Our Village on a Flat World

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Our Village on a Flat World
HISD Math/Science/Technology Summit February 9,
2008

• Presented by
• Maria B. Benzon
• Madison Feeder Pattern, South Region Office

• Increase ones value for utilizing technology
  inside and outside of the classroom
• Explore math websites
• Describe the components of a weblog
• Utilize a website to create own weblog
• Explore options and revise personalized weblog

mbenzon_at_houstonisd.org http//mbenzon.wordpress.co
m
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Informal Survey

• Please respond on a scale of 1 to 5
• How important is it to integrate technology into
  your classroom and to use it?
• How important is it to use technology in your
  personal life?
• How competent are you with searching and surfing
  the internet?
• How competent are you at Microsoft Office (Word,
  Excel, Powerpoint)?

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Forces that Flattened the World

• Finish your dinner. There are children in China
  and India who are starving.
• Finish your homework. There are students in China
  and India who want your job.

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The Perfect Storm The Numbers, Ambition and
Education Gaps

• The Numbers Gap
• Retiring Sputnik Scientists
• American students earning Science degrees has
  fallen to 17th in the world from 3rd (30 years
  ago)
• Science Engineering Degrees
• China 60 Taiwan 41 US 31
• Engineering Degrees China 46 US 5

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The Perfect Storm The Numbers, Ambition and
Education Gaps
The Perfect Storm The Numbers, Ambition and
Education Gaps

• The Ambition Gap
• When American CEOs send jobs abroad, they not
  only save 75 on wages, they get 100 increase in
  productivity.
• Attitude of workers who take pride and are
  willing to do whats needed to succeed.
• American Idol Problem
• My goal as an educator is to provide the best
  education on the planet (because of the
  competition overseas).

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The Perfect Storm The Numbers, Ambition and
Education Gaps
The Perfect Storm The Numbers, Ambition and
Education Gaps

• The Education Gap
• 2004 TIMSS Advanced level of 8th grade math
  students
• Singapore 44 Taiwan 38 US 7
• In US 60 of top Science students and 65 of top
  Math students are kids of recent immigrants
• People want to do stuff that is fun.
• No fun in algebra?
• No fun in memorizing multiplication table?
• No fun in advanced classes?

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It is not the strongest of the species that
survives nor the most intelligent but the one
most responsive to change.

• Charles Darwin

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Fun Math Internet Resources

• Billy Bug www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BillyBug2
  /bug2.html
• Math Dictionary http//www.teachers.ash.org.au/jea
  ther/maths/dictionary.html
• Math Science Games http//education.jlab.org/ind
  expages/elementgames.php
• Stop the Clock http//www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/game
  s/StopTheClock/sthec4.html
• Speed Grid Challenge Multiplication
  http//www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Mul
  tiplication/urikamultires.html
• Sudoku http//www.activityvillage.co.uk/sudoku_f
  or_kids.htm
• SHARE What other sites do you frequently visit?

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What is a Blog?

• The main purpose of a blog is
• an online journal.
• Web Log Weblog BLOG
• However, because of the editable templates,
  ability to hyperlink, add images and audio,
  comment on entries, blogs have evolved into a
  plethora of uses.

Pin Oak MS http//www.pinoak.us/academics-cluster
_blogs.php Math Playground http//www.actionmath.
com/blog/MathPlayground.html Thoughts on how
technology and math can be integrated
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Anatomy of a Blog
Blogs make integrating technology in the
classroom easy no technical knowledge is needed
and users' thoughts are instantly published to
the Web. Blogs also make it easy to give
students feedback on their thoughts. At the end
of each entry is a comment link for others to
give opinions or thoughts about the entries.
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Sample Blogs

• Maria Benzon http//mbenzon.wordpress.com
• Sample for Today
• Pin Oak MS http//www.pinoak.us/academics-cluster
  _blogs.php
• Sample Cluster Blog
• Math Playground http//www.actionmath.com/blog/Ma
  thPlayground.html
• Thoughts on how technology and math can be
  integrated
• Blogger.com
• wordpress.com
• 21publish.com

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You Can Create a Class Blog to

• Post class-related information such as calendars,
  classroom events, homework assignments and
  activities.
• Communicate with parents and invite their
  comments.
• Post photos of class activities.
• Invite student comments or postings on issues.
• Publish examples of good student writing done in
  class.
• Exhibit student art, poetry, and other written
  work.
• Build a class newsletter using student-written
  articles and photos they take.

