Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) discuss is how a lesson may work for one group of students and not another. They stress the importance of monitoring the effectiveness of lessons and how technology can help the teacher organize, collect data, change and improve plans. Developing a GAME plan and following up on our progress and ideas seems like an effective method of improving our teaching skills through thought and reflection.
Resources/Additional Information –
In order to find real life scenarios, I realize I am going to have to take the time to do some research. There are a couple of sites that have videos that have been helpful (such as http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/). Virtual field trips about careers and other math related topics could be another resource to develop.
Colleagues with good ideas have been a resource that I have used for years. Most educators love to share when they find good ideas. Promethean Planet is another resource I have found myself using to assist with lesson plans and ideas. In order to create some project-based assignments I am trying to get some teachers together to work on this idea. Sometimes it is hard to get others onboard!
As far as a website is concerned, I ask a few teachers what they use. Some of them used the website creator used by the school (Oncourse), some make their own, while others use TeacherWeb.
Steps Taken –
To create a website I choose to use TeacherWeb, although there is a yearly charge I found that this is the best option for me at this time. It is a user friendly site with many options to get one started. The link to my site is http://www.teacherweb.com/SC/GreenwoodHighSchool/LeilaniReid/h0.aspx
I hope to keep it updated regularly and possibly create an ‘original’ one in the future.
I have been in my new room for 2 days and have used the Promethean Board for each class. Although I am really a novice at this I am hoping to become more comfortable with the technology and use it to further engage students. I am looking for ideas to use the board more interactively with students, suggestions anyone??
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
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Firstly, congratulations on starting your class website, that is a huge first step. There are many possibilities of what you can do once you have your class site established and students are comfortable accessing as a resource for the course. You can post information, facilitate discussions and overall keep everyone abreast of the workings of your classes.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that you have used the promethean board for two days now, and I hope you are not too overwhelmed by all the possibilities. I have had a promethean for about a year and a half and I love using it to make my math lessons even more interactive. A promethean board at the most simplest level can be like a whiteboard where you can save the screen or type information onto it previously. However, at the best, it can be an interactive learning experience for our students. I have developed many little tricks that are useful to increase student use of the board. The first trick is to have a problem typed on the board (the textbox needs background checked) and then type underneath it the layer. To do this, you merely have to have the question on the top layer and the answer on any other layer behind it. Then, the students can do the problem and come to the board and erase the question (using the regular eraser on the toolbar) to reveal the answer. Additionally, I create my own algebra tiles using the drag a copy tool (right clip on an object, go to edit, and click drag a copy) which allows you to have an infinite supply of the object you just created. A final trick that I use is to have the questions off screen with a picture grouped to it (using the little puzzle piece that appears when you select the two things). This way the students can come to the board and pull the picture—and therefore the words--- onto the screen. This gets them out of their seats and simply more involved in classwork. I greatly enjoy using my promethean board for my math class and would be happy to share additional ideas any time you would like.
Hello! I want to applaud your effort to help students see real world applications of mathematics. I teach chemistry, and my student's reaction to doing chemistry problems is "this isn't math class." I like to tell them that they should be excited because I'm giving them a chance to use the math they've been learning to do science :-) My point is that I think you are really on to something, and that connecting the math to actual real world problems will make it much more relevant and meaningful. I know it is extremely time consuming to do up front - I'm using project-based learning as well - but I'm sure it is more than worth the time!
ReplyDeleteRebecca,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea about the Algebra tiles! I may have to try to do something similar. I must say I am overwhelmed at the possibilities. With a 15 minute introduction we barely had a chance to figure out all the little things about the board. My first day I could not get the pen to work – only to finally look at the computer to see that the USB plug was not connected! At the moment my board and I seem to have a love-hate relationship. Learning all of the ways the board will benefit my students and I is just going to take time. I must say I am excited about it and have packed with my old overheard projector!
Leilani
It's great to hear that you've recently received a promethean board and are beginning to experiment with it in your daily lessons. I had a board installed in my room last year and my teaching hasn't been the same since. Although it took me some time to incorporate it daily and use it for something more than a glorified projector, nearly every class I now have students interacting with the board and using it to bring a digital, web 2.0 learning environment to life. I would highly recommend exploring promethean planet at least once a week. This site has so many flipchart updates every day that oftentimes flipcharts that I spend many nights developing have already been more creatively developed. Also, through the efforts of some other teachers in my county, the educational leadership paid teachers over the summer to develop a compilation of flipcharts for various curricula. Now, any teacher with a username and password can access this great resource and find flipcharts specifically designed for our unique curriculum. If your school district has not done this it might be a good idea to suggest it so that at teachers from all over can help you with flipchart development. Good luck it sounds like you are well on your way to reaching your goals.
