Angeducation: 2012

Monday, 9 April 2012

E-learning Class Resources

I was recently in a online class that required us to create an e-learning class as a final project. I created a summer class that took place between kindergarten and grade one to create an ideal learning experience for children from the very beginning of their academic career. I found this to be out of my comfort zone, being a secondary mathematics teacher; however, I took up the challenge and completed the task to the best of my ability. I believe a class between kindergarten and grade one would help both the parents and the school system because of the high requirements placed on the students in grade one. I stated during my presentation that I would include some of the resources I would use for this class:

Online Resources:

Color the Animal Alphabet
http://www.education.com/slideshow/color-animal-alphabet/Color_Letter_A/

Sight Word Flashcards
http://www.education.com/slideshow/kindergarten-sight-words/kindergarten-sight-words-a-are/
(90 words) a, at, an, and, am, are, as, at, ate, away, be, big, black, blue, brown, but, came, can, come, did, do, down, eat, eight, find, five, for, four, get, go, good, green, has, have, he, her, here, hers, his, him, in, into, is, it, like, little, look, make, me, must, my, new, nine, no, out, play, please, pretty, purple, ran, red, run, said, saw, say, see, seven, she, six, small, so, soon, ten, that, the, there, they, this, we, what, white, who, why, with, year, yellow, yes, you, your, yours

Trace and Write the Missing Letters
http://www.education.com/files/121501_121600/121593/trace-write-missing-letters.pdf

Tracing Numbers 0-10
http://www.education.com/collection/Thomas_COTA/tracing-numbers/
http://www.education.com/collection/misncb/tracing-numbers/
http://www.education.com/collection/alissag/tracing-numbers/
http://www.education.com/collection/vtgolzynski/numbers-1-10-writing-practice/
http://www.education.com/worksheet/article/rainbow-numbers/?coliid=318363

Tracing Numbers 0-20
http://www.education.com/collection/jnall1108/tracing-numbers/

Laughs and Giraffes: Number Sense (one or two more/less)
http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/giraffe_v5.html

Illuminations – Resources for teaching math; K-12 math activities and, lessons. It also provides the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and helpful math web links.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/

IXL - Website for Junior Kindergarten to Grade 9 students which lists the skills required for each level and provides activities to master each skill. At the bottom of the page there is an ability to link these skills to any curriculum in Canada.
http://ca.ixl.com/

How to Help Your Child Hold a Pencil Correctly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM_dia8QGr0

Moodle Costs:
http://www.lambdasolutions.net/category/tags/cost-benefits-online-learning
http://elearningtemplates.com/elearning-quiz-pack/

Poll Everywhere:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/plans

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

Reflection on my E-Portfolio

My E-Portfolio has taken up a large portion of my time the last couple months because I viewed this project as an extremely important part of my professional life. I felt it was of great importance to begin my E-Portfolio with an introduction page with a description of all the other pages so the potential employer can navigate to the links that are of greater importance to him or her. Although there were some obstacles I had to overcome while creating my E-Portfolio, I found the experience rewarding and I feel my end product is something that I will be able to use in the "real world."

The header on blogger was one obstacle I had to overcome during the creation of my E-Portfolio. The picture was seen below the words of my title and, therefore, my face was barely visible. I went on Google and searched for ways to correct this problem and was able to find a way to right-align my picture and create line breaks in my title. Working with the HTML part of my E-Portfolio was tricky but it helped me to create the product I wanted potential employers to see. Printing my embedded documents was another obstacle I was able to overcome by editing the settings on my Scribd documents. I decided to not include my Professional Guide Portfolio on my E-Portfolio because my Internship Final Assessment created a more condensed version of my experience, a product that I thought would be more valuable to potential employers.

I definitely learned a lot about myself in the process of creating an E-Portfolio. I knew I was a very task-oriented and driven person but I found during this project to be even more so because of my perception that I can utilize this project in my "real life." This project created a sense of student engagement that doesn't always exist in other classes. I plan to use this "real life" student engagement strategy in my classes as a mathematics teacher. I believe this approach will help students to be more motivated in mathematics and create a desire for more student-driven learning in this field.

Monday, 19 March 2012

Blogging with Elementary School Students

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was setting up a blog for my 6 year old son so he could detail his trip to Hawaii. I was able to educate my father on how to set up this blog and my mother helped my son update the blog on an almost daily basis. My son was able to learn SO much from this process! It helped with his reading and writing skills and allowed him to remain in contact with his Grade 1 class for the entire month.

