How @engrade saved my life and other goals

We are now a week into school. Things are going great so I think it's time for a goal update!

Goal 1:  Use a real grade book.

I thought I was going to actually do it... I really did. I made it through the first half of the first week and then I gave.  I do have a good reason though.  Our department purchased iPads for us.  Now last may this would not have made a difference, but since then one thing has changed.  Our school district moved to a new data collection tool called Engrade.  It turns out that Engrade is fully compatible with it, and the old program that we used was not.  Now I can check homework at the beginning of class and it is already in the system.  It takes about two minutes to finish checking the whole class and have grades posted.  Also, with Engrade I can take attendance and make notes on behavior on the fly.  My next goals post will have an update on whether or not this was a good move.

Goal 2: Have all of my Geometry students at 65% or above at midterm.

My last update mentioned that I was working on some very engaging lessons.  I am proud to say that they are working out just as planned.  My regular geometry class is actually keeping pace with my honors class!

Goal 3: Make a contract for technology use in my classroom.

So the students have to fill out something called an AUP.  This document let's the students know what is expected of them with technology at school.  In the next week or so, my juniors and seniors should be getting their school issued laptops, and they are as excited as I am!  I think this goal is accomplished for me.

Goal 4: Reflect and revisit my goals once a month.

It is about time! I have finally met this goal.  Good luck next month!

How West Virginia Does Common Core

I haven't written in a while!  I have been so busy learning about our new state standards for mathematics, and I have to say that I am really excited!  I love the integration of Algebra and Geometry, and I really think that it will make an impact on students.  Here is a link to the new state standards if you are interested: WV NxG CSOs.

As a part of this shift, the state was nice enough to employ some very qualified teachers to develop units for us to teach.  Check them out here: Math 1 Unit Plan Search.

These unit plans are very good, and I have started creating PowerPoint lessons for them.  I will start to post those as I get them finished.  Since I am only teaching Geometry and Algebra 3 this coming school year, I am focusing on Units 5 and 6 as they are the Geometry units for Math 1.  As I get them finished, I will post them here.  Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes!

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

I just had this feeling that tonight would be a good night to reflect on recent ideas. I had previously wrote about setting up a powerpoint with my notes and problems that I would like to discuss during each class. Up to now, I was the type of teacher that often thought I knew what my plan was for the day, and I just attacked the day. It has been nearly ten weeks since I started this new form of lesson planning, so I thought it was probably a good time to tell how it is working.

The verdict is in and... Drum roll please...it is the single most important thing that I have ever done professionally. I no longer waste time writing notes in my illegible hand while trying to keep the eyes in the back of my head on certain students. My classes are more efficient and effective. My students have become more engaged. I just really think that this has been for the best.

What's the catch? It does take a bit more time on the planning side than what most teachers are willing to spend. Personally, it allows me to become even more familiar with what I plan to accomplish, but it is not for everyone. Over all, I would say that the positives far outweigh this one negative.

My trip to the NASA IV&V ERC

I would like to start off by saying that I am very blessed to have a brother and intelligent as mine.  I went home this weekend to spend some time with my family, and he offered to take me to his work place.  Little does he know, I have been dying to go ever since Todd Ensign came to our school this past summer to do a training on the Lego Robots.  I'll  be honest, I have a short term memory loss and am aware that they are a more special name than Lego Robots, but I think you get the picture.  Todd's lesson this past summer was very thrilling for me.  I have a small background in computer programming, and programming the robots really made me feel at home.  I would really like to work on developing a lesson utilizing them because I know my students would be as enthralled as I was.

Back to the more immediate future, my brother brought me to the NASA IV&V ERC this evening.  For those of you unfamiliar, all of those letters stand for National Aeronautics Space Administration Independent Verification & Validation Educational Resource Center; hence the acronyms.  I have to say that this place is really amazing.  The ERC is very well put together and inviting.  Todd, the program director, does a really nice job!  I'm glad my brother brought me here, because now I want to come back every chance I get.

