Does Global Connect lead to Personal Disconnect?

Recently, I was introduced to a site of a great edublogger, Vicki Davis. If you would like to visit her blog, go to:
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

In one of her posts entitled "Globally connected... Personally disconnected?" she addresses the issue that as a teacher use more and more websites and web tools to communicate with others and teach, he or she can feel personally disconnected.

Vicki states that being a teacher is becoming less about a stack of papers to grade. She is now concerned with email assignments and updating wikis and web pages.

Her advice to those who feel globally connected and personally disconnected is as follows:
"It is OK to feel personally disconnected sometimes, particularly when that means you are creating rich, vibrant, deep learning experiences for students.....
Just keep perspective and don't beat yourself up too much about how often you've blogged or tweeted. If you've got something to share, share it any way you can with the time you have and just don't sweat it."

Vicki expressed that she feels personally disconnected at times. It is evident from exploration of her blog that she uses technology ALOT in her classroom.

Do you think that there is a such thing as using too many websites and webtools in teaching? Do you think that global connect can lead to a personal disconnect? If so, how do you find the right balance?

How do we get kids to ask questions?

As a pre-service teacher, I often think about what I can do to get kids to ask questions. I noticed that at the beginning of the year, many kids in the Algebra class that I am observing did not ask questions. My cooperating teacher tells the kids all of the time that he wants them to ask questions and thanks them when they do. He always states that he cares about their learning and he makes himself available before school, during lunch, and after school. Over time, kids that never asked questions started to ask questions. However, there is still a large number of students that do not ask questions.

Some additional ideas that I have to get kids to ask questions are:

*Have students write their questions anonymously on index card.
*Give students points for writing questions on their homework when they don't understand.
*Make participation points apart of the class grade.

What are some methods that you would use to get kids to ask questions?

Join Me on December 5th for the Suze Orman Show, CNBC

PowerPoint in a Math Classroom

I have always been a fan of PowerPoint and I have seen its use in many non-math classes. However, I never considered its use in a math classroom until recently. For one of my classes, I did a group presentation about the disadvantages and advantages about PowerPoint. During my research for this presentation, I came across an article entitled "Life after death by PowerPoint" by Jenni Ingram. According to Ingram, PowerPoint can be used in math in the following ways:
1) Various colors can be used to show the difference in steps, parts of a drawing, etc.
2) Animation can be used to show the progression of mathematical thought.
3) Hyperlinks can be used to access interactive websites and even other PowerPoint slides that contain alternate explanations for a math problem.

One of my classmates created a color coded geometry proof in PowerPoint that I believe would be very useful in a geometry classroom.

I am now convinced that PowerPoint is a great tool to use in a mathematics classroom.

post script

According to a recent personal communication with a special education specialist, a simple PowerPoint slide or two in a math classroom displaying directions or relevant information to the day's lesson can be very helpful for students with learning disabilities.

What are your thoughts about PowerPoint in a math classroom?

Mandatory Make-up Tests

At my placement, the math department has a no-fail policy. All students must score an 80% or above on all tests in order to receive full credit for a class. The tests are usually sectioned in to 2-3 parts with similar questions so that the student does not have to re-take the entire test but only the parts that they did not master 80% of the questions. The students can come after school, during lunch, or go to the school's testing center to retake tests.

I think this is a great idea because it gives the students extra chances to master the material. It sends the message that every student is capable of mastering the material by holding them to a high standard. Consequently, the teachers teach each lesson for mastery learning. Some have criticized this policy because some students can choose to not study for a test because he or she knows that it can be made up later. However, I think that the positives outweigh the negatives. Even if the school that I teach for next year does not have this policy (and there are no policies in place to discourage this practice), I think I will implement this in my own classroom. It seems to motivate students and it is a way to convey high teacher expectations.

What do you think? Would you implement this policy in your own classroom?

Can a Socratic Seminar be used in a mathematics classroom? PartII

The idea that Socratic seminar is more applicable to english, social studies, and history classrooms derives from our understanding of what learning looks like in these particular classrooms.  We would agree that an engaging discussion that represents two different viewpoints could occur in this context.  One might say that you cannot have a Socratic seminar in a math class because there is always one correct answer and an incorrect answer can not be argued effectively.  I believe that it would be counter productive to have a discussion in a math classroom that leads the students to accept wrong answers.  What I am proposing is that there are MANY different ways to arrive at the same answer in mathematics.  These different ways of reasoning would be the content of a mathematical Socratic seminar.  A Socratic seminar would be a great way to get the students to analyze math logic.  Students would not only learn from correct answers but also be able to discern between correct and incorrect steps that lead to wrong answers.  I assert that a Socratic seminar would facilitate high order thinking in a math classroom.

Can a Socratic Seminar be used in a mathematics classroom?

I think that the idea of a Socratic seminar is powerful.  It gives license to students to create knowledge and understanding.   It also contradicts the notion of a teacher as sole knowledge giver.  Several readings have demonstrated the effectiveness of the Socratic seminar in non-science classrooms.  However, can we really use this with math?  I think the answer to this question is YES.  Think of the book Teaching Problems and the Problems of Teaching by Magdalene Lampert.  Her method of teaching allows students to present different points about math problems like a Socratic seminar.  The moral of the story is: We should not underestimate the applicability of great teaching techniques to mathematics.