530 Week 5

Pecha Kucha

My Pecha Kucha has gone through some evolution. I have come to the realization that some old habits are hard to break. I have so many more slides to show to get my point across. The point is, less is more! There is always room for improvement. I can always write another one. I have to think of entertainers who have the mantra "Always keep your audience wanting more". Furthermore, if the audience is not enjoying my Pecha Kucha, would I really want to subject them to one that is longer than 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Rubrics

What a contradiction to the Pecha Kucha! I will admit my ignorance of Rubrics when I began teaching. Having gone through a proficiency based licensure program, I had no idea what a rubric was when I first got in front of a class. I believe rubrics complicate grading tremendously. I understand why they are used, in that, they supposedly spell out every contingency for a students grade, but in the eyes of this math teacher, they exacerbate something that could be so simple, percentages on tests, quizzes and homework.

Did I cut my own throat here?

Scatterbrained thoughts after Week 4:

See if you can follow all of the tangents I go on. The good thing about it is, if you have to comment on my blog, I’ll give you plenty of different topics from which to choose.

It’s kind of strange, the way I am looking at the world after being in these Stritch classes, especially Digital Storytelling. I find myself being more aware of all the stories that are constantly being told around me…

My wife and I just subscribed to AT&T Uverse. Part of the package that we received includes some premium channels. As of yesterday, we are receiving even more channels as some kind of promo. It’s just what I need, more channels/distractions. I haven’t mentioned that I am a TV junkie. As I do homework, I like to have something on in the background.

Since we have a week off from class, I woke up this morning (Saturday) and thought I could channel surf the 300+ channels now streaming into my home and find at least one worth while thing to watch. I found one of my favorite movies of all time, “Patton” with George C. Scott. As I watched, I thought, here is a great digital story. It may have originally been put to film with analog technology, but as true as I sit here, it is streaming in as “1’s” and “0’s”. During the film, at critical points, there is this recurring music made from what sounds like a marching band or parts thereof. This music gives a “joyous” and “happy” mood when things are going well for Patton and the American Army. The same score is played in the minor or flat notes and yields a “sad” and seemingly “haunting” mood when happenings do not go well. It is a powerful use of repetition and mood enhancement, I thought.

As I was watching some of the college football games today, there was a story the announcers brought up about one of the student athletes being adopted. This was after his father abandoned him and his mother passed away. I wish I had heard the whole story.

It even occurred to me that commercials in between and interrupting programs quite often tell a short story. This had occurred to me before, but never so resounding.

Gotta go! Another story is starting, “The Hurt Locker”.

Thoughts for Week 3 - 530

Signal to Noise Ratio

This is a phrase that I haven't heard since I was performing analyses on water and soil samples. I recall reading in some of the manuals in order to confirm and be certain the signal came from the sought after analyte, the S to NR had to be 3 to 1 or better. This 3 to 1 ratio is referred to as the detection limit. But one also had to be aware of interfering analytes that emitted signals in close proximity as well...

If you have ever listened to two people talking at the same time about entirely different topics and their voices were at the same volume/loudness and you tried to concentrate on what one of them was saying (the signal), the other would be considered the noise. In this situation, the signal to noise ratio would be considered 1 to 1. Attempting to concentrate on what the signal is broadcasting is a difficult thing to do in this scenario and is far below the limit of detection. In other words, the person you want to hear has to be talking about 3 times louder than the other person in order for you just to be confident that you are actually hearing what they are saying, let alone understand it. That brings in the concept of limit of quantification, which I won't get into. Let me just say, obviously the bigger the signal to noise ratio, the better.

The point that I am trying to make is: It excites me to remember some of the information from earlier classes and experience and tie it in with this one. I called upon a previous understanding of signal to noise ratio to further my understanding of what it can be applied to. Seems kinda silly to make such a big deal out of it, but I get the idea [and buy into it 'cause I felt it happen to me] of my students having to tie the information into something they know in order to understand it and undergo deeper cognition.

Thoughts for week 2 - 530

When I taught Geometry a few years back, I used to spend a couple days on something I called "Story time". During "Story time" I read some of the stories that were printed in my college textbooks. One of the stories told of the evolution of human beings' understanding of the irrational number, Pi. The story describes how originally people thought the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter (what Pi happens to be) was three. As more people made more measurements through history and knowledge grew, the approximation steadily got better.

Another story I would share was the tragic tale of French mathematician, Evariste Galois. The quadratic formula had been solved for centuries. The cubic and quartic were solved somewhere in the 1500's. In the advent of these solutions being determined, mathematicians looked for the solution to the quintic. For over 250 years, mathematicians tried. According to the story I read to my students, it occurred to Galois that perhaps there was no solution. He developed his theory, proved it, wrote his paper and submitted it for review. The reviewer lost it. Galois wrote another paper and submitted it. The reviewer died before reading it. He again submitted it. This time the reviewer did not possess the intellect to understand it. At the age of 20 before getting the acknowledgement for his crowning achievement, he was forced into a duel (the circumstances remain unclear). Knowing he had little chance of surviving, he wrote his thoughts and ideas feverishly the night before his demise.

The moral of these stories is the proof of us standing on the shoulders of giants. We need to further their legacies and honor their work instead of taking it for granted.

