After the meeting, I started thinking about all of the Web 2.0 topics and projects that I have used in my three years of teaching. 

Here is the list I came up with of Web 2.0 interaction with the classroom:

• Advanced Web Development PowerPoint, Wiki, & Podcast Project – Kept Private
• Lefty Grove Baseball League Website (leftygrovebaseball.org)
• Scribe Hall of Fame
• Student Math Commercials/Videos for Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus on YouTube
• Mr. Higgins’ Tie Project (Students Seemed to Really Like this a lot)
• Tech Boot Camp 2009
• 2007 – 2008 Honors Algebra II Class Blog
• 2008 – 2009 AP Computer Science Class Blog
• 2008 – 2009 Algebra I Class Blog
• 2008 – 2009 Honors Algebra II Class Blog
• 2008 – 2009 Pre-Calculus Class Blog
• I’m sure there are a few more that I can’t remember…or find a link in my collection.

For me, the mathematics videos were most rewarding and the students really enjoyed them a great deal.  However, I am looking forward to interacting with each student holding a tablet PC.  Moodle is going to be a HUGE piece of this puzzle.

Great One-to-One Article from Twitter:

Link: http://beta.aalf.org/articles/view.php?ArticleID=79

Course Size: 9 Students Surveyed

Part 3 of the Course Evaluation

1. Course difficulty, compared to other high school courses:

2. How would you rate the ease of use of the eBook?

3. Hours per week required outside of class:

4. Expected score on the AP exam:

Part 4: Please provide specific feedback.

1. What was your best learning experience in this course?

• Making all of the programs
• The course as a whole
• I enjoyed learning the java language and being able to logically deal with problems
• Programming Battleship…it was interesting, fun, and taught me a lot as I had to solve a lot of problems (2)
• Tic-Tac-Toe program
• Learning about the coding world behind the programs I use everyday
• Programming the Lego Mindstorms
• GridWorld Case Study

2. What was your worst learning experience in this course?

• Inheritance / Polymorphism was difficult (2)
• The few days that I was lost"
• None
• Audioactive Sequence
• Mathematics on the computer
• Having use the new tablets (Fujitsu)
• Studying for the AP Test
• Battleship program

3. What changes would you suggest to improve the way this course is taught?

• More Free Response AP Questions (2)
• None (5)
• More Board Work or Group Projects
• Don’t Know

4. What advice do you have for students taking this course next year?

• “Work hard, do all the programs and don’t worry much about the AP Test”
• “Try to come up with your own solutions for in class projects”
• “Pay attention!”
• “The course was rather challenging, so prepared to work hard.  Don’t worry if your grade is not a perfect A+, for you will learn a lot”
• “You get out what you put in.  It’s not about code, it’s about using spatial reasoning to understand how objects interact”
• “Learn the concepts early”
• “Program neatly and easy for others to understand”
• “Understand Arrays!”
• “Do your best and don’t change things that work”

My interpretation of AP Computer

The students seemed to like the methods and pace that I kept up until the AP examination.  I was expecting a couple of comments pertaining to how fast I go at the beginning of the course.  I was quite surprised about the mention of more AP Test Free Response questions because I felt I used too many this year; however, they obviously felt like they were still a little weak in that area compared to the multiple choice.  I hammered them on the multiple choice type questions in hopes that the AP Test would feel “easier”. 

Inheritance and Polymorphism are difficult to figure out in your head until you receive a few good examples.  I choose to teach the students about the code FIRST, and then get into Objects, Classes, and their relationships later.  Perhaps I need to introduce Objects and Classes a little earlier.  I am still struggling internally when it comes to the Blue Pelican Java book; however, my students like the book.  There were many times that I wanted a reference book and there were many times where I wanted a text-based book.  Overall, I have to be happy with the student responses.  I hope the AP scores are a little higher than they predicted!

Project Guidelines: http://apps.mrhiggins.net/student-video-focus

Project Discussion on my blog: http://www.mrhiggins.net/blog/2009/01/19/updates-for-high-school-math-and-web-20/

Not Everyone Watching Will Get It

One problem with some of the projects is that their are inside jokes that deal with my quirks or other students quirks.  Is this really a problem?  Not in my book.  However, a parent watching at home or anyone on the net may not understand some of the inside information.  The picture at the top of this blog is a caricature of me.  These are the parts of the videos that really make this project special.

Final Grading Thoughts

The project was graded with two categories in mind, the video product and the group interaction.

Final Video Product – A grade out of 70 points based on the initial expectations and guidelines posted on my school website

Group Interaction – I had each of the group members evaluate the others on a scale of 30 points which was split into three small categories: Video Footage Participation out of 10, Video Creation Participation out of 10, and Overall out of 10.

This created a grade out of 100 total points.  In the future, I will continue to use this type of grading scale; however, I will have to make some tweaks.

Creating Memories

When learning to become a teacher, they talk about impactful moments.  This was the impactful moment for many of the students.  Some of them will never forget the project.

Viewing “Party”

We took an entire class period to watch all 19 videos created by Period 1 Pre-Calculus, Period 4 Honors Algebra II, and Period 7 Pre-Calculus.  It was a lot of fun.  By the way, I call it a Viewing “Party” because it was all business.  We did not turn it into a food gathering event.

Days taken out of class time

In the future, I will take fewer days out of our class time because it is important to remain on task the entire school year.  Here is the breakdown this year.

