Let me first say that there is a wealth of information about education in the edu-blogosphere! I was initially overwhelmed by the task to find postings from two edubloggers to comment on, simply due to the sheer volume of options. Ultimately, I was helped by a comment from Jeff on one of my earlier posts that led me to the blogs of David Wees and John Golden. (Thanks, Jeff!) After reading through several entries by each of them, I decided to comment on two very different posts. The first, by David, begs the question, "Why teach math?" The second, by John, takes a look at using a mathematical learning inventory to identify what types of learners are filling the desks in your classroom.
I was immediately attracted to the first post simply by the title. This is a question that I know will shape my teaching practice for my entire career. David's thoughts about teaching math as "a way of thinking and learning" rather than as an endless toolbox of procedures prompted me to consider whether the current standards for assessing students and teachers support what's truly important in math education. What struck me the most from this post was his suggestion that teachers might be able to illustrate the "beauty and elegance of math." I can't express how many times I have struggled to explain how wonderful the patterns, logic, relationships, etc. that are so present in math are, and I am hopeful that I will be able to discuss this with other math educators throughout my career.
The second post caught my eye because I have been wondering about how to effectively implement differentiated instruction in a math classroom with a wide variety of learners. John talks about a math learning inventory that categorizes learners as mastery, interpersonal, self-expressive, or understanding, and I was hoping for some thoughts, ideas, or reflections on how to use that information to reach all four types of learners in the same classroom. I ended up posing this question in my comment, and I hope to get some feedback from John.
Overall, the experience of following two edubloggers was quite positive. Both authors covered a wide range of topics and provoked much thought on some of the issues that I have been learning about and pondering in both my education classes and my student teaching. Their thoughts and ideas are such that I would consider applying them in my own teaching practice. I now have two more blogs to follow along with Shawn Cornally's, which I explored during the summer, in my career as a high school math teacher!
Monday, November 18
Tech In My Placement
This class has introduced me to a multitude of ways that technology can be used in the classroom. As a result, I am considering trying things in my future teaching practice that I never thought I would before taking this class. It's very exciting (and a bit scary) to think about how I will integrate technology into my classroom and, more importantly, how I will manage it. There is one thing, however, that keeps coming up in our discussions about different technological tools and our ideas for using them in the classroom, and that is the issue of access.
After completing the "tech in my placement" survey toward the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to talk to a few of my fellow math majors about what they had found in their respective schools. It should not have come as a surprise that the results of the survey varied quite a bit from school to school, but I think that people sometimes forget that there will always be the "haves" and the "have nots" (and everything in between) when it comes to expensive school resources like technology. Fortunately, for the students at my field placement, access does not appear to be an issue.
The high school that I am placed at has a wonderful selection of technological resources for its students and teachers. In the large media center, students have access before, during, and after school to computers that are equipped with software for video editing, sound editing, image editing, web page authoring, and productivity tools. The internet access is unrestricted, but every teacher and student signs an agreement for appropriate use and faces consequences if they do not adhere to it.
Every individual classroom is equipped with a projector, and laptop carts are available by reservation. One complaint that I have heard regarding the laptop cart and any other technology that is available by reservation (e.g., digital cameras) is that the protocol is not always followed for using these shared resources. Some teachers will use them without properly reserving them, which could interfere with another teacher's reservation, and some teachers will keep the resources for longer than they are supposed to. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like a small price to pay for all of the resources that are available to students and teachers.
One final thing to note is that the school uses Power School, which allows parents, students, and teachers access to certain levels of information about student grades, attendance, and other important information (e.g., birthdays and health issues). The fact that parents and students can keep tabs on grades throughout the semester and report any concerns long before report cards go out seems to allow for a smoother process. All in all, I think that the students and teachers at my placement are pretty lucky in the realm of technology. I would like to see more technology use in my mentor teacher's classroom to get a more concrete idea of how a math classroom can be transformed with the use of some of the resources described above.
After completing the "tech in my placement" survey toward the beginning of the semester, I had the opportunity to talk to a few of my fellow math majors about what they had found in their respective schools. It should not have come as a surprise that the results of the survey varied quite a bit from school to school, but I think that people sometimes forget that there will always be the "haves" and the "have nots" (and everything in between) when it comes to expensive school resources like technology. Fortunately, for the students at my field placement, access does not appear to be an issue.
The high school that I am placed at has a wonderful selection of technological resources for its students and teachers. In the large media center, students have access before, during, and after school to computers that are equipped with software for video editing, sound editing, image editing, web page authoring, and productivity tools. The internet access is unrestricted, but every teacher and student signs an agreement for appropriate use and faces consequences if they do not adhere to it.
Every individual classroom is equipped with a projector, and laptop carts are available by reservation. One complaint that I have heard regarding the laptop cart and any other technology that is available by reservation (e.g., digital cameras) is that the protocol is not always followed for using these shared resources. Some teachers will use them without properly reserving them, which could interfere with another teacher's reservation, and some teachers will keep the resources for longer than they are supposed to. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like a small price to pay for all of the resources that are available to students and teachers.
One final thing to note is that the school uses Power School, which allows parents, students, and teachers access to certain levels of information about student grades, attendance, and other important information (e.g., birthdays and health issues). The fact that parents and students can keep tabs on grades throughout the semester and report any concerns long before report cards go out seems to allow for a smoother process. All in all, I think that the students and teachers at my placement are pretty lucky in the realm of technology. I would like to see more technology use in my mentor teacher's classroom to get a more concrete idea of how a math classroom can be transformed with the use of some of the resources described above.
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