There were some trouble-shooting items with which we had to figure out but for the most part blogging went smoothly. The main problem was that his school's filter blocked his class from commenting directly on the blog. His teacher had to email my son the comments made by his classmates and my mom posted those comments along with his responses onto the blog. My son really appreciated hearing his classmates responses and vice versa. His teacher has mentioned to me that her class misses the daily blogs and wishes they still had a blog to view. She also mentioned how her students picked up on a spelling mistake she made on the blog. I told her that she should say that she was just testing them with that mistake and she was proud that they were able to point out the error.

Overall, I believe my “experiment” with blogging was a success. Throughout the process my son increased his reading and writing skills, communicated with his classmates and family, and created an online document that describes his experiences at Hawaii. His classmates were able to communicate with him, which increased their reading skills so much that they were able to spot an error made by their teacher. His family members and classmates were able to experience his vacation in real time throughout the blogging experience. The fact that his classmates miss his blog show the benefits of blogging in a Grade 1 classroom. Blogging was a great way to increase student engagement in my son's classroom and I encourage elementary school teachers to utilize this tool in their own classrooms with the hope they will experience the same positive response.

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Assessment - It's a BIG deal!

Assessment has always been a big issue in education. We learn about formative and summative assessment in the College of Education. Formative assessment "is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures employed by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment" while summative assessment "refers to the assessment of the learning and summarizes the development of learners at a particular time." We are taught that a student created rubric is a great way to ensure accountability and helps with student engagement. We learn about bias and discover ways on how to avoid bias in our own classroom. We have experience in the classroom with assessment and discover the time it takes to get an accurate reflection of a student's learning. Assessment is a big deal and a big part of our lives as teachers.

During my internship, my co-operating teacher and myself benefited from formative assessment. We would have daily quizzes and homework that ensured us that the students were understanding the material taught. The daily formative assessment often kept us aware of the students who were struggling with the material and, therefore, allowed us to recognize those students in need of individual help. Weekly Friday exams allowed students to have homework-free weekends and allowed us, as teachers, to know whether the material being taught should be reviewed the next week or that the knowledge base of the classroom was secure enough to move on to new material. The presence of formative assessment allowed us to keep the students progressing at a rate that allowed them to understand the material being taught. When a weekly exam was summative, I believe the past formative assessments helped the students achieve their best results.

"Interactive E-Assessment - Practical Approaches to Constructing More Sophisticated Online Tasks" , an article by Geoffrey Crisp, states that "(o)ne of the issues with many current assessment designs is that they foster a dependency in students on the teacher; this dependency is related to students believing they cannot make judgments about their own learning or performance level without input from the teacher.” I thought a great idea to combat this dependency is student-created rubrics that we have discussed in our education classes. In that way, the accountability falls on the shoulders of the student instead of the teacher making the students better independent learners.

Bias is an uncomfortable subject. Mr. D. on CBS gives a satirical view on teacher bias in the following YouTube clip.

Although the comedic clip is exaggerated, we, as teachers, have to ensure that we try our best to avoid bias. During internship, I was advised by my co-operating teacher to mark one section at a time. This suggestion saved time and helped to avoid bias because I was unaware of whose test I was marking for each section.

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

And the decision is.... E-PORTFOLIO!

Why have you chosen to complete an e-portfolio?

My original plan was to develop a Web Quest for my final project to use during a week of subbing that I have already arranged in April. However, I was persuaded during class to follow a different route due to the fact that I am currently searching for jobs and meeting perspective employers. I came to the belief that an e-portfolio was the optimal choice for my future because of my current circumstances and I am satisfied with my decision. I have been creating a blueprint in Blogger for the site and plan to complete the pages soon and then use class time to test the site for the requirements as stated in the rubric.

What professional uses does an e-portfolio have for you?

I believe this project has real use in the professional world. I will be able to refer potential employers to this site and feel confident that it is a true reflection of my capabilities. I will be encouraged to keep my resume, PGP, lesson plans, teaching philosophy and About Me pages up-to-date to ensure potential employers do receive an accurate reflection of my current state in the teaching profession. In other words, this e-portfolio could help me get the job I desire by providing my information to employers through a Google search or my own reference to the website. In one of our weekly readings for ETAD 470, it states that "78% of recruiters check search engines to find out more about potential employees." In my opinion, the more positive information, such as an e-portfolio, available on the world wide web for employers to find about you the better chances of becoming employed, which is the main reason I chose to create an e-portfolio.

What content do you plan to include?