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Use the COMMENT Feature to Enhance Student
Learning

• Assess student learning by posting prompts and
  having students respond.
• Post photos and have students respond to them.
• Gather and organize Internet resources for a
  specific subject, providing links to sites.
• Post tasks to carry out project-based learning.
• Create a parent/child blog with writing prompts
  for parents to work on with their children.

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Student-Created Blogs

• Post their own ideas, reactions and written work.
• Post their reactions to writing prompts.
• React to photos you post.
• Keep a journal for class.
• Keep a learning log for class.
• Write about their ideas and opinions about topics
  discussed in class.
• Keep a digital portfolio of their work.
• Write comments, opinions, or questions on daily
  news items or issues of interest.
• Showcase their best writing pieces.

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Informal Professional Development

• You can read or create a blog to grow
  professionally
• Reflect on teaching experiences.
• Write a description of a teaching unit.
• Save links for later use.
• Describe what worked during a lesson and what
  didnt.
• Get and provide teaching tips for other teachers.
• Write about what you learned from another
  teacher.
• Explore important teaching and learning issues.
• Find out about professional development
  opportunities.
• Get information on new learning technologies.
• Collaborate with other teachers.

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Whats On Wordpress.com?
http//wordpress.com/features/
Blogger.com 21publish.com
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Whos in charge? How many blogs can you have? How
long does it take to update? How reliable is it?
Multiple Blogs AuthorsInstant Reliable
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Who visits my blog? Will I get spam?
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Spell-check, Docs, Photos, Videos
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Choose Your Theme
Tags are Keywords
Categories are like file folders
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Widgets, Pages Posts
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Get Started!

• WRITE Plan Your Blog
• Who is your audience?
• What is the focus of your blog?
• What will you call your blog? (This is your
  title and becomes part of your URL address.)

wordpress.com/signup
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UPDATE Users ? Your Profile
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Create Your Blog PRESENTATION

• Choose a theme
• Choose widgets
• Calendar
• Blogroll
• Search
• Page
• Categories
• Archives
• Extra Snap Preview

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Create Your Blog WRITE

• Write Post
• Categories
• Discussion Comments Pings
• Write a comment about what youve learned so far.
• Include a web address or email address in the
  body
• Tags
• Save (draft) vs. Publish (upload)

• Write Page
• Write your classroom rules and procedures
• Write your About Me page
• Upload doc, jpg, ppt, etc.

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Other things TO DO

• MANAGE (lets you fix things)
• BLOGROLL (load web links)
• OPTIONS ? General
• Blog Title
• Tag line
• OPTIONS ? Discussion Options

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ACTIVITY Add these Web Links

• Houston ISD
• http//www.houstonisd.org
• Dallas County Schools
• http//www.dcschools.com/TAKS/default.asp
• Detailed analysis of every TAKS items
• Why are correct answers correct?
• What kinds of distracters/incorrect answers were
  used? How did students think/compute that caused
  them to answer incorrectly?
• What information will help teachers focus their
  instruction more specifically?

• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
• http//nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
• Available in Spanish and English
• Base Blocks Addition (Whole Numbers or Decimals)
• Color Chips Addition (Integers)
• Color Patterns
• Factor Tree (Prime Factorization and GCF/LCM)
• Fraction Rectangle Multiplication (Multiplying
  Fractions does not show lowest terms)
• Rectangle Multiplication (Grouping, Lattice,
  Common Algorithms)
• Money
• Time Analog and Digital Clocks

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Classroom Blog Post Images

• Posting Images - Digital images, in the form of
  photos or computer produced drawings, have the
  power to make mathematical concepts come alive.
  Teachers can post images to
• Connect concepts to the real world. (see a great
  example at the GCHS Blog).
• Create problems to solve. (see example at think
  again! 7th grade math)
• Give visual learners a reference.

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Classroom Blog Writing Prompts

• Writing Prompts - Teachers can write blog entries
  for their students in the form of writing
  prompts. By clicking on the comment link under
  each entry (all blogs have one of these),
  students can respond to the prompt. After each
  student has responded, all of the comments will
  appear on the same page. Of course, this creates
  new learning opportunities for students and
  teachers
• Teachers can quickly assess student knowledge of
  a current classroom topic by simply scrolling
  down a page full of comments.
• Students can read the responses of other
  students.
• Students who may not normally participate in
  classroom discussions can now respond to
  questions without being embarrassed.
• http//verity7math.blogspot.com/2005/04/solving-on
  e-step-equations.html