Georgia Performance Standards

I have come to really understand standards over the past three years.  Understanding how they are used, how to assess them, as well as how useful they are!  My kids currently get a standards based report card.  No more A's and B's...just numbers and progress!  At first I didn't think I would like it...I got all A's in school and strive to do that now and I didn't know how it would affect my kids.  However, it affects them the same way...they want to see 3's and 4's...not 2's and 1's.  I also like it because I can know in detail where my kids stand.

With that said, for this blog, I chose Math III.  One, I am a math teacher.  Two, I really enjoy upper level math.  So, if I was ranking these...I would say 75% involve critical thinking.  You still see words like recognize, organize, understand BUT you also see communicate, analyze, explore, relate, interpret, etc.  And those words imply some level of critical thinking in order to do that!  NOW, with anything...you can just memorize and figure out the steps BUT most teachers do try to explain the why behind some of this...or they should!

I picked the following standard:

MM3G3. Students will investigate planes and spheres.  

     a. Plot the point (x, y, z) and understand it as a vertex of a rectangular prism. 

     b. Apply the distance formula in 3-space. 

     c. Recognize and understand equations of planes and spheres.  

Now, the reason I picked this is because it does seem to just be...OK...plot some points, use the distance formula and recognize the area of a plane, the area of a sphere, the volume, etc.!  HOWEVER, you could totally apply these concepts to a globe.  You could have students go in and pick dream destinations...Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Paris, Venice, and so on!  Then they could actually plot some points and use distance.  They could construct 3-D artifacts to show this IN THE REAL WORLD!  And some times it is hard for kids to "see" 3-D when trying to draw it out...so why not really do it!  There are also several different softwares out there that could actually construct this for them.

So again, this is a concept that a lot of teachers could just say...OK let's do this, plot that, plug this in, etc.  BUT they also could allow their students to go deeper!  I think we are moving more that way...and I think there is a happy medium!  So let's try and attain that!

Critical Thinking

Well, I am no longer in the classroom so teaching, modeling and engaging students to think critically is not something I "do" anymore.  However, because I develop these online courses for our students I try to work with our Subject Matter Experts to create amazing content.  Not just more content or loads of information BUT good quality content.  Therefore, we try to think through out assessments.  Obviously, we are always going to have a quiz or two and a test BUT we are trying to come up with quality assessments, not just quantity.  In turn,  our kids are having to think through solutions, pull in from previous knowledge, maybe apply something they have learned from another subject area to complete a project. 


I think that critical thinking can be different from person to person.  Therefore, when asked what else I need to learn to be able to incorporate this or embrace critical thinking, I think you always can be learning more about it as I think it probably is changing and evolving as we incorporate more technology and blended learning into our classrooms.  


I am eager to continue to think through, think out, and incorporate good quality assessments that doesn't just "test" their knowledge BUT challenges their knowledge.  I look forward to seeing how our students achieve and grow through encouraging them to think bigger and think deeper!

Telecommunication Based Projects

I really enjoyed class tonight.  When I first read about this topic and I was researching examples, I must admit I was a little confused.  However, after talking in our class and sharing some examples, I realized that I had been a part of several telecommunication based projects myself.  While I have never constructed a telecommunication based project, I realized that I could and I will list it as one of my three examples that follow.

1. A group of first graders was to record/video "A Day in the Life of NAME".  So personally, we video recorded our day in the life.  What we did, where we went, what we hate, what we wore, what our homework was, etc.  Then we were to put it on DVDs and ship it to five different people...preferably people not in our part of the country OR our country at all!  So we sent ours to Nicaragua, South Africa, Moscow, Romania, and Canada...we have friends in all of those places so it worked.  Then our children go DVDs back plus the stamp of where it was sent from.  It was so fun to see the day in the life of others around the world.  It was also VERY fun for all the kids to put the stamps on a world map and see how far the videos came from!

2. One example that we talked about tonight was having questions prepared for a certain author of a book.  Since it would be very expensive to bring this author in...you could "skype" him in or face time or whatever telecommunication tool you used to interview him with.  Then they could create some artifact to showcase the interview.  You could also do this with movie directors or maybe TV personalities or relatives in other countries and create a family tree!  Just something interactive and interesting and not the norm!

3. Finally, an idea I came up with would be to interview modern day mathematicians.  Ask them who their favorite legend is, what inspires them, why they got in to math, and what was the one math that they never thought they would use in the real world that they are!  I think this would open the minds of our students to see the purpose of math in the real world!  And they could even interview people who use it everyday that they may not realize...like the developers of Facebook or Bill Gates!!!  They wouldn't be able to go to them and certainly not pay to bring them in BUT maybe they could get a skype call. 

I think the possibilities are endless and this has really gotten me excited about maybe incorporating this into some of our current development projects!