I plan to include an About me page, my resume, my teaching philosophy, my Final Internship Assessment, my PGP (Professional Guide Portfolio), lesson plans and assessment examples, reference letters and a link to my blog. My About me page will include information about myself such as my current employment or student status and a way to contact me. I will include short and long term goals in this section. My resume will include a one-page resume (as required by the rubric) that will be imbedded through Scribd. I will also mention that reference information will be made available upon request and create alternative text for those individuals who are unable to see the imbedded picture. I may even include a link on the bottom to the Scribd website. I will ensure the resume is able to be printed by individuals that visit my site. My teaching philosophy will be a detailed paragraph of what I believe teaching is about and what skills and attributes I believe a master teacher should possess. I will post the teaching philosophy on the page and find links that support my theories. My Final Internship Assessment will also be embedded in Scribd and, therefore, I will include alternative text for individuals who will be unable to view it. My PGP will be embedded through Scribd as well. I will include alternative text for this picture. My lesson plans and assessment examples will be embedded through Scribd and Slideshare because they not only include documents but Power Points as well. Assessment examples will include regular and adapted exams that I created during internship. Lesson plans will include the original plan and the reflection that took place after the lessons were carried out. Reference letters will be embedded through Scribd. I will include alternative text so individuals are aware of the content. There will be a direct link to my blog as well as a direct link from my blog to the e-portfolio.

What graphic design considerations have you taken into account for the look of your e-portfolio?

I have included a picture of my E-portfolio homepage that I can post updated information for my guests. I will also include a picture of myself to the left of the Title and Subtitle.

This is my About me page which includes information about my current student career and updated details such as that I now have a teaching certificate. I will also include short and long term goals on this page.

My one page resume is done through Scribd. I will offer any reference information via email.

My teaching philosophy will also include links to the five main attributes of an outstanding teacher. (leader, caring, organized, flexible, respectful) These link will include articles that emphasize the importance of that attribute in the teaching profession.

My Intership Final Assessment, PGP and lesson plans/assessment pages will have documents in Scribd.

Power Points will be displayed with Slideshare.

My Reference letters will also use Scribd.

My blog page on my e-portfolio will have a direct link to my blog.

What concerns do you have about the process? How do you plan to address these concerns?

I am concerned about the ability of the site to meet all the expectations set out from the rubric which is why I plan to spend the majority of my time in class testing for accuracy rather than posting the material. Hopefully, I can complete the majority of the project prior to these working classes and spend more time in class asking questions to ensure the site works up to its full potential.

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Do we over rely on technology?

"An Over Reliance on Technology" by Mike Schaffner is an informative piece that really got me to question how much we rely on technology. We rely on technology such as spell and grammar check when we write a paper but are we really checking our work when we use this computer function. Obviously, Mike Schaffner’s own experiences as well as our own have proven the inability of spell check to properly check our work. Even after I have performed these functions, I seem to find several errors where my writing may not make any sense or may convey a different meaning then I intended. Plus, there is always the difference in American spelling versus Canadian spelling. Mr. Schaffner relates our reliance on technology to pilots who also rely on technology to fly planes. How scary is that tidbit of knowledge?

Mr. Schaffner’s comment about how the spell check incident he had “reminded [him] to use technology but not to forget who is responsible.” I thought this remark had great sentiment because when we hand in work, as students or as teachers, it is OUR name that appears on the cover page and, therefore, the work inside is OUR responsibility. We have to be aware that technology can fail us and we should follow certain proof-reading methods to ensure accuracy in our posts.

As teachers, we should also make our students aware that proof-reading is more than just using the spell and grammar check on our computer. We don’t want the focus of students’ papers to be on spelling and grammar (“grammar police”) but we do want them to be able to produce high-quality work. University as well as future employers expect high-quality work and it is our job as teachers to help our students learn how to produce that kind of work.

From various statistics and experience, we know how much students rely on technology. Using cell phones as alarm clocks has been referred to as this generation's "flat tire." Assignments have been accidentally erased due to a malfunction on a computer or an error that occurred with the technology. By making ourselves and our students aware of the flaws in technology, we create awareness that a backup is required to ensure that high-quality work is produced.

Excuse me now while I complete a spell and grammar check on Word....

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Congrats!

Life can get crazy.

As a student there is always a balancing act with assignments, midterms and large projects. I enjoyed reading Jay Gee's Blog last week and the article she chose to write about in her blog ("Message to New Teachers for a New Year: Patience, Persistence and Peace" by Lisa Michelle Dabbs) was very insightful to me. Her rendition of the article and how it applies to our lives at this very moment reminded me of talks from my EDFT 435 class about being present in the moment.

There are so many distractions in the life whether you are a student or a teacher. Those distractions may differ for each individual but the fact is that they exist. As a student, I try to overcome these distractions by creating a balance in life and creating time for those things that I consider of "top priority." However, even in those designated times I find myself distracted and not "really" present. It is a fair assessment that our future students will face some of these same distractions and difficulties in creating an adequate balance in their own lives.