Finding some biographical histories for some of these giants could give another reason for students to study mathematics. Perhaps these biographies could be put into voicethread by students as a way to get "cross-curricular" and create some digital stories.

1st Blog of 530, "Digital Storytelling"

What do I hope to learn?

Until 4 days ago, I was under the impression that anytime I put together a Powerpoint presentation for my students, it was a good thing. I knew they were far from perfect, but I felt anytime I could introduce material in a different manner, it would keep my class fresh and alive. In fact, the other day as I showed my Trig class part of a presentation that I was putting together for them to introduce matrices, I recall a student saying, "I've never seen a Powerpoint done for math before". I rather enjoyed hearing that.

Today, I am hoping the presentations I put so much time and effort into writing and editing did more good than harm. I am lucky to be married to a woman who is a very talented artist. At times, I will ask her to critique my work in Powerpoint (I like to put some related illustration or picture into most slides). She will not "sugar coat" her opinion to save my feelings, which I appreciate. Her favorite phrase, when passing along her view is, "Less is More". In this regard, she has saved students numerous times from being overwhelmed by too much information, too quickly.

I hope to learn how to create more memorable and effective means of passing along information to my students. I am looking forward to having my presentation critiqued by the class and Louis.

Similarities & Differences, Homework & Practice and Generating and Testing Hypothesis

Some intro thoughts...

I think the best thing that is happening to me as I venture forward in this Master's Program is the Brainstorming that is occurring in my head. Unfortunately, there is not enough time in the day to put all my thoughts to paper (or to the laptop). This morning I watched "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour (ABC News) as a sort of gift to myself for being so productive in the past 2 days. It had a town hall meeting with members of the Islamic community conversing with Christians about whether or not to fear members of the Islamic faith. A great deal of fascinating dialog was exchanged between the participants.

I jotted down a few ideas, since I was prompted to do so and send it to ABC News. I haven't finished my thoughts - not enough time. So I haven't sent it yet. I won't bore, you, the reader with what I feel are my epiphanies. Although one of them is the new host's name, Christiane Amanpour (Ironic and yet apropos that the host should have a most assuredly Christian 1st name and Arabic sounding surname - looked her up on wikipedia - Iranian Father/British Mother).

I finished addressing 2 of the 3 prompts for our "group discussion" assignments and realized I hadn't entered this blog. I read the 2 chapters of the book Friday night and Saturday morning.

I learned, somewhat slowly, that I should read the chapters from the book first and not do them in the order of how it's written in the overview for the week.

Before posting the blog, I just thought I'd explore the "It's a Wild Ride" site. How cool is that?

Just one more thing before posting the blog, look at the Clay Shirky videos. BLOWN AWAY!!!

I will have to watch them at least a half dozen times to try to understand everything that is being stated, that is to make meaning of all of it. That is to find the similarities and differences to concepts I already understand, so I can comprehend everything that he is sharing.

On to the blog...kinda feel my hands are tied, in that, I don't want to write about the strategies studied this week. I already wrote about 2 of the 3 in my group discussion posts. I want to write about Clay Shirky's insights and my insights after watching "This Week". I can't cause it's late and I have to finish preparing what I'm teaching my students tomorrow.

Similarities and Differences - see group discussion post

Homework and Practice -excerpt from my group discussion post follows...

I do recall a time when a comment to my teacher about an assignment changed the entire class for the rest of the year (and this was one of the very first days of school). I had the privilege of learning the German language for 3 years with one of the best teachers ever. By the end of our second year, we were reading short stories and novellas “auf Deutsch” and novels by the end of our third. Unfortunately, he could not afford to remain teaching at the High School I attended. A new German teacher was hired and in one of our first classes, she brought in magazines written in English and wanted us to cut out pictures of animals to make posters. She called the assignment “Die Tiere” (The animals). Once she finished explaining the assignment, which did not take very long, and was spoken in English, I could not help myself. Without regard to her feelings or the consequences I might incur, I said “Wir sind nicht in Kindergarten” (We are not in Kindergarten). I did not mean to hurt her feelings, but the assignment was so condescending - so much, that I needed to say it. From that point forward, our German class was a sort of cooperative learning group. We continued to read novels and, I believe, taught the new teacher some valuable lessons as well as some German.

Generating and Testing Hypothesis

I haven't read the chapter on this in the book yet (but having been a chemist for a number of years prior to teaching, I have been acquainted with making a living practicing the scientific method) . I have to get to what I will show my students tomorrow. I have generated the hypothesis that "I have shared enough information in this blog that demonstrates I have learned the material for this week and that my instructor will give me full credit for this blog entry". I anxiously await the results of my hypothesis...

Cooperative Learning and Reinforcing Effort

Cooperative Learning:

A few years ago, I created an assignment that involved students cooperatively building a bridge made of popsicle sticks, string, construction paper and elmer’s glue. The ultimate goal of the assignment was to show students how algebraic formulas work and what factors (variables, mathematical operations and their locations in the formula) influence the output of the “bridge equation. So I developed a formula that I thought encompassed all of the parameters. In a flash of inpiration, I included an aesthetic multiplier in the formula. This aesthetic multiplier was an average of a rating each student assigned to a finished bridge by secret ballot.

