This is what my students have been saying to me after I allowed them a little free time with the iTouch. It started simply enough, I wanted to help some of the students be a bit more motivated to pass their math timings. So, I told them whomever passed could use my iTouch the next day. Of course they had to play a math game on it. That day one boy passed! The next couple of days, as this boy sat in the back playing math games on the Touch, the rest of the students continued taking math timings. On the third day, two more kids passed! Now I was in a predicament, 3 kids and one Touch! But it worked out in the end with the students taking turns playing Pearl Diver or Sum Stacker as the other two watched giving advice when needed. As they walked away all of them said, "I want one of those!"
I have seen how technology works in my home when it comes to my own children and their homework. Any homework that involves hopping on the computer to complete an assignment is the one done first and the printed out sheet of math facts is the homework that never seems to get done without me enlisting in some sort of argument. Kids these days live in the virtual world, it is what excites them and motivates them to attempt new things. So, why wouldn't a teacher use this tool in the classroom? Have you ever given an assignment that involved the students using the technology and seen them spring into action. I know that the students who I worked with never gave me groans or moans when I announced we were taking turns with the Touch.
We need to go with this technology thing. It is here to stay and students connect with it. Plus, don't tell anyone....but it makes learning FUN!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Growing Acorns in a Corduroy Jumper, Jumping off Tables
During math class my instructor began by telling us how she got students attention; she performed antics! On one particular day she was demonstrating how to get a Buzz Lightyear doll to jump, she did this by standing on a table throwing the doll in the air... and she was wearing a corduroy jumper. If I had a teacher like this back in school, I would probably have been interested in math.
When I was in high school I struggled with geometry. I still remember my teacher, Mr. Caldasurdo, telling my parents that I tried and tried but that I just couldn't grasp the concept and he didn't know what else to do with me. So, I continued to come to class, listen to his lectures of explanation, and fail every test. I could not understand geometry!
Now in our day of technology, there is a world wide web to help students "see" geometry! In my current math class, our corduroy jumping teacher (now in jeans and a t-shirt)introduced us to Geometry Sketch Pad and after 25 years, I began to understand, no "SEE" geometry! The site has you take shapes and adjusting this shape into new shapes. IT was a challenge, but what worked for me was the fact that I could manipulate the shape into a geometry shape and therefore the term "quadilateral" clicked in my brain. This soon made me realize how technology can help students who were like me when they need more of a visual, not an instructor standing in front of the class. By interacting with the class you're helping those acorns grow into math lovers!
When I was in high school I struggled with geometry. I still remember my teacher, Mr. Caldasurdo, telling my parents that I tried and tried but that I just couldn't grasp the concept and he didn't know what else to do with me. So, I continued to come to class, listen to his lectures of explanation, and fail every test. I could not understand geometry!
Now in our day of technology, there is a world wide web to help students "see" geometry! In my current math class, our corduroy jumping teacher (now in jeans and a t-shirt)introduced us to Geometry Sketch Pad and after 25 years, I began to understand, no "SEE" geometry! The site has you take shapes and adjusting this shape into new shapes. IT was a challenge, but what worked for me was the fact that I could manipulate the shape into a geometry shape and therefore the term "quadilateral" clicked in my brain. This soon made me realize how technology can help students who were like me when they need more of a visual, not an instructor standing in front of the class. By interacting with the class you're helping those acorns grow into math lovers!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Math is ... creative?
YES!! That was the subject we spoke about today... math and creativity going together. As a kid I was one of those that always thought math was boring... I hated it. To just sit there and crunch numbers and solve algorithms has always made me... yawn! Yet, as I learn more and more about teaching math using manipulitives and now, to teach it creatively has made me more excited!
As the discussion opened up in class it was asked can this be done? Can you somehow mix these interdisciplinaries together? Some thought not because what if the person isn't a strong reader/writer if you are combining these subjects? I actually think not only can you do it but it shows students another way to realize that Math is all around them, in their everyday lives. Plus, most students are creative, they will think of a way to make it happen. Yes, mixing creativity is a great way to get students to learn, I wish I had it in school... I think I would have really enjoyed math.
As the discussion opened up in class it was asked can this be done? Can you somehow mix these interdisciplinaries together? Some thought not because what if the person isn't a strong reader/writer if you are combining these subjects? I actually think not only can you do it but it shows students another way to realize that Math is all around them, in their everyday lives. Plus, most students are creative, they will think of a way to make it happen. Yes, mixing creativity is a great way to get students to learn, I wish I had it in school... I think I would have really enjoyed math.
Monday, February 7, 2011
iPod Touch=Better reader
As I continue to use the iPod touch in my classroom I have found it to be quite useful during reading. One of the students that I work with is a girl who is not a very confident reader. She loves to read but she is slow.... When I asked her why she reads so slow she commented that it was because she wanted to make sure she didn't get anything wrong when she had her Dibbles testing. So, as we read one day, I pulled out the Touch and recorded her voice. After she finished I had her listen to her voice and follow along as she heard it. When finished, I asked her what she thought and she responded that she reads kinda slow. Yes, I said so lets work on picking up the pace and not worry about whether you are making mistakes or not.
I haven't met with her since that first day, but I am eager to see her again to see if anything has changed. It just goes to show that being able to hear your own voice, can make a big difference from someone just telling you what you are doing wrong.
