
Exploratree is a website that contains a variety of ready made thinking guides that can be easily and broadly edited to meet your needs. If desired, you can also create your own guide. To use this site Flash must be installed on your computer. There is a wonderful help tool included as well as how-to videos. When working with a template, there are three different modes you can work in—the Create mode, the Do It mode, and the Show It mode. Comments can be added to a guide, a guide can be sequenced, guides can be shared and the site supports collaboration. Of the three sites, I liked this one the best. It’s easy to use and has a lot to offer.

Feedback and Student Response

The article “Feedback that fits” was very informative and filled with common sense. I have always found that giving correct and positive feedback requires patience, tact, insight, maturity, and at times compassion—even if as a teacher you are having a bad day. The article points out that giving feedback is a craft that is learned over time. This is indeed true and it’s important to note that wrong or negative feedback can be damaging.

After reviewing two articles on electronic student response tools (Clickers: A classroom innovation by D. Buff and What I learned from using a personal response system by M. Butler) I’ve learned that clickers promote active participation, engagement, and discussion among all students, even those who might not participate in typical class-wide discussions. I’ve also learned that clickers can be assessment tools, providing students with useful and motivational feedback on their own learning while providing instructors with information about student learning that helps them respond to immediate student learning needs. I checked out two systems online: I>Clicker and Qwizdom Action Point. I>Clicker seems to be the easier of the two to use and questions can be written using any application. Qwizdom is only compatible with PowerPoint. Both packages have a “Questions on the Fly” option but I>Click can work with a large selection of textbooks. I>Clicker has a remote which is well-suited for students with disabilities. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Qwizdom. Students and direct purchasers pay one price for the I>Clicker remote and can use it repeatedly with no additional costs, ever. I>Clicker is very reliable and has a very small defective rate. It uses AAA batteries and users will not encounter any problems with wireless interference. Data from I>Clicker can be exported into HTML reports. Qwizdom users have the option of choosing different styles of remotes, they can discreetly ask for assistance, and they’re instantly provided with right/wrong feedback. Qwizdom also has interactive learning games. I did not see any prices but I’m assuming that Qwizdom is the more expensive of the two (just a guess). The only con I can see with clickers is one caused by the economy. I don’t see my institution investing in any new technology for a while. The math classrooms at my institution are not equipped with computers (student or instructor). This raises another problem. I personally would like to see clickers in action somewhere—especially in a math classroom. I’m sure they add a missing piece to student involvement.

Not the Ideal Students!

As a seasoned teacher, reading through Theory Based Principles of Learning really did not give me many new insights. It seems that in my earlier teaching years, these issues were easier to address. However in the last four years, the student body at MATC has changed significantly. 90% of incoming students are under prepared learners with almost non-existent study skills. They range in age from 22 to 49, are single parents, and are trying to shuffle school with jobs and child care. Their main goal is to finish courses quickly and in the easiest manner possible. Attendance is problematic, state curriculum demands are unreasonable, and the feeling of many of my math colleagues is that we are doing a job that should have been done during the first 12 years of our students’ schooling. Thus, we are presented with many issues to try to overcome.
We presently gather prior knowledge of our students through placement tests given day one of the courses we teach. These tests consist of a series of math problems from General Math through Intermediate Algebra. What is measured is tool use—not critical thinking or application of knowledge.
I believe it’s important to present learning objectives and goals, give feedback continuously, use criteria based rubrics, and use different forms of assessment. Since all instructors have a BlackBoard shell per each course they are teaching, these items can be posted using this learning system. All students also have an MATC gmail account which can be used for instant messaging and e-mail—a good way to get students involved with each other’s learning.
I am constantly harping at the other instructors to meet and go through the course outcome summaries for all of our courses—the courses are presently jam packed with topics and concepts. I look for a general agreement on what should be stressed and what can be touched on. Once this is done, I believe “mastery” is more attainable. I also truly believe that if only certain parts of the curriculum are stressed, there is more time for class discussions, student collaborating, and class projects. This would move the instructor into those different roles of synthesizer, moderator, challenger, and commentator vs constant lecturer.
One of the biggest problems I have encountered is my students’ inability to make connections—to synthesize. They memorize a series of facts and once the unit is over, they don’t see how the previous unit ties in with the new. Technology can be used as an aid in this area—blogs, web sites, applets, etc. I blame this on the frantic pace of our courses but also on the lack of study skills owned by my students.
So, as summer progresses, I will start jotting down new ideas and strategies and look forward to continuously learn.

We Need Balance!

