Games for Engagement

As I reflect over the past year, I see my classes were not as engaged as I would like. There is already a deep dislike for my subject, so I feel it is time for me to step out of the box and incorporate more creative lessons. I notice students tend to be quite intrigued by games. They never tend to want to stop hoping that soon the game will be conquered. Wouldn't it be nice to have that experience in my math classes.

I decided to do some research online for some game ideas. I did not want to use technology because many students don't have phones or the internet is slow. I did not want speed games because research states that completing math problems fast is not an indication of intelligence or success as opposed to someone who did not get the answer as quickly. I post videos online regularly explaining the concepts contained in the lesson. The plan is to motivate them to watch the videos before class in order to participate in the games. Some of the game ideas I found on the internet and some I modified myself

1. Speed Dating Kate Nowak-Speed Dating My plan is to set up the room the day before. I will give the cards as they come in and have cards labeled as hard, easy, or medium difficulty. the rest I will follow Kate's lesson.
2. Traders day- My creation- I will have groups of four and they each will have a worksheet. They are to pass the worksheet around working a different problem. When the sheet gets to the original owner, they must check to make sure all answers are correct. They will get 5 points. Then they are to decide if they are sure all answers are correct and work shown before passing the worksheets to another group. If the other group finds an error or work is not shown, they loose their points and the other group gets 10 points on each of the papers. They will continue to trade until every paper is checked. Some modifications--I may have each group have only 2 worksheets instead of 4 and have the pair of students share the worksheet.
3. Grudge Ball Grudge Ball- This game seems to be very interesting with very little prep. This will be the first time for me to try it so I hope it is as engaging as it sounds.
4. Hot Seat-Who is in the Hot Seat? This cooperative learning activity has students practice 8 different concepts while playing a game. Students are given a math problem that they each must solve. The person in the "hot seat" is in the back of the group and must solve the problem on a white board. They pass up their answer - and each group member must agree before the board can be passed all the way to the front. When the answer gets to the front the first person puts the answer on the board then the students exchange places in line and someone else is at the back of the group.

I will try these and reflect on the engagement of the students.

Note: This post was written when I was in the public school classroom about 7 years ago

Windham Staff Development Highlights

It was a glorious morning as I left my home in Fresno on my way to staff development in Dayton, Texas. I had never traveled to Dayton before and was quite excited for the opportunity to be away from my normal routine. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as I travel down 610, I -10 and all the other thoroughfares in order to arrive at my destinations. It took about an hour and I arrived at about 730 which was about one hour earlier than was scheduled.

The first session was quite fascinating. The presenter showed us many ways to make our classless interactive, interesting, and dynamic. The presenter demonstrated tools that she used in her classroom. I was quite impressed with her ability to do more with less. She stress the fact that she used all the materials. To avoid waste,  she requires her students to write on both sides of the paper and she made available colored paper to to distinguish from various activities or lessons that was included in their folder. I was particularly impressed with the countless ways that she could fold paper. I never incorporated foldables in my classroom; however, I am considering it now that I see how interesting it is and how it adds to instruction. One activity that fascinated me was how to draw a perfect circle using a paperclip and two pencils. I always wanted the students to draw a perfect circle in order to teach  radius, diameter and circumference; however, I did not know how to create neat circles but now I do.

She demonstrated how she taught social studies and science using the table of  contents of the Common Core book. She showed us how, by using the table of contents,  she instructed the students how to write the information onto foldables. This was extremely creative to me.

The next session concerning exit tickets was information presented that I was familiar with. We talked about how long the warm-up should be and she gave sample demonstrations as to how we can create an effective exit ticket for our classes.

The next session had to do with how to implement math in our classrooms and some shortcuts and explanations of how to teach various topics such as slope, geometry, equations, and integers. I learned a lot about different strategies and  ways of presenting some of the same activities that I previously presented. The discussion was robust and very informative and the presenters were well prepared.

There was plenty of snacks and the teachers were very friendly and welcoming.

All in all it was a fantastic day.

Update: Currently,I teach GED at  a state jail.

The Secret to Becoming "Good" At Math!

Today, I taught an algebra 2 student online and I could tell he was having trouble with the concepts I was explaining. When I would ask a question, he would nervously try to guess the right answers or if there was a choice in answers, he would nervously try to pick the choice randomly instead of thinking about what I was asking.  

