Final Digital Learning Hub Reflection

      Creating a website is certainly a difficult process.  I can surely say that my digital learning hub is still a work in progress.  I wish I knew how to make that caution tape going across the screen that said : "Under Construction".  I honestly do not know if I will ever be happy with my website.

      My school does provide websites to teachers, but they did not give teachers any training on how to set the sites up. I was able to place what I taught and my name on the site and that was all.  Therefore, I really do not use the site for much.

      I had a lot of trouble getting some parts where I wanted them onto my website.  I really wanted a link on the side that would lead to a page where I could then place different lesson plans.  I tried to do this multiple times, but I am not very tech-savvy at website making yet and need some assistance at this.  I was able to get the lesson plan on the site, but not in the way that I wanted.

My unit plan can be found on my website: https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithpaskov/.  There is a link called Geometry Unit Plan-Parallel Lines on the left side that will send you to the unit plan.

My hope for my website is that it can be used for parents, students, and teachers. Parents can use it for resources for their children. Students can use it for announcements, homework, and links to websites. Teachers can use it for lesson plans and other resources. I have provided links to my school's website as well as the power school site which is the grading system we use at the school. I have also provided some useful links for students such as homework help and tutor.com. I want my website to be a place that students can go when they are confused and it will be a worthwhile place.

I hope to try to implement the use of mt website for next school year. I do not think it is ready for this year. I want to keep adding things as I go on and with some help, I think I can get my website to a place that I will be happy with.

ED 720 Week 12 Assignment-Classroom Integration

     In response to the prompt, we were asked to discuss and relate the impact of technology in our own classroom and how it relates to one of the themes in Karchmer's study.  I chose to focus on the themes of: evaluating the accuracy of internet use and ensuring safe internet use.

     Since the students in my class will be using the internet for multiple parts of the unit, I wanted to take them in to the computer lab before we really got into the depth of the lesson to to get a sense of their internet searching skills.  The students were asked a series of questions related to parallel lines.  The sheet that the students had can be found here: Defining Parallel Lines

     As I have students searching the internet, I try to watch what they are searching and how they are searching.  Many of them resort to the standard "googling".  They are very unsure of how to search for information on the internet and do not know how to evaluate the accuracy of internet sites and information.

I wonder that the information that the student's gather on the internet is something that they are retrieving safely. Each time I bring the students into the computer lab, I worry of the internet safety of my students and I am constantly walking around the room observing what is happening on each of their computers. I constantly wonder that they have open windows where they are searching for answers to my questions while searching for other things that relate to their own personal lives. When we gave the students the district assessment we were able to have the students all log on under a special log in name where they were unable to access the internet. However, when I need them to access the internet, it is a difficult job to fully watch them as they search for the information asked.

One thing I do try to do is incorporate chances for all students to use the internet. If the process seems difficult, I will sit with students or make a modifies assignment so that all students have the chance to access the internet. I did not like what the teacher "David" in the study said about students who had trouble keeping up with using the technology. He had difficulty finding reading material for his weaker (SPED) students so he did not permit them to use computers. He stated, " My weak readers, those in special ed, are not using computers. Their reading abilities make is so difficult to complete a task that they run out of time before completing whatever it is they must do."(Karchmer, page 1261) To me, he could have done a lot more to motivate these students to use the internet. And that was just another theme that Karchmer touched upon in her study.

Reflection of Open Mic #3-Twitteracy

     For the Open Mic #3, my group decided to look at Twitteracy.  This was a close look at Twitter, Literacy and how it related to the classroom.  I really enjoyed working with the three women in my group.  Our collaboration is amazing and we really know when to help each other.  We all took our parts and ran with them and in the end, we had a fantastic #twitteracy.  
     I liked how each person was required to answer the prompt and then turn it into a twitter post.  This may have been difficult for some and I did notice many use abbreviations to shorten their posts.  It was fun to see how people's responses and tweets were interconnected.
     When we first came up with the idea of Twitteracy, I was skeptical.  Although I have a twitter account, I must admit, I do not use it as much as I would like to.  I have co-workers who use it in school and tweet out assignments.  I really would like to get to that point, but I know that there are students in my classes that do not have their own devices and worry that it would not be fair to them.  I really hope everyone enjoyed the Open Mic as much as we did!

