So my first response the text was a feeling of being overwhelmed. How could I do all this in my MATH class? I could see so many applications for science,social studies, and English, but math is so hard. Often, when blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc areintroduced, the uses focus so much on language arts side that it is hard forsomeone who doesn't teach that subject to see the uses. When you are teachinghow to solve an equation or graph a line, it doesn't involve a lot ofcollaborative projects or writing that would be appropriate for feedback. Myfocus has to be on making sure that kids can solve equations, graph lines,multiply and divide decimals, etc. So you can imagine my relief when I saw theblog created for an AP Calc class, here was something that I could get into.
The thing that really struck me about the AP Calc blog was how welleverything was integrated and organized. Immediately I started to think what Icould put in that would match my own curriculum and how useful it would be formy middle school students. I thought back to my own wiki and began to wonder ifit would be better to adapt the wiki or just scrap it and start a blog. I loved the slide show that was on his blogand it looks similar to the stuff I already do in class, although I use Mimiosoftware and a pen and tablet (which is much cheaper than a tablet computer).
Some of what I found most powerful about the text started at the beginning. The idea that kids have developed hypertextminds due to their use of technology really made sense to me. I’ve noticed a difference in my own way ofthinking since I started using the internet more. It makes sense that a developing mind that isexposed to the variety of technology they are would be significantly impacted. When you start to think about things fromthat point of view, changing the way we utilize technology in the classroomseems to be a must.
We hear all the time how kids a different today than they were in the past butthe text really made that fact hit home. The combination of examples and explanations made the content less frighteningand overwhelming. Having the author flatout tell me to start small gave me more confidence about integrating thesethings into my own classroom. I immediatelywent to try out the RSS feed and found Google books as well.
When I read about the social networking, I really didn’t think I’d be ableto get anything out of it. Socialnetworking in a math class, really? Butas I read the chapter I found myself thinking about ways that this could reallywork, okay, so probably not Facebook since I have had an account for threeyears and visited it five times in total. The section about the connections that students made with an expertmarine biologist really connected for me. That was what I had been trying to do with my Mission Mentor wiki. I haven’t checked out the Ning yet but I nowhave plans to.
I got so much more out of the text than I first thought I would. The author really made the subject accessibleand interesting, even for a math teacher. This is definitely one text that I plan, not only to keep, but to usethis coming year. Oh and having it onKindle was even better. I found a newpersonal favorite application. I evenstarting highlighting and now I can take it with me anywhere!
The thing that really struck me about the AP Calc blog was how welleverything was integrated and organized. Immediately I started to think what Icould put in that would match my own curriculum and how useful it would be formy middle school students. I thought back to my own wiki and began to wonder ifit would be better to adapt the wiki or just scrap it and start a blog. I loved the slide show that was on his blogand it looks similar to the stuff I already do in class, although I use Mimiosoftware and a pen and tablet (which is much cheaper than a tablet computer).
Some of what I found most powerful about the text started at the beginning. The idea that kids have developed hypertextminds due to their use of technology really made sense to me. I’ve noticed a difference in my own way ofthinking since I started using the internet more. It makes sense that a developing mind that isexposed to the variety of technology they are would be significantly impacted. When you start to think about things fromthat point of view, changing the way we utilize technology in the classroomseems to be a must.
We hear all the time how kids a different today than they were in the past butthe text really made that fact hit home. The combination of examples and explanations made the content less frighteningand overwhelming. Having the author flatout tell me to start small gave me more confidence about integrating thesethings into my own classroom. I immediatelywent to try out the RSS feed and found Google books as well.
When I read about the social networking, I really didn’t think I’d be ableto get anything out of it. Socialnetworking in a math class, really? Butas I read the chapter I found myself thinking about ways that this could reallywork, okay, so probably not Facebook since I have had an account for threeyears and visited it five times in total. The section about the connections that students made with an expertmarine biologist really connected for me. That was what I had been trying to do with my Mission Mentor wiki. I haven’t checked out the Ning yet but I nowhave plans to.
I got so much more out of the text than I first thought I would. The author really made the subject accessibleand interesting, even for a math teacher. This is definitely one text that I plan, not only to keep, but to usethis coming year. Oh and having it onKindle was even better. I found a newpersonal favorite application. I evenstarting highlighting and now I can take it with me anywhere!