Another One Bites the Dust

As I was finishing my preparations for my cell phones in education presentation today, I was checking my QR Codes, and I found out that he site I had been using for generating my QR codes has ceased operations. This also means that the QR codes I had created to show do not work anymore, as they work through the site snappr.net (don't go there, they have been shut down). While I understand that services such as this may not be able to survive in the current economy, it would have at least been nice to have received some notice about their impending doom (they did get my email address when I registered). But that's neither here nor there, and I appreciate that they did exist at one point in time so that I could become aware of QR codes.

So, I am now in search of a new QR code generator. The first one I am going to check out is Kaywa. I hope it works well. If you have any suggestions for other ones to check out, let me know!

Reflections on a Math Day: November 17, 2009

I don't know why I don't take the time to reflect more often. I may think some of the things in my head, but once that thought has passed, what else can I do with it? I could come up with excuse after excuse as to why I don't do this more, but that's not productive.

In my Integrated Math 2 classes, we have been working on distance, midpoints, and slope. As a math teacher, I feel that these are relatively easy concepts to work with, and many of my students have expressed that they know what slope is, blurting out "y = mx+b!" Of course, slope is only a part of the slope-intercept form (which we will cover later this chapter), but it gives me some insight into what my students know, and what they think they know.

Now, with my Math for Standards class, I have them blog about what they think they know before we begin a unit, and then have them reflect upon what we covered at the end of the unit. It helps me to better adjust the unit to their needs, and it allows for them to see their growth through the unit. (Visit my class blog here, student blogs are linked on the right). I also plan on using the blogs more with my Integrated Math 2 students as we move through the year.

Hearing the students yell out the slope-intercept form when we are only looking at slope gave me the idea that my students had indeed learned about slope before and knew a way to apply it. Yet, when I asked them what slope actually was, they stumbled. So we did some math calisthenics. We discussed how slope represented the ratio of change in vertical distance to change in horizontal distance. Of course, many of us teach it as "rise over run." So, from their seats, I asked them to run across the room. Of course, they all started by rising first, so I stopped them. Right there, they realized that before they can run (horizontal), the have to rise (vertical) when dealing with slope. The light bulbs came on.

Today, the Integrated students were working on a graded worksheet on distance, midpoint, and slope. One of the students (who, coincidentally had not completed the practice problems assigned for the concepts) looked at the midpoint formula and noticed something. He raised his hand, saying, "Mr. Lamb, there's a comma in this formula!"

"Why do you think that is?" I asked him.

He paused, thinking about what we were covering, what he was trying to find, and what was given to him in the problem. He was not coming up with an impulsive answer. I could tell he really wanted to understand this. "Well," he replied, "since we're looking for the midpoint, that means we need a point, and a point is given as an ordered pair. And, the midpoint is in the exact middle of the other two points, so if we know the distance between the points, we just cut it in two, so that's why each part gets divided by two!"

He had a smile on his face. Can you imagine it? A student enjoying understanding math! We continued our conversation (which also happened to be loud enough for the rest of the class to hear) about being able to understand the formula. I asked if he'd be able to choose the correct formula from a series of formulas, and he was confident he could, as he now understood why the formula worked.

I wish I had more time to have these types of discussions with my students. This is where the real learning occurs for some of them, and the boost in confidence on one skill can go a long way in the classroom, especially for students who feel they cannot do math.

One other change I have implemented is with the comments I place on report cards. I was sitting and typing the comments last week as I always have: "Timmy should..." or "Mary needs to..." when I stopped. Something hit me, and I had to ask myself, "Who am I writing these comments for?" I have always written them as if only the parent would see them and directed them to the parent (And yes, I am a firm believer that a parent/guardian should be an active participant in a student's education). But I want my students to realize that, ultimately, they are responsible for their own education. So this year, I am writing comments for the students, not about them. I have already gotten input about this from a few students, as they seem to be thankful that I am talking to them.

Google Wave Invites

I received a Google Wave invite not too long ago, and to go along with it, I also received some invites for some friends so we could all try it out. I posted on twitter and quickly got responses for all my invites, but then others rolled in after I passed them all out. I felt bad, as I only had so many.