Call me old fashioned—is face-to-face human contact and communication becoming a thing of the past? Is enjoying quiet times or a scenic walk through a park less important than checking text messages or answering a cell call while getting ready to tee off on the 4th hole? Are too many young adults missing out on “best human friends”, parental guidance, reading good books, playing Scrabble or Monopoly, going outside and participating in a baseball game or hopscotch, or just taking a walk because they have become emotionally dependent on online pals, on chat rooms, and now on idealistic avatars? Does getting hooked on playing video games enrich their lives? Life is about relationships and interacting and dealing with people--real people. Technology is here and its uses are ever expanding—but I believe that there needs to be balance in its use. Too much of anything is never good.

Thank You!!

Thank you Jim Kasum for helping me to educate myself on the copyright law! This is one of those items that I knew existed but was never quite sure about all that it involved. At MATC there are all sorts of documents hanging in the copying room about the copyright law but they all use lawyer jargon. Almost everything that has been communicated to me about this law has been in lawyer jargon--I don’t understand the words of lawyers! I now feel more confident about how to use internet sites in my classroom, about what the fine text at the bottom of many web pages means, about what I can copy, download, and upload. When students fail to buy textbooks and ask me to copy parts of the books for them “until they can buy it”, I now know that I am totally on the right and legal track by saying no. I have created online courses never really knowing that I own them and have rights! I have created many worksheets and projects and I am thrilled to know that they are totally and legally mine. Some people may read this and think, “Where have you been??” I think there are many people who are in the same boat that I WAS in. Thanks again!

Seek and You Shall Find?!?

How many times do people hear the statement, “You can find what you’re looking for on the web”. For many people the web, with its seemingly endless amount of information, is intimidating. They know what they want is on the web—but WHERE???? One of the topics covered in my latest class has been a very rewarding indeed. I have been introduced to Google Noodle and through time spent I have discovered a rich array of search engines that deal with specific types of searches. I have also learned about the difference between meta searchers, subject directories, gateways, and subject-specific databases. By using Boolean logic, quotation marks, + and – signs, lower case letters, the * which is the wildcard symbol, I have been able to narrow down my experimental searches and actually get the results I was looking for. All of the information I acquired in this lesson was invaluable and I intend to pass it on to my fellow instructors and to my students. After all, what good is information if you can’t find it????

INFO-INFO-and more INFO

Now that my semester at school is over--and all that goes with it, I can devote my time to this fourth class. I did have time to explore three internet learning resource sites and found useful and interesting information in all of them. The first site dealt with web page creation. Since I am a novice user of Macromedia Dreamweaver, the tutorials included on this site dealing with this software will be of great use to me as time permits. My last instructor, John Sklar, called web page creation a lost art. I believe that if you have access to a server which supports your web page and use a good page layout, web pages are a great way to present information, lessons, etc in one easy to access site.
The second site dealt with how to check the validity of web sites. With the growing use of the internet as a source of information, knowing what to look for and what to beware of is extremely vital. Many internet users, including myself, take validity for granted. BIG MISTAKE!
And finally, the third site dealt with links to useful information for educators. By clicking on one of the links, more links were presented. One could spend hours exploring this site. What I did manage to explore gave me access to lesson plans I can add to my future lesson plan cart.
So again, onward I go to the discovery of new and exciting resources, ideas, and growth.

There's More Then Turning it On!

I enjoyed “Computer Systems: How They Work”. Since I have always been a boot it up and start working type of person, it was refreshing to learn about what’s inside a computer as well as about the Linux operating systems. I would have felt better if I had been able to boot up from the live disc! I also liked the show “Triumph of the Nerds”. I have always known about Bill Gates but to learn about the history of computers and those remarkable men who had the vision and carried it out was a positive experience for me. For the last few years I have been disappointed by the lack of drive and discipline in so many of my students. This would be a good clip to show them and perhaps get them inspired to be all that they can be. The component piece was interesting and I look forward to reading my mate’s presentations. I believe many take the computer and how it works and what it’s made up of for granted. And the disaster recovery piece was truly eye-opening. I really didn’t know what companies had to go through to protect their data. Learning the steps we as individual pc users should go through to protect our data will save us future hardship. Yes, this was a worthwhile class and I wouldn’t change anything!

OH NO!!!!!

