Anastasia Martin's EDM310 Blog

Week 8 Homework Part II: Closure of Blog

2007-07-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

I am closing my EDM 310 blog. It is complete.

Week 8 Homework Part I: What I have learned in this class

2007-07-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

I was already very familiar with some of the things we did in the class like Word and Excel, but the following are a list of things that I have never done before taking this class:

1. PowerPoint
2. Blogging
3. Creating a Website
4. Researching ALEX, ACCESS, Seymour Papert, iPods, iPhones, and iGoogle.

Week 7 Homework Part III: iGoogle

2007-07-18T15:45:00.000-05:00

IGoogle has many features that could be added for educational purposes. The five things I picked for my high school math class were: MyCoolAids Triangle, Unit Converter, TeachExplain.com, Sudoku, and ToDo.

1. MyCoolAids Triangle is a program that solves for the length of sides and angles of triangles.

2. Unit Converter is a program that can convert meters to feet, cups to quarts, etc...

3. TeachExplain.com is a program that can not only be used to solve order of operations problems, but it also teaches you how to do the problem.

4. Sudoku is a fun math game that most students are already familiar with. When I taught in the past I would put simple Sudoku puzzles on the board for students to solve for bonus points when we had some spare time at the end of class.

5. ToDo would be added to my iGoogle page because it was a requirement at my last school to have an objectives list on the board everyday. If I had access to the equipment it would be nice to project my iGoogle page on one of the dry erase boards in the classroom everyday and have the objectives typed up on the ToDo list.

Week 7 Homework Part II: Blogs

2007-07-18T15:28:00.000-05:00

Before I took this class I never had blogged before. I like it because it is very simple to set up, and very simple to add blogs.

The only drawback to using blogs, especially in public schools, is that not everyone in the class has a computer at home. I will probably use blogs when I teach again though as a way for students and parents to keep up to date with what is taking place in the classroom. I will add the site to my syllabus, and anyone interested in the class can go to the site to see test dates and other important information.

Week 7 Homework Part I: Website Completion

2007-07-18T15:19:00.000-05:00

To go to my website go to http://www.johnstrange.com/edm310summer07/MARTIN.

The website describes the Alaskan cruise I took in June 2004. I talk about all of the cities I went too. I also talk about and show pictures of the ship on the website.

I have completed the website. If I had more time and wanted to improve the website, the first thing I would do is add more colors, pictures, and features to each web page. Right now it is very simple and basic.

Week 6 Homework: iPhones & a link to my review of Arlene Nelson's website.

2007-07-11T14:41:00.000-05:00

IPhones could be used in the classroom in many ways. Just like iPods they can be used to store and play audio files. So in the same way that I discussed in the week 4 homework that iPods can be used, iPhones can also be used. Unlike iPods though, iPhones can be used to play video files. It would be an easy way for a teacher to download an educational film for the classroom. Also, IPhones can be used to access the internet. How much easier it would be to work on research papers in the classroom if students owned an iPhone. Trips to the school computer lab could be reduced. Of course the no cell phone rule in K-12 schools would have to be revised, although I think in time it will be revised anyway.

Also, this week for homework I visited Arlene Nelson's website and reviewed it. Go to http://anelsonEDM310summer07.blogspot.com and click the comments of "My Website Comments" to see my review of her website.

Week 5 Homework: Spreadsheets in the Classroom

2007-06-28T17:36:00.000-05:00

Spreadsheets can be very useful in the classroom. Teachers can use a spreadsheet to calculate their students class averages in a very time efficient way. Students can use spreadsheets to make very impressive and professional looking charts and graphs. Also, students can spreadsheets to help with repetitive math assignments.

The website http://www.alicechristie.org/edtech/ss/#articles is a very impressive collection of several examples of how a K-12 teacher could use spreadsheets in the classroom. Dr. Alice Christie developed the web page. She is now a professor at Arizona State, but she taught in K-12 schools for 25 years previous to becoming a professor.

Week 4 Homework Part 2: Using iPods in Instruction

2007-06-26T19:59:00.000-05:00

Typically iPods are thought to be a device used to store and play music in the same way a CD player does. IPods are not limited to this use only, since iPods can be used to store any computer files.

Using the iPod attachments that are available, teachers can record their lectures so that they can be available for students to listen to on their iPod. What a great tool that would be for a substitute lesson plan. Even if students in a class did not own a personal iPod, the teacher could leave his iPod, and speakers attachment, with the the substitute so the class could listen to it.