I arranged students in groups of 3 to 4 members. One of the problems that I encountered was too few jobs for too many people. What I mean by that is, I found in some of my groups the vast majority of the work was done by 1 or 2 of the group’s members. I enacted this lesson in a class that some students have excessive absences and I although I clearly spelled out the points awarded to the group for the finished product, I did not address how individual grades would be affected by absence(s).

Where the assignment was effective:
In the formula that I developed as the assessment tool, I placed the length of the bridge (minimum 24 inches) and the load (weight in pounds) it could support “cubed” in the numerator and the number of popsicle sticks “squared” times the number of bottles of glue “to the fourth” times in the denominator (I didn’t buy alot of glue and did not wish to have the students douse their bridge with glue prior to presenting to the class, a practical lesson in the cost of materials). The students were witness to how the materials in the denominator (to various powers) would detract from their “bridge index” and how strong their bridge was and its length would increase the index. Before construction began, I introduced the formula to them and gave them example numbers to “plug in” to the formula to see how the output index was calculated. After showing example pictures of bridges I stressed how aesthetically pleasing the bridges were. One of the best outcomes that I did not foresee was how honest (and critcal) the aesthetically pleasing factor played out. The ratings by secret ballot were from 1 to 5 with 5 being the most pleasing to the eye. The ratings were very uniform even when the students rated their own work.
The stress test was an exciting day for the groups presenting as well. I hung a 5 gallon bucket with dumb bell weights from the center of their bridges to find the maximum load sustained by their bridge. The student were witness to how their efforts and attention to detail in construction paid off in finding the critical load and ultimate failure of their bridge.

Where the assignment broke down:
Since individual job titles were not defined or assigned, I did not account for how the students would be individually affected by lack of effort or absence. If and when I choose to use this lesson again, I will have job titles assigned by the group’s members and address the absence issue. Clearly defined titles, responsibilities and an individual post stress test evaluation form will promote active engagement and learning by all.

Reinforcing Effort:

After writing so much for the cooperative learning prompt, I'll keep this short.

During my teaching career, I have always tried to put myself into my students shoes and try to remember what was occupying my thoughts while a high school student. I must admit it wasn't always on my studies, but school came easy for me for the most part. In reading the first part of the reinforcing effort chapter, there is a scenario in which a student blames his genetics on the fact that he is not succeeding in mathematics. In particular, he says his mom wasn't good at math either. (My mother was not the best math student either, but she did instill in me the importance of education.) I believe some of the problem with this student could also be that neither the student or his mother see the importance of learning math. This defeatist attitude and indifference to learning math that occurs more often than I'd like to admit is all the more reason for me to reinforce any effort put forth.

Feedback that Fits and Strategies Reactions

Reaction to "Feedback that Fits"

I must admit of a couple of things that jumped out at me while reading the article. In particular, had I assigned the Dog/Cat paragraph assignment to the 4th grade student named Anna, it is most likely that I would have corrected her paper in the exact manner as the example showed. Also, it would most likely be the only personalized feedback she received from me for that work.

Another thing I noticed was, the author stated several times to try to put yourself into your students position. When and how would you like to receive feedback and so forth. I do try to put myself in their shoes. I try to remember what was going on in my world when I was at the age my students are and what was important to me.

Before reading this article, I finished correcting the 1st Trig test I gave for this academic year. I have 26 in my 6th hour and 30 in my 7th. The average score in 6th hour was a 74% and a whopping 65% in my 7th. I thought I had them prepared. I need some feedback! And I need to give some group feedback to both classes. I may be posting an addendum tomorrow night - post feedback.

Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers

From a few years back when I taught Geometry...

I can think of a time that I asked my students to explain the number, Pi (3.1415926535...), to me. I began my lesson by quoting one of my college textbooks of the values for Pi that ancient civilizations believed. The oldest approximation being 3, of course, and getting more and more accurate as the centuries passed. I recall them laughing at the approximations (which was somewhat unexpected the 1st year I used the lesson, but played into my favor). After the laughter subsided, I asked "What gives you the right to laugh, have you ever proven what Pi is? And how do you know what you believe about its value is correct?" I proceeded to show them a Powerpoint presentation (that took me an incredible amount of time to create, but reaped benefits for the several years that followed, as I said, when I taught Geometry). The presentation was created using the classic example of finding the perimeter of regular polygons starting with an equilateral triangle and dividing it by 2 times a "psuedo" radius, then increasing the number of sides. The result for Pi converges to its accepted value as the number of sides approaches infinity. The students loved it. I believe its success came from using their knowledge of beginning trigonometric functions, but also from the visuals I provided to finally see why Pi is Pi. Also they enjoyed something out of the "norm", as I said I used a presentation in Powerpoint which isn't my normal "Modus Operandi".

Non-linguistic Representation

The first idea that came to mind while reading the chapter dealing with non-linguistic representation was an idea I try to work into my classes each year. It is the idea that mathematics is a language full of symbols, syntax rules and order that represents bigger concepts. In fact, I inform my students that the physical sciences are basically the study of using mathematics to describe the world around them. And the last point I make is to ask my students, "If aliens from another world landed on earth tomorrow, how do you think we would communicate with them?" It would not be with any language from earth; the only language that is universal is mathematics. So if mathematics is a language then it is a linguistic representation and I must come up with some more non-linguistic representations, such as, "stomping my foot" at 4:4 time, then stomping whole note beats to represent the idea that 4 quarter notes comprise one full note just as 4 quarters equal 1 and so forth. This representation would address kinesthetic, audio and visual learners (very crudely yet effectively).