Soon into our lesson he stated the phrase that I've heard time and time again ,"I'm just not good at math," Tell me, have you ever heard a 3 to 5-year-old say they are not good at math? Math is a skill that is developed through practice, time, thinking, and persistence. That can be true of any subject or anything you would like to learn that you did not know. I am a Math teacher and I am still building my skills in math also through focus, practice, time and persistence. I believe students learn that they are "not good at math" by messages sent through teachers, parents, or other adults. I don't believe anyone intends on giving students negative vibes towards math but it's probably based upon their past experience and what they were told as they learned the subject. I would like to challenge all parents, teachers, and all adults to communicate with children that math is a skill that is mastered only through practice, focus, time, and persistence. Do not allow any child to say "I am not good at math". instead, teach them to say " through my struggles I am building skills to master mathematics by practice, focus, time, and persistence." 

It’s A New Season for STEM Education

Over the past 5 years, my thoughts on my teaching have changed drastically. I now understand in order to reach students I must change. I must continue to be open to new possibilities. Education is swiftly changing with the introduction of free Open Source educational materials. This summer I had an opportunity to attend the first Open Education Conference in the country  -http://www.openedjam.org Open Education simply means free high quality resources for educators and in this day of technology free is definitely good. One of the many take aways of the conference was my introduction to https://www.opened.io/#!  . This online resource makes available assessments that are aligned to common core and the alignment to Texas TEKS will be added soon. This resource includes formative assessments in the form of games, activities and videos. In addition, through this resource, teachers can track student progress.

 I spoke shared information about www.ck12.org . These resources enables educators to edit existing math and science textbooks, use pre-made quizzes or create personalized quizzes,  In addition, this resource includes real world lesson ideas, videos, and study aids.

 I do not know a great deal about Open Education so I am enrolling in a class through Stanford University http://goo.gl/xSkjqq  I recently complete a course –How to learn Math for Students-https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Education/EDUC115-S/Spring2014/about   This class was very eye opening for me as an educator. It explored many misconceptions able learning math. 

I am very excited about the opportunity to teach next year.  I plan to incorporate new found techniques and activities for students. This year I will be including Texas Instruments handheld technology in order to deliver activities and real-world lessons to my students.   

The use of Edmodo  is important because I can send assignments from www.ck12.org   to my students while they are in the Edmodo platform. The assignments are graded through the ck12 platform and the results are delivered to me in my Edmodo account.  

Yes, this year will prove to be challenging for me. My hope is that my excitement about new knowledge will spill over to my students.

My Experience at the Texas Computer Education Conference

I arrived at the conference on Sunday afternoon.  It was a rainy day but I had rays of sun shining on  me all the way because I knew I was about to experience some life changing training from the best teachers in Texas.  On Monday morning, I volunteered for the Smart Board session. It was a very informative session but since I use Smart Notebook resources regularly from my desktop, this session really did not increase my knowledge but it was presented very well with great resources that I can share with others.  

The next session I attended was- Integrating Augmented Reality into the Classroom by using the app Aurasma. I think this is an amazing app and I do plan to integrate it in my classroom this year. I would like to use it to guide students on practice problems given in a work sheet document. I have connected with some teachers online that will share their resources and expertise with me. 

   

Attending Flipped Classroom with TI  Nspire enabled me to learn  about the features of the TI Nspire.  The device is no longer called a calculator but a "handheld" and I thought this was interesting information. Using the TI-Nspire, teachers can  flip their classrooms by introducing an interesting video and posting it online for students to view at home. Then students would  participate in an activity using the Nspire.  The Navigation system enables teachers to receive immediate feedback of student understanding and the teacher can project the students Nspire screen for others students to see thereby increasing student engagement.   

A polling feature was demonstrated that allowed students to get assignments  sent to them from the handheld. The device can  save pictures to Microsoft word that comes from the Nspire pictures program 

 I attended a session entitled "STEM- Why Now"by Cindy Moss of discovery education.  This session gave me chills and it was a very powerful presentation for me.  She introduced me to a new acronym FAIL- First Attempt In Learning. She also stated that STEM needs to be redefined.  Many Educators have different definitions of STEM courses. We know it means Science, Technology Engineering and Math but it can also mean s Strategies That Engage Minds

She stated that STEM jobs are on the rise especially in Texas.  Many jobs only require special certification and a few hours of junior-college. Our students merely need an opportunity, an introduction and  training in how to think and problem solve. She shared different strategies that can be used in teaching STEM such as making observations and using manipulatives. 

I presented the session- Creating, Editing, and Sharing online resources through CK12.org. I had 40 participants and it was really an enjoyable experience sharing this resource. Using this resource I have created an online resource  that includes notes, videos, and practice problems for my next unit-Polynomials. I am including that in the resources I have listed below.  

