The Journey Ends... For Now

The semester is nearly over, and I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed! The TPTE 486 course has been so much fun! Throughout the course of the semester, we have been given multiple opportunities to be creative on a variety of projects. I have learned so much about using technology in the classroom. We have everything from Inquiry Based Learning Activities to Interactive White Boards.

One of my favorite projects was the Digital Diagram. I love how simple it was to create a great visual of a concept with a lot of little piece of information. I can definitely see using this project in the mathematics classroom, if I am lucky enough to have access to this resource. Students can use this program to create their own diagrams. Hopefully, the students would remember the information better when they organize it in a way that is meaningful to them.

Our project with Interactive White Boards was also one of my favorite this semester. This project has such practical applications for our futures as teachers. Again, if I am lucky enough to have an IWB in my classroom, I would definitely use it daily. It was so much fun to create the flipchart. There is so much creativity involved in making a flipchart. I want to learn so much more about making these for my classroom! One of the biggest disappointments with this project, however, was the lack of secondary mathematics resources floating around. I wish there were more examples and resource packs for my subject. Hopefully, as more people learn about creating resources, more secondary mathematics resources will become available.

As I look back on my progress throughout the semester, I have to say that I have come a long way in understanding how technology is used in the classroom. One of the most exciting ways to use technology in the classroom is a classroom website and blog. As we complete projects we have been updating our classroom websites to reflect our work. I love my website, and I love the idea of using one in my future classroom. This is a great way to communicate with parents and students, especially about the assignments we will be completing. I also included a class calendar to keep students updated on deadlines and due dates. Blogs are also an important tool for teachers. Blogs can help teachers reflect on the classroom experience and on the lessons that are taught. Having a running log of these experiences can help teachers to plan for reteaching and remember especially effective lessons.

Overall, I believe it is very important for teachers, now more than ever, to have skill with technology. Technology is so relevant to the lives of our students, even the youngest of students. For this reason, we all must know how to use technology to engage students in meaningful learning. I will continue to pursue more knowledge in technology!

How to Make an "A" in Math Class: A Digital Story

This semester of school has been a fun experience. From the beginning of the semester, I have observing an area middle school, which I am very excited about. I have been interested in working with students in the transition from middle to high school for a while. I think this is a crucial age and transition for students. One of the biggest, and most important, things for students to learn during this process is how to take on more responsibility, especially for their own learning. Becoming a self-directed learner is a long process. I am a strong advocate for teaching students organizational and time management skills. As with traditional content knowledge, students are not born with these skills.

With less than a week until the last day of undergraduate career, I might be considered a seasoned pro at being a student. For this reason, I decided to use our project on digital stories to create a simple video that shares the "tricks of the trade" with young students. Digital stories are a fun way to convey a message to students, and for this material it is probably a better way to get the point across. Simply telling students to be organized or to take responsibility for their learning cannot truly be helpful unless we also tell them how to do so. This theme is especially important in mathematics. Once students enter high school, the math curriculum becomes much more interrelated and hierarchical. What students learn during their freshmen math course will most certainly be used in their senior courses. Having a plan from the beginning can help students stay on top of their growing academic demands. My story focuses on teaching students how to start off on the right foot, especially in mathematics.

The process for creating the digital story was quite simple. We used iMovie, a Mac-based software, to create our stories. A simple drag and drop was all that was needed to get the images into the software. Adding the title, captions, and transitons was also as simple as drag and drop. The best part about using this software was the amount of control the user has in timing the slides and captions. For longer captions, it was quite easy to lengthen the timing of the slide. The most frustrating part was the limited amount of creativity that the user has when using still photos. For instance, there is no way to add two photos to one slide and captions and titles are limited. I feel that having the ability to be more creative could have enhanced the experience. In the end, however, I am quite pleased with my digital story. I hope you enjoy, How to Make an "A" in Math Class.

Inspiring Diagrams

Diagrams are always are great tool for students. They provide a clear organization of information that has a lot of categories to remember. Diagrams are a great way for students to create study guides that display the information in a easily accessible way. Creating diagrams digitally with the Inspiration software is a great way to create clean looking and concise visuals for complex topics. The clear an concise nature of a digital diagrams add to the benefits of creating diagrams on paper. For these reasons, I think that students would get a lot out of creating a diagram with this software.

I enjoyed this project a great deal. The software is easy to use, as it has a simple user interface that allows the user to easily create and move objects as well as add topic enhancing images. I can easily see my future students using this program to create their own diagrams of mathematical principles and definitions that need to be categorized. There are some things about this program, however, that can be difficult for those perfectionist type students, like myself. For a consistent look, it is important for all the symbols at each level, graphics, and fonts to be the same in size, shape, and color. Achieving this consistent look can be frustrating, but, in the long run, it is not impossible. To address this problem with students, I feel that it is important to set clear guidelines and expectations for what is to be included in the diagram, much like our rubric laid out for us. Overall, I am pleased with my diagram about function transformations. You can see a screenshot of the finished product above. 