Summarizing and Note Taking

Being a math teacher, I have to say I am already in tune with summarizing the topics introduced to students. I think the best information that I learned from this chapter is the different tools and features that I did not know existed within Microsoft Word. The summarizing tool and configuring templates among others will be learned by this user.

Some thoughts after the 1st night of class and the Meta-Analysis

I will admit, somewhat reluctantly, that while taking classes to become certified to teach, I looked at most of the information as a lot of “fluff”. With phrases used, like “every student can learn and succeed”, I said to myself, “Yeah, yeah, give me something I can use”. I don’t know if I have reached a turning point, but some of the information I now read, which is related to improving my strategies and techniques, is beginning to make more sense.

Two points resonated with me as I taught classes the 2 days after the first class of CEdo525. Those are: 1) the best way to improve student understanding of material is to show similarities and differences to what they already know. 2) communicate not only what the goals are for the entire class, but from day to day.

With so many great ideas to consider of how to introduce myself to students and what to do the first day, I wish I had read the article the week before school started instead of the week after.

Quite often - in years past - after being done with a class I have “taught” I felt like I went through the motions. This year I am becoming more cognizant of what I need to improve upon. It seems so obvious in hind sight that I haven’t shared the daily goal often enough with my students.

After reading the Meta-Analysis (and before reading the intro to Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works):

Keep in mind upon reading the following that the book intro explains some of my misunderstanding below:

If reading this article and posting a response was a means to “find a cynic”, here I am. I prefer the term "skeptic", however.

From the abstract:

“…The mean of the study-weighted effect sizes averaging across all outcomes was .410 (p < .001), with a 95-percent confidence interval (CI) of .175 to .644. This result indicates that teaching and learning with technology has a small, positive, significant (p < .001) effect on student outcomes when compared to traditional instruction.”

and

“On the other hand, the mean study-weighted effect size for the 3 studies that contained behavioral outcomes was -.091, indicating that technology had a small, negative effect on students’ behavioral outcomes.”

What is the study-weighted effect size, what does it measure?

I get the feeling spending all the money that districts do on computers isn’t justified if the results show just a “small” positive significant effect. I wonder what spending the money to hire more teachers, thus, changing the class sizes would do in comparison? And just what does a small, negative effect on students’ behavioral outcomes mean?

What was measured?

The article also states:

“Swan and Mitrani (1993), for example, compared the classroom interactions between high school students and teachers involved in (a) computer-based instruction and (b) traditional instruction. They found that student-teacher interactions were more student-centered and individualized during computer-based teaching and learning than in traditional teaching and learning.”

Am I missing something? The preceding sentences from the article state something that is as obvious as the following. Let’s say you only eat food with a knife and fork. The more you use the fork, the less you will use the knife…

Am I cutting my own throat here?

A couple of things I had to research and/or look up: Meta-analyses is a big study made up of a bunch of little studies (which by the way, the article says originally 200 little studies were retrieved and only 42 of them were used, the others were thrown out for various somewhat ambiguous reasons). Effect size is the output of a meta-analyses. It involves a weighted average based on sample sizes of the smaller studies. (How is the weighted average set up? Who decides how to weigh things? Or is there some agreed upon way? And what about those studies that were "thrown out"?)

The last paragraph of the conclusion is:

“There are, of course, many unanswered questions about the effects of teaching and learning with technology on students’ outcomes. We maintain, however, that research can play a critical role in answering some of these questions. Policymakers, however, will need to invest more money on research in technology. The findings from this research synthesis suggest that more and better research needs to be funded and conducted by researchers in this area. Although recognition of the uniqueness of each school and classroom situation will always need to be considered, the accumulation of research evidence over time and across studies may provide consistent findings that enhance our understandings of the role of teaching and learning with technology.”

What I read between the lines:

unanswered questions = disclaimer so if part of our study is disproved, we are not responsible

Policymakers will need to invest more money = We need a new study cause this one is over and we’re out of grant money (kinda getting hungry)

…findings from this research synthesis suggest that more and better research needs to be funded… = We don’t want to eat at anything less than a 4 star restaurant.

Having been an analytical chemist, I know how to use statistics to prove something. I am well aware of what the 95% confidence interval means, that is, within ±2 standard deviations of the mean (95 out of 100 times the next bit of data will fall within that interval). I have no idea, since I didn’t see it specified in the meta-analysis, of how it is justified that technology integrated in the classroom is better than without. After all, how are students from the United States falling behind students from other countries in academic achievement that certainly don’t have the money for technology in their classrooms?

I do, however, believe students can achieve more with technology, but how much technology? Yet another study...

Coincidences? Or just more awareness?

I'm somewhat embarrassed to say, I have never been one to get much of my knowledge of the news from the newspaper. I am in the habit of watching the local news at 5 pm and national news at 5:30 pm. After "tweaking" my browser, I have headlines for articles posted from CNET.