Introduction of the Project – 1/2 Period (I fit this in conveniently)

Introduction to Movie Maker – 2 Periods (With support from the technology coordinator)

Continue working and finalizing the project in Movie Maker – 2 Periods  (This worked perfect because I was at the 2009 Ohio eTech Conference anyhow)

Viewing “Party” – 1 Period  (This was a lot of fun and many of the students were PUMPED)

Where do we go now?

Only time will tell as we continue down the path of learning and molding minds.

Please feel free to leave comments/ratings via this blog or YouTube that are directed at me or my students.  Also, I have given you the opportunity to rate the videos through the use of Google Forms below the videos. 

- Thanks from Mr. Higgins and the Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes

Video Number 1

Video Number 2

Video Number 3

Video Number 4

Use the following form to evaluate the videos above:

Please feel free to leave comments/ratings via this blog or YouTube that are directed at me or my students.  Also, I have given you the opportunity to rate the videos through the use of Google Forms below the videos. 

- Thanks from Mr. Higgins and the Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes

Video Number 1

Video Number 2

Video Number 3

Use the following form to evaluate the videos above:

Please feel free to leave comments/ratings via this blog or YouTube that are directed at me or my students.  Also, I have given you the opportunity to rate the videos through the use of Google Forms below the videos. 

- Thanks from Mr. Higgins and the Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes

Video Number 1

Video Number 2

Video Number 3

Use the following form to evaluate the videos above:

Please feel free to leave comments/ratings via this blog or YouTube that are directed at me or my students.  Also, I have given you the opportunity to rate the videos through the use of Google Forms below the videos. 

- Thanks from Mr. Higgins and the Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes

Video Number 1

Video Number 2

Video Number 3

Use the following form to evaluate the videos above:

Please feel free to leave comments/ratings via this blog or YouTube that are directed at me or my students.  Also, I have given you the opportunity to rate the videos through the use of Google Forms below the videos. 

- Thanks from Mr. Higgins and the Honors Algebra II and Pre-Calculus classes

Video Number 1

Video Number 2

Video Number 3

Use the following form to evaluate the videos above:

Wesley Fryer was as good as advertised.  His vision of School 2.0 is how I feel; however, he has the ability to put into words. 

As a special note: The superintendent of my district was named the State Technology Administrator of the year.  That really helped make the day exciting.

As another special note: Congratulations to the State Teacher of the Year, you really deserve it and continue to develop a technology presence in Northwest Ohio. Go Moodle!

Session I didn’t expect to like at first:

• Teaching Math Through Sports – Mickey Gilliland
  Link: School Website

  He did a great job of describing how he uses sports to teach math at the middle school level.  This is definitely something I have a great deal of interest in at the high school level.  I was slightly disappointed that he achieves some of his success through the process of picking his students through a survey the previous academic year.  Basically they take a survey and based on their interest in sports, they are either placed in his class or one of the two other teachers classes.
   

How I contribute to the future of our digital natives (I thought about this for at least half of the day while at different sessions):

• My class blogs where the students create content
• My classroom website where students can use my links and find other student materials
• Ability to mix images and videos into the daily instruction of mathematics

Is that enough?  Well, answer this question….when is learning enough?

NEVER GIVE UP ON LEARNING!

 
http://flickr.com/photos/alishav/3156574283/

"If you build it, he will come" – Field of Dreams

Darren Kuropatwa may have beat me to the punch; however, he ended up providing me with a great template for a great assignment in which the students create video content in the mathematics classroom.  My students are creating 60 second commercials on a topic from the first semester of their choice.  The students are doing a great job of keeping their secrets from me and I hope they really show a great deal of creativity and keep copyright laws in mind when creating the final project.  You can see of my requirements posted on my school homepage.

In my early year of teaching, I am all about creating standards.  Think of the poll vault from track and field.  Once I get some students examples, I can show them off as if they are the standard.  In the back of my head, this is a way of taking it up a notch each year.

Against my better judgment, I am giving them some computer lab time DURING class so that I can evaluate how much time is really needed and I get to be a part of the process.  It turns out that I am going to help the students for two days of class and then I am at a conference for the next two days.  Pending a calamity day or two, I hope the plans works out in the end.

Google Apps on my Domain / Google Sites

I have installed Google Apps on my own domain (mrhiggins.net) and have enjoyed the benefits.  I now have my school website sitting at Google Sites and have a great way of combining Google Docs with my school website.  When I first started to use Google Sites, I couldn’t believe how much it works like a wiki.  It is easy to create a new page and it uses the Google Docs editor.  If you get a chance, check out my homepage at http://apps.mrhiggins.net

Algebra I and Web 2.0 Issues

First, I must confess that the time I spend on Algebra I is not equivalent to some of you out there; therefore, my issue may be partially created because of other classes are stealing my focus during the course of a school day.  I have had a hard time getting my Algebra I students (mainly freshman) to buy into the entire scribing/blogging experience.  I have to take both of my classes to the computer lab whenever it comes time for a Student Focus because many of my students are from lower income or are not mature enough to handle it on their own.  i have seen work products from students in the earlier grades using the scribing process; however, in my first year of teaching Algebra I, it seems I do not have the types of students that are receptive to new ideas.  I will continue to force the issue until the I get something to click.  I am not giving up.