Supporting Student eLearning

O.K...so I love this chapter!  In fact, compared to all of the other "theory" classes that we have taken...I love this!  And obviously this chapter is interesting to me BECAUSE I create courses all day long for eLearning.  So with that...the following definition speaks volumes:
"For this book, the term elearning means that the learning environment:

• Is enhanced with digital technologies, particularly but not necessarily computer-mediated communication software
• Involves learning situations where interaction between the student and instructor is mediated in some way
• Uses technology in an ongoing and consistent way, not in isolated events
• Is learner-centered
• Focuses on students with instructor and student with student interaction
• Uses a wide variety of resources"

It goes on further to say that this could happen face-to-face, video conferencing, a completely online school, and blended, hybrid, or mixed-mode situations.  I think the reason that I love this is because it validates what myself as well as ALL of my team members work so hard to do everyday!  We strive to make interactive content as well as develop a sense of communication.  And as Jeannine said on one of my comments...doing that online is very difficult and so to know that this is recognized and encouraged is great!

Also, I love that they include the blended aspect of online education.  We are striving to create content that teachers can take into their classrooms and use however they see fit.  Maybe it is to teach the lesson, maybe it is for review...either way to create amazing online content to be used in different environments is rewarding and challenging!  And it is a challenge that I wake up and getting excited about conquering day after day.  Maybe a small battle today...maybe a bigger one tomorrow!  But in the hopes that what we do in our profession is helping the kids that can't attend a face-to-face school and hopefully providing teachers with resources that they can use so that with ALL the other things that they are now responsible for...they can do what they do best...TEACH!!

Communication, Communication, Communication

I think that communication can be difficult in general. Whether you are dealing with communicating with others professionally or personally, the reality is, some people communicate well and some people don't.  In my job, I am communicating constantly with people.  So some days I may exchange 25 emails with one person or I might skype back and forth 50 different times.  And then sometimes you have those people who just pick up the phone because it is just easier to keep things straight.  Therefore, I really appreciate this chapter on supporting communication with technology!  I think in all of my daily projects, we are trying to find out ways to encourage and help our students communicate effectively.  One thing we are adding to our modules this year is collaborative projects, thus, communication will be even more important.

I loved the guidelines for designing technology-supported communication.  To look at the following four guidelines:
1. Consider the context: what is the most efficient tool for communication
2. Safety first: teach students how to communicate appropriately
3. Teach group dynamics and team building skills: state views clearly, define roles, use appropriate levels of language, etc.
4. Provide students with a reason to listen.

I think that as I approach my projects this year and as I am working with my SMEs, I am going to keep these guidelines at the front of our thoughts.  What tool is going to help our students communicate most effectively and appropriately in order to achieve a mastery of the required standards.  Again, while I think communication is difficult...we all can learn to express our ideas clearly and with appropriate tone in order for all parties to benefit.  I guess we will see how this goes...I'm challenged and excited by this task of effective, technology supported communication.

Creativity and Innovation

Hmmm...we are given an interesting question this week.  "What small change might I make to my project to increase creativity/innovation?  Is hat an important enough goal to attend to in this lesson or is it best saved for another opportunity?"

Funny that we are asked that because that was something that I tried to incorporate in my project from the get go.  First of all, I think seeing math in the real world is fun and most time people have to be creative to find upper level math that can relate!  Second, I am asking our students to investigate, explore, and discovery different conclusions and situations from the ONE they are given.  Lastly, I think giving my students the openness to present their projects however they see fit...is allowing from a broad margin of creativity and innovation.  SO, normally, I would say this is something I struggle with.  BUT, this project definitely lends itself to that from the get go...so that is very excited.

On that note, I do think different subjects and different things involved in those subjects lend them to more or less creativity.  Therefore, when we can find these things and incorporate them into mathematics/science...it is a great achievement.  I hope that as a mathematics educator this is something that I am constantly striving for!

Assessing Our Students

Assessing our students seems to be such a loaded statement.  Today when administration doesn't stand as firmly behind the teacher, you want to make sure that EVERY point is accounted for and all i's dotted and all t's crossed!

Since I am not in the classroom anymore, obviously assessing my students is a little easier!  HOWEVER, since I am in the business of creating good assessments as well as good assessing tools!  One challenge that we have with online learning is creating good alternative assessments aside from the test.  It is good in one way because it allows us to be creative as well as create environments where our students truly can shine.  On the other hand, we also need to create detailed, thorough, well-thought-out rubrics that can assess our student's artifacts. 

To be honest, I think rubrics are hard to create because they are hard to create fair.  The reality is...if a teacher is given a word document or an amazing power point presentation...it is hard to not account for all the hard wok that went into that ppt.  SO, how to grade content for content.  Well, because we are human...I am going to go with...it's hard...needs to be done...but hard!

Therefore, my goal this year as I am working with my SMEs on their projects is to really look in depth at what they present as projects as well as what they present to assess those projects.  When I get to that point...I will let you know how that goes! :)