We had recently discussed [in class] people's opinions of "wikipages". To trust or not to trust. Then, there it was - an article about polling, supposedly knowledgeable, people about their faith or lack thereof in "wikipages".

Our current assignment list has an task dealing with "Ethics and Privacy" on the web - How safe do you feel? Here we go again with a timely subject. Facebook launched "Places" just last night. "Places" will post on the web in real time, photos and videos, of where you are. If on vacation, do you really want to tell the world you are away from your home and won't be back for a while?

The first CNET article on "Places" did not ask this question and I felt obligated to e-mail the author to notify her of my thoughts. Today, another author addressed that scenario.

A text message/bank scam was one of the stories on the local news.

If our current class had gone one more week, I wonder what topics we would have covered...

It's been kinda spooky!

Thoughts for August 11

Two linked google docs, linked the same way or so I thought. One works, the other doesn't. I have no clue why. I am going to leave it for a while. There is the question of to share with the world or just the Stritch community when one proceeds to share the doc. Both are done the same way. Still no clue...a little frustrated...

Gone too soon after bringing us 4 years of joy!

I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends today. She was hit by a truck and the end happened quickly - without any pain. I never thought I could get so attached to an animal, but if you knew "Waffles", you know she was a dear member of our family. She had as much personality as any living thing I ever knew...

The house will not be the same without her...

What a model she was for unconditional love and tolerance!

We love and miss you, Girl, we will never forget you!

1st Blog of 520

AJAX - Asynchronous JavaScript XML or something like that.

I want to learn Java, partly because I want to know what is currently being used in the world of programming and partly because I could be the one to teach the class at my school, once I learn it. I think that the other programming languages are all archaic (the ones I know, that are not supported by the latest computers).

Now, in our readings, I came across this "AJAX" term and I want to know about it. I can't even fathom how complex the computer is, much less, how complex the interactions between them must be!

I was browsing through the Cohort Home Webpage and I came across the Instructional Technology Department Information page. I saw the description of the Masters of Science in Instructional Technology and compared it the Masters of Education in Instructional Technology. I couldn't help but think, "What are they learning that I am not?" Probably, Java among other things.

I also read that we, the cohort, are required to submit an updated portfolio and culminating experience at the end of the program. Is the portfolio something we can start now so it is not so daunting next summer?

Thoughts, anyone?

As always, A LOT TO SAY...spreadsheets, my history with them

I remember being introduced to Microsoft Excel some 17 years ago. I was shown the application [in Excel] of using “linear regression” to calculate the concentrations of analytes, mostly heavy metals, in effluent water and/or industrial waste produced by the manufacturing of heat exchange products.

I was a lowly worker in a laboratory, with the title, “Chem Lab Tech 1”. It was the lowest rung on the ladder in the quest to forge a career, and make a little money in the meantime. I never realized where my life’s journey would take me from there…

Up to the point where I began to see where statistics truly has a purpose, I hated it. (In this regard, I can relate to those students who I am charged with teaching some specific topics that they hate.) The reason I hated it so much is that I didn’t understand it. What do you mean once I get an answer, I can only be 95% sure of its accuracy? And it lies within a window of this accuracy? That answer is an “outlier”! What? I don’t get it! As far as stats was concerned, I wanted to be the outlier!

Excel was enchanting to me; it took the data that I was generating from some expensive piece of analytical equipment and magically changed those numbers into useful answers (in a matter of microseconds, instead of hours of me punching the numbers into my calculator – God forbid, if I would have had to “crunch the numbers” by hand). It told me whether or not to tell the environmental engineer in charge of the plant, to keep the lines running or shut them down. Ah, what power I had (at least, in my own mind)! It was there that I finally understood the concepts of confidence intervals, variance, degrees of freedom, correlation coefficients and outliers, etc. I was finally an “inlier”! I had arrived.

I need to find ways to excite my students, energizing their motivation to become as passionate and enthusiastic about mathematics as I am. In this manner, I wish to show them applications involving computer and other technologies as the springboard. Utilizing spreadsheets was a turning point for me.

I have already used spreadsheets to show students the amortization of a bank loan, the maximization of the volume of a cylinder and right rectangular prism with the amount of surface area being held constant, the generation of the number pi by adding sides, ad infinitum, to a regular polygon and calculating the perimeter to pseudo-diameter ratio, graphing polynomials, in particular, parabolas to find the “zeros/solutions” and vertices, etc. all by using Microsoft Excel. Every time I have used these lessons, I have gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback from my students. I need to create/find more resources for these type of activities.

1st Blog of 515

Having read only the first chapter in the book, I have to get accustomed to some of its nuances (and in my initial opinion, faux pas) in order to acquire what is really being said. In other words, I had big problems, at first, with some of the ideas being stated. In particular on page 16 entitled, “Teacher’s Role” – focus is now on student learning, instead of teacher teaching (Huh? What kind of psychobabble am I reading?) I thought for something to be taught, something has to be learned. But after much contemplation, I have to agree with the book. Most of the time I spend planning for instruction, I am focused on what actions I will perform and statements I will make, rather than, how the students will respond and demonstrate their understanding. I could do my thing in an empty classroom and call it teaching, but no one is learning. I have more and more empathy with each passing year of what my students must be thinking when what comes out of my mouth sounds like some of the things I read earlier without time to reflect, critique, analyze and process.

