Sunday, April 10, 2011

Final Though

While this class started a little slow for me, and it was probably obvious that it did not come first on my list of things to do each week; I did love this class, and really enjoyed everything that I learned in it.

This class has forced me to do thigs that I never thought that I would need to do for anything like: I now have a Facebook page that has put me back int touch with people that I have not seen for 5 years or more.  looking at blog pages of other math teachers to find inspiration.  Lastly, I have learned that opening up on the internet is not a bad thing, and can allow me to get in touch with people in a way that I was turning a blind eye to.

while we did a number of great things on this class, one thing that I have seen that we didn't go over, is how to embed a document into the blog or wiki, and get a responce back for different users.  I think that this would be great for going paperless, if I could give a quiz to my students and have them answer it online.

I have gone to my Principal about this class, and I am currently trying to find a way that each student in our school could have their own blog or wiki that could be used to do class work on. the way that I see it working would be: on each student's blog they would have a page setup for each of the classes that they are taking that semester.  this it where the student could save all of their work for that class.  This way the teacher could see the different revisions to a paper without having to print off all of the different versions.  Also the teacher could compile everything together and allow students to see the work of other students.  At the end of the year the student could put together a portfolio of all of their work as they did it through the year, and be able to submit writing samples as needed.  This could also be used for parents to see what their student is doing in school, as we are a boarding school.

This is where I would like to see my efforts go, and I know that the more I know about this now technology, the easier it will be for me to get others to use it.  Thanks for all of the lessons, and I will be checking in with you from time to time for help and ideas for how things work. 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Video post

This was the Video that I made to be the introduction to my class. 

My Wiki

This is a link to my wiki.  It too is dedicated to the advancement of math students.  Here others can help posting site that they find helpful, post links to cool math videos, and see the power points that I use for my own classes.  I will use my wiki to post my links that I would like to use.

Teaching Philosophy

    Having finished my first year teaching, and still having no formal training as a teacher, I have learned a lot through trial and error. in some ways I think that this could make me a better teacher.  While I am in the classroom to teach, I have found that I learn almost as much from my students about me. Some of the best advice that I have received about teaching was, “Don't only know what kind of teacher you want to be, but also know what kind of teacher you don’t want to be.” This is good because, as a math teacher, I have had many math teachers, some great, others not so much.  From this wide range of teaching, from a student’s perspective, I know what a teacher has done to help me be successful, and what others have done that has not worked. 
    I still want to encouragement, motivation, and leave my students to struggle the right amount. Like, what many of what I consider to be my best teachers, I hope to be able to provide my students with the same support and encouragement that I was shown to make my students the best mathematicians they can be.
    By encouraging my students to do the best that they can, the student should be more willing to take chances that otherwise they may not be willing to take. I motivate my students by ensuring that they receive credit for what they do correctly and identify the point where the mistake was made.  Above all I will purposely leave my students to solve problems above the level that I teach to, in order for them to gain a sense of pride and mastery over the idea that I am teaching them in that lesson.  These three ideas plus the use of humor, technology, and some entertainment allows me to present information to my students, most of whom have major mental blocks against school in-general, and math specifically.

The purpose of this blog

I was told by another math teacher that the only way to teach, is by having your own systems and methods of teaching. Now that I have finished my first full year of teaching, I find this to be very true.  The more personal ideas and stories that I use, the better the students seemed to understand the information.  This math teacher also told me that anytime that I find something that I like that another teacher uses, STEAL it!! The best source of ideas that I have gotten is from other teachers, including ones from this class.  Molly. I have taken about 3 - 4 different ideas from you alone, thanks.  The purpose of this blog will be to collect, refine, and publish my own set of tricks, tips, and stories that I have found to help math students better themselves understand and learn math.