Getting ready for an exam

Summer is coming to an end.
Google innovator academy is coming to Canada. I just have to try.
Presently studying for Level 2 certified educator exam. And I, like so many of my students, am very anxious about this exam. Putting myself in this position has been a very good reminder of the nature of examinations, and high stakes goals. I love learning, but I do have test phobia.

Creating videos

Rate of Change: http://youtu.be/AofE10CXXVU

Exploring Options...

Hard to believe more than a month has passed since #ISTE14.

I had such a great experience in Atlanta and I learned so much.  I cannot wait to share with my colleagues when I return to school.

Things I would like to share:
1) Nearpod
2) Kahoot
3) Peardeck
4) Class Dojo

Other things on my mind:
google classroom and GAFE
adaptemy



While in Atlanta, I made some great connections at ISTE as well.  In fact today, I spoke with Lee Lindsey from https://www.adaptemy.com/ about a possible pilot of their exciting adaptive math program for young teens.  I look forward to previewing this material next week.

Later today, I look forward to a Google Hangout with a Nearpod representative. http://nearpod.com/  we hope to share ideas about how best to use Nearpod in math class.

A week ago, I had the opportunity to re-share my ISTE presentation with some tech leaders at UNC-Charlotte.  This was super learning for me as we met in a google hangout.  What a great way to communicate and demonstrate tools and activities!

Awesome!

This is a happy reminder of all that we do! 

Teaching is a very rewarding profession!

Celebrate your awesomeness!

Spoon fed?

IThis is something I feel strongly about and I do my best every day to "let them hold the spoon". 

So why am I struggling?

The cycle already exists through former teacher-student relationships and so students expect it to continue with me. This is especially true of the math students who already lack any confidence in their skills and problem solving. I cannot tell you how many times a student receives a math problem and before I have even turned around - I hear 

" I don't know how to do this". 

I try not to rush in and rescue. I try to encourage. 

Often I get "you didn't teach me this". And

What they mean is you didn't teach this to me by showing me a bunch of examples that are pretty much the same. 

I recently asked a gr 9 class to compare the amount of popcorn that would be needed to fill our school vs the local coliseum. We had been working with volume. 

I was disappointed that I found that they could not really start. 

It does not help that in my building I am surrounded by adults who strongly believe that the 'sage on the stage' instructional strategy is necessary in math. 

if students are so accustomed to the spoon fed approach, how do I have them believe in themselves, take risks, fail and try again? 

I will continue to strive to instill risk taking, mathematical independence and Math enthusiasm in students. 

Why Do People Hate Math?

This is a question that I often ask myself.

As a teacher I want to instil a love of math  and learning  in all my students.

A former student of mine shared this video with me.  I thought I would also share.

Summer Learning... Rekindling my enthusiasm for learning and teaching...

At the end of June, everyone was so tired.  At our school, the staff were exhausted and ready for the summer break.  June was not a time to be thinking about best practices and tech integration.

Just a couple weeks later, I am back on track... I am, once again, enthused about teaching and learning.  I have taken a few days to investigate tools/strategies that I had previously placed on my back burner.

Here are a few things I am exploring/discovering...

Planboardapp.com

...an invaluable lesson planning tool
...plan day by day for each course
...attach current curriculum expectations with ease for every lesson as necessary
...create templates to be used in each course
...can publish and share as well as search for others' lessons
...can print pdfs - would be great for those covering your classes during absences

...

Desire2Learn Binder app

With the growing emphasis on tech integration, blended learning and the availability of Desire2Learn LMS, I was so excited to find the D2L Binder app. Students will be able to save files from d2l course into their "Binder".  Once in the app, students will have options to annotate the documents for own use/learning.

CK12.org

I have had the privilege of being chosen to be part of a team that is creating a CK-12 "flexbook" to be used in our district for our grade nine math students. This site has a multitude of ready-resources.  And even better than that, each resource that can be added to your "flexbook" can be customized to your preferences.

This digital text capability has so much promise because interactive and video components can be embedded.

I envision combining these tools to create a (somewhat) paperless math class in the fall.  Students will access course materials in D2L including the course text designed at ck12.org.  They can add these materials to their "Binder" and then review and practice in the Binder app environment.

Summer is a great time to follow up on ideas/strategies.  I am so excited about teaching all over again.