ED 7718 Reflection of Unit Plan

     I really enjoyed being able to share my plan with other teachers on Wednesday night.  Most of the time when I am planning out a lesson, I just try it out and see the after effects.  This was a nice way to see what may or may not happen before I even try the ideas out.  An even nicer piece is that one of my "critical friends" is also a mathematics teacher so she could give me some real insight on what I might get from the students.

     My group was very kind about giving me ideas of what was missing from my lesson.  My unit plan is to run a total of 4-5 days.  I have a rubric for the "culminating" project but they helped me see that I did not have rubrics written out for any of the other assignments.  Therefore, I plan to add these rubrics into my unit plan.

     I also was able to talk about the fact that I would like my students to blog at the end of the unit, but I am not sure that they will be able to because of the access to the blogging sites.  Therefore, I tried to see if there were any other options I could look into where the students would be able to comment on the unit.

     I did enjoy the us of "critical" friends as they helped me realize I need to be clearer in my expectations of what I am asking for.  This has helped me look at my unit plan in a different light and I plan to tweak it before I teach the unit to my students.

Geometry-Parallel Line Unit Plan

High School Geometry and Online Reading Comprehension Unit Plan

Online Reading Comprehension Unit for High School Geometry

Online Reading Comprehension and the Math Classroom

Math online reading comprehension can be used in any mathematics classroom.  The following is a unit that can be used for Geometry.  This unit is designed to integrate online reading comprehension into a lesson from Geometry that may not usually use Online Reading Comprehension.

Geometry Unit Plan:

Parallel Lines, Transversals, Common Angles, and Online Reading Comprehension

Overview and Day 1:

This unit will focus primarily on a re-introduction to parallel lines.  Students will have already learned about parallel lines in a previous chapter, but we will now incorporate transversals and the angles that are formed from these lines and transversals.  The students will be required to complete online research using online reading comprehension strategies.

Students will use the internet to complete a series of questions relating to the definitions of parallel lines and transversals. Day 1-Defining Parallel Lines Using the Internet Questionnaire

Materials Needed for Day 1:

• Each student will need a computer with access to the Internet
• Parallel Line Definition Sheet

Day 2:

Students will use Geometer’s Sketchpad, a program designed for geometry curriculum, to draw two parallel lines and a transversal.  They will then measure the angles that are formed from these three lines.  Day 2-Geometer's Sketchpad Activity on Parallel Lines

Once the students have measured the eight angles that are formed from the parallel lines and transversal, the class with discuss how the angles are related.  They form Alternate Interior Angles (equal), Alternate Exterior Angles (equal), Corresponding Angles (equal), and Same-Side Interior Angles (supplementary).

At the end of class, the teacher will discuss with the students how these lines and angles will relate to tomorrow’s lesson and how they will use the internet for their searching.   The students’ assignment for homework will be to use what they learned in class and apply it to parallel lines and measurements on their own.  Day 2-Angles formed by Parallels Homework Assignment

Materials Needed for Day 2:

• Each student will need a computer equipped with Geometer’s Sketchpad

• Parallel Line Question/Information Sheet
• Parallel Line worksheet

Day 3:

On Day Three, students will be using Google Earth and Google Maps to find two parallel streets in their town that are parallel and are intersected by a third street which we call the transversal.  

The students must find their streets and have them approved by the teacher.  This must be printed out in class so that the students can reference it in the future.  There are many streets that will fall under these definitions, so the students need to look carefully for streets that fall under this category.

Once the students have found their streets, they must then zoom into the map to find the landmarks that are located at the eight “corner” angles that are created by the two parallel lines and the transversal. Parallel Line Project Outline

Materials Needed for Day 3:

• Each student must have a computer with Internet access
• Access to Google Earth/Google Maps

Day 4:

Students will complete the conversion from Google Earth to their own version in class using online tools.  In the past I have given students a choice of:  

• Drawing streets neatly on construction paper using color and decoration
• Using a computer to draw the diagram
• Constructing a three dimensional model to portray the diagram.