I also attended Managing the Connected Classroom and there I  was introduced to another acronym-SLATE- which means Sit up -Listen -Airplane mode -Track speaker and Engage in conversation.  

Below are some of the resources that were shared. This was quite an enjoyable conference for me. 

Here is a link to all the resources I was introduced to

https://sites.google.com/site/tcea2014tr/   

-Resouces for Math teachers by  Tom Readon 

http://teachers.discoveryeducation.com/STEM/ Discovery Education- 

Direct link to STEM lessons and resources 

http://www.aurasma.com/ This site is about augmented reality.  I do not have the presenter notes but you can google to get tutorials. 

http://education.ti.com/en/timathnspired/us/home Link to TI Nspire Math Activities and Lessons 

Polynomials-Book I created through CK12 

http://www.ck12.org/user:Scottvideoeducast/book/Polynomials/r11

www.ck12.org 

You can create and edit resources to share with students 

How I Recieved Free Technology Devices for my Classroom

For several years, I have dreamed of getting an IPad 2 and  hand-held mobile interactive whiteboards  for my classroom (http://www.einstruction.com/products/mobile-interactive-whiteboards )  This year my dream became a reality. I have known about www.donorschoose.org  for several years but I never realized how easy it was to post a project and get it funded.

Just prior to school ending last year, I wrote the first project,  E-instruction mobile interactive whiteboards. After writing the project, I sent emails to all my students parents asking for donations. The greatest thing about the process is during the first week, all your donations are matched dollar for dollar up to $100! This promotion only lasted for the first 7 days of the project and during that time I asked everyone I knew for a donation. Most of this project was funded within 7 days.

 A few weeks later, during my summer vacation, I wrote the second project for the IPad 2. I have always desired to explore how to engage students by using this technology. It took about six weeks to fund this project and for the first seven days the donations were matched dollar for dollar up to $100!

 In funding these projects, I let everyone know what I was doing and asked for donations. I started with parents of former students and this is where I received  most of the support. I also asked family members and people I attended church with. I posted to my Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In pages; however, I only received one donation from social media connections. If I had not gotten funded after asking friends, family, and parents, I would have started approaching businesses because the donations are completely tax deductible. 

Within 4 months of getting and using my devices, I am required to submit a thank you package to www.donorschoose.org . This package consists of pictures and thank you notes written by the students. By completing this task, I will earn points to use in writing another project. You need points to be able to write projects and you earn points by correctly submitting projects, following all guidelines, and meeting all deadlines.

Currently, I do not have Wi-Fi in my classroom, but the IPad 2 is still quite useful. I use the Ipad 2 for taking pictures, creating videos of students presenting concepts, and the Educreations app for students to use as scratch paper. Some students have also recorded their notes.  Many times when I have students come to afterschool tutorials, they write notes using the Ipad 2 and this really engages them. I plan to find more apps to use and even though I only have one IPad 2 and no Wi-Fi, this technology is quite useful for my reluctant students.

My students use the Einstruction mobi to show and explain math problems. Two students can be working at the same time and each student in the class can see the work they are doing. I engage the rest of the class but allowing them to use mini white boards and dry eraser markers.  My classes do not use the devices every day but on average about 2-3 times a week.

The use of  these technology tools is not the formula for the "perfect class", but they are very helpful resources.

Technology Use VS Student Growth and Achievement

Throughout this summer, I've grown very excited about the many technological advances I have discovered through conferences and web browsing .   I have attended many conferences and search on the Internet trying to find the perfect new technology to bring to my classroom. I am fortunate to have access to an iPad to use next year and E-instructions Mobi's; however I find myself spinning my wheels hours and hours researching and learning about other tools I can use in my classroom this year . Today I realize I need to focus on content and technology will take care of itself. My new focus is on student achievement using the technology to bring  the lessons to life.

 

There's only a few more days left before I will be back in school so today I am focusing on how the content is to be presented or introduced in order to achieve my goal. Not to say that I have given up on technology but I will incorporate it with my focus  on achievement .  How can I better motivate the child to learn with or without technology? Does it really matter what tools I use to get this across? Practice is essential, projects are crucial and technology is the vehicle to make learning engaging.

 

I am attaching a document with the technology resources I plan to use primarily in class next year. I may add to them or take away but will commit not to loose my focus.  It is not about the mere tools in the toolkit, but the ability to get the job done.  

 My perception has changed!! Allow students to build and let them choose the tools.