What would I do if my pc failed? Well, my pc did fail and because of that, I learned a valuable lesson---back-up—back-up—back-up! My life wasn’t affected by the crash, but my job was. I had many valuable lesson plans, worksheets, student grades, student surveys, great links……….I had to redo those as I needed them—many never got redone. Since I purchased most of my software on discs, I could easily reload that. The other thing I lost that I can’t replace is many pictures from my trip to Italy. Guess I'll have to make a trip back there! I am careful now—I have good anti-virus software and I have backed up all my files. The neat part is that this backup was originally done on CDs—after taking Louis’s class, I have also backed them up in Dropbox. My equipment is all plugged into surge bars. So, for now I feel kind of safe—but machines are machines and cyberspace can be filled with many unfriendly aliens. You never know what will happen.

Floating on the Clouds?

Had I not enrolled in this Masters program, I would know nothing about online word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation programs, online storage, online bookmarking, online graphic programs, etc. I bring this up because that means that there is a good part of the population who still knows nothing about these tools. Of course maybe I’m underestimating that good part of the population---but I don’t think so. Here we go again with how technology changes oh so fast! It would seem that the future of desktop computing will be simple computers using a linux operating system and online software. But I think it will be some time before this will be the trend of the population at large. You see, just as the average person catches on to some new computer trend, a new one comes around. The whole thing can be mind-boggling, time consuming, frustrating. And then there are those who like to hold their flash drive close, who have little faith in their files remaining safe and secure if stored solely online, who want to feel in control of their computer system and all that it entails. Changes are definitely coming but at this time it’s hard to predict their impact on society’s computer users as a whole.

Computer History for Michele LaSelva

Please bear with me since I had to dig way back for this one. My first computer was an Apple IIe. It was in the eighties and I was teaching part time. This computer was the rage among educators and of course I had to have one. So my husband bought one for me and paid close to $2,000 for it (do you believe that!). It was enclosed in a plastic case, had an integrated keyboard, had two 5.25” disk drives, and 64K RAM. ProDos was the operating system. My husband also bought an ImageWriter printer to go with it. This was a dot matrix printer and I remember that it was slow. My kids played educational games on the computer and I used Apple Works which was a combination word processor, spreadsheet, and database program. Though at the time I knew very little about computers, I did know that a word processor was the way to go---especially for a teacher. To be able to create documents and edit them and save them was too cool. I do remember playing with the spreadsheet but I really didn’t get into spreadsheets until my next computer which included Microsoft Works. I also remember using my Apple to learn Turtle Logos (for all you youngsters, this was a computer language). My Apple IIe was a great introduction to computers and the building block for what was to come.

Trudging FORWARD!

The second course of my master’s program is complete. This entire course served to enlighten me in several areas. I have come to realize that my place of employment is extremely behind as far as teaching with technology is concerned. Of course I teach in a college setting and that fact alone creates limits. The Math Department uses state developed Course Outcome Summaries as its teaching guide vs state standards that K – 12 schools use. Most of the outcomes deal with performing a task such as “Student will solve a linear equation in one variable”. As faculty members, we have discussed how once a unit exam is complete, everything the student learned for the test has escaped from their brain. Many students fail to make connections between the various chapters of the text. Many students fail to see why certain math tools are used to solve different word or application problems. Math would make so much more sense and become more enjoyable if students saw and participated in math in action. There are several ways to do this, one of them being incorporating technology into our math curriculum. Granted, we don’t have a whole lot to choose from, but we do have two computer labs with internet connection. Thanks to this course, I realize that there are so many tools and sites out there and many of them are free—it’s a start. I also was very enlightened by the information contained in the text. As the book pointed out, the future of education is changing and technology will play a big role in this change. I also believe that in order for people to succeed in the near future economy, they must be extremely technologically savvy. So as teachers, we must prepare our students. Critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity must play a larger role in our math curriculum. Students must bone up on their writing, spelling, and grammar skills. They must know how to create and deliver presentations. And again, technology can be one of the tools used to accomplish these tasks. As Louis pointed out, the training wheels are getting ready to come off. We’ve discovered, we’ve learned, and now it’s time to apply.

Where To Start?!?

I am almost finished with the second course of my masters program. The question is: “What have I learned this week that I can apply to my teaching?” In a very short time I have been inundated with a tremendous amount of information—many wonderful free online tools, an in-depth book addressing technology standards and a guide to incorporating these standards into education, numerous web sites, data bases, lesson plans, new technology,……………..
What I have learned this week is that I must now thoroughly research all of this new information. I must start picking and choosing. I must examine my curriculum, my math department, the Liberal Arts division, and my teaching institution and then realistically decide what is possible in terms of incorporating technology into my teachings and what isn’t. I must find at least one other math teacher who has an open mind to share ideas with, to brainstorm with, to test plans and projects with, and to help me sell this new way of teaching to the other math teachers. My math department will get no new technology or software unless the teachers are sold on the importance of these tools. I must start small and keep building. And I must continue to learn.
Through hard work, careful planning, time, trial, error, and patience, I see only positive impacts on our students.