This year, I want the students to use technology to increase their overall reading comprehension and skills.  The students can use a variety of tools such as their own blogs, websites, prezi, coggle, microsoft word or publisher, or any other tool approved by the teacher.Day 4- Parallel Line Project Rubric

Materials Needed for Day 4:

• All students need access to computer with internet
• Use of online tools for creation of new map
• Final Project Rubric
• Teacher needs access to email for students to send projects.

To conclude the unit, students will work on a short essay that they will then share to a class blog where other students will be able to comment.  This essay is a chance for the students to reflect on the unit.  I would like the students to provide feedback to myself as well as their peers.

Common Core

The following Geometry Common Core standards will be addressed within this lesson:

Transformations and the Coordinate Plane

CC.9-12.G.CO.1 Know precise definitions of angle, circle, perpendicular line, parallel line, and line segment, based on the undefined notions of point, line, distance along a line, and distance around a circular arc.

CC.9-12.G.GPE.5 Prove the slope criteria for parallel and perpendicular lines and use them to solve geometric problems (e.g., find the equation of a line parallel or perpendicular to a given line that passes through a given point).

Congruence, Proof and Constructions

CC.9-12.G.CO.9 Prove theorems about lines and angles. Theorems include: vertical angles are congruent; when a transversal crosses parallel lines, alternate interior angles are congruent and corresponding angles are congruent; points on a perpendicular bisector of a line segment are exactly those equidistant from the segment's endpoints.

Students may use geometric simulations (computer software or graphing calculator) to explore theorems about lines and angles.

Week Six Discussion Response EDUC 7718 (Paskov)

1.   Conversation, discussion, presentation.    What are they and how do they appear in your professional life?    If you were to diagram the power relationships in each of them,  what would the diagrams look like?     Which are technology-enhanced and which technology impeded?   Is there anything about the current status and role of these in your present professional situation that you would like to change?

In my professional life, conversation, discussion, and presentation appear every day.

As teachers, I think that these three items are crucial to our profession in order to continue the day to day process of teaching.  Without conversation among students, colleagues and parents we would be unable to complete our lessons.  Without daily discussions, the students would be left confused and without presentation, they would be left to teach themselves.  Therefore, we need these items to continue on our daily lives as educators.

Conversation:

In my school we have ninth grade teams.  I am a part of one of them.  Each week I meet with the other ninth grade math teachers to converse about the curriculum and where we all are in the subject matter.  We are currently formulating pre and post tests to collect data for our students so that we can pinpoint the weak areas that we can try to overcome in the upcoming years.  

We are taking are previously made district made Common Formative Assessments (CFA’s) and pulling out the most important topics.  From these topics we are formulating multiple choice questions for the students to answer.  From these pre and post tests, we hope that students will increase their scores by  at least two questions.  We have created a Google Doc to collect this data across the curriculum for all of the teachers so that we can visualize the difference in scores amongst all of the subjects.  This is a nice way to offer conversation as well as discussion of why the students are not performing as well as they should.

Discussion:

Being on the ninth grade team gives me team meeting time each day.  We use this time to discuss plans for struggling students or students with behavior issues.  We meet with parents, students, guidance counselors, and administrators to help get these students on the right track for their ninth grade year.  

As we discuss students we access their grades and attendance issues on a large screen projector and analyze them as a team.  This then gives us an idea as a “team” of teacher where the student are struggling and how we can approach their weaknesses.   I think that this particular part is technology enhanced.  Without the technology of PowerSchool, we would not be able to view the students’ schedules and grades.  Technology gives us the upper hand and lets us be one step ahead of the students so that we can bring them in and speak to them before their troubles worsen.

Presentation:

There are many different times where teachers present to other teachers using the new technologies that have been given to our school.

