4-H and Equine Therapy

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My Equine Therapy_0003.wmv (4-H) (4:04)

Starfire Finding Your Path (14:51)

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What is the best and worst of Technology & Topics for Educators?

For anyone reading this post, I'm going to share my opinion on the best, worst, and best of Technology & Topics for Educators. Easily, this class has more best than worst, and I want this post to reflect that.

The best part of Technology & Topics for Educators is the camaraderie that developed in the group. I give Mr. Becksfort most of the credit for instilling in his students that we are all working toward a goal, and the work is much more enjoyable if we work and learn together. Everyone learned something in this class. Of course, some people are more digitally native than others. Some people are technophiles. Of course, not all of us are either. In the end, we all learned, and we all had a lot of fun.

The worst part of Technology & Topics for Educators is personal on my part. The class started at 7 p.m. That is a horrible time of day (night?) for me. I struggled to have any brain bandwidth left. It showed often, and I thank heartily my left-hand, Ben, and right-hand, Chris, assistants. Thanks for taking on the job even though you seldom had any choice. The other worst part of the class was video editing. I found video editing to be like watching paint dry. On a bright note, it did cure me of dreading watching or listening to myself. I am so over that!!!!

Back to the best part of Technology & Topics for Teachers. This class is fun. It helped me expand my understanding of technology. It helped me use technology in new ways. It helped me see that technology is powerful and needs to be treated with respect. It helped me get used to getting up in front of a group which is priceless for my future as an educator.

Mr. Becksfort, thank you. I really enjoyed your class and appreciate the work you did.

Does Technology change the way we teach?

It depends....

Since teaching is both an art and a science, technology does change some of the ways we teach but not all of the ways we teach.

Technology changes what we teach, the topics, the focus, the science of teaching. Because technology is viewed as something new in the conventional mindset, it reinforces the current over the traditional.

What technology cannot change is human interaction, the art of teaching. No tool, gizmo, or latest-greatest can replace the connection that needs to be made between the teacher and the student.

Technology Presentation Overview

Web 2.0 is a great idea and many people benefit from using it.

Now the challenge: how to incorporate Web 2.0 into mathematics instruction.

I spent time looking at applications that I found by searching the web for "web 2.0 mathematics." The list was long. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. A lot of what I found was games. Games are OK, but the majority of games are for Kindergarten through 6th grade. I need games for 7th through 12th grade.

Another thing I noticed about the games seemed to be that they were oversold. They were described to be supportive of certain skills necessary for math. But when I played them, I found myself clicking here and there. Or worse, I found myself clicking randomly to see what happened. Not good. I don't think mathematics is helped by WAGs.

Then I remembered the trustworthy National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Sure enough, they have games. Not only that, they have games that can be played alone or you can challenge someone anywhere in the world. How Web 2.0 is that???? So I played the games, but I didn't challenge anyone anywhere in the world because I wanted to see if I could successfully play the games. Once again, I wasn't really getting much out of them mathematically. I mean, yes, they all involved mathematics concepts. But they were..........just games. On a personal note, I also noticed that the vast majority of the time the NCTM server won. But then I also noticed that although these games were listed as K-12, they were really K-8.

So, I was still unsatisfied and decided I needed to keep looking. Instead of NCTM's games, I looked at NCTM. I ended up finding some interactive stuff that came with lesson plans. It got me to thinking about what mathematics concepts would benefit the most from interactivity and visual learning.

VECTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In NCTM's "Illuminations: Resources for Teaching Math," I found a lesson plan, "Learning about Properties of Vectors and Vector Sums Using Dynamic Software" as well as the dynamic software "Vector Investigation: Boat to the Island." I played with it myself and found it interesting (could that be because vectors aren't my strong point because I never had dynamic software to work with when I was learning about them?)

All in all, I am very impressed with NCTM's offerings. I guarantee I'll check them out again for more good stuff.

Is there value in learning from fiction?

Of course, learning from fiction has value. A fictional story can present an underlying truth that applies to all of mankind. Underlying fiction is the human need for communication. The fable and folk tale have a rich and long-lasting history little changed by time and place. Fictional stories appear in similar forms across many cultures.

Does portfolio assessment have value?

Since my area of specialty is secondary mathematics, the answer to this question is not simple. Of course, the question is not simple so why should an answer be simple?

Typically, mathematics is treated with a drill and kill, quiz and test, repeat methodology which I find unfortunate. I mean, I hate tests. I'm not convinced that tests are an effective means to assess a complex issue, that being what a student has learned and what a student can do with that learning. From this perspective, portfolio assessment has great value.

But we're still talking mathematics which is not the kind of topic that screams "portfolio." So that means to me that I have to step outside the standard view of mathematics to implement something like a portfolio for assessment. But how?

Is it possible that mathematics has been drilled down to its most basic piece parts in an effort to make standardized testing effective? Is it possible that the beauty and power of mathematics has been lost, or killed, by the standardized testing? If so, portfolio assessment in mathematics has immense value.

Imagine a school in which the basics of mathematics are taught, but the use of mathematics is required. Imagine a school in which it is not enough to simply add, subtract, multiply, divide, know the Pythagorean theorem, and figure the probability of pulling a blue marble out a sack. In this school, you will find all the piece parts of mathematics taught. But instead of filling bubbles, the student will demonstrate knowledge with projects that span the piece parts and make them into a coherent whole. The student will work to explain to peers what the math means, not simply what the manipulations are. And these projects and works of the student will be compiled into a portfolio.

Indeed, portfolio assessment has great value in mathematics.