manipulatives

I have learned this lesson over and over again at my job and will continue to emphasize its importance if I end up teaching math: Students will remember math better and perform better at solving math problems if they understand how the problem works, not just memorize the steps to solving it. This will allow them to deal with curve balls in classroom problems and later on in real life problems, applying math strategies to figuring out the answers to problems that are not identical to example 3 on pg. 112. One really key way to help students understand the whole picture is literally to present it in visual form. These manipulatives I found playing around on delicious are a really effective way to do that. They come presorted by grade level and concept, but more importantly they can provide an anchor to almost any major math concept. I firmly believe, however, that these are not just for teachers to show on a projector. I would use them to introduce a new concept, say the often confusing idea of input and output and definitions of functions, by having the students play around with the manipulatives themselves before I gave them all of the information. Not only would this provide an additional visual element that would help many if not all learners, the individual investigative discovery of concepts that would result from it would provide a much stronger base of understanding about functions than me presenting the material directly to them.

blogging in the classroom

Yes I am going to blog about blogging so here goes. Starting this blog myself has given me some ideas on how I can use blogs in my classroom. While it might be useful for me as a teacher to use a blog to communicate to my students, a website might be a better option there. What I was really thinking about was having students create their own blogs as part of some type of extensive project. They would simply have to blog at certain intervals about what they have learned in constructing and/or researching their project and what struggles they are having. This would serve many purposes. First of all, it would give them a chance to organize their thoughts which is very important for any kind of large project. Secondly, it would help me as their teacher intervene when I could tell students were not making progress or where having difficulty with the assignment through another possible avenue of student-teacher communication. Also, being able to name the blog and customize it would give each student a little piece of ownership over what they blog, their learning, and the entire project. Finally, I could assign groups so students would be required to comment on each other's blogs (like this class). Peer feedback would really be helpful to student motivation and quality of work.

social class in the classroom

Just read a very interesting article for my TE 408 class and thought I would share some thoughts here. The study in the article found that teachers of students of varying SES teach them in a way that is intended to train them to be proper members of their social class. For example, she argues that teachers of working class students teach students in a way that emphasizes order and following directions, matching their future jobs that might involve rote obedience, while teachers of affluent children of professionals encourage discovery and creativity in classroom projects. This issue of social reproduction concerns me but I bring it up for this class because it got me thinking about the power of technology as a potential equalizer. Things such as blogs and video editing (which I wish I knew more about) could be an effective way to provide access to a creative outlet for all students with internet access (which can be provided at the school even if it is not at home.) It might even make it easier for certain teacher in low income areas to allow for the creativity that really gets their students involved and thinking not just working. Exposure to the skills of being able to create individual projects, such as a Prezi, could help combat this social reproduction.

Hello World

This is my first ever blog post!

My name is Andy VanEgmond and I am a senior in secondary education, a history major, and a math minor at MSU. I love to run and I am doing my internship in Chicago next year. I am excited but tentative about learning new ideas for using technology in the classroom. 

My technology experience is somewhat limited. I feel comfortable with using all the basic computer programs that most people know, but I have never had a blog or a website or a twitter, or even used computer programs to edit photographs or videos. I also have a personal vendetta against printers because they never seem to work for me. I am seriously afraid of printers because of all the stress they have caused me. All joking aside, I hope that my ability to follow clear directions will help me take advantage of this class to become more comfortable with trying out new and different technologies. Admittedly, I expect to be challenged in this class and possibly frustrated, but my goal is to become skillful in at least a few new technologies that I will be able to use in my classroom. This is why I am excited about the idea that we get to really specialize in becoming experts at certain areas that we choose. Therefore, I expect to get very into some of the assignments, but also envision some of them being a personal challenge in terms of leaving my technological comfort zone. I hope the class is designed in a way to support me when those challenges arise.