Also, using the iPod could be a great way for teachers to record lectures so that students who are absent could still listen to the lecture. Maybe this is not something that a teacher would want to do regularly, but in certain circumstances. Like if a student who truly wanted to keep up with his studies was hospitalized. Or, if one fourth of the class was going to be absent for a week because the softball team was going to the final playoffs.

Whether using the iPod as a device to deliver lectures to students, or just a storage device, the way iPods are used in instruction is expanding. See the website http://www.principalspartnership.com/iPods.pdf for more information.

Week 4 Homework Part I: Seymour Papert

2007-06-26T19:23:00.000-05:00

Seymour Papert has new ideas of how education should be presented to children. Starting from elementary school, he believes that children should not be taught things like fractions, Latin, etc... that are not useful in everyday life. Instead he believes that subjects like mathematics should be presented in a more practical way. For instance, teaching a first grader engineering which will result in the child learning mathematics. See the website http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1144341.htm for a great interview with Seymour Papert.

Currently Seymour Papert is recuperating from being struck by a motorbike in December 2006. He was 78 years old when he was in the accident and was seriously injured.

Week 3 Homework Part 2: International Schools Using Blogs

2007-06-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

The first international example that I found is a blog site for Woodhill Primary School in Bishopbriggs, Scotland. To visit this blog go to http://woodhillprimaryschool.blogspot.com/. The blog site discusses the subjects of French, English, and the environment. It also has an archive of blogs dating from October 2005 to the present. A lot of the student responses are very casual and you can tell it is the first time many of the students have ever blogged before.

The second international example that I found is a blog site for Bucklands Beach Intermediate School in New Zealand. To visit this blog go to http://thediaryofannefrank.blogspot.com/. The blog site is for the year 7 students to discuss the book, The Diary of Anne Frank. The student responses are posted by the teacher after the students discussed portions of the book as a group.

Week 3 Homework Part 1: U.S. Schools Using Blogs

2007-06-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

The first United States example that I found is a blog site for students and parents of a fifth grade classroom in Battle Creek, Michigan. To visit this blog go to http://mrfowler.wordpress.com/about/. The teachers name is Mitch Fowler and he has the following categories in his blog site: character, general, language arts, questions, and science. Most of the students responses to this teachers questions on this blog are very causal. You can tell the teacher tries to make this blog site a fun experience for the students.

The second United States example that I found is a blog site for students of a tenth grade English classroom in Branford, Connecticut. To visit this blog go to http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/. The teachers name is Mr. Miller and he has links to all of his students blogs in his blog site. The students blog sites discussed the lasted novel they were reading. The students responses were much more formal than Mr. Fowler's blog site.

Week 2 Homework: ACCESS

2007-06-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) is a program that allows schools to offer classes through the web. The teacher is located at one school, and through the web, teaches students at any other school that is participating in this program.

This program is a great way for schools to expand their advanced placement classes and electives. For example ACCESS could be used to teach calculus at a small school that could not hire a teacher to teach calculus because only a few students wanted to take it. Students will be able to ask questions and talk to their teacher through videoconferencing. Only a monitor is required in the classroom.

Week 1 Homework: How I will use ALEX in my classroom.

2007-06-02T22:29:00.000-05:00

When I return to teaching high school mathematics, when my children are in elementary school, I will use the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX). When I taught high school mathematics in the past, anytime I was assigned a new subject to teach, I always had to hunt down teachers who had taught the class in the past to get a copy of course of study and lesson plan ideas. It doesn't matter which school I get assigned to, or which mathematics class I get assigned to, ALEX is a quick resource to look up the course of study and lesson plans.

I would include ALEX in my course syllabus as a resource to students. ALEX has links to interesting math websites that my students could have fun with in the computer lab. I also saw great project ideas for high school math classes in the lesson plans which I would definitely use because it can be challenging to think of good project ideas for math classes.

Week 1 Homework: ALEX Description

2007-06-02T21:58:00.000-05:00

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a great web resource for teachers. Teachers can use ALEX to find great lesson plans. It gives teachers the option of logging in to use a personal workspace. ALEX also links teachers to professional learning resources.

ALEX is also a great web resource for students. It gives students access to the course of study for all subjects from kindergarten through high school. Students can use ALEX to find web sites for a particular subject they are studying. Just like teachers, students can search the ALEX database for information.

Welcome

2007-05-31T17:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog page.