ReplyDeleteDerrick,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement. I must admit using the board has been a little overwhelming. Promethean Planet does look like a good resource to use. I have spent some time on the site. Fortunately I work closely with one of my colleagues (we teach some of the same classes) and together we are working on finding/making flipcharts and activities for our students. Splitting the work really helps! With new classes and the new board, I realize I am not using the board to its full potential, but hopefully as I get more comfortable and discover all of the opportunities it provides I will use it more interactively with the students in my classroom. In the four days I have had the board I have had to get students to come up and show me how to do different things! It has been a learning experience!
Leilani
Leilani,
ReplyDeleteI also have recently started using the new Promethean Boards for my daily lessons that our school has purchased. I found that Promethean Planet actually had created flipcharts for many of the stories in our reading series. It was a great resources! However since they did not have all of them, I basically would use the pre-created flipcharts and edit them to apply to my new lessons. It was as easy as creating a PowerPoint, and the students love using the board. activeinspire allows you to copy and paste different flips so you can take a little bit from a large number of created charts from Promethean Planet, and then change the text to the way you want it.
Good luck, and your website looks great by the way!
Magan
Leilani,
ReplyDeleteHow exciting these new changes must be for you. I want to restate advice I have heard over and again: focus on 1 or 2 things at a time to incorporate into your teaching, so you don't become overwhelmed. With that said, here's another thing to add to your list for later on down the road. If a Promethean Board is like a SMART Board, you can have it record a lesson as it happens and then post it to your website. Then students who were absent or who need extra processing time, such as ELLs, can access the lesson for review.
Leilani:
ReplyDeleteI received my Promethean board last spring and I also consider myself a novice. I’m still learning all the features of this technology and some of the free online tutorials and courses and have been extremely helpful. http://prometheanlearning.com/us/. I’ve learned how to display websites and I use the interactive desktop overlay feature to allow students to identify main ideas of reading passages, poems, news articles; to identify main ideas, figurative language, etc. This desktop overlay feature allows students to use the interactive pen to highlight words, write notes and questions directly on the board.
A great resource to find interesting and usable projects is the global school network. I’ve been able to tailor my search parameters to find current and future project ideas that closely match my curriculum standards and objectives. Hope this helps. http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/search.cfm
Karla
Leilani,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new technology, and don't be too hard on yourself! I didn't begin to use the board to its potential until the start of the second year. Most of the time we get things like this after school has started. We have to figure it out on the fly. I worked on things over long weekends and such, but it wasn't until the summer that I was really able to get a good handle on it and create some things that could be used effectively in a student-centered way. Start small, and don't let yourself be overwhelmed.
Leilani: (The World of Technology)
ReplyDeleteI received my Promethean board last spring and I also consider myself a novice. I’m still learning all the features of this technology and some of the free online tutorials and courses and have been extremely helpful. http://prometheanlearning.com/us/. I’ve learned how to display websites and I use the interactive desktop overlay feature to allow students to identify main ideas of reading passages, poems, news articles; to identify main ideas, figurative language, etc. This desktop overlay feature allows students to use the interactive pen to highlight words, write notes and questions directly on the board.
A great resource to find interesting and usable projects is the global school network. I’ve been able to tailor my search parameters to find current and future project ideas that closely match my curriculum standards and objectives. Hope this helps. http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/search.cfm
Karla
To everyone...
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for the positive comments and online resource suggestions. It is refreshing to know that I am not the only one who has felt overwhelmed when faced with change and the prospect of incorporating new technology into the classroom. Realizing that I need to start small and pace myself is something that I have always had difficulty doing. I find myself wanting to jump in without looking around for the best options. Thanks again for the encouragement!
Leilani
My game plan also include the development of a website, where my student and parents will have access to, homework’s, online assessment, activities, classroom news and link to internet resources that will support their content learning. I am really excited because I am developing a website in two languages (Spanish and English).
ReplyDeleteMy firs step is surfing, searching and prescreening, bilinguals’ internet resources, and developing bilingual support materials. It is a long process but I hope my project should be ready for the next school year.