I haven't met with her since that first day, but I am eager to see her again to see if anything has changed. It just goes to show that being able to hear your own voice, can make a big difference from someone just telling you what you are doing wrong.
learning to love to read
When first meeting "J" I was a little worried about his reading level because he walked in with "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", a book that I knew was below a 4th grade level. However, I also feel that if a student desires a certain genre of book and it doesn't fit their level, then so be it because it is more important to get that student to develop the love to read. Yet, when speaking with "J", he told me just that: that he doesn't really like to read except for this book, which he has read over and over. He said that his mom has tried to get him to read the Percy Jackson series but that he didn't like it. We spoke some more and I began to mention other books that I knew were similar to Wimpy Kid, like the "Dork Diaries".
Our next meeting he was excited to tell me that he had placed a library hold on the "Dork Diaries", I was happy to hear that he was venturing on, but soon realized when I heard him read that this boy needed to be in a far more higher level. He read fast and at the end, looked at me with a smile and said, "Did I miss anything" This boy knew that he was being timed and checked for errors, of which he made none. My partner said he did great but that her only advice was that he slow down at the end of sentences because he doesn't stop. She made the fabulous analogy that it was like running a stop sign and crashing into the next sentence.
During the week I felt bad that I had recommended such an easy book for him: "The Dork Diaries" so I went to the public library and used their website. If you click on the KIDS section you can put the name of a book, I used "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", then click BOOKS LIKE IT, then I clicked a higher reading level and out comes a list of the suggested books. I quickly printed this out and brought it to him for our next meeting. When I handed him the list, he glanced at it and them help up a Nancy Drew book, saying that he was reading this now. GREAT, I thought! However, I noticed the following week that he hadn't read very much in the book, so I'm not too sure how much he is loving it.
Overall, "J" is on a great path to becoming a reader. He needs to slow down a bit when reading a loud, but I think that he reads fast mostly because he knows he is being timed. Our goal is for him to expand his reading genres and to say, "I love to read!" At this time we will concentrate on EALR 3: 3.1. Read to learn new information, and 3.4. Read for literary experience in a variety of genres.
Our next meeting he was excited to tell me that he had placed a library hold on the "Dork Diaries", I was happy to hear that he was venturing on, but soon realized when I heard him read that this boy needed to be in a far more higher level. He read fast and at the end, looked at me with a smile and said, "Did I miss anything" This boy knew that he was being timed and checked for errors, of which he made none. My partner said he did great but that her only advice was that he slow down at the end of sentences because he doesn't stop. She made the fabulous analogy that it was like running a stop sign and crashing into the next sentence.
During the week I felt bad that I had recommended such an easy book for him: "The Dork Diaries" so I went to the public library and used their website. If you click on the KIDS section you can put the name of a book, I used "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", then click BOOKS LIKE IT, then I clicked a higher reading level and out comes a list of the suggested books. I quickly printed this out and brought it to him for our next meeting. When I handed him the list, he glanced at it and them help up a Nancy Drew book, saying that he was reading this now. GREAT, I thought! However, I noticed the following week that he hadn't read very much in the book, so I'm not too sure how much he is loving it.
Overall, "J" is on a great path to becoming a reader. He needs to slow down a bit when reading a loud, but I think that he reads fast mostly because he knows he is being timed. Our goal is for him to expand his reading genres and to say, "I love to read!" At this time we will concentrate on EALR 3: 3.1. Read to learn new information, and 3.4. Read for literary experience in a variety of genres.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Not Just any Piece of Paper
In class we learned how to fold a piece of paper into a box. Easy, right? Well, not really,not if you are attempting to teach geometry at the same time. It started with the teacher asking us, as we sat with a 8.5 X 8.5 piece of paper in our hands..."What shape is it you are holding?"
Easy, we said... it's a square! "How do you know?" she asks. Well... we just know! "Wrong! Tell me why it is a square!"
We began to shout out all sorts of things: "because it is a quadilateral", "because it has 4 equal sides", "because it has all right angles", "because the opposite sides are all parallel", "because it has 4 vertices"
"Prove it to me!" shouted our teacher
Then geometry became hard!
We eventually learned that by folding and re-folding we were able to prove that we had a square and for someone like myself, who hasn't had a geometry lesson in over 25 years I actually caught on and could "SEE" it! This made me realize, once again, how hands on manipulatives helps the brain! Even a manipulative like a simple piece of paper that could later be turned into a box and where the teacher asked, "Prove to me the volume"
Easy, we said... it's a square! "How do you know?" she asks. Well... we just know! "Wrong! Tell me why it is a square!"
We began to shout out all sorts of things: "because it is a quadilateral", "because it has 4 equal sides", "because it has all right angles", "because the opposite sides are all parallel", "because it has 4 vertices"
"Prove it to me!" shouted our teacher
Then geometry became hard!
We eventually learned that by folding and re-folding we were able to prove that we had a square and for someone like myself, who hasn't had a geometry lesson in over 25 years I actually caught on and could "SEE" it! This made me realize, once again, how hands on manipulatives helps the brain! Even a manipulative like a simple piece of paper that could later be turned into a box and where the teacher asked, "Prove to me the volume"
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