Our Village on a Flat World

Presented by Maria B. Benzon

Madison Feeder Pattern, South Region Office

mbenzon@houstonisd.org

http://mbenzon.wordpress.com

HISD Math/Science/Technology SummitFebruary 9, 2008

•Increase one’s 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

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)?

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.

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%

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 what’s 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).

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?

The Perfect Storm: The Numbers, Ambition and Education Gaps

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

Charles Darwin

Fun Math Internet Resources• Billy Bug: www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BillyBug2/bug2.html

• Math Dictionary http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/maths/dictionary.html

• Math & Science Games http://education.jlab.org/indexpages/elementgames.php

• Stop the Clock http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/StopTheClock/sthec4.html

• Speed Grid Challenge Multiplication http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Multiplication/urikamultires.html

• Sudoku: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/sudoku_for_kids.htm

SHARE: What other sites do you frequently visit?

What is a Blog?

The main purpose of a blog is an online journal.

Web + Log = Weblog = BLOG

However, because of the editable templatestemplates, ability to hyperlink, add images and audio, & commentcomment on entries,

blogs have evolved into a plethora of uses.

Pin Oak MS: http://www.pinoak.us/academics-cluster_blogs.phpMath Playground: http://www.actionmath.com/blog/MathPlayground.html

Thoughts on how technology and math can be integrated

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.

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/MathPlayground.html – Thoughts on how technology and math can be integrated

• Blogger.com • wordpress.com• 21publish.com

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.

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.

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.

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 didn’t.

• 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.

What’s On Wordpress.com?

http://wordpress.com/features/Blogger.com 21publish.com

Who’s in charge? How many blogs can you have? How long does it take to

update? How reliable is it?

Multiple Blogs &

Authors

Instant &

Relia

ble

Who visits my blog? Will I get spam?

Spell-check, Docs, Photos, & Videos

Choose Your Theme

Tags are K

eywords

Categories are

like file folders

Widgets, Pages & Posts

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

UPDATE: Users Your Profile

Create Your Blog: PRESENTATION

• Choose a theme• Choose widgets

– Calendar– Blogroll– Search– Page– Categories– Archives

• Extra: Snap Preview

Create Your Blog: WRITE

Write Post• Categories • Discussion: Comments &

Pings• Write a comment about

what you’ve 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.

Other things TO DO

• MANAGE (lets you fix things)

• BLOGROLL (load web links)

• OPTIONS General– Blog Title– Tag line

• OPTIONS Discussion Options

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

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.

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-one-step-equations.html