Moodles just keep getting better

This week I got worried about posting my annotated bibliography.  I was talking to Emily about it and we wondered if everyone would put the same resources since we are all looking for the same information.  I thought I better post mine early so it didn’t just look like I waited for Pam to post and then copy hers. 

As it turns out everyone came up with a wide variety of sources and now we all have this wonderful compilation of research opportunities for our paper.  I really dig this moodle thing.

I enjoyed Kate’s “Appreciative Inquiry: Using Personal Narratives for Initiating School Reform.”  We have a similar questionnaire for the students here and I wonder how we are using the information.  Michael’s article he found about social capital made me think about the way Steven Covey uses it in his 7 habits book.  I can’t say it’s the best way to look at it since it implies that it’s some thing you would use later.  I would rather think of it as something you would always build.   Of course Pam kept us all honest with her thorough and well though out reviews of her articles.  I wish I could see what her keyboard looks like.  I’m sure the “E” is completely rubbed off. 

I feel like I got a litter better picture of appreciative inquiry or at least a better idea of how it can or can not be implemented in the real world.

Posting from my ipod touch

The iPod touch is one the coolest tech tools ever. I am using it right now to write this. I type as fast as i can and it fixes all my mistakes as i go. How cool is that?! What will be the “ipod touch” in ten years?

Week 3 of EPSY

I like the idea of appreciative inquiry.  It’s somewhat similar in how we try to teach our struggling algebra students.  Try to find something that works.  Try to find something that these algebra students can see clearly in their mind and work with that.  Relate it to some algebra concept.  Maybe I’m going way out on a limb here.

This week was not fun at school for me.  My daughter were sick so I missed two days of school.  However, I was able to send my students to the computer lab one day I was out and email the assignment to them.   While they were in the lab I was at home emailing them back a forth to make sure everything was going well.  I printed out the email conversation to keep for my records.  There are 29 emails total back and forth during the hour.

Today I broke 1000 hits to this blog (thank you, thank you.)   I didn’t think anyone besides myself would ever read this but I’ve had surprisingly consistent traffic on my posts that have to do with the clickers.  That makes me glad that I have decided to plan an evaluation for them.  They are definitely one of the “it” things in instructional technology but that also means that many teachers and districts are just throwing them into classrooms and hoping for the best.  There needs to be some formal evaluations and good feedback for them to really be effectively integrated.  I hope I can provide some!

Evaluation Standards – Count Up or Cross Off?

This week in EPSY 474 we looked at a case example of an evaluation. It involved a state board of education selecting outside evaluators and a panel of experts to bring the evaluators up to speed.

We all found that the evaluation was good in some ways and bad in others. It made me wonder about real life evaluations and using the program standards as a political tool to rate the evaluation.

If there is a group that has an interest in the evaluation looking bad then there are going to be certain standards that are going to look week. On the flip side a group that “likes” the outcome of the evaluation can argue many standards were met.

The list of standards is a wonderful tool to use when creating and executing an evaluation but I fear that they can easily be used afterwards to argue the validity of the evaluation.

Google Teacher Academy

I applied for the Google Teachers Academy in Chicago.  I really don’t think I’ll be one of the 50 to go, but at least I had a good time making the video:

Starting EPSY 474 at University of Illinois

I’m starting my 3rd year at Central High School in Champaign IL.  Before that I taught a year in Rochester NY and a year in Tucson AZ. 

I’ve been lucky enough to get some grants to increase the technology used in class.  The thing that has had the most effect on my classroom is the response system.  I have a set of clickers from TurningPoint and I use them almost every day.

I don’t doubt that they are interesting enough to get students engaged in the class.  Regardless of good or bad reviews of the clickers I’ll always use them.  However, I would like to be able to take a more formal look at the influence they have on student behavior, motivation, and success in class.  I’m looking forward to this class.

MS Word Riuned My Typing Skills!

Everyone quickly go to Word and turn off Auto Correct!  I’m not kidding.  Go to Tools –> Auto Correct Options and uncheck everything. 

I’ve been doing a lot of writing in places other that Word as part of my graduate program and I’m noticing that I misspell the following words all the time: thier, becuase, teh, THe, DAve, and many others.

 

CTER Masters Program

I have just started the Curriculum, Technology, & Education Reform (CTER) program at the University of Illnois.

So far I feel very overwhelmed at the amount of communications to keep up with.  As I write this I know 10 other people are posting something.  I guess I’ll have to start reading faster.

Wireless Writing Tablet

I wrote about using a writing tablet in math class a while back.  Now I am taking it to the next level.  I got a grant for a bunch of Interwrite wireless writing tablets for the math department at my school.  The money doesn’t come in until June but I was able to get one early on loan.  According to UPS tracking it should be at the school sometime tomorrow.  I’m trying to set some time aside so I can implement it soon.

Update: I ended up getting Airliner tablets that go along with the Notebook software (that runs on SmartBoards!)  We now have a 8 of these Airliner tablets and they are great.  The writing is smooth, they are durable, the battery lasts all day, and the Notebook software comes with it.  If you get good at running the software then you are ready for a SmartBoard.  My district was convinced of that and when a few new boards were purchased I got one in my room!   I can write on the Smartboard and use the Airliner tablet at the same time – very cool feature.

I can’t say anything bad about the Interwrite tablet but Smartboards have taken over the education world and it makes sense to go with the Airliner if you are looking at gettting some wireless writing tablets.

If you need help with the Smartboard (when you get that too) then stop by my SmartboardTips site.

How to Make a TurningPoint Presentation (Video)

Using clickers in the classroom is a great way to get instant feedback, keep students engaged and help students succeed in a video game crazed society. Here is a basic overview of getting a TurningPoint presentation ready.