As a future teacher, I plan to voice these comments made by the author to my students and congratulate them on how far they have come in their academic career at the beginning of the year. Most students, including myself, tend to focus on the negative feedback given by teachers instead of what they did right. No wonder students have a "fear of failure" if this ability to pause and reflect on past accomplishments does not seemingly exist in schools. I am very guilty of just getting through obstacles (to the best of my ability) with "patience" and "persistence" but rarely feel the "peace" mentioned in the article. The article mentions we have to work to find this "peace" and I can relate to that as I sift through the distractions of life to find it.

I think a way to find this peace is to be present in the moment. We, as teachers, have to think about our accomplishments and congratulate ourselves on them, not just find another project to complete. So I ask my fellow bloggers: what are some of your accomplishments for which I can congratulate you? Some individuals have completed their internship, which was a daunting task, while some have completed a significant portion of university. Congratulations! As the article states "give yourself a hug and feel a great sense of accomplishment." (Dabbs, 2012)

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Web Quest or E Portfolio? That is the question...

I was intrigued in class today about our various options for our project. I noticed that the e-portfolio section had a lot more "webs" or ideas attached to it. Some of those ideas I have already completed or am completing as I type this blog entry. I am well aware that an e-portfolio will have many positive implications towards my future employment and that I should take time to type out my teaching philosophy. I do like the idea of having a professional website that includes all my education, awards and abilities.

However...

I would also enjoy learning how to develop a Web Quest. My co-operating teacher has plans for me to sub in April and I plan to design my Web Quest to suit the needs of her class during that time. I also desire to become more aware of the process of developing a Web Quest for my future classes. I want my students to be more "hands on" in my classes to create a better understanding of mathematical concepts. In other words, to have "math make sense." That terminology may scare some people because of the textbooks in classrooms that declare that fact but offer little evidence when used. Hopefully, I can help to overcome these fears through the use of more inquiry based learning tools such as Web Quest.

A decision must be made by myself and other members of this ETAD 470 class on whether to create a Web Quest or e-Portfolio. What will your decision be?

Thursday, 2 February 2012

Math makeover?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWUFjb8w9Ps

This is a great TED talk about Math Class needing a makeover by Dan Meyer.

I enjoy his opening quote how as a High School Math Teacher he is selling "a product to a market that doesn't want it but is forced by law to buy it." How true is that? I have encountered many students throughout my years of tutoring that dislike math for one reason or another.

I also enjoy his ideas on how to improve on teaching a math class. He suggests "use multimedia" which I did extensively in my classroom during internship. He also says as a teacher we must "encourage student intuition" and "ask the shortest question you can." I definitely can see his point of bringing word problems to life by actually solving the problem in real life (he demonstrates how long it takes to fill a water tank). He suggests that teachers should "let students build the problem" and "be less helpful." I definitely agree with him that textbook teach students in all the wrong ways. My mathematics curriculum class showed me how reliant I am on finding out what the answer is right away, a problem with students who have had the answers at the back of the book all their lives.

Math textbook problems tend to direct the student and be too helpful. He is right to question whether we are teaching our students math or how they should "decode a textbook." As a student, I could always figure out how to do problems by looking at the examples at the beginning of the chapter.

It is definitely a challenge to teach math, let alone trying to teach it in a way in which you have never been taught. I look forward to bringing some of the ideas Dan brought to light into my own classroom.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Time is our Boss?!?!?!

I had a conversation with my son the other day about having to get our piano and math practice done so we could go to his sister's dance class.

He thought about it for awhile and commented that he believed that "Time is our boss."

I thought about it for awhile and came to the conclusion that he could not be more right. As a parent, I am rushing to get the kids ready in the morning with getting everyone dressed, making a quick breakfast (most likely cereal), a quick spelling test (because his test is today!), then try to get everyone into their winter clothes and strapped into the vehicle. I have to get to the school by a certain time or we are considered late and good luck finding a parking spot because everyone is trying to get their kids to the same spot. The rest of my day seems to go at the same sort of pace, except Saturdays, I (try to) SLEEP in on Saturday. As a new teacher, I could relate to time being my boss in that area of my life as well. The bells ring to start and finish periods, we have a designated time period for eating lunch (sometimes only a few minutes if you have supervision), and your day is done at a certain time.

I told him "You are right, time is our boss!"

He smiles enthusiastically and laughs along with me.

He is leaving for Hawaii in less than a week and he has been hesitating on wanting to leave his sister and myself. So I told him that "In Hawaii, time will not be your boss. Your learning will be done on YOUR time and you will get to learn things that you could only see in pictures at school."

He was THRILLED!

I am experimenting with this vacation a bit because I will be setting up a blog so he can communicate his adventures to his classmates and myself. I want to know what he is learning during this practical experience to demonstrate how hands on learning is beneficial, especially to a more active child. He normally has a hard time focusing on his work and listening to his teacher, so I want to see how a more interactive way of learning can help him. In other words, I want to see if he can learn better when time is NOT his boss!

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