I took the true/false quiz before reading the first chapter to see what I knew or thought I knew prior. I was shocked when I found the answer being sought for number 7, “According to this text, learning occurs best when it is technology driven”, was false. (“Technology has not been shown overall to be effective at increasing student achievement”, pg 13) Although, the text does throw a few disclaimers out there to justify itself and seemingly contradicts itself in the 4^th line of Figure 1.6 pg 16 (“Technology can help make learning more effective by providing a great wealth of resources and allowing students choices). I guess it depends on the definitions of the words “overall” and “help”.

I really got a kick out of the heading “What is Learning?” on pg 9. Upon reading something like this, I believe most of us would formulate a quick definition, then read further, to see if we were right or maybe close. The book never defines learning in its following lines of text. It just makes mention of two theories of what it is and that is given in Figure 1.2. It does, however, say it will be addressed in chapter 2. What a teaser!!! (I think I focused on this since I gave a definition in class and wanted to see if I was close or way off.)

These examples and some others will definitely impact my job, in that, I will be more aware of giving time for students to reflect, critique, analyze and process information that I present. I have been guilty in the past of not giving enough “lag time”. I also need to concentrate more on asking a student or student(s) to “play back” what was just proffered by me and articulate to the class the information (I attempted to convey) and its usage (so that I can assess understanding or any misunderstanding).

Post Script – The answer I gave for #7 true/false was supposed to be “true” after all. I found out when I submitted my answers to be corrected. I don’t agree.

The last blog for 510. Instructions: What did you learn?

There are too many tangents I could go on to list everything that I have learned in 510 and upon completing and publishing this entry I am sure I will think of a few more.

So I will try to limit it to mentioning a few things that were most impressive to me:

Operating systems:

I was ecstatic when I learned of the different operating systems that I could download for free. My old “Compaq” will have new life. I can’t wait to have the time to play around with “Ubuntu” and “Linux Mint”. I may partition the hard drive to use both. I now refer to that computer as “Lazarus”, that is, back from the dead. I had heard of different operating systems, like OS 2 Warp from years ago (from IBM?), but never tried to learn anymore about them since I didn’t know enough or whom to ask. Now, I don’t have to ask anyone. Knowledge is liberating, indeed!

Hardware:

Tearing apart my old computer from ’94 was therapeutic as well as educating. I looked at the CPU with its built in fan and “heat-sink” design and it brought back some lessons learned from taking Physical Chemistry and working at a company that dealt in “heat transfer” years ago. A great deal of heat is generated from current running through millions of transistors. It is an enemy of the productivity and efficiency of the CPU.

I have got to take another look at the RAM assignment that a colleague presented (and do a little of my own research). I want know what I am talking about, as well as, buy the most effective upgrade for my current computer or my next computer.

I now know to look for the correct type of DVDs for my DVD RW+ drive before purchasing. I didn’t know there was a difference between RW+ and RW +/- prior to this class.

Security:

I have more of an understanding of Malware. I used to be cynical about buying anti-virus software when some can be found for free. The features, efficiency and thoroughness of the software is definitely an issue here. I was excited to read independent reviews and find the software package that I will be purchasing. In researching the security assignment, I now know the steps to take and in what order to make my system and network safe.

In closing, I have also learned the correct usage and meaning of many terms/jargon used in techie talk, once again, it feels liberating!

Computer Security and Optimization

I am always leery of my two kids using my computer. Their ages are 22 and 19 so I don't have my computer set up to block specific sites. If I were to be in charge of setting up a network at school, I can't imagine where I would start to try to block all of the sites that kids are capable of visiting. I think I am relatively safe with the sites that I visit, but I have some e-mails sent to me that some of my friends get carried away with. It gives me some sense of security when whatever software in charge states "no virus" detected before I am allowed access to a download, but I am not entirely convinced they are free of malicious activity. Remembering the "I love you" e-mail from years ago that infected so many computers. Who would not be intrigued with that as the subject line? Sent to me, I have to open it!

I do have a free antivirus program that I run. It is called "Avast" for non-commercial purposes. I do recall loading it on my old HP tower which has since passed and it felt great the 1st time I ran it and it found some viruses and quarantined or expunged them. I am all about the free bees but they do give me some grief in worrying are they working as well as something I would pay for.

I do try to manage my files somewhat and rid my hard drive of files that I haven't used in a long time. I could do a better job of this, but the hard drive has so much memory that it doesn't seem necessary or important enough to do all that often. I do have my hard drive scheduled to defrag at regular intervals.

Knowledge of a Computer's Inner Workings

Why is it important to understand my computer’s hardware and boot up sequence?

Just off the top of my head.

Every component takes memory and power to run. Let’s say I will be on a flight going somewhere. My battery has only a finite amount of time that it will last before I will need to power it up again. I could create a boot disk that would only “start up” the necessary components that I will use en route to my destination, thereby allowing me to work longer – saving my battery life.

A couple of things on the knowledge of the inner workings of the components of the computer:

The whole “blue ray” technology allows more memory to be stored on the finite area of a disk. To my understanding, blue has a smaller wavelength than red and therefore uses less space. I believe the next big thing could be ultraviolet lasers to store and read memory. Ultraviolet has an even smaller wavelength than blue. Does the color of the ray need to be in the visible spectrum?