Gr 8 Transitions Visits to SJAM

I am very fortunate to be involved in the planning and delivery of our transitions visits for grade 8 students intending to come to SJAM in September...
In addition to tours of our facilities and observations of key elective classes, we offered the students the opportunity to voice their thoughts/concerns.

We gave them a google survey to let us know what " A good teacher will" do.
See the survey...
We used their voice to create this wordle.



On a projector, the students used their own devices and accessed Todaysmeet.com (live for a bit longer at http://todaysmeet.com/SJAM) to inform us about what "A good student will" do.


On laptops, students could post a sticky at padlet.com to give us information about how we could help them adjust to SJAM.

Created with Padlet

Our last station was a large paper for a marker graffiti activity... we asked "what clubs and Activities would you like to do when you come to SJAM?" I will post some images soon... 

One more school... tomorrow.  I will update all of our info after that!  :)

This has been a great experience! 

All of this info will go a long way to inform our activities in the new school year.

'Whatever it takes'

A student is "in risk". He is failing more than one class. Life at his home is far less than adequate. He has asked for help. To some it may not appear that he is looking to improve his academic situation and ultimately his life circumstance. He has no positive adult role models in his home life. At school, naturally, he looks to his peers.  He perhaps sees a glimmer of an alternate future in a couple of adults that he chooses to trust. But how?  how does a young teen make the decision to turn on all that he knows so that he can follow a path that leads away from his family, away from his friends, away from poverty, drugs and gangs?  He asks for help.. but clearly knows not what to expect or what lengths he needs to work through.   Some adults in the building have long since given up on him.

I admire his courage. I know he will have setbacks. He needs to know that he has support. I can only imagine that it cannot be easy for him particularly when other adults put up barriers for this teen.  They don't know it, but any "small" barrier, could change his motivation to make a difference in his own life.

I have learned that for success with teens we need to embrace the "whatever it takes" attitude.

Preparing a proposal for ecoo13

Been developing a proposal to submit to ecoo13 in October. I want to share the successes we have been experiencing in our Reach Ahead blended learning program.

Blended Learning is Amazing!!!

I have the privilege of teaching a true blended learning grade nine math class in inner city Hamilton, Ontario.  The students are grade  8 students that travel to our high school 3 mornings (75 min each) each week.  The other two days, the students are expected to login into the Desire2Learn platform available throughout Ontario.

So many reasons to be excited...
- online learning included web based games, activities, quizzes, investigations, polling
- tech integration including use of iPads and computers - or even the students' own devices
- addressing multiple learning styles through use of interactive whiteboard, videos, collaboration, etc

I could go on...

All the while, not only are my students enjoying new and different learning experiences, I continue my quest to continually expand my teaching repertoire with the hope to engage more learners.

"Embrace Life Long Learning"

My other learning in this endeavour... D2L - new for me
I have been using Edmodo for a couple years now and have always been very happy with the results.  D2L is a  new experience for me - and I am also enjoying it.  More to come.

Twitter inspires!

so.. I don't make it to my twitter account nearly enough.

I checked in today and ... thanks to George Couros I came across this video...

We do not compliment each other enough.
Each person is an intricate treasure that we need to value and appreciate.
I wonder if my school can make a strong character initiative like this happen...

Westhighbros is an inspiration!

Explore, Excite and Engage

Explore all your learning opportunities...
I am so pleased to be learning so much about the iPad, my new Mac and iBooks Author. Taking advantage of these explorations energizes me  in my teaching career. I look forward to creating custom iBooks for my math classes.  Already working on a trigonometry unit...

Excite yourself and others...
I am so excited to continue my learning.  I am so excited to share that learning.
Get excited - share the love of learning.

Engage your learners... whomever they may be
I strive to engage my learners - children, teens or adults. As a teacher, I am excited about learning and i will continue to seek out strategies to engage even the most reluctant learners.  You know the ones.. lets's say students taking MFM2P.
Lifelong learning is a worthwhile pursuit - no matter your age or occupation.

MacBook Air arrived!!!

My new MacBook Air arrived on Friday Nov 30!
I have spent a lot of time learning and trouble shooting.  I have always had pcs in the past so there has been a bit of a learning curve with this new laptop. Using the trackpad is totally different - though I think I like it!
Of course I could not live without Microsoft office so I downloaded it earlier today. I was disappointed, however, to not get Microsoft Access in that bundle.