My Top 5 Things in the ERC

1. There are a ton of educational resources here! I would love to come to training here because it just seems to well put together!
2. Ceiling Mounted Projector! I would love to have one of these in my classroom.
3. Extra Widescreen SMART Board. I run out of space on mine all of the time.
4. The Desks have built-in computers. I would love to have desks like these. Actually, I would really just like to have desks similar to these where I could have students run laptop cords, and they would remain out of the way.
5. Final and best, the coffee/snack buffet looks really good. I did not partake in the eating of snacks or drinking of coffee, but if I had, I'm sure it would be good!

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK TODD ENSIGN, JOSHUA REVELS, AND THE ENTIRE NASA IV&V ERC STAFF!!!

Below are some pictures that I was given permission to post.As for the facility, you just have to make the trip to go see for yourself.  1-304-367-8251 (Joshua Revels) http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv/education/erc_index.html

Joshua Revels (My Brother)

Todd Ensign (ERC Program Director)

Tweet and Retweet...

...were sitting on a fence.  Tweet fell off.  Who was left?

So, after having the blocking filter fixed at our school, I was finally able to try Tweeting with my students.  I attempted it with my smallest class, Geometry.  I had a few students that said they preferred to not tweet, and I informed them that I respected their choice.  Out of (now) 15 students, I had 6 actively engaged in the tweeting activity.  I found out shortly after that a few students were only pretending to tweet along with me, and three others spent this time just setting up a twitter account.

On a very slightly related note, yesterday I had my 9th Graders develop their own behavior rules and consequences for computer lab days, and they were the most on task they have ever been.  Thank you LeAnn Nutter for that idea!

Before I try tweeting with my Geometry class, I will probably have this same discussion with them about rules and see if that helps.  If any reader has a suggestion, please let me know!

http://www.racquetmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/tweeting.jpg

Update on tweeting in the classroom

Today I mentioned twitter to one of my classes and they got really excited about it. We gave it a try and we were quick to find out that technology does not always work. After some conversation with our county level technology coordinator, we got it all sorted out and I will be trying it again tomorrow!

Tweet your heart out.

This evening I have been playing with an idea that has me intrigued. Recently I have noticed more and more of my students getting involved with twitter. I am all for getting education to be relevant to them. I have been reading a lot if tweets about using twitter in the classroom, and I found a really interesting article titled, 50 ways to use twitter in the classroom" by Samantha Miller.

One of the ideas that is mentioned in the article states to have students tweet about what they learned for the day and questions that they might still have after the lesson.  I think I think I will try it.   Remember that you can follow me @ifoundinfinity on twitter.   I'll keep you posted on how things go.

Trials and Tribulations

I just thought I should reflect a little on my Globaloria experience so far this semester.  I would like to preface by saying that a recommended class size of 15 to 20 students is about like hitting the nail on the head.  I have 30 in my Algebra 2/Globaloria class and I think that is the root of my troubles.

I will reiterate that for content integration, Globaloria Lite needs to be developed.  I have started taking the one day a week devoted to Globaloria, and that seems to be working for the time being.  I am having trouble getting students to turn in the permission forms, which is much harder to track with 30 students.  Also, unfortunately my Teacher's Assistant has moved, so I am back to working on this venture alone.  I'll be honest, I am a little scared, but I read some of my students' first blog post and it was helpful.  They seem to be enjoying class and are hopeful to be starting work on their own games.

http://hayleighcehs2011.blogspot.com/ <-- Student Blog

I think they like what they consider down time at the end of the week.  It's still early, but I'm hopeful.

16-y-o girl, accepted to MIT, sends her admission letter into space

http://boingboing.net/2012/02/04/16-y-o-girl-accepted-to-mit.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)
Link to original article.

Math at its finest!

Approximating the Hilbert curve with 3D printers

By Cory Doctorow at 7:06 am Saturday, Jan 28