Class Review

I went into TPTE 486 with a fair amount of trepidation.  I have taken several college classes in the course of getting my certification with mixed results.  Another cause of my trepidation was the simple fact that I am not very adept with technology.  However, I went into the class with an open mind and the results have been great. I will list my two most important accomplishments below.

1. I was proficient using Smartboard before entering this class because that's what my current school uses.  On the other hand, I had absolutely no experience with Promethean boards or Activinspire software.  Now I feel confident that if I moved to Promethean school I would be able to adjust fairly easily.  Also, some of the features on Activinspire were so useful that they inspired me to learn how to use the same features on Smartboard.

2. I created so much material that I will be able to use in my classroom.  The diagram that I made using Inspiration software will be useful.  The Interactive white board lesson will help me get students more engaged in the Pythagorean Theorem.  The Imovie will be a great way to introduce surface area.  The Inquiry based activity on probability is a lesson that I will use almost exactly as it is written on my website.  The list goes on and on but suffice it to say, this class has been very helpful to my teaching career.  Below are some pictures of projects that I will be using in the future.





Visit my website for a full list https://sites.google.com/site/mcclainclass/technology-projects

Wiki Walk Through

I never used a wiki in my classroom or even really considered it.  However, after reviewing the Wiki Walk Through I have determined several ways to use them in my classroom.  A procedural wiki could be very useful. Students could post various ways of approaching a problem along with steps for completing that problem.  This would be a valuable resource as it would offer different approaches for different minds. An applied math wiki would also be wonderful. Students could receive extra credit for posting how they used the math they learned in class to solve real problems.  This would provide students with two types of motivation and would lead to a more engaged class.
The final and perhaps most productive way to utilize wikis would be with a class inquiry project.  The class could come up with their own advanced and detailed real world question.  One of the examples may include: "How many square feet is the entire school?" Each student could be responsible for a certain part of the school.  After a student determined the area for their given section, they could then post their results and process on the page.  If a student was having difficulty figuring their section out they could use other student's post to help them.  Eventually the class could take all of their findings, add them together, and get the actual total.
There are many ways to utilize wikis in the mathematics classroom.  I hope the examples I have given will provide others with inspiration.  My examples however, are only the tip of the iceberg.  Go to  http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm for a plethora of ideas.

Above is a screenshot of the example stories page on the University of Houston's digital storytelling website.  This page is just one of the many engaging and edifying parts of the site.  This portion contains hundreds of digital stories that can be grouped: alphabetically, chronologically or by subject matter.  This is an invaluable resource to provide inspiration and guidance to novices and experts alike. In addition to the example stories page, there is a, "How to," page complete with instructions, ideas for brainstorming with groups, ways to find royalty free music and links to other resources.
There is a DS software page that has a description of, and download links for, many software packages to help in your digital storytelling endevour. Even better, most of them are free.
The pages and links go and on and I could spend several pages reviewing each one of them but the point is this: If you have any interest in digital storytelling go to this site! It has a wealth of information and is incredibly well structured.