Another vital download, of course, was iBooks Author. I was not convinced about getting a Mac and have been contemplating it for more than a year. The expense seemed prohibitive. I was finally convinced that this was a good idea when my math dept was given 10 iPads to use in math classes. Then - I decided that I absolutely needed a Mac so that I may create custom content
 for my students.

I had to purchase an adapter dongle to connect to my projector - bought the lightning one and soon realized it was the wrong  one :(
I have since ordered the correct one and I hope it arrives quickly - I am looking for to using my Mac in class with my smartboard.

I created two iBooks this evening and experimented with all kinds of options: quizzes, weblinks, embed YouTube, include images, widgets etc.

I look forward to actually getting good at this!

Anticipation....

I received a text message today that my macbook air has left China - yay me!   The anticipation is building.  I have been reading and viewing videos about iBooks Author with excitement. I wonder what my first iBook will be... we are currently working on Linear Relations in my grade nine class and Quadratics in my grade ten class. It is my hope that I will be able to prepare a short book that I can use right away in class. I envision text, of course, but also interactive components like labelling or quizzes. I was so excited by the numerous options for interactive review.   It will be great to include video links.  I also have been toying with the idea of creating a book with the students as a class project.

I ordered a mac on Black Friday...

I can't wait for my mac to arrive. I have thought about this opportunity for a long time. November 2011 I attended an Apple learning tour in Hamilton, Ontario. I was so excited to learn how to create custom content for the ipad. It was just a tiny taste ... This year I took another opportunity to attend the Apple learning tour last tuesday in London. I had thought many times of purchasing a mac but now I finally did it! I imagine it will arrive sometime this week. I am fortunate enough at my school to have access to 15 ipads to use with students in my classes. Having a mac will make lesson planning an exciting new adventure! My first download will undoubtedly be "iBooks Author". But what will my first "book" entail? So many options. Anyway... anxiously awaiting my Apple (mac).

I will be posting my iPad math app explorations at this link... iPads in math

Interesting comment on creativity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMJf6hEtco

a song from phineas and ferb...

Looking forward... but looking back, too

As I prepare for the upcoming school year, I am reminded by the fact that EQAO scores will be shared very soon with gr 9 math teachers all over the province. Hence, the need to first look back... I am professionally torn by this entire process... Are we teaching for the sake of learning or for good scores on standardized tests? One may argue that we must do both - and if learning is happening then that WOULD be demonstrated on the standardized tests.

I am not sure I can agree with that...

If as a teacher, you believe that we teach KIDS, not curriculum (is that not what we are supposed to believe?) then each year we are presented with a new unique group of young minds at various stages in their learning. The mindful teacher is supposed to gauge where the kids are at and then meet them there in order to bring them forward. Ie. we use diagnostic activities to begin our instructional process. And if the diagnostic proves that our students have gaps - are we not supposed to help with those? I say, of course. Throughout the semester, the diligent teacher continues with other formative assessments and when students are not learning, that teacher looks for other ways to help students learn. This is a time consuming process involving numerous formative and diagnostic assessments, individual student profiling and intensive instructional planning.

We need to keep in mind, however, that we are limited to a strict 5 month window to cover the grade nine math curriculum. So ultimately... we want to cover gaps, we want to individualize learning, we want to engage students but all in all we are expected to do all of that in a limited time frame and demonstrate that all students have met a "provincial expectation" by end of semester. How is this realistic? And what do we sacrifice along the way? Do we "teach to the test"? (and what does that look like?)

Another wrinkle that disturbs me - what about our English Language Learners... I wonder if the EQAO officials have ever looked on as these students are faced with the heavily language based grade nine math assessment. Words that we take for granted will confound our ELL students. In a question about a clown/circus - if you don't know those words how will you make any sense of the context for the math. In the classroom, we have word walls and we use pictures in our assessments to help students with just those kinds of things... These supports are absent in the EQAO delivery.

Imagine a room full of young students - many of whom have come to our country in the last year - faced with the gr 9 EQAO - the only accommodation is double time. For the most part, these students are highly motivated to do well and yet, they sit baffled by the language. Double time or not, it is heart breaking to stand by and watch as they struggle to demonstrate their abilities. Where is the word wall? Where are the pics to help with context in word problems? As their teacher, I empathize and i hope that the experience will not dampen their willingness to continue their math learning in our language.

I have to ask - why do we make them write this test if their language skills are not ready? Why can't we postpone their writing until they have acquired the associated literacy skills?

And what expectations are there for the teachers of these students?