As I read through Turkle’s readings I realized that many of us are falling in to this category of always being online.  I am completely guilty of one of those teachers that attends a faculty meeting or team meeting and has me cell phone on my side checking emails and text messgaes throughout the majority of the meeting.  As Turkle stated, “Parents say they are more stressed than ever as they try to keep up with email and messages.  They always feel behind.” (Turkle, page 164)  I often feel the same way.  I teach five classes right in a row since my conference period falls in the morning period.  Sometimes administration or other teachers get upset with me because I did not respond to an email in an efficient and timely manner.  I try to get back to my colleagues as quickly as I can but I am certainly pressed for time as I am constantly teaching and do not have time to check email all of the time. Some  teachers have their school email sent directly to their mobile devices, but that is an option that I have decided to not choose at this time.

Checking phone messages is a whole other topic.  In our school, we do not have phones in our classrooms so we are to share phones with the other 100 teachers in the school.  There are about five phones that we can use amongst the faculty.  This leads to late responses and upset parents.

2.  Feedback.    Please describe what sort of feedback you want from me.   I am trying to challenge your thinking with the comment feature running throughout the text, but that forces you into Google docs.-- a limitation, ----while the global comments features in the other formats don’t seem detailed enough to me.   Maybe it’s my age: I am missing the private conversations before after and during  face to face classes.  What are your thoughts and suggestions?

I really enjoy getting feedback from you in the form of Google Docs.  I think perhaps this is the reason I continue to use Google Docs.  You are very descriptive with your feedback and your grading.  Your feedback is timely and well organized.  You do not simply use the rubric as a guide, you actually complete it as a chart.  This is helpful for me to see where I went wrong and what I could fix.

It is interesting to find out that as we struggle with using different mediums in our coursework, you are struggling with different mediums as you leave us feedback.  I personally think that the choice of using Google Docs really works well as a place for leaving comments and you can then attach the rubric.  However, if we branch into different mediums, leaving a comment becomes very detailed and can not be left at each point.  It is a possibility to continue to provide the feedback rubric in a Google Doc even though we may be using different mediums?

My choice of medium

This week I have chosen to post my response on my blog.  I wrote my response in Google 

Docs first so that I could make sure everything was in proper placement.  Google Docs is 

something that I have grown accustomed to, but I wanted to try to use a different medium as 

suggested for this week’s response. I will be interested to see how feedback is left in this format.    

My New Website!!!

I decided to try to work on my digital hub a bit tonight.  I just got curious as to what some sites look like and then I started to fiddle around a bit.  I ended up getting more involved in it than I thought.  I created a site within Google Sites since all of my information is in Google.  I have created a Classroom website that I am going to try to use through my school.  The website address is below:

https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithpaskov/home


It is a very rough draft of what I would like to see in my website as I have not uploaded a syllabus or submitted my claases that I teach or their assignments, but it has some bones to it.  I am looking forward to working on it more and more.

A Reflection on being a Discussion Director

     After an intense week, my time of being discussion director has come to a close.  I would like to take this time to reflect on some things I might change for the next time.  I had to prepare for this in a short amount of time but I was very adamant about making my own discussion questions.  I really wanted to formulate them on my own.  My discussion questions for the week were:

Discussion Question #1:

Few "new literacies" such as the Internet, wikis, blogs, search engines, instant messaging, email,  and online gaming have made their way into the classroom.  What are your feelings about "new literacies" and the classroom?  

Discussion Question #2:

Many times we are to believe that if students are high achieving in offline text, they will be high achieving in online text.  This is not always the case.  What are your feelings about the idea of Isomorphism?  Do you think it exists?  Have you seen any examples of Isomorphism in your own classroom?

     

     I had given instructions that even though the two questions were unrelated, I wanted everyone to feel free to choose one to begin the discussion with and then we could shift to the second question or we could discuss both and see where they took us.  

     After looking over the discussion, I realized that although I enjoyed seeing everyone's ideas and opinions on both questions but, I should have stuck to one question.  What happened was that some of my classmates though it was necessary to answer both questions, which is was not.  Had I stuck to one of the questions, I could have seen where it took us.  (The first discussion question had started to make a different turn, a turn into professional development and the lack of teachers being prepared.)  I would have liked to formulate a new question based around that topic.  However, many of my classmates then shifted back to the second question.  This is where some people dropped from the discussion or were just trying to make sure they answered both prompts. 

     If I were to run a discussion again, I would definitely only begin with one question.  This way everyone knows what to answer and the discussion can proceed from there.

