Posts

Is this class over already?

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BB5gHFIQJtY/ Just about everyone has heard about 21st century skills. I took a look at the article about the characteristics of a 21st century teacher .  I thought that it was great to look at the different characteristics as it helps teachers to see what areas that they are strong in and others they need to grow in. Here are the 15 Characteristics: Learner-Centered classroom and personalized instructions Students as producers Learn new technologies Go global Be smart and use smart phones Blog Go digital Collaborate Use twitter chat Connect Project-based learning Build your positive digital footprint Code Innovate Keep learning Wow! I feel like we have covered a few of these throughout this course. I think that this course really has helped me see some areas that I want to develop more, and continue on. Blogging wasn't something I thought I would keep doing, but I have enjoyed getting a look at how this can be used on a regular...

Where does my teaching fall?

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A lot of the concepts that were presented this week were concepts that have been talking about in each of our classes. The SAMR model is a great starting point for all teachers to start working with when starting to use technology in the classroom. The Triple E concept was the one that is new to me. I found it engaging to read the check list  that Nicole provided to see ways to determine if my technology is really making a difference. So let's first discuss the Triple E concept. http://www.tripleeframework.com/about.html I like that this concept is simple and easy to understand. As an educator builds a lesson, each E allows the teacher to see the true effectiveness for the technology being used. Technology being added into a classroom should have a purpose. I like that this model has 3 areas that it can provide a purpose. Extending a lesson allows it to get to the next level. Enhancing it allows for further development, and engaging helps keep the focus on the learning targe...

How many Karen Perrys are there in the world?

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https://tinyurl.com/yb7wmom9 Well this blog post is one of the harder ones for me to type. There are a LOT of "Karen Perry"s. There is a famous author, one who had her children killed in a plane crash, and a bunch of others. I searched with my name in quotes, added in my middle initial, and with my full middle name. The only thing that I could find under the search with my full middle name was under images. There was a picture of me from my twitter account, and a photo I took of my calculator at a TI conference. So then I started to look myself up on pipl.com. Here I was found on the first page and it was a photo from my facebook page. This also popped up more information on me once you clicked into the page. It was interesting to see that the addresses listed were some recent, but others were older from high school. I moved around a lot as a student due to apartments and such, so I was surprised to see some of the old addresses. Spokeo.com has two Karen Perry's ...

The Twitter.... huh?

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#AlmotForgotToPost #Schoolisalmostover #Lifejustgotextracrazy We all remember Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon back in 2013 with their #hashtag skit, right? No? Have you been living under a rock, or don't follow Jimmy on Twitter? Well then, you must watch the skit before I can even go on. I'll wait. Ok, so now that we have that out of the way. Let's get down to business. I decided to take a look into twitter a little bit more. Part of that comes from he sparked interest from the twitter chat earlier this term. I looked through some of the different articles Nicole provided, and thought that this one is great for all to read if you are first starting out with Twitter in general.  How to speak the Twitter. I liked how it was a simple break down of the social media app and what you can do with it. By now, I think that most of us are past that point with Twitter. So then I started looking at some other articles.  10 Tips for Tweeting Teachers  was the next article...

Creativity in the classroom!

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Source: http://www.movemequotes.com/tag/creativity/  Creativity within the classroom is something that some feel is needed for students to grow. I think that this is something that does need to be incorporated into the classroom even just a little bit. With some content area it is easier for a student to be creative then others. If I taught a history or literature course creativity would be flowing! In the mathematics classroom is isn't as easy to include some creativity for the students. Within in my classroom, I try to be creative when I possible. I don't think that creativity is only based around some art based project, but I think it can be seen within the way that I teach a lesson. When I taught geometry a few years ago I needed to get creative in the way I taught my students about proofs. When I first introduced the concept to my students, I told them that they needed to give me instructions on how to get from the door to the classroom back to my desk chair. My s...

Digital Literacy

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As the world of technology has expanded, along with the amount information accessible on the internet, digital literacy is an important topic to discuss with students, parents, and teachers. Digital literacy can be defined as the capability to use digital technology and knowing when and how to use it.   Literacy is no longer just what you read from a book, news paper, or magazine. Today, we include anything that can be accessible via the internet. I have never been a big reader, and once I got a kindle I began reading more. I was able to access new things to read, and expand my literacy. Credit: http://pomo.com.au/blog/digital-literacy/ What comes along with these advances in the idea that everyone needs to know how to use these skills and be able to operate them effectively. I included the graphic to the left as it breaks down the different areas that need to be explored for digital literacy. Digital literacy isn't learning how to use multi-media, or typing a pa...

