Teach Me How to Study!

For one of our interactivities, we had to come up with a list of helpful pieces of technology to use in a math classroom. One of those technologies, however, could be used for just about any subject. The website called SchoolTube, is very similar to that of YouTube. Instead of  a plethora of videos of dogs doing funny tricks or kids laughing at jokes, this website provides entertaining videos authored by students and/or teachers which have some educational value to them. One video really caught my attention, set to the beat of the popular song "Teach Me How To Dougie", but instead is entitled "Teach Me How to Study". It's a very clever way of getting across to fellow students some tips on creating successful study habits, all set to a beat of a song. We remember the lyrics to songs because we enjoy listening to them, so applying that same attitude towards educational concepts can be very helpful and entertaining in a classroom setting. Authoring/listening to educationally sound songs can help students retain information they might otherwise forget if taught by way of lecture and note-taking.

Here is the link to the video, "Teach Me How to Study" uploaded by user MsDumas.. Enjoy watching!

Interactivity 5: NETS Standards

I chose to interview an 8^th grade science teacher in the Clifton School District. For the purpose of keeping her identity private, I will refer to this particular teacher as Ms. Smith during the remainder of this blog entry. Ms. Smith teaches Physical Science, consisting of Genetics, Chemistry, Biology, and Environmental sciences.

Ms. Smith was not familiar with the NETS standards until I presented them to her during our interview. Although she’s never seen them, however, she noticed that many of the standards NETS outlines are ideas she already incorporates into her class on a day-to-day basis. Ms. Smith frequently uses a SMART Board in her lessons, and tries to make her science classes as engaging for the students as possible with the help of the technology she has available in her classroom.

After looking at the Clifton School District’s website along with asking Ms. Smith about the NETS Standards, I did not find any signs of implementation of the technology standards thus far. Ms. Smith did let me know that many of the classrooms at the middle school where she works are equipped with a SMART Board, and all of the classrooms have at least six computers for the students and teachers to make use of.

I was not very surprised at Ms. Smith’s responses, because after going back to my lesson plan spreadsheet for Interactivity 4 and adding in the NETS-S standards, I noticed that a good lesson already includes many of the standards outlined by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Ms. Smith also noticed this was evident in her personal lessons. She added that although the teachers in Clifton public schools are not required to align their lessons according to NETS standards, they do have to somehow note in their plans (by a simple way of highlighting for example) when technology is being used. She also said that another reason for Clifton not beginning the implementation of the NETS standards could be due to the diversity of the town. Because many of the students are English Language Learners (ELL’s), the teachers are required to not only align their lessons with their specific content, but also Language Arts. Adding yet another set of standards might be considered overkill.

As a future educator, I might try to make my fellow colleagues aware of these standards by talking with them about the NETS standards. Not only are the standards fairly easy to follow and straightforward, but they could also ensure a greater interaction between the students and the technology available in schools. We have seen that children today learn to use computers before they can read, so I think it’s safe to say that they could greatly benefit from having lessons aligned with the NETS standards.

Socrative: A New Way of Assessing Students

Socrative, a way to "engage the class using any device," is a website I have recently learned about in one of my classes this semester. A virtual way to assess students' knowledge on any particular topic, socrative.com allows for an instructor to construct an assessment the class can take live, in class.

The assessments can be constructed in a multiple choice, true/false, and free-response format, so the possibilities are endless for assessing the students. During the actual testing process, the students have to sign in with a room number given to the instructor during the sign up process for the program (which is absolutely free!). The teacher can then choose between a student-paced test or a teacher-paced test. The student-paced test allows the students to move at their own pace and move through the questions as quickly as they wish, whereas the teacher-paced test stops the students after each question. The teacher-paced option can be especially good to check for understanding after each question has been answered by the students, in order to see what concepts the students still need to review.

Because the student response system allows for the students to use devices they are familiar with (i.e. a cell phone, laptop, or tablet) and use recreationally, this is a good way to show them that their device can be used for other, educationally rich activities. Also, because this is something I haven't seen done in many classes, I think it could be a way to get the students interested in the lesson, and interact with the material much more, since they are so comfortable with technology.

Not only can it be helpful and interesting to students; it can also be a great tool for teachers. "Socrative saves me 80 minutes per week in grading time," says Kristina Buenafe, a Boston Public High School Math Teacher. It's a great tool to save time while assessing the students and their knowledge on any material.

Engaging Students and Enhancing Learning Through Free Technology

Here is a very helpful link I found for educators to taken advantage of... and it's free! This e-book contains step-by-step instructions on how to construct a blogging website, twitter account, author a YouTube video, all while making the activity educational. I will most definitely try to take full advantage of this gem during my student teaching next semester, and during my teaching career in the future.

Below, you will also find a video showing just how many journals and newspapers agree that this source is of value:

Interactivity 4: Teaching Math Using Technology with Purpose

I chose this particular lesson plan because it incorporated many student-centered learning strategies. From past experiences as well as formal interviews conducted with current students, I believe student-centered learning is much more effective than teacher-centered learning. Being that this was a review lesson, it was the perfect setting for student-centered learning, since the students should be familiar with the material. It gives the students a chance, then, to think critically when being presented with a more interactive lesson.

I believe that the lesson met the goals set forth at the beginning of the lesson plan. If possible, however, I would use a SmartBoard instead of an overhead projector, because the SmartBoard allows for student interactivity much more than a blackboard or overhead projector, by way of programs such as Geometer’s Sketchpad. Before sharing their findings with the whole class, I would allow for the students to talk to one another in small groups. By first working in small groups, students can become more confident in their answer, and would be more inclined to want to share their findings with the whole class. Since students often feel more comfortable asking their peers questions about a concept they did not grasp rather than asking the teacher, this could serve as an opportunity for peer teaching to occur in the classroom.

The SmartBoard as well as the program Geometer’s Sketchpad were essential as far as showing the students how the movement of one point of a triangle can change its classification. It allowed for students to ask critical thinking questions and make assumptions about the different types of triangles that would be formed based on the orientation of the point being moved. The blackboard/SmartBoard/overhead also were necessary for students to take accurate notes when going over the proofs.

Links:
Spreadsheet
Lesson Plan

Let's Tweet About Something Educational For A Change...

At Roosevelt High School in Mineeapolis, Minnesota, students are being engaged in the classroom in a new way: Twitter. This video I found on YouTube shows just how engaging the activities in this particular english class can be.

I wonder how we could incorporate something as engaging into a more rigid curriculum such as Mathematics... any ideas?

Math Is Fun! Let me show you..

There are many fun, yet educational games out there for teachers to use. In one class this semester, we played a game called Math vs. Cockroaches, which can easily be turned into a review lesson on the slope-intercept form.

The game eliminates some Math anxiety by putting a mathematics concept in the form of a video game. I really enjoy this idea, as well as the educational purposes of it.