Factoring Can be Exciting!

I watched the video titled “Modeling Quadratic Data” from the InTime site.
Donna Schmitt, 9th grade math teacher at Dubuque High School, made the lesson on factoring quadratic equations come alive. This is a concept that I regularly teach in my own algebra course and after watching this video, I now have many new ideas for presenting this topic. She started with a review of what the students have previously learned about different ways of writing quadratic equations. She then outlined what they were going to be doing and what the final outcome would be. Students worked in groups with a worksheet and using previously learned facts and looking for patterns, discovered how to factor quadratic equations. They discussed what they learned and then carried the knowledge to graphing calculators. Using the graphs, they found the x-intercepts and discovered the relationship between the intercepts on the graph and the factors of the quadratic. As they used the calculators, they learned about different functions on the calculator. Factoring and graphs were then applied to a real-life problem concerning maximum area of a fenced in yard given so many feet of fencing. Problem solving techniques were used to come up with the solution. The teacher ended the lesson by having the students take turns jumping up while a machine measured their jumps. Using quadratics and graphs, they came up with the highest jumper and how the rest of the class compared to him on the graph. This lesson incorporated collaboration, active involvement, patterns, connections, and discovery, probing questions by Mrs. Schmitt, constant feedback by Mrs. Schmitt, critical thinking, decision making, real life applications, and technology. WOW! The interesting thing was that when the video first started, the students were sitting with that bored look. By the time the video ended, they were all involved, excited, and learning. They saw that there is a use for quadratic equations and hopefully will discover parabolas all around themselves!

LP City!

Though one of the topics this week is spreadsheets, I am more excited about NetTrekker d. i. What a great data base for educators! While searching this database for lps dealing with the use of spreadsheets in my area (math), I discovered many other extremely useful lesson plans. It’s reassuring to know that these plans were reviewed and rated by educators and that the standards they address are listed on each site. Add to that the fact that they are complete—background information, grade level, objectives, materials needed, processes for tackling the task outlined, and methods for assessing the task. You can’t beat that! As for spreadsheets, I am pretty familiar with using them. However, the Google online spreadsheet opens up more possibilities for using spreadsheets in my curriculum. They are easily accessible, provide online storage, and allow me to be a collaborator. Spreadsheets also tie in nicely with my subject matter. So, I can now add a few more tools to my ever growing technology knowledge cache.

No More Erasers!

This week I will discover a variety of search engines and how to use them more proficiently. I will also investigate more online word processors. We often hear about the massive amount of information that one can access on the internet—but the trick is in knowing how to do just that. I look forward to trying out some of the new engines and to incorporating Boolean logic into my searches. Hopefully as I experiment, I will be adding new and exciting bookmarks to my DropBox.
I think one of the best tools invented is word processing. I can recall how during my summer college jobs I threw mounds of envelopes and paper in the garbage because of typos. Add to this great tool the fact that it can now be done online and with or without collaborators and sharers. What a fantastic way to share, learn, and communicate! As a math teacher, I can incorporate this tool when assigning research on a famous mathematician or mathematical concept. I can also use this tool as a way for a student to explain the step by step process he/she used for solving a problem. I can use it as a way for students to evaluate themselves. Since there is always more then one way to solve a problem, students could record their method on a word processor and through collaboration share and argue their methods for solving. There would be much less paper usage as well as red pen usage (they really hate that red pen!). I’m sure that as I commence my exploration of search engines and discover new sites with mathematical models, simulations, and applications, my ideas for word processing usage in my curriculum will expand.

So That's How!?!

I have always believed that technology should be incorporated into my teaching. It seems that the trend in teaching mathematics has always been to teach the processes, throw in some word problems (the word problems presented in many algebra texts haven’t changed much since I was a student many years ago), give written quizzes and tests which deal with the processes and proceed to the next chapter. But what do processes mean if a student has no idea why they are needed or where they are applied? The problem for me with incorporating technology has always been: there’s so much to choose from—where do I begin—what’s good—what fits in with my objectives—where do I find it………...
Now into the second course of the Masters program, it seems that the journey towards addressing these issues has begun. There is so much involved in planning a lesson. Standards must be addressed, objectives and goals must be defined, strategies for presenting must be planned, and then there is assessment and evaluation. Standards and objectives have expanded to meet the demands of the 21st century. MATC now has Core Abilities which are to be demonstrated by our students in our classrooms. These include: Collaborate with Others, Respect Diversity, Demonstrate Responsiliity, Think Critically, Apply Math and Science. Integrationg (key word--integrating) the proper technology into lesson plans can aid in addressing standards, objectives, and core abilities. I look forward to discovering the "hows", "whats", "wheres" of the integration process.