What does the research say?

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What does the research have to say anyways? I found this weeks topic interesting. There is a lot of research that is out there that is geared toward education. Sometimes it isn't that easy to know what you are looking at and how that information applies.  Project Tomorrow :  This site was pretty neat to explore. One of the first things that I looked at was the list of top schools. One of the over all top school districts was Brevard County in Florida. Why would this be something to stand out to me? Well, my family lived in Brevard County. Many of the middle and elementary schools that responded to this research were in the same city that my mom lives in, Titusville. I didn't think I would see them on the list of top participates, as most of the people I have seen in the town itself have been older people.  The Mindset List:  I really liked this list! There are so many things on it that I don't even know where to begin. There were a couple different ones on the cl...

Bonus: Digital Map explained!

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What the heck is a digital spaces map?           And really, why do we care about it?  I had not heard of the digital spaces map until recently. I thought that it was kind of interesting of a concept to look at the way I use different digital apps/programs/web pages. The map itself is lied out into 4 quadrants. Right up my math brain alley! The vertical axis shows the span of personal versus professional. While the horizontal axis shows the span between visitor and resident. The basic idea between personal and professional wasn't that hard to grasp, but the idea of visitor versus resident was what made a difference to adding items to the list. Some basic thoughts I had before I started were of the following: What types of things do I include? How do I know how big to make the space for each item? How do I know when I have crossed over from visitor to resident?  Should all the colors be different or should they be based on the item itself? I...

Twitter Chats... Don't forget to....

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I took part in my first Twitter Chat, or so I thought that I did. Thursday night I got everything set up for using my twitter account I set up AGES ago, got logged into tweetdeck , searched for a hashtag or two to get started with the chat. Briana and  I decided we would both go on with the #EdTechMath, since we teach math and all. So I set it up, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. Looked like that one wasn't going to be happening. So then we switched over to #ICEilchat. When it started, I quickly jumped in. I answered every question, and even responded to some great tweets. It wasn't until the next morning that I had some idea that my tweets weren't seen. Briana told me she didn't see my post anything to the chat and just assumed I joined a different one. Hmm. What was I doing wrong? I saw them on tweetdeck, why couldn't she see them? I went back onto twitter today to take a look at the chat feed and come up with a reason Bri didn't see me. I saw a...

21st Century Skills

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This week I wanted to take a look at the article  Beyond the Three Rs Voter Attitudes toward 21st Century Skills . Over the last few years I have started taking more interest in the voting for school board members for the district I live and also happen to teach in. This is what sparked me to look into what some of the research says about the voter attitudes toward these skills. Boy was this article full of stats! I feel like every other sentence had a new number or percentage attached to it. On page three of the article, there was a graphic that shows the different gaps between the skills that the voter valued and how well they thought the school teach those skills. I've included a screenshot of the bar graph for you to see right away. Screen Clipping from article, pg 3 I found it interesting how reading comprehension was voted low in how it was being taught compared to the level of computer and technology skills. One would think that while teaching computer and technol...

Are you actively learning?

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Active learning: what is it, how is it different then learning, and why should we know about it? I had read a blog post today about the use of QR codes within a classroom . Now you might be wondering, what this even has to do with my topic of active learning. Don't worry, I'll link them in a few moments. QR codes are a newer "app" that has found its way into many classrooms. If you have a device with a camera and a QR code reader app of some kind, the world has now just opened new doors for you to explore!  QR codes are a simple box of random blocks that when scanned direct you to a specific location like a website, a video, or some kind of document. If you want to check out QR codes or even create one of your own, you can check them out here . This particular post was how students could use the codes to be able to fill in the blanks of famous quotes during Black History month. The students had access to the iPad and were able to walk around the room with a part...

Adulting: Meet the Adult

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Source Name: Karen Perry Alias: Ms. Perry, Ms. P, KP, or Tete Occupation: High School Math teacher Life is just a game, and every new adventure takes you to the next level. At this moment, I feel like I am playing through Adulting Level 5: Masters Program. I have made it through the other levels of turning 18, choosing a college, leveling up when I received my BA in Secondary Education - Mathematics. Add in the level up for moving into my own apartment, followed by level 4 landing my first teaching job! Which brings us no to level 5: Masters program. I am very excited to be working on my masters. I am just finishing up my 5th year of teaching high school mathematics at Waukegan High school. My goal was to finish or start my masters degree by my 5th year of teaching, and with the motivation of a fellow co-worker and friend I applied and started in the fall of 2016. I am a techie at heart. I may not know a lot of things, but I sure do enjoy exploring new aspects of technology...