EXAMPLE POST FOR FINAL PROJECT

SUBTRACTING MIXED NUMBERS


When I watched Mrs. Farmer explain how to subtract fractions when the top fraction was big enough to take the bottom fraction away from it, it was easy for me. It was like regular subtraction only you don't subtract the denominators. You just keep the same denominator that you have in the problem.


When we had to subtract mixed numbers and the top fraction wasn't big enough to subtract the bottom fraction from it, I got confused. I didn't get it when Mrs. Farmer said you have to borrow from the whole number to make the top fraction bigger than the bottom fraction. I just don't get what she was doing with the pictures of the fraction sticks and breaking them apart and adding and all of that.


I do know how to make improper fractions from mixed numbers and that gives me a bigger fraction on top to subtract the bottom fraction from it. I will leave a screencast of me doing that method. What I don't understand now is how to change the answer. Mrs. Farmer says we can't leave it like that. What do I do with my answer to make it right?

Emerging Instructional Technologies

There were several “cool” things mentioned in this chapter as well as some disturbing ideas for the future use of technology.  I love the idea of the I-PULL where the student’s learning style is determined and the environment within which they will be taught is customized to their needs It was stated in the text that these intelligent tutoring systems get close to the one-on-one tutoring results. I wonder, however, how this will affect the teaching field if a program can replicate or replace a teacher. It wasn’t stated explicitly in the text that this would be the case, but it must be inferred that this is a distinct possibility—especially in light of today’s cash strapped state governments and the clash between unions and elected officials.

The advanced performance tracking or “body tracking” was one technology that I thought was very interesting. I was thinking of the other applications beyond becoming proficient in a particular sport and wondered how it would work with learning to play an instrument. What about the creation of art? Could such a technology help guide brush strokes properly or how to manipulate pieces of clay? How much more can people produce if they pair their minds with technology that speeds up their ability to learn new information and physical skills?

To me, life is about learning and creating and producing. If technology can aid us in that—without taking away, altering, or discriminate against  us for our own private thoughts, beliefs, and values—then I look forward to the future of technology. I also hope that the value and necessity of human contact and interaction is not somehow lost along the way. No matter how great a tutoring system may be, it can never replace a teacher’s smile, encouraging words, or admonitions in guiding them towards becoming positive members of our world.

FAVORITE HANDS-ON ACTIVITY

My favorite activity this semester was screencasting. I first heard about Jing and screencasting at the 2010 MACUL conference in Grand Rapids. It has been on my “got to learn how to work with” list since then, but with so much to do and keep up with in my day-to-day workload, I just never got around to it. This class forced me to pick it back up again and dive in, for which I am very grateful.

I think screencasting has the ability to duplicate myself in a way. It will take time to develop lessons and record them, but once the wheel is invented…Something I heard a presenter at this year’s MACUL conference say was that video has power to make teachers “rewindable”. This really struck me and has stayed with me. I have a flip cam and that will allow me to record mini lessons for students to go back to as needed or if they are absent, but with a tool like Jing, I can combine my document camera or my Mimio interactive white board and capture lessons that are presented that way, too. I don’t have to worry about the battery dying in the middle of a presentation or going back to upload it to my computer. 

Using Rich Media Wisely

Everything discussed in this chapter seemed to make a lot of sense to me and made me think a lot about how I instruct and provide information currently and how I need to in the future to better support learning for all of my students.

When the chapter discussed insignificant visuals and audio that did not support learning, I immediately thought of how I have seen Glogster used. Glogster is a web-based electronic poster that allows the user to include video, graphics, pictures, sound, and simple animations. To me it is the rich media of rich media! With all of the easy to use features and options, it is very tempting to overload it with “cute” pieces. I have seen others, as well as myself, in the past use background music and fluttering butterflies and swirling flowers on a glog thinking it would “engage” the user and attract their attention to the purpose of our glog. Now I realize that these items, while they may attract attention and ooh and aah the viewer, they do nothing to support learning and actually hinder learning.

On a more positive note, however, Glogster does have the potential to facilitate learning if used carefully. A Glog that features a collection of related sources for students to use is a good way to organize and direct learning for students. This would go along with the idea of providing scaffolding for the learner instead of just turning them lose to “discover” on their own. Videos can be embedded directly into the glog along with screenshots with narration and/or links that direct the student to locate other significant pieces of knowledge required to complete the learning process. This gives them a the guidance needed to discover in a constructive way.