Quite possibly the resolution of the latest cameras have gotten too good and consequently causes the digital files to take a lot of memory. This might cause someone to try to upload files that take an incredible amount of time, when the resolution that they took their pictures at was overkill. This happened to me last night. I watched my computer try to upload a file that was 111 MB, that’s right 111 Million Bytes. This took over 2 hours. When it was done the location to which I was uploading said the file was too big. I don’t know why it didn’t tell me as the 2 hours started and not when it was done. This may not have the most to do with the inner workings of my computer, but it is on my mind now. Thankfully I have a wife who knows quite a bit about imaging software and she was able to scale down the sizes of my pictures, thus making the powerpoint presentation smaller and “uploadable”. Consequently, I was able to get my assignment done on time. A little more knowledge about the relative sizes of files is now in my memory bank…

My Computer Experience (in a nutshell)

The first computer class that I took was Basic Computer Programming in high school. We worked on TRS-80’s (Tandy from Radio Shack). I can remember writing short programs that would do some redundant operation. I was very impressed, but I didn’t see that computers would encompass all that they do today. It is one of my biggest regrets that I didn’t get a degree in programming (along with my math degree) or at least try. I found programming to be so logical. Some memories include “swap routines” and “dimensioning arrays” and trying to figure out what was happening with the data that was being input to a 4 dimensional array (I recall a friend telling me to envision a row of Rubik's cubes with drawers in each dimension of each cube, it worked!). I still find myself writing programs to calculate data for tasks that I perform often.

I want to take Visual Basic and Java classes to be able to program on 64 bit computers like I used to on older computers. I have put together some Excel spreadsheets that will generate some problems and results that I use to test students understanding of concepts, for instance, 2 by 2, 3 by 3 matrices, lines, parabolas and their solutions/characteristics, etc. I have also written some spreadsheets that calculate information for golf leagues and outings. The limitation in these spreadsheets is that they are “static”. I wish to have some programs that are “dynamic”, in other words, the programs will ask the user for occasional input and process his/her answers leading him/her to some subroutines (applets?) that will further the results that he/she is looking for. I have tried to learn some Visual Basic on my own. I experimented with macros, but only slightly. The problem that I encountered was the computer that I would run the macro on sooner or later would give some warning as to the possibility that my macro was a “virus” and would ask for the administers password or would not run the macro altogether.

Skype

Wow! I am just so excited about this skyping. I used the free (10 minute Skype to land line) 1st call to call a friend in Michigan. He listened to me for 9 minutes and 55 seconds walk him through setting his computer up in Skype. As he found the camera that he has never used, I talked him through showing me his screen and me showing him mine. Very Cool, but no good deed goes unpunished. His good deed of listening to me and having me show him this technology now obligates him to perform a video conference with my Trig class. He, being an engineer at Ford Motor Co., would be a great choice to finally answer the question, "Mr. Martin when am I ever gonna use this stuff". I can't wait to let him know.

I also have a friend who is taking some classes at MATC in Microsoft Office applications. I have run over to his house on occasion to help him see some of the things that I know. Now, I can just have him set up a skype account and walk him through some of the features by sharing his screen with me. So very cool!

If and when it should happen that I have a student that is home bound with an illness or something of that nature, I am wondering how and where to set up the camera and computer so that the student can join the class and get something out of it. Using skype in conjunction with a smart board seems like a daunting, but challenging task to undertake. I'll have to practice that one.

My mind is racing with thoughts and ideas. Wonder when I'll be able to fall asleep tonight.

Social Bookmarking, Web Cams and Online storage

If nothing else, these first 2 weeks of class have helped me to organize some of my documents and bookmarking. I have done little with the "Social Bookmarking" but am starting to realize its significance the more I use it. If I were to set up a network with my students we could all share the most useful websites to help them with their questions and applications of mathematics.

One of the most effective teaching techniques, in my opinion, is the use of cross-curricular activities. In the past, I have had students collaborate on the building of a bridge with popsicle sticks - given an equation to rate it and so forth, that has students try to solve a problem together (which allows them to use Communication, Physics, Math, etc.). If students can "tie together" some aspect from my discipline, mathematics, with any other subject such as history or English, etc. it will help them to understand concepts more. We are currently in a communications explosion with no signs of a slow down. Using a "web cam" to link one of my math classes to another math class elsewhere in the country, (or world, time difference would pose a problem) would provide a lesson in more subjects than I can begin to list... Also an assignment given to my students such as "Given a certain topic (Pythagorean Theorem, The number, Pi, The number, e, etc.) collaborate on a paper with another student as to when the topic was it conceived or developed, who did the conception or developing, why did they do it, and what are its uses today" would cause them to think differently about the topic. It would cause them to look at the subject of mathematics in an entirely different way. It would also give them exposure to Google Docs and, perhaps, some online storage applications for pictures, diagrams, videos and so forth. Brainstorming is such an awesome thing at times!!!

3rd time a charm, I think I've got it!!!!

Is it possible that I am starting to get some insight as to how, where, when, what, whom and why I am learning to blog. I THINK SO!!!

