Well, this is my first post.
I honestly don't know if my musing will help anyone else, but I know it will help me to keep track of the things I am trying. If nothing else, it provides a forum that I can reflect on my experiences and find ways to improve them to increase student success. I have always included technology in my classes, starting with power points, internet sites, Word, grading programs, etc. Then I branched out to include Socrative, Notebook, SmartAmp, Prezi, Sway, Google, Classroom, Sites, and well, the list goes on and on. But there can often be disconnects between the actual tech tool and meaningful learning. This is where I plan to concentrate my energies - finding the appropriate tools and methods to stimulate student involvement, increase learning and foster critical thinking. It's a tall order when working with at-risk students, but it is my goal. I have spent time this summer getting my thoughts in order for the new school year - reading books, tweets, and websites, researching ideas for math topics and project-based lessons, taking my Google certification test, revising curriculum, and setting up new classes in Google Classroom. I also set up a class in Google Classroom for my math department, including documents for department protocol, a department-wide database, and announcements for workshops. I'm hoping this will improve communication for the department and will also cut down on emails and phone calls. It should also free up time in department meetings for more important issues. I am also working on the curriculum and lesson plans for a new ROP course in small business management to be offered this coming school year. I'm very excited about this class because so many of our students express the desire of becoming beauticians, tattoo artists, and small business owners. It is my hope that each one of them will be able to graduate with a business plan in hand and the skills required to start them on their way. Like I said, very exciting!! During my web browsing, I have come across so many ideas for lessons, many of them geared for different standards and age groups, but I have visions of how I can adapt the ideas to my own curriculum. I have also seen many ideas that I have tried before, but that extend far beyond what I have tried. One of the ideas I saw was a math guru who had his class recreate a smaller version of the Twin Towers in NYC. The standards were proportional reasoning, but how he incorporated the history to teach empathy - it was an amazing article! I could feel his passion as he spoke of the reactions of his students. I soooo want to try that activity! I am also excited about getting the new Chromebooks in August! The DEI workshop was AMAZING! Our TOSAs did a fabulous job getting us energized and educating us on Twitter, You Tube, hyperdocs and portfolios - thank you all !!! I find that since the workshop, I am more inclined to check in on my Twitter account and follow the posts. But, geez, it's like pulling a string on a sweater - one tweet leads to another to another to another, and pretty soon three or four hours have passed. All interesting stuff, though. I can see that it will take some time to teach students about the Chromebook - how to log on with their Google accounts, how to use all of the applications, proper safety and privacy issues. I have learned, though, that the students always, always teach me things I didn't know - a win, win! It will be interesting to watch over the next few years how much students will already know about technology after having so many Chromebooks throughout the district. Hopefully my next post will have some concrete ideas for technology in my lesson plans, any thoughts or ideas are graciously accepted!
4 Comments
6/26/2016 09:38:23 am
Wow! You have jumped in full force! I love it! Your passion and energy really comes through in this post. The new class being offered in business sounds amazing, excited to hear more about that in posts later in the year!
Reply
Cori
6/26/2016 10:33:41 am
Carolyn,
Reply
Steve Pietrolungo
6/26/2016 02:14:09 pm
Carolyn,
Reply
CHIARA
6/27/2016 07:21:01 am
Carolyn, your passion for Math and teaching it is over the top! You're the role model for what every Math educator should be. Your students are very fortunate to have you as their teacher!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
OBJECTIVESMy goals include tracking the most effective ways to integrate technology in my math lessons. Archives
April 2017
Categories |