More About Whiteboards

Title Page of Flipchart

Learning the ActivInspire software was a daunting task. This software allows teachers to be so creative that it is hard to decide what to do with it. I had a lot of fun creating my flipchart for a Promethean board. While learning about the tool in class, I was excited to get started. Once that time came; however, I felt overwhelmed by the possibilities. Storyboarding, a process for planning the project, helped tremendously. I was still able to make tweaks as I worked, but having the whole project planned out on paper helped to guide my thinking.

There were several tools that we were able to try out in the ActivInspire software. I used magic revealers, magic ink, and containers, among others. We started learning about these tools in class, in a rather unique way. During our unit on digital images, we were also shown how these tools were to work in a presentation. I liked this idea, because it let us see the tool in action. I was definitely able to think about the tools that would work best with my mathematics topic.

While working on the flipchart, I was thankful to have the opportunity to download the software to my personal computer. This made things so much easier, especially since the timing of this project fell around spring break. It was also handy to be able to practice with the software on my own time. I learned how to work the tools better while at home because I could take as much time as I needed to get the skill mastered. Overall, this project was a very pleasant experience. I hope that I am fortunate enough to work in a school that uses this technology in the future.

Whiteboards Big and Small

ActivInspire

I am very excited about starting work on our ActivInspire projects. Promethean boards are a very common type of technology in classrooms. I believe this tool is an excellent resource for creating engaging presentations for classroom practice. There are a variety of resource packs that enable the presentation to become interactive, which is always a plus for students. When I was in high school, my classmates loved to have the opportunity to write or draw on the whiteboard. Promethean boards take traditional whiteboards to another, higher, level. With this tool, teachers are able to create pages in which students can interact with the material in many ways, including magic ink, move to reveal, and infinite cloner. I am very excited to create my project using these tools. I hope that I will have access to this great technology in my future classroom. 

On a separate note, a couple of years ago, I invested in an iPad. I love it! There are many things that I use it for daily from school assignments to games and TV. I have loved downloading long reading assignments instead of printing them, using the Blackboard app to check announcements, and, on the nonacademic side, catching up on TV shows and playing games. iPads have become very popular in education as well. There are many websites that provide information about the best apps for the classroom. In fact, one of the first things I researched about my iPad is how I can use in my classroom. One of the best uses I have found is recording examples and lectures for students in an app called, Educreations. In this app, teachers are presented with a virtual whiteboard on which they can record notes and examples while the app records voice narration. After a lesson is completed, teachers can upload it to their website. For students who miss a day of class this is a great way to help them catch up on the missed material. Additionally, teachers can post helpful suggestions for homework in a Kahn Academy style video. For these reasons, I definitely think that I want to incorporate this into my classroom. 

Picture This... The World of Digital Images

Images add dimension and interest in almost every context; however, using images on the web can be a bit tricky. This week we have been studying the world of digital images, discussing everything from resolution to copyright. For digital images to appear in the best quality, we learned that the resolution must be set to 72 pixels per inch. At this resolution, pictures are at a great size for use on the web.

We also learned that there are two types of images that are commonly used on the web. The first, raster images, are made up of many pixels a numerical value representing color. The second, vector images, are composed of paths, vectors, which can be straight or curved. For a mathematically minded person this is a very cool concept! Vectors, in mathematics, are defined only as straight paths; however, for vector images this rule is broken. Because vector images are made of paths, they can be scaled larger or smaller without losing quality! This is a very intuitive use of mathematics. 

We worked on two projects to practice with digital images. For the first project, we were to create a Picasa Web Album, a Google tool, which contained images of any content collected from the web. We then used that album to create a slideshow. For this project, we had to be mindful of the copyright regulations tied to using images on the web. Thus, we learned about Fairuse principles and finding free image collections on the web, such as Pics4Learining and Flickr Creative Commons.

The Scavenger Hunt project had us, in the math content area, scope out geometry concepts in the real world, take pictures of it, and create a presentation with the pictures. It was so much fun! For this project, it was vital to understand the proper resolution for images we use on the web and to have a consistent organizational strategy for the pictures. This really helped to keep a consistent look within the presentation.

Digital images are a great way to spice up text in many contexts when used appropriately!  

Pooling Our Resources

This week, each content area group has been tasked with developing a wiki on which we are to post online resources that can be helpful for our students. This is very different from our past experience with wikis, because now we are working together across class sections, not just within our individual classes. My experience with the resource wiki has been very interesting, as I am the only math preservice teacher in my particular section of TPTE 486. Here, I will describe the ups and downs of working on a wiki with people I do not see everyday in class. 