      Of course there are the tough jobs like the grading.  I want to be fair to everyone.  If I can advise anyone else it would be to make sure you join in the discussion as soon as you can.  I know that we are all busy, but when we have free time get involved.  As the director I went in each day and responded to everyone as much as I could.  However, it is hard for someone to join into a discussion after a week.  

     I really enjoyed being a discussion director.  Working with everyone was a lot of fun.  I realize my style may not work for everyone and that is fine with me.  I look forward to seeing how everyone else holds their discussions.   If anyone has questions about being a discussion director, please feel free to ask me.

What I Want From My Digital Learning Hub

     In the beginning of this journey, I was never really sure about what all of these digital ideas were about.  All I really knew about was email and the occasional facebook post to my friends and family.  After taking a few summer classes using technology I have learned so much on how to blog, upload videos, and use Google+.
     Now that we are beginning to create our digital hubs, I am beginning to think about what I would want to include in mine.  As I think more and more, my digital hub should include information about who I am, and what message I intend to send to others. As a mathematics teacher, I want to include videos and information that sends a message to other mathematics teachers that technology can be useful in their teaching.
     I want to use my site as a place for students to go when they are confused and have resources available to them.  I want to be able to be available to my students via twitter, blogging, and other social media.  My digital space should be a place for ALL of my students to have a chance to visit and see.  I want it to be easy to use and easy to get to.

The benefits of my digital hub would be for my students to gain understanding and for teachers of my subject area to browse for ideas.  A few items that I want to try to include on my site are:

• Tutorials to enhance learning
• Videos of lessons for students that may have missed class
• Math website links for enhanced practice (age and grade appropriate of course)
• Math worksheets for enhanced practice
• Link to my blog for other math teachers to follow along

     I am looking forward to creating my own Digital Learning Hub, although I am nervous about the difficulties ahead.  I hope for a great experience!!

Network Learning Project- Final Post #4 -

     I began this journey saying, "I think I want to teach myself how to sew my button on my pants."  I never realized how difficult that would have ended up being.  After all of the practice, I am proud to say, I have fixed my pants!!!

     I never knew how much you could learn online.  I learned so much from other people and the different aspects of sewing techniques.  It was definitely a process to make sure I did not sew through to the front on my pants.  Therefore, I had to be extra careful when sewing the button on.  This meant a lot of needles to the finger!

     One new thing I added to the process was something called a "shank".  I went back to some of the videos that I had watched and learned more about sewing.  I wanted to be sure that this button won't come off again.  This "shank" creates a strong hold under the button to keep it form falling off again.  I wanted to be sure to use it this time.


I know that I am not the best at being on video.  I tried to look up as much as I could, but when you are sewing, you want to watch that needle.  I think my next learning project may be on how to focus on a camera.

All in all, I hope everyone enjoys my sewing excursion.  And if you need a button fixed, feel free to call!!




Video CC by DraperyIdeas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQRq--7InTE

Video CC by geobeats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCY1DxUuQ4

Comparing PLE's- How are we alike and different?

As I began my journey this summer, I was not sure where I would be at the end. I knew I would learn a lot, but I never knew how much information I would be walking away with. When I first received my Chromebook on the first day of class, I was so confused, I never thought I would get the hang of it. I kept reading through everything asking myself what did you get yourself into? Now being three classes in, I can not believe where I have come. I created a mind map of my learning and my own Personal Learning Environment (PLE) in Coggle. You can see this below:

Looking at my PLE, I realize that I am in a totally different place " digitally" than I was six weeks ago. My four main strands of my PLE are Chromebooks, Google Docs (with Google+ being a huge part of that), Blogging, and Co-workers. The reason that I chose these as my main ideas is that I believe this is where everything I learned this summer was based from.  