How to blog?

That is what we are learning so that we can share it with our students or people in similar circumstances.

Where to blog?

Anywhere you have access to a computer that connects to the internet (or iphone/similar phone with internet capabilities?)

When to blog?

Anytime you have:

1) a question that can be answered by others in the same circumstances

2) an "epiphany" moment when you can share how you came to an understanding of the subject

3) anyone want to lend a hand here?

What to blog?

Covered by when to blog (above) questions, answers, insights, etc...

Whom to blog?

Others who can benefit from or those who can give a greater understanding of the subject

Why blog?

It can be done from anywhere, anytime and with anyone who can add to or gain from the information being shared...

Example #1

I gave a "Trig" test on Friday.

Prior to that, on Wednesday, I gave my students a review that laid out the types of questions that I expected them to know how to solve.

If I had a blog set up and they were all members of it they could share questions, answers, methods and strategies to solve the different types of problems they faced. It would not matter when or where they studied for the test as long as they had access to the blog. It is another way to foster learning and caring of the subject matter and it would give them another "good" reason to be surfing the web. It would also give them some sympathy or empathy from others in the group.

When I accessed their replies and posts, I could give them examples, formulas, hints or answers to specific types of problems. I could also give them links to the practical applications, thus, answering that famous, age-old and scariest question, "Mr. Martin, when am I ever going to use this?". And the great thing is we could all do this from the comfort of our own homes. I am wondering right now if I could set up a "time-released" answer key to the review (announced or unannounced).

Example #2

If there was a blog set up for different teachers (and undoubtedly there are!!!) they could share what is working, what is not working, different ways and techniques, examples and anecdotes to help each others students learn and understand. It could also be linked to people with professions that could tell them when a certain type of problem is encountered and how to solve it. Posts coming from someone who is in the field would certainly give credibility as to why students are expected to know, understand and care about the types of problems I give them. Seeing direct applications would also deepen their understanding of the subject matter.

2^nd Mission – 2 Subjects “A Little Bit of Frustration and Old Habits Die Hard”

Frustration

I believe one of the most frustrating things that I am encountering as I enter this new “cyberworld” is trying to find everything. I feel like I am blindfolded and stuck in a maze that I have never seen before from the outside and trying to make my way around. I can’t remember where the “room” that I was just in is in relationship to everything else or how to get back to where I was a moment ago. I guess I would be showing my age and how “old school” I am if I were to refer to the “trees” with the roots that were once used to display the directories and file locations in the old “MS DOS”. That I could visualize to perceive where I was going and where I had been. I am sure that I am not being efficient nor going into an application in the same manner as others. For example, I am opening up new tabs all the time in my Chrome browser so I don’t lose one application as I want to view another. I am opening a new tab and typing in blogger to get to my blog (thank goodness I chose the option to save my username and password). It’s not like I didn’t have two-thousand of those prior to taking this class and am now finding myself with at least 5 more usernames and passwords.

Just a quick list of the organizations or entities I can think of off the top of my head that I need a username and password/code or pin # for prior starting this class:

My School District Web Site which includes 3 separate Usernames and passwords for:

Attendance and Grade Entry

Group wise Webmail

Subfinder

My online banking

My credit cards

My cell phone website

My cell phone security code to access voicemail

My Yahoo account

My online tax filing service

My pin number for accessing records of previous tax returns

My pin number for “ATM”

My log in for each of my two laptops

My password for the “router” (which I have no idea how to change anymore)

My keypad to open the doors on my truck

I am certain I am overlooking some.

New Usernames and passwords after joining this class

Wolfmail

my.stritch the same as Wolfmail?

fafsa

my blog

gmail

The last 30 lines or so is therapeutic for me. It is my way of venting. It reminds me of what a very close and wise friend said to me recently, “How do you eat something as big as an elephant?”

Answer: “One bite at a time”.

Next subject

Old Habits Die Hard

I am currently typing this in Microsoft “Word” and will soon copy and paste in my blog. It is another indication or should I say self-realization of how comfortable I am in “Word” and fearful of the unknown. I hope I am able to do it. It is reminding me of why people are afraid of change and therefore brand loyal. The reason I keep buying a Ford vehicle. The reason the incumbent candidate is voted in over 90% of the time. The reason Microsoft only had Internet Explorer resident on so many computers and the reason it still holds over 50% of the market share. It is also the reason for the antitrust action against IE. I plan to write my 1^st paper in Google docs shortly. Good bye old friend. :(

Initial attempt at the launching of a math blog.

Wow! Kinda feel like I just landed on Mars and I don't know if there is life support. This is very new to me, scary and exciting at the same time! Who in the world will read this outside of me? Copernicus was right! The Universe doesn't center around me. Enough about that...

If there are any Math Teacher's looking for some incredible ideas to share or to try, I hope my blog will lend a hand. A new web site that I was fortunate enough to find is http://www.wolframalpha.com. I have yet to find an equation or problem that it cannot solve in my short experience with it. I have also been experimenting with my own versions and others versions of classroom "Jeopardy". I have to perfect the rules and the way to get all of my students to become engaged in such an activity...

I am hoping to get some responses/comments as to if this "blog" makes any sense or is need of a severe frontal lobotomy...