So, this week, I received twelve more Google Wave invites. I first reached out to those I didn't get the first time, and two of them still hadn't been invited, so they each got one. This left me with ten more to pass out, and I wanted to be a bit more fair. The solution I came up with was to ask for the best reason why anyone should get the invites. I received fifteen requests from people I know, plus 8 from spammers and people I don't know. I am posting the ten best responses now. If one of these responses is yours, watch your inbox for your Google Wave invite (or check your twitter/facebook for me asking for your email so I can invite ya)! Spammers, you can ignore, because I'm not inviting you to Google Wave!

Top Ten Why I Should Give You A Google Wave Invite (in no particular order):

1. Yes, please! ...b/c I need to contact this Nigerian Prince to complete the transfer of my life savings.
2. Because in 1 year I went from using little tech in the classroom to embracing Moodle, wikis, Twitter, and the like. Bring it on!
3. As tech coach at GS, I want to share the possibilities with my teaching staff. Giving it to one will inspire 75.
4. Um - I'm not gonna feed you a load of BS. So putting it simply... Cause I really want to play around with the technology :)
5. I finally had chance to research what Google Wave is and it looks awesome!!! I am in a technology department at work, so always looking for new collabaration tools. If you have any invites left, please send one my way :-)
6. One word...KINDNESS :)
7. Send me an invite and I'll try to figure out what it is. I assume something to do with the tides or hairstyling.
8. three things: 1) i played EP soccer and i was on your dad's indoor team with your sisters 2) I will use google wave to somehow feed starving children 3) you know that hole in the ozone? I know who's causing it. now, unless you want al gore on your [butt], you should probably invite me.
   
   Plus, i know who the jelly bricks are, lol, and that makes me worthy of google wave
9. because you saw me get drilled on the side of the head with a softball? Does that work?
10. I would like to petition you for a Google Wave invite, but for my boyfriend, not for myself.
    
    Christmas is coming up, and being a broke grad student, it is unlikely that I will be able to get him (or anyone else, for that matter) a gift this year. This makes me sad because he is very nice to me, and always does nice things for me. He even takes out the trash without me having to nag him.
    
    I know he wants a Google Wave invite because he is a Sys Admin and I have heard him lamenting his lack of Google Wave capabilities. He would be ecstatic to receive an invite.
    
    So that is my plea, Jimbo. I would like you to give me one of your invites so Ben can have it. As an early Christmas present. Because free is the only price point I can swing right now.

So, there you have it! Sorry for those I couldn't get this time around. If I get more, I'll ask you again!

Cell Phones In (and out of) the Classroom

Paperless Business Cards

I stumbled across this one the other day and decided to sign up and check it out. You can now create a business card that can be accessed by texting a message to 50500 through contxts.com. Try it out: text MISTERLAMB to 50500 to receive a text with my contact info. Once you receive the text, you can store the information in your phone and transfer it to your computer. No longer do we need traditional business cards.

It was bound to happen. Thankfully, we have Yodio!

I remember the days when the only way to record yourself through your phone would be to call a friend and have them hit "record" on a tape recorder on their end (or why not just use your own?). Then along came Gcast and gabcast. They were great! You could call a toll-free number, enter a PIN, and record to your heart's content! This was great for classrooms, as now there was no need to have any recording software or laptop. All that was needed was a phone (which pretty much comes standard with any classroom) or a student or teacher cell phone. Great!

Unfortunately, Gcast and gabcast are businesses, and they need to make money. Through gabcast, you can purchase minutes ($.10 a minute...reminds me of old Sprint commercials) for use for recording from your phone, and Gcast will be charging a $99 yearly subscription fee for recording phone calls (Edit: uploading audio you already have recorded is still free). It was bound to happen. I wish Gcast would have given more than a week's notice, as I was planning on using their service for a class project in two weeks. I can't really afford to spend the $99 out of pocket for a subscription at the moment, so I needed to find a new way to record from a phone. (Edit: Gcast is offering prorated subscriptions for educators through the remainder of the school year.)

Luckily, someone found another way, and it is known as Yodio. Currently, it is free to record from your phone on Yodio, so I think I will be trying this out with my Advanced Algebra classes later this month. I am going to see if there is a way to allow kids to record from their cell phones or my class phone and then funnel them into one page for listening, and I think there is a way. It seems that I can search for recordings by unregistered phone numbers while also including a PIN, but I guess we'll wait and see.