It's Twirling!

I'm in to my second week of the Masters program. Whereas last week my mind was racing with ideas, this week my mind is in overload (twirling) mode. Becoming aware of some of the wonderful tools "out there" is exciting. However, exploring these tools, searching for information about these tools, searching for layman definitions of the tech lingo, and becoming a user of these tools, either by joining or installing, has been very time consuming and at times, frustrating.

BUT LEARN I DID!

I now have partial knowledge of Social Bookmarking, Online Storage, and the use of Webcams. I do know that in order to really appreciate and understand what these tools have to offer, I must incorporate applying them into my computer usage routine.Since I regularly search for interesting math sites, my bookmark folder is out of control. Accessing one of them is time consuming and in reality, a cat and mouse game. On the other hand, Social Bookmarking with its use of tagging offers structure. Since it is social, having the option of accessing and sharing common tagged bookmarks from other users is very time saving and enlightening. Popular sites which I may never have found on my own stand out when sharing.

I'd like to incorporate Social Bookmarks into my curriculum as a tool for broadening my students' awareness of how the web can be incorporated into understanding, applying, and having fun with mathematics.Online Storage can be used to ease my nagging fear of some "catastrophic" event which would destroy all of my files. Being able to access my files from any computer and having many of my files in one place is also a plus. I still don't know how I feel about sharing my files. I'll have to work with the tool more before I can give an educated opinion about that.

Though I have never used a Webcam, I look forward to trying one out. The use of webcams seems like an answer to conducting meetings with fellow instructors who, because of different schedules, are extremely hard to gather at a set time at school. Again, with usage, I am sure I will be able to think of other exciting ways to use Webcam for interacting with my students.

To GeeksVille

Being a Mathematics Instructor in the Liberal Arts division at MATC is a challenge. On the first day of each new semester, three common sentences emanate from 120 of my 125 students:
“I hate math!”, “I can’t do math!”, “When will I ever use any of this stuff?”

As the semester proceeds, and I am forced to stuff these “math hating” students’ brains with too much material because the state insists that 3,000 topics be covered in 64 hours, I have to wonder if any of what they’ve learned will still be a part of their intellect even two days after the end of the course!

I am constantly trying to come up with innovative ways to make mathematics more meaningful, more user-friendly, and more interesting to my students. I’ve always known that one way to accomplish these goals is to incorporate technology into my courses; however, I’ve never been sure how to best do this.

After our first session last Tuesday, I could feel my brain coming alive with ideas! I thought the Learning Platform, Ning, was great. To be sitting in my kitchen with a cup of coffee, dressed in grubby clothes, having a bad hair day, and yet be a participant in a class was something I couldn’t have imagined even last year! (Yes, technology has definitely passed me by!).

I noted that some of the features that Ning supports are video, audio, whiteboard, power point, and interaction with its participants. One idea that passed through my brain was that Ning would be a great tool to use in order to communicate and interact with students when an instructor is absent.

I did notice that the WhiteBoard had an icon for Math—is this a tool similar to MathType? Can this tool be used to enter complicated mathematical symbols on the WhiteBoard?

Though the word “blog” is one that I often hear, this is the first time I’m creating one. Again, ideas..ideas..ideas. Since MATC is a technical college and most of my students are planning on enrolling in a technical program, I am going to have them interview instructors from their future programs to find out just how mathematics is used in that program. From there they will create blogs to be shared with their classmates. I can’t think of a better way for them to find out on their own exactly “what they’re going to use this stuff for!”. Blogger was a very user-friendly program with which most of my students should have no problem. Having students write blogs also addresses two of the MATC Core Abilities:
Communicate Effectively
b. Use effective written communication skills
c. Apply standard rules of language structure, including grammarand spelling


I am excited about this Masters program. My goal is to incorporate what I learn into my curriculum so that the three sentences: : “I hate math!”, “I can’t do math!”, “When will I ever use any of this stuff!” at the beginning of a semester are replaced with: “Wow, I love math!”, “Hey, I can do this stuff very easily”, and “Math is used in all things!” at the end of the semester.

I recently wrote a series of web pages for some of my students.

Here’s an example of one of them:

http://ecampus.matc.edu/laselvam/prealgebra/Alg.%20Expressions/mult.exp.htm

Another goal of mine is to make this page come alive for my students!