Let’s Attack Geometry

Let’s take a look at a few videos on shapes, formulas, measurements, and solving for perimeter and area.  There will be 5 videos here.  Choose three to watch, and go back to your Evidence page on the King Webquest for 6 Review, and explain and summarize the three videos you watched.

The first Video is on solving for the area of a Parallelogram:

This video is on solving for the area of a triangle:

This next video is on solving for the area of a Trapezoid:

This video is on solving for the area of composite figures:

This last video is on finding the permitter of different shapes:

Once you’ve watched your three videos, remember to go back to the evidence page and summarize and explain what you have learned.

PLN Growth Reflection

Let’s talk about Twitter, blogging, following blogs, and social media for a second. Being involved and diving into educational technology has opened up a new world of possibilities and resources. Let’s start with Twitter. One hundred and forty characters to get your point across, and hashtags are welcome as well. The simplicity is amazing and the networking possibilities are great. When creating my own blog, I found it very interesting and fun to put my thoughts into words (in my then 140 characters) and that can be nice to get your point or statement across. Blogging has also allowed me to explore and venture out to follow new users in the same field. Following other tech leaders and connected educators has given me so many new ideas, outcomes, and solutions for my classroom and the future. It’s one thing to follow a friends twitter account or their blog, but the networking available when following a like minded individual who is in the same boat as you is very relevant and helpful at times.

I really didn’t think that creating my website would make that much of a change, but I have seen a difference in myself with the website. When starting to create my connected educator site, I’ll be honest, I was just going to add onto my class website. I realized that wasn’t the task and that I cold do much more than that. Creating this website has given me opportunities to learn about myself and what I could do as a teachers, meet new individuals who are connected educators, find resources that I can use and share with my colleagues, and follow educators who are just like me. My networking abilities have grown significantly and I feel a little more confident of myself as a tech leader and future connected educator. Maybe one day someone will interview me for being a connected educator?

With any other new aspect of learning and growing, there come challenges for sure. Some days if felt behind and stressed with the little things not working in my favor. Some days I felt brand new and unclear about what I was learning. At the end of it all though, I realized that problems will occur in anything and everything that is new to you, no matter what. I will get through them, learn through them, and grow with them. I found myself struggling most with recreating my website. I started from scratch, and it was hard to do that, but I’m so glad I did. I know in the future there will still be problems and issues that arise with technology, butI will get through those as well. I have to remember that sometimes it’s technology itself that goes wrong and has issued, and it’s out of my control. Patience is definitely key, and learning through the mistakes is a good thing.

Some action steps I plan on taking will be: adding more Google Classroom Screencast tips, Creating new screencasts for plot map comics, and using my twitter on a more regular basis to stay connected. I plan on incorporating more about Google Classroom, and maybe even Google Suites, to my website that I am using in my class on a daily basis. I think that anyone checking out my site might like some friendly tips, if needed. I also want to add a new section focused on comics/animation that I incorporate into plot maps for language arts. There will be several how-to’s for different website that are being used, and I can share and connect with the actual website through their twitter accounts. Lastly, I plan on making it a goal to use my twitter at least once a day. Whether that is a chat, following and connecting new users, tweeting about my day, or searching hashtags, I would like to make it more useful to me. I also plan on using Twitter in the classroom in the fall, so I need to further explore and plan for that. It will be an exciting new feature, I just don’t want to break any rules.

So what have I gained with in regards to a PLN? I have explored Lyn Hilt’s blog and twitter, and was given many new ideas and concepts for next year. She has a lot going for her and I was able to have a very interesting and unique interview with her. I should interview connected educators more often, and maybe that will become one of my future actions steps. I have also learned that maybe it’s not all about “TeachersPayTeachers,” which is a fabulous resource, but maybe it’s also about stealing and using. Many of these connected educators provide their viewers with many types of free material and resources such as sub plan templates, presentations, worksheets, and tech friendly advice that helped me, and I know will definitely help my colleagues as well. I plan to grown my PLN and continue staying connected.

What Is A Connected Educator?

I was recently put on the task of discussing what makes someone a “Connected Educator.”  A connected educator is defined as, “ones who are actively and constantly seeking new opportunities and resources to grow as professionals” (Casas, Whitaker, Zoul, 2015, p. xxiii).  A very vague definition, but a definition that brings so many talented, inspirational, and hard working educators to light.

When thinking about character traits of a connected Educator, I came up with these six:

-Influential

-Encouraging

-Leader

-Exciting

-Engaging

-Listener

I believe that these six traits are extremely important and vital to a successful connected educator.  An influential educator is someone who has the power and abilities to influence students to do their best and reach their goals.  Being an encouraging educator shows the soft and willing to help side of a teacher, and the fact that they will do whatever it takes to encourage.  A leader is someone who is looked up to and who others seek guidance and help from.  An exciting educator keeps things fresh, lively, and makes learning fun.  The engaging teacher makes sure all students are engaged and intone, and if their not, creates strategies and methods to keep the students engaged and into what they are learning.  Lastly, a good listener listens, takes advice, and is able to converse with others who are trying to help, and can also help others as well.

All six of these traits play a huge role of the “Connected Educator,” and I hope that you can appreciate those connected educators around you, and thrive to be more like them.

I will leave you with this thought;

“Connected educators do not invest in others with the goal of getting something in return.  That would be selfish.  On the contrary, we aim to encourage others to approach it first from a service mindset, knowing