Aside from still being able to record for free from a phone (how long until Yodio switches to a pay plan, I wonder?), Yodio has another feature that could be very helpful in extending digital storytelling. Not only can I use audio in Yodio, but I can use digital pictures that I (or a student) uploads to help share my thoughts. Then, it can be embedded and emailed, as well.

In the end, it could be a blessing to the quadratics project I am having my students do to be able to use Yodio instead of Gcast, as I was planning. I was more familiar with Gcast, but part of being a lifelong learner and teacher is to be able to try new things, and this is yet another opportunity.

A Great Day

Today was the kind of day that all educators dream about. It started this morning with a trip around to various teachers to deliver some converted audio files for Envirothon and to register for a CFF Exploration day for our social studies teachers, where they will be given the chance to work on creating a 21st Century lesson plan with social studies teachers from throughout our IU. See this site to check out lessons from our science, math, and English day.

During my Advanced Algebra classes, I saw some of the enthusiasm from students I thought I had lost. And we've been working on a difficult topic: factoring quadratics. I knew that if I could get them past the initial frustrations that they would get some of their confidence back. But I wasn't expecting what I saw: students who wanted to do the math, with smiles on their faces, eager and willing to do more. So I finally was getting my students back. Even students who hadn't done homework all marking period completed and understood the homework, AND volunteered to do problems at the board!

I could hardly believe it. I passed out a worksheet that is going to be graded, and all but one student immediately began working on it (I need to find a way to win that student back). They were asking questions. They were helping each other out, pointing out mistakes and actually enjoying the math.

Over the next hour after my classes, I had math students from all throughout the school stopping in my room for help. This is during the time where I should be doing my CFF work, but I just can't turn away a student. What kind of educator would I be if I did that? I was helping two, three students at a time in three different subjects. I would give one a problem, get them started, then jump to another. It's like we finally have the Math Lab that we've always wanted, but it's starting to be at the expense of my sanity and ability to get work done.

Next thing I knew, it was time for my Math for Standards class, and I knew I was going to disappoint this class. I had scheduled for them to play review basketball, but as they had not completed all of the work I had assigned, I was taking it away. As they filed into the room, I was getting ready for the backlash.

"We are not playing review basketball today," I said. "Instead, you are going to work on the work you still owe me." Ok, here it comes. I was ready.

"YES!! I need to get these done!" "Sweet!" "Alright!"

Wait, what? This group didn't want review basketball? They wanted to work on their old worksheets? I think I stood there for a moment with my jaw hitting the ground. Then I picked it up and went to work with them. They each had a notecard with their current grade and what they still owed. They got their worksheets out. If they had lost them, they printed out new copies from my wiki. Again, students who I thought I had lost were all of a sudden apologizing for not doing their work earlier and doing what they could to catch up. One was a student I had gotten quite upset with in class over his lack of trying. Since then, he has been really nice to me, and seems to really want to make me happy now. I hope I can get him on track better. He is smarter than he knows.

After that, I had a few minutes to get some CFF work done, then it was an outside soccer practice! After a Nor'easter came through Monday and freezing temperatures the last two days, we were hoping today would have been nice enough to get outside. The forecast was for a high of 41, so we all prepared to bundle up. Then, we step outside, and it was be-yoo-tee-ful. It had to be at least in the 50's. I was ready to bundle up, but shorts and a long-sleeve tshirt were perfect. And this year's group of girls is enthusiastic, they want to learn, and they're willing to listen. And we have a large, young group, so even though this is a "rebuilding" year, I think we'll surprise some teams, and we have a good future.

By the time all the girls get picked up, I gather work from my room, and eat dinner at home, it is 7:30. Wow, where has the day gone? Well, obviously the day is over, right? Nope! I sign in to AIM, and students are there ready to ask questions about the worksheet and other lessons we had gone over. So, instead of sitting down and grading and lesson planning, I have been working with students online for the past 3 hours. And they're learning. They're getting things to click. It's great.

And I'm tired. I am so far behind on my work. I have to do laundry. But you know what? Today was so worth it. I hope tomorrow is just like it.