• The Chromebook gave me a chance to learn a new technology that was completely tied to Google and Google+. I was forced to learn all about a new site and its developments, such a using hangouts for a screencast! Without this Chromebook, I may not have learned some of the new things that I did this summer.
• Google Docs is a new found experience for me. I had heard of it before, but had never used it. Many teachers at my school use Google Docs, but I had never personally used it. I enjoyed working collaboratively with others through Google Docs. Within this I was able to play around with Google+ (my new social media place). I was able to join communities and groups and keep in touch with classmates through the IT&DML group.
• I had never blogged before. Now, I think I might blog all the time. It is definitely a nice way to release thoughts. I used my blog to reflect, share and comment on work from classmates.
• Lastly, I plan to share all of what I learned with colleagues when school begins. I want to collaborate during professional development and team meetings and bring what I have learned to them.

Before I had created my own PLE, I had browsed my classmates to help give me ideas. Afterwards, I realized that many of our mind maps look very similar. We may have different aspects as our "core" initiatives, but for the most part, the same ideas are placed into our PLE in some way, shape, or form.

I took a look at my PLE in relation to a few of my classmates. When I looked at their main ideas in relation to my main ideas, I felt like I was almost looking in a mirror. Even though each of us broke down our PLE in a different way, the main aspects of our PLE's were very similar. We all had something about the IT&DML program on our PLE. To me this means that we find this program to be an important part of our journey. I also noticed that we all had some kind of social media on our PLE. Whether it was blogging, Google+, twitter, or another site, we all mentioned social media as a way to share our ideas with one another. Another similarity I also saw was the fact that we all wanted to take something from this program and share it with our colleagues. Whether it was discussing at team meetings, department meetings, professional development, or using new technologies within the schools, we all made sure to include the collaboration with our colleagues at our schools to be a big part of our PLE's.
As I saw how similar my PLE was to so many of my classmates, I realized that we are all in a similar place. We are learning new and important ideas that we want to share with each other and colleagues at our school. Although we may differ in the actual outlay of the PLE, in the end, many of the ideas that we have are shared and probably will be throughout the duration of this program. I look forward to all of the new ideas I will learn in the future semesters and I hope to expand my PLE even more.

Creating my Digital Identity- Mind Map on my Personal Learning Environment

     I decided to use Coggle once again to create a Mind Map of what I have learned so far in my plan for creating my digital identity.  When I was first posed with this question, I really did not know what to think.  A digital identity you say?  Sometimes I don't know about my personal identity let alone a digital version of myself.  I developed a Mind Map of my adventures in sewing, created a tutorial for using Animoto, used Google Docs, and have used Google+ as my own little version of Facebook these days.  It has been a great learning experience and one I hope to share.

     My map is a version of me and my Personal Learning Environment (PLE) throughout this summer. I really developed my Personal Learning Environment from the use of Chromebooks, Google+, Blogging, and being able to share with colleagues.  I really feel that the use of the chrome book got me started on my journey.  This then led to the complete obsession of Google+ and all of its little tools.  I had never had a blog before, but I began one this summer and I hope to continue with the blog throughout the school year with my students.  The only part of my Mind Map that I have not completed, but hope to is the part about the colleagues.  I hope that I can take all that I learned from this program and share it with others.  There is so much out there that others can use.

Animoto Online Tutorial

     Animoto is a fun way to create simple slide shows for students and adults to use.  Whether you are using Animoto for a classroom use or for your own personal pictures, it is very user friendly.  Animoto is a free program that grants you free 30-second video slide shows. When using the free version, they let you know how much time you have left in your video.  Therefore, you can watch your time limit as you add slides and captions.  If you purchase Animoto, you can make videos with no time frame.  Depending on how you would like to upgrade your account, this could cost anywhere from $5 to $10.
     Animoto is very easy to use.  They allow you to use your own photos from anywhere whether it be Facebook or a photo downloaded on your own computer.  I have made an Animoto video using pictures from Facebook.  They are very easy to drag and drop in.  You can also select an entire album and choose from the album.  As I continued to use Animoto it became more and more like something I had thought I was using for years.  I hope to incorporate this into my classroom in some way in the upcoming school year.

Images in Animoto CC from:
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_5/chpt_5/1.html

https://engineering.purdue.edu/~asm215/topics/trig.html

http://bscstudent.buffalostate.edu/kajfkr79/web/Masters_Project/Trigonometric_Functions_in_Right_Triangles.html

http://mathkings.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html