Final Reflection

I guess I should also comment on the class besides my video below. I thought this class offered a wide variety of experiences as well as a lot of freedom in what you choose to do (which I appreciate very much!) It allowed me to try a great project with my students that I might not have taken the time to develop otherwise. I feel the project was a great success and I will probably do it again next year. I thought that my students, for the most part, went far beyond my expectations with their creativity and overall success with the project.

I've also enjoyed the conversations with our "blog buddies" group. I think it's a great idea, and it really hasn't been too difficult to keep up with. In fact, I actually used a blogging component in my project for peer critique.

To wrap up, I'm excited about finishing up next semester (as are some of you!), and I hope everyone will have a relaxing and much needed break! Good luck for the rest of the school year!

Putt Putt Project Slideshow

Here's the long version of my slideshow... Enjoy!

Week 13 Post

I thought everyone's presentations on Digital Citizenship were great! I also found a lot of great information as I was researching for my own presentation. I feel like my high school doesn't teach us enough about copyright, netiquette, and safety online as they probably should. I think we probably spend about 1o mins in a faculty meeting about those topics together. I can't imagine how many copyright laws are broken throughout the year in my school.

I thought Richard and Clayton had a very creative presentation as their powerpoint resembled the facebook layout. Not to mention that many of the suggestions they gave were very helpful, and as facebook has become the next "high school" myspace (why couldn't we leave it to college students!) it's important as teachers to be careful of what is visible, especially to our students. I have issues with that, but that will be kept for another time.

Anyways, I thought everyone did a great job, and I feel like I have a better understanding of what to be careful with.

Project update: My projects are due Wednesday! My students have been working hard and I'm excited to see the finished products. I've been taking pictures, so I will post soon!

Week 12 Post

I have progress on my project! Last Thursday, I introduced the project, formed groups, and did an exploration activity on the Geometry concepts behind putt-putt (angles of reflection as you bounce the golf ball off the wall/object and slope of an incline/decline). On Friday, I gave them a few websites to research and then let them go explore the net for brainstorming ideas, playing online games of putt-putt, viewing pictures of creative courses, etc. For the weekend, each member of the group will be drawing their own sketch of a golf course, complete with theme, obstructions, and ideas. Monday, they will be explaining their sketches and ideas to their group and the group will come to a consensus and begin the planning stages of their project.

Overall, the students are really excited about this project, and I'm really excited to see the final products after hearing some of the ideas my students already have!

Week 10 Post

Teaching and enhancing critical thinking is one of the more difficult things to do as a teacher. In our world of standarized testing (a.k.a multiple choice!!) and accountability, we are so fact based driven that it's tough to have time to spend on critical thinking. We concentrate on teaching the regurgitation of facts or things that are easily assessed using scantron rather than actually teaching how to reason logically! Some of things I like to do in my class that enhance critical thinking is ask the students "why" and let them explain in their own words how they reached the answer. I often tell them that the answer isn't the only thing that's important, it's how they got there. Also, even if it's incorrect, if they explain their reasoning I can really show how to fix their mistakes, and they seem to learn better that way anyways. It took me a while to really figure out how to use questioning techniques in the classroom to enhance the learning. It's not really something I was taught in college or during student teaching. Once I got into my own classroom and really saw how the students react over the year (or two or three), that is when I really started to learn the right questions to ask.

Week 9 Post

Sorry it's a little late guys... My network at school was blocking me this morning for some reason.

Anyways, one of the best sites that I have used (and want to use more) is the Illuminations site from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). They offer many lesson plans that involve technology and discovery learning. You can also search by topics and grade level to easily find a good lesson plan that coordinates with your curriculum. They have printable materials and great teacher resources to go along with the lesson.

I really like how NCTM works on keeping the lessons student-centered and in charge of their own learning. They also really believe in using the affordances of technology to facilitate learning. Overall, I think it's a great website resource!

Have a great week!

Week 8 Post

I think my miniature golf project will give the students a perfect opportunity to display their creativity and/or innovation. There are a few requirements set forth that the students need to follow, mostly dimensions and shot types, therefore the creativity limitations are minimal.

One thing that I am still considering is the materials they can use. Do I leave it completely up to them (they buy/use whatever they have) or do I give them some materials to use? The one thing I am worried about with students purchasing materials is that some students' financial obligations are different from others. On the other hand if I provide the materials, that could limit their creativity a little bit.

Now that I mention it, I started thinking about this: Do limitations/requirements necessarily limit creativity? Sometimes with special limitations or more requirements, students have to be more creative/innovative in order to solve the problem. With less or random materials, students have to be more creative in their use. On the other hand, limiting the requirements allow for more openess in their creation. Interesting to think about... I guess it depends on the type of project and its goals.

Have a great week everyone!