Math of the Future

Well, I have really enjoyed the course. I did find it stressful as my time was much more limited than I had anticipated.  Teaching 2 sessions of summer school really took it’s toll on my time!  But, I’ve learned so much in this course! I can’t wait to explore more with Glogster, blogging, podcasting, and just Web 2.0 in general.  I definitely want to make my classroom a 21st century classroom. Although, I almost feel as though I need to take the course again to explore more about what’s out there. Is that a possibility?

I will also be using many of the tools I have learned about in other aspects of my professional life.  I will be using (and encouraging my colleagues to) Google Docs more and more.  I’d like to continue to blog–both personally and professionally.  I can’t remember if there are free services out there, but I can research it.  Again, that’s something I think I learned at the beginning of the course, but now don’t know.  So, if I were to take it again… plus there’s so much more out there! And it continues to expand. It’s like another universe!

The conference I viewed was called “Engaging our Youngest Minds”.  It was basically about how to capture and take advantage of the passion and curiosity that children have. The speaker/author discussed that there is something about the school culture that squelches that natural curiosity.  She also indicates that with the technology available via Web 2.0, we should be able to re-ignite that passion.

Valuable? Sure, I can see using the online conferencing as way to gain more knowledge.  I like it.  I am not sure what the credentials need to be for the presenters, but I assume there are some.

This particular presentation hits home because I am raising a young mind.  And I want to be able to foster his enthusiasm, passion, and interests without regard for my own wishes and desires.  I hope I can support him in finding and fostering his passion.

This was a lot easier than I expected it would be.  Coming up with an idea for what to publish was the hardest.  I did have to configure the microphone on my computer, but that was easy.

Here’s the podcast:

A reading of You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano (author).

This should be fun to try out with my math students when they are needing to explain things to me in an alternative way! Can’t wait to find a spot for this one!

It has again taken me a long time to complete this task due to technical issues.  I know that’s part of the lesson, but when working with students, it can be quite disappointing when technology breaks down.  Anyhow, I subscribed to a Social Media Marketing Podcast which I hope to use with a BusinessWomen’s group that I belong to. I checked out Learn Out Loud and their Teach Out Loud and Kids Learn Out Loud sections while I was waiting for ITunes to download (which took 4 tries).  These were cool sites, but you really had to search for things to find what you were looking for.  I was unable to find how they were organized by subject area.  Perhaps I did not look in the right place.  Much of their content was fee based, but nominal.  I also subscribed to The Critical Thinker Podcast in ITunes.  Hoping it will give me some tools to use with my students. This exercise brought up a new question.  What exactly is the difference between a Video Podcast and a simple Video I could watch on You Tube or elsewhere?

Audio Podcasts would not work with my population of students, but Video Podcasts definitely have an application.  I think searching for videos was easier.  Fit better with my organizational strategies anyhow.

When I was exploring Classroom 2.0 (I know this is out of order), I found a link to a game called Lure of the Labyrinth. I bookmarked it in hopes of exploring at school tomorrow. As I was reading in my Google Reader about Successful Teaching, I found a post that also linked to the game. The Useful Teaching post also indicated the game would be valuable.  I hope I have time to play!

I can see the application, but it is overwhelming as far as time. I already feel as though I was not able to get “planning” done during our planning week (due to excessive meetings and new software to learn). wish I had the summer for that. However, Twitter, I can see being more useful because it does not require a lot of searching. It’s more similar, to me, to Facebook and so I’m already more familiar with the format. Not sure why one couldn’t use FB for the same thing. Provided the kids and their parents knew how to use it, one could Tweet about classroom activities and new interactive sites that might be useful to parents or students. As for connecting with others, I am sure it is a great way to do so and could only enhance one’s learning toolbox.

I’ve been sold on Google Docs for a while. The only drawback I see is you can’t collaborate if someone does not have a gmail account. If I wanted to use it for work purposes, I would have to go through my personal account or set up a separate work account on g-mail, and so would all of my colleagues. I have run into this issue with a business group to which I belong already. Many of them simply don’t want another e-mail address that they have to check. Maybe they don’t know how to have all of their accounts linked? (Not sure I totally do either).

Anyhow, if there were something similar for use with other e-mail servers, GREAT! Maybe Dropbox is like this? Not sure. All of my students have e-mail through the school… so…

I can see this being a very valuable tool for a group of educators collaborating on a presentation. What a fantastic way to be efficient! No e-mailing of large files back and forth or risk of one’s computer crashing and losing the whole thing! I can also see using Google Docs for editing student work! I have used it for spreadsheet collaboration where we were attempting to put together a list of potential vendors for a Health Fair. Again, the only issue we ran into was for those who did not have a g-mail account.

What a wonderful idea!

This was a pretty fun task. I have been wanting to use more video in my classes and this is a good way to get me started! I found embedding quite easy.  My 2 faves were one from You Tube:

Maurice Sendak on Where the Wild Things Are by RosenbachMuseum:

and one from Teacher Tube:

Mrs. Burke’s Simplify Rap by kcallazo

Library Thing is a pretty neat place.  Who knew all this stuff was out there!

Anyhow, I was able to locate my favorite author (who also happens to be a personal friend), Oliver Jeffers.  I did not spend a ton of time here, but could.  I do already know that I will be sharing this tool with my Reading and Language Arts colleagues!  I know right away that at least one of them will find it quite useful and cool! 

Ok, I have to admit I have been a bit skeptical about Delicious.  After exploring it during this “Thing”, I have changed my mindset!  It is actually pretty useful.  I can see that it will be a great way for me to share certain things with the families of students I teach. For example, I can see myself sharing my tag list for manipulatives.  This way parents can see what kinds of things we are using in the classroom, students can get extra practice, and I no longer have to put together lists and print them out!  Saving the environment too!

Check out my bookmarks!