How can a secondary math teacher use a blog in her
classroom? Our calendar is filled to the brim as we strive to conquer all of
the standards before the End of Course Test; high school math teachers do not
have time for “fun” projects like playing with blog sites. Well, busy teachers;
it is time to embrace the communication age. Students’ lives revolve around their
cell phones, social networking sites, and the internet; if we want to connect
to students we need to begin speaking their language.
Our 10th grade Math 2 class uses a formula sheet
throughout the school year, I cannot tell you how many times students need a
new formula sheet throughout the year because they have lost theirs. Through
the use of a blog posting, that problem can be solved and students can have
access to their formula sheet at any time. Additionally, if teachers begin posting
homework, upcoming test dates, and study guides on the blog, students and
parents alike can be kept aware of all assignments. To help build community
among students, parents, and teachers questions can be asked and answered on
the blog as an additional form of communication.
Another idea to enhance lessons is to utilize the Doodle
Buddy App for the I Pad. Our school is fortunate enough to have a class set of
I Pads we received through a STEM grant. This app will allow students or the
teacher to take notes on the I Pads, just as they would on a white board, and
then the pictures can be saved and posted onto a class blog. This way a student
who was absent could then have full access to the class notes as easily as they
have access to their smartphone.
I am looking forward to learning more ways to use a blog in
my busy classroom, and will share more ideas as I find them.
Sarah,I love your idea of using apps to enhance learning. I am not familiar with Doodle Buddy but it sounds like a great tool. Here is another neat idea for using the ipad to teach and reinforce learning. You could have a designated student each week create a lesson of the topic you taught on the ipad app, Show Me. Show Me is a great app that allows you to draw and narrate to demonstrate concepts. For a student who missed class it can be a lifesaver. For a student to fully integrate his/her own learning, they can create the comprehensive 3 minute replay of the lesson and the process. You could then post it on your class blog. Additionally,this can serve as a 'flipped classroom' model. You could also do your own 'warm up' Show Me lessons for students to log in and watch for homework. They can be shared in an email also, or embedded in your blog. Just think by the end of the year, you could have your whole course mapped out with Show Me videos. Perhaps you can even put them on your own free youtube channel!
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of using a blog as another means of communication between teacher and students (and their parents). You mention including important dates and resources (like the formula sheet), but what if you took this a step further? I am not sure what it being covered in the 10th grade math curriculum, but I am sure there is a way for you to post questions (similar in format) to what will appear on the test. This would be a great way to give students additional practice with the types of problems they will encounter.
Also, what if you included a section on your blog for students to ask each other questions. Rather than having the teacher (you) respond to every question, you could award extra points for students who correctly answer a question for one of their classmates. With my students, computer access can sometimes be a problem, however you make it seem like the vast majority of your students can connect through their cell phones. The extra points would be incentive for them to continually visit the blog.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% that we need to begin "speaking our student's language". How can we make a subject meaningful to them without using their most precious possession as part of the learning?
I really like the idea of using Doodle Buddy to capture notes for your students and put them on the blog. I have been looking for a variety of uses for our ipads in the math area as well. Some of my math teachers do not see their benefit and so concrete examples are great ammunition!
Being able to post assignments and worksheets on a class blog is a bit of extra work, but didn't we already do that by re-copying work missed for students upon their return? We also save trees in the process!
Have you ever tried Math Board? It is also a great app that allows students to use their iPads as a math scratch paper, but it assists them with equations and calculations as well with the problem solver setting.
Thanks for the great post. I may ask you for more information about blogging in math so I can share the ideas with my staff.
- Jodi
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteMath would be a subject where I think there could be some difficulties using blogs, but I know that there are some techniques that math teachers are using in my school that seem to be working. They are recording videos of lessons that they are posting to their websites, but I believe that this could probably work for blogs. The idea is that students are given the task of learning the concept or idea at home, and then demonstrate what they have learned at school working on problems. This technique also gives the teacher an opportunity to walk around, and assist students while they demonstrate whether or not they understand the different concepts. Are you at all worried that students might have a harder time taking notes on the I Pads? Do you think that some students might slack off when it comes to taking notes, if they feel like they can access notes from another student or their teacher via a blog? These are just a couple of questions that I have, but I definitely think that you are fortunate to have access to the technology that you do. Hopefully students will take care of the I Pads, and truly use them to improve their learning practices.