Tools for the Classroom

Over the past semester, we have been involved with many projects. Students have been busy working on mastery of the state standards through class work, homework, common formative assessments and benchmarks. They have been doing a great job of demonstrating proficiency with their grade level work.

As a result, I have been looking for ways to help them explore the mathematics we have been learning in deeper and more meaningful ways. There are many different media available to us to help make this a reality.

Last year, I was introduced to the Smart Board. Many of you saw this at Back to School Night. The Smart Board allows one to project their computer screen to the front of the classroom and actually interact with the computer on the board itself. This has allowed us to demonstrate mathematical concepts in a much richer way than I ever imagined. The Smart tools also have a recording feature that allows one to record their interactions with the computer as well as their verbal instructions. This has allowed us to post examples on our school webpage. The feedback has been fantastic with over 16,000 visits to our webpage in less than one year.

While this technology is fantastic, it is limited. It only allows for one way interaction and is really not much different than reading a book or listening to a teacher. It is just “cooler.” I have always been searching for new ways to engage students and allow them to explore math in a more collaborative and creative way. I started a blog for students and one for parents this year. The blog allows for two way interaction. I can post a problem and students can comment and discuss possible solutions with each other. The blog has led to a wiki. If you haven’t visited our class wiki, I encourage you to do so. The wiki is basically a collaborative website. It is completely safe as there are security measures in place that only allow for “members” to comment and/or participate. Currently, the only members are students and staff. The wiki has allowed us to participate in truly collaborative projects where each student has to play a part in order to complete the assignment. We have also used the wiki as a class tool kit. This is where students can work together to create a comprehensive list of vocabulary, theorems and student made resources. These truly are exciting times.

The next step is now to allow students to create their own “screencasts.” I began using screen casts to create the examples you have seen online. Now it is their turn. It has been said that a student learns by doing. Now it is their turn to “do.” We are currently working towards loading software on the laptops that will allow the students to do computer based projects and record their work. We will be using screencast.com to store the students’ work. This will require each student to create an account and in order to do so, they must include an email address. If your student does not already have an email account, I can help them create one. If you would not like your student to have an email account, please indicate this on the bottom of the page.

Here is the list of resources we are using in class:
Class wiki

Class blog

Parents’ blog
Class website

GeoGebra

Brian H. has completed our first GeoGebra project. You can view his work here. Congratulations Brian!

Voicethread!

Today we finished our first voicethread. Keep checking the website, there will be more coming. Remember the days when we would take our work home from school and mom would put it on the refrigerator? Now you can view the work from anywhere. Nice job to Josh, Fareen, David and Venessa!

Webmasters in training!

We have recently started using wikis in class. For those of you who are unfamiliar, a wiki is basically a webpage or collection of webpages that are collaborative. This means that students can work together on projects. The fact that the wiki is online makes this resource available to students 24/7. Currently, classes are working together to create a common vocabulary page and the Geometry class has created a page where students can add the different theorems as we learn them in class.

Today students finished their examplar assignment. In an exemplar assignment, students are required to state the standard, re state the standard in their own words, create a problem that uses the standard and explain the steps necessary to solve it. Finally, students are adding hyperlinks to other web resources that will help other students learn the standard.

It is amazing how quickly these students can pick up on technology.

I highly recommend you explore your students wiki work. You can do so by clicking on your student's period below.

Period 2

Period 4

Period 6

Students of the Month: September

It is hard to believe that we are already finished with the first month and a half of school. Students have been working very hard, but there are a few students who have stood out amongst their peers. The following are the students of the month of September:

Period 2/3

Pranavi Yalamanchili

Period 4/5

Jose Palacios

Period 6/7

Austin Kittrell

Congratulations to Pranavi, Jose and Austin. You have been doing great. Keep up the good work.

Update Week of 9/29

Period 2/3

Class is currently working on Standard NS 1.5. This standard requires students to convert from decimal to fraction and fraction to decimal. Early indications show that they will do very well on this standard.

We just started a class wiki. This will allow students to collaborate on projects and create a class "toolkit" , if you will.

Period 4/5

We recently took a post test on standard 6.0. This standard involves finding x and y intercepts and graphing linear equations as well as inequalities. The class average on the pre test was just over 70%. The post test average was well over 80%. They are showing growth but need to improve confidence which seems to be linked to motivation.

Period 6/7

Class is doing great. They challenge me everyday...I love it! We are currently working on Standard 2.0 which deals with number sense. The tough part of this standard involves the exponent rules...specifically the rational exponents. Encourage your student to explain to you what a rational exponent is.

We have created a class wiki. Students are currently working on a project for standard 4.0. The wiki is a website that students can edit. At the end of the year, we will have a product that was created by everyone. It is pretty exciting.