I have really enjoyed working with the other sections through the resource wiki. This has been an enjoyable experience, because it so simple to collaborate on the wiki. When a big change is made, that member will comment on the page to let the rest of us know what was done and why. Most of the contributions and corrections have been very positive and appropriate. I also love this activity, because we are able to share a plethora of invaluable math resources with one another. It would have taken each individual a very long time to compile this many resources. I am so excited to check out all of these websites!

On the other hand, it is stressful to work with my classmates from other sections without being able to meet face to face with them. One of my biggest concerns with working in the wiki is making a change that others will not agree with. Since I cannot meet face to face with them to explain my reasoning, it is hard to judge if they really understand why I have decided to make that change. Additionally, it is difficult to monitor consistency within the wiki, since anyone, at anytime, can add or delete a contribution or format decision. However, with regular updates and group consensus, consistency becomes easier to maintain. I think that consistency maintenance on this type of wiki is a “learn-as-you-go” type of concept. As more contributions are made, it is easier for individuals recognize and adhere to the formatting of the page.   

I think that the math resource wiki is beautifully designed and fully stocked with great resources. This experience really highlights how wikis can facilitate collaboration between people from many different areas. Whether it’s within the school, the county, the state, or even the nation, wikis can really bring teachers, students, and parents together to create and share great ideas!

The Wiki In Review

Wikis are an incredibly useful tool for classroom use. Many teachers turn to wikis as a means to distribute information to students and parents. Others use wikis as a classroom website to post homework help, interactive activities, weekly schedules, and more. Such is the case for Ms. Genta’s Science Wiki, which serves as her classroom website. On this wiki, Ms. Genta’s provides information for students and parents, Power Point presentations, science games and adventures, and other fun resources for students to explore science. Voted Second Best Educational Wiki in 2009, Ms. Genta’s website is well designed and maintained. A wiki is great for a classroom website because they are extremely easy to edit and use for teachers, students, and parents. I enjoyed the teacher’s contributions to the wiki, and I think that her use of science resources really helps to make the subject fun for students. 

A second great use for wikis is as a place for students to compile notes and review concepts. The classroom wiki of the Data Management course, MDM4U1@FMG, is a wiki in which students summarize their class notes. The goal of the wiki is to evolve into an online textbook. This wiki is being produced to promote better understanding of certain ideas and concepts, many of which are mathematical in nature. I believe this is a great idea because it allows the students to collaborate in summarizing information. It also helps students to synthesize information in order to determine which is most helpful to the intended audience. During high school, I contributed to a wiki in a similar way to this in a physics class. I enjoyed the experience and feel that it definitely helped me study the information. The MDM4U1 wiki also has a great discussion board area where students can discuss topics and give and receive help with the material.  

I can see myself using wikis in both ways in my future classroom! I am excited to have students share and collaborate with each other in mathematics! 

What is Inquiry Based Learning?

The inquiry based activity (IBA) was a great way to simplify the WebQuest experience. In essence, the IBA is a teacher created worksheet that utilizes online resources to help student dig deeper into a topic. There are an abundance of online resources that can be used to help students conceptualize the content that they learn in class. This is especially important in the mathematics classroom, where abstract concepts are hard for students to visualize and understand.

For this reason, I can definitely see myself using this type of activity in my future classroom. I believe this is a great way to get students involved with the content. This type of activity engages the student's curiosity, and this, in turn, motivates them to learn more about the topic. In this way, an IBA is the ultimate thinking cap, because students are discovering new information in a way that build upon what they already know.


An IBA also gives students great experiences with examining web resources in a meaningful way. In order to complete the activity, students must synthesize and organize information, as well evaluate the accuracy and relevancy of the information with regard to the specific question asked. I feel that this type of activity is more effective than using a textbook, because the teacher can include interactive applets, games, and other activities. Again, this is especially important for students in mathematics classes when the concepts become more abstract. Online resources provide students with a great way to have a hands-on experience with this material. Overall, I feel that inquiry based activities are a great tool for the classroom.

Are you ready for a WebQuest?!

WebQuests were a completely new experience for me. Basically, a WebQuest is an online activity that requires students to work in groups to complete web research in order to answer a series of questions or produce a final project such as, video, skit, or podcast. Through an in-class activity, a WebQuest about WebQuests, we learned that a good WebQuest has four main components, efficiency, group work, well developed user interface, and higher-order thinking. Each member of our group evaluated the collection WebQuests based on one of the four components. I looked for WebQuests rich in higher-order thinking. To my surprise, the WebQuests that I found to be the best often lacked in other areas. However, for our group, it was somewhat easy to set aside our individual perspectives because we all agreed that the WebQuest should be up-to-date and well designed, and that the projects were, for the most part, equally efficient. In the end, we decided on a WebQuest that had equal parts of all of these components.