Another thing that this chapter made me think of is the way I use “study guides” to instruct my students in math. I provide text, step-by-step instructions on how to work certain types of problems, and examples of problems each step of the way. I provide a lot of visual input for the learner, but these guides lack the narration. They hear me in class, but that is a one-time event.  If the student was absent, the narration is completely lacking.

If I were to use the same guides except make PowerPoints instead and use jing to add my own narration explaining as I go, this would be a much more powerful teaching tool. The slideshow can be embedded into a class website so that learners can go back to it time and time again.

A third idea that this chapter has given me goes along with previous thoughts regarding my study guides. I could take these a step further and build in some interactive parts to the guide. Students could be given a new problem at some point in the slideshow to work on their own. Once they complete the problem, they could continue on with the presentation and compare their thinking to the execution of the problem in the slideshow. This gives the visual and audio components and then provides a scaffold for learners in a sort of interactive way. This takes away some of the passiveness and causes the student to be more active in the learning process.

ONLINE APPLICATON REVIEWS

            GOOGLE DOCS

Google docs is a GREAT online tool for a variety of reasons. First of all, it provides all of the basic word processing tools that are very similar to Microsoft Word. This makes it very user friendly and intuitive. The most powerful aspect of Google Docs is that it can be shared with others that you invite to view your document. This makes it like a one page wiki space. The creator or owner of the document can set it so that others can only view it or edit it.

I recently used Google Docs when creating a grade level budget. It was difficult to get all six of the fifth-grade teachers together at one time to work on the budget, but I got it started and shared it with the others by adding in their email addresses and sending a quick note to their gmail accounts letting them know it was in their documents section of their account to add their thoughts to it. Once our time was up and it needed to be submitted to our principal so he could share it with the superintendent, I changed the edit option to view only so that changes could not be made by any of us once it had been approved. This allowed us to chip away at the task in the little segments of time we had and together created a document that met our principal’s requirements and gave us all an equal chance to have a say in the way funds would be spent for our grade level.

            PICNIK

This is another very user friendly tool. The various tools for image editing are easy to access and use with a  surprising number of options within each. For example, the crop feature allows you to select a number of different final sizes or enter in your own length and width ratio. There also presets to make your image conform to various social media sites’ requirements, which makes sharing very easy. There is even an exposure feature, that with the advanced option, you are even given a histogram to assist you in perfecting the shadows and highlights of your shot. You can also get rid of red eye and change the color saturation in the edit mode. Each option allows you to save your changes, reset to the original image and begin again, or simple cancel and return you to the edit menu. Full screen viewing is also available with each edit option.

Under the Create tab, you can add text to your pics, apply various effects (some of which are only available if you purchase the premium edition), stickers, and frames. Again, some of these treatments require subscription.

In the Library portion of Picnik, you can create collages, print on mugs, make greeting cards, print posters, print on canvas, make slide shows of your pictures, or even a book.

In each tab and option, instructions are provided that make this a very easy to use and powerful image editor. It provides a lot of flexibility and allows for a ton of creativity.

Competencies for Instructors and Instructional Designers

As I read the tables listing the various competencies for ID&T professionals, training managers and instructors, I came across several that related to the work I do as a fifth grade teacher and the ways I want to incorporate technology and effective teaching practices with my students.

On page 275, Table 27.3 in our text, #14 “Use media and technology to enhance learning and performance” is definitely an area I have been striving to improve. I have attended the MACUL conference the last two years, attend “Tech Camp” in the summer at my local ISD, and now am in Western Michigan College’s Educational Technology Master’s program. I have learned a lot over the past year and know that there is still much to learn about various technologies that can improve learning for my students.

“Access learning and performance” is another area from the same table that I am currently working to improve. I give formative assessments on a quarterly basis to my math students. Presently, the assessments are very long and I am not happy with the layout of the test. It is a very useful tool to stay on top of the progress of my students and find the weaknesses they have regarding the state standards. I know I need to align these assessments with Common Core Standards now and make the tests more “user friendly” to assure I am getting accurate results.

A third competency I need to strengthen is #17 for Instructional Designers, “Design instruction that reflects an understanding of the diversity of learners and groups of learners.” When I read this I thought of UDL and how I have just started to develop a new science unit that incorporates elements of Universal Design for Learning. I have tried a couple of lessons that vary the means of delivering instruction to my students and they seem to enjoy it and retain the information better. I have a long way to go, but want to refine these lessons further and develop more to complete my unit.

Using Google Sites

I have found that I do not like Google Sites. I find Weebly.com to be a much more user friendly site. However, it is good to try new things so here is a very basic, two page site that has the images and gadgets that were required for this weeks' activity.

Click here for my Google Site