Update Week of 9/22

Progress reports have been mailed home and some of you may have questions. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Period 2,3

The 7th grade class is doing very well. We are currently working on NS 1.2. This standard encompasses many skills involving numbers. Students will need to know everything from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of integers and fractions to exponents. Take a look at the NS 1.2 worksheet that they have completed.

In algebra we are working on solving equations. We started out with simple one step equations and are now working on solving equations that require multiple steps. Check the website for examples.

How can you help at home? Ask your student to explain each step when they solve an equation. They should be able to tell you if they used the distributive property, combined like terms or used one of the four properties of equality.

Period 4,5

We are currently working on graphing linear equations using the x and y intercepts (Standard 6.0) and will soon be exploring the different forms of linear equations (Standard 7.0). Ask your student to explain to you how they can find the x and y intercepts of a graph. The more questions you ask them at home, the more prepared they can be when they come to class. Don't worry if you don't remember how to do the work...just ask them to explain what they are doing.

Period 6,7

Students have been doing very well with their algebra standards. We will be taking a pre test on Standard 6.0 today! This standard covers graphing linear equations and inequalities by looking at the x and y intercepts.

In geometry, we are learning how to test the validity of an argument and justify our steps. We have spent a couple of days on conditional statements and how changing the statement around changes the meaning. Ask your student to explain the laws of detachment and syllogism.

Back to School Night

Thank you all for attending Back to School Night. I wish we would have had more time to talk. I am sure that some of you may have questions about your student. Feel free to contact me via email or leave a message with the office and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you again for all of your support.

Thank you for your comments!

I really appreciate all of you who took time out of your hectic schedules to leave comments and/or post your email addresses. The email addresses will be entered into Aeries which will make it that much easier to send communications home. I don't know about you, but it seems that email is a much more convenient way of communication. I realize that there will be times when correspondence will have to be sent home by way of an actual handout. However, things like email, websites and blogs make communication that much easier.

There were two concerns that were raised in the comments that I feel I sould address.

1. What if a student doesn't have access to a computer and/or printer?

I have spoken to all of my classes about this. I realize that not everyone has access. I also realize that there are times when access is interrupted or the computer simply "doesn't work." In these cases, students are free to use the school computers before school, lunch and after school. They can usually print the pages that they need in the library. I am not assigning all of their homework on the web, I am simply making it accessible.

2. Leaving email addresses on a blog makes them public.

I completely agree with this concern. All of your email addresses will be deleted as soon as possible. If you have any other concerns, feel free to email me or leave a comment on the blog.


I plan to update once every week or so. Feel free to continue commenting; it helps keep me informed regarding the effectiveness of the communication.

Thanks again for all of you comments and encouragements.

Welcome Parents!

Over the past year I have been using a blog as a way of allowing students to continue exploring problems that we may not have time for in class. It is also a great way for students to connect with other students and share ideas and ask questions. I will be adding to their posts as often as possible.

Many of you have given feedback regarding our webpage and the resources that are available. I truly appreciate it. In order to streamline the information that goes between the home and the classroom, I thought that creating a parent blog may be useful. These blogs are open to the public as many people have found the resources useful.

For the first post, I would like to give you an update on what your students are doing in class.

Cornell Notes
Each student is required to take Cornell Notes each day. Ask them about Cornell Note format and look to see that each note entry has a date, title and summary. They should not be doing classwork or homework in their notebooks. The notebooks are for notes taken in class or at home only!

Homework

Students will have homework every day. It should take them up to one hour. Homework may include: worksheets given in class, worksheets they are to print from the webpage, problem of the week on the blog, taking notes on examples from webpage or practice problems from their workbooks.

California State Standards

7th Grade:
Students are currently working on AF 1.2: Order of Operations. They have taken a pretest and done the intervention worksheet. They will post test on this next week. We will also begin working on NS 2.5: Absolute Value next week. Have your student look over the examples by standard on the webpage.

8th grade:
Students have finished Alg. 1.1. This standard covers a vast array of topics from properties to real numbers. Period 4 averaged 61% and Period 6 averaged 81%. They will both take the post test next week. Currently we are working on Alg 4.0: Simplifying expressions. This standard is more specific and includes skills like combining like terms. Have your student access the online examples for additional help. Classes will take a pre test on Alg 4.0 today. Next week we will begin Alg 5.0: Solving problems involving linear equations. They should be able to use the distributive property, addition/subtraction/multiplication/division properties of equality, and combine like terms. Ask your student what these terms mean. Encourage your student to check the online examples by standard on the webpage.


Homework assignment:

Parents, please post a comment so I can verify that you have visited the site. After your comment please include the following:

Your Name
Your Student's Name
Your email address