WebQuests are cool activities to use in the classroom. I think these activities can teach students a great deal about using the internet as a resource to expand their knowledge. Many of the WebQuests we looked at had the students create a final project that required extensive knowledge of the topic and of a specific technology. For instance, one required students to make a video podcast, and another required students to produce a movie using movie making software. For this reason, I believe these activities are a great way to get students involved in technology in a way that mimics a real world use for it. Before beginning the activity, I had not thought that a WebQuest would incorporate other forms of technology. However, now I realize that WebQuest can be tailored to any need or lesson in the classroom. This is what makes them such a powerful resource for teachers.

So, let's go WebQuesting!

The Ins and Outs of Website Evaluation

Having never formally evaluated a website, I was surprised by how easy it was to determine if a website is suitable for use in the classroom. Evaluating a website requires  more than evaluating the academic content, as I had previously done. This activity had the class get down to the skeleton of the website. We looked for information on the author(s), the publishing body and it affiliates, and how well the site was designed and maintained. 

One of the most surprising aspects of this activity was how quickly a website can become out dated. Some sites, published in 2008, now have dead links and misinformation. I feel that being more aware of this can help me to determine whether or not to use a website in my classroom. The links and information should be current so that the viewer can get the most out of his or her visit to the site.

After completing an evaluation for a mathematics website, I felt more confident in the content of the site, especially because the site was well designed. Evaluating websites really highlights the importance of good web design principles and practices. A clear and concise website is easy to read and should attract and involve the viewer. I believe the principles of good web design enhance the overall quality of the site. Good design also includes considerations for ease of use for people with disabilities. Teachers must be aware of assistive features that support the use of websites for all learners in their classrooms. Alternative text, or alt tags, can help a website be accessible to all students and are an important point of consideration for use of the website in the classroom. 

Overall, through this activity, I have learned the correct criteria by which to evaluate a website. I believe that website evaluation is an important skill to posses because students need to be able to find reliable information through convenient sources. With website evaluation criteria in their my tool belt, I can help my future students expand their knowledge.

Wiki, Wiki, What?!

Wikis are great tools to use in the classroom. Having a little experience with using wikis, both in high school and college, I was already familiar with the general concept. In high school, we created a wiki in physics class that served as a study guide. Each of us contributed a section of the chapter to the wiki. Last semester, in a project-based math class, we used individual wikis as portfolios of our work in the class. I enjoyed uploading my projects to the wiki because I was able to track my own progress, and I did not have to worry about missing a deadline, as everything was in one place.

After creating our all about me wiki pages, I am even more convinced that wikis can be a great resource for use in the classroom. They are easy to edit and personalize, and they offer the ability to create many pages on which students and teachers can collaborate. Similarly to my experience last semester, wikis can be used in the classroom to track projects. Students can easily keep track of all parts of their projects because wikis keep all the information in one place. It is also easy for students to see which tasks have been completed and which ones still need work. Tasks that still need work can then be edited by any member of the group. Another great use for wikis can incorporate cross-curricular connections. For instance, students can be asked to start a fan club for their favorite mathematician in history. Members of the fan club can contribute pictures, quotes, trivia facts, and important mathematical theorems to the page. These can then be used as a backdrop for a group presentation on the mathematician and his or her contributions.  All students have equal opportunities to edit the pages of the wiki, and because changes to the pages can be tracked, it is easy for teachers to track the participation of individual students.  

There are many uses for wikis in the classroom, and I am looking forward to using them with my future students!  

The Journey Begins

Hi, and welcome to my blog!

My name is Mindy Pierce, and I am from Kingsport, TN. I am currently a senior pursuing teacher licensure in secondary mathematics. I will graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville this May. Next academic year, I will begin my internship in a high school here in Knoxville and will receive my master's degree in education in May 2014.

I am so looking forward to becoming a teacher! I have always known that my heart belonged to this profession, but it took me a while to find a love for mathematics. Now, thanks to two inspiring mathematics teachers in high school, I could not picture myself doing anything else. I hope to spread this love for mathematics to all of my future students!

TPTE 486 has already been packed full of fun! I am enjoying learning about websites, wikis, and now, blogs. I consider myself an intermediate technology guru, and I hope that this course will help me to gain advanced status, especially when integrating technology into my classroom. Indeed, I am starting to see the educational benefits of each of the tools we have explored thus far. I am ready to see what else we can do with these, and other, web-based tools in the classroom. In addition, I hope that this course will help me make my classroom fun and interactive, as I aim to inspire all of my students to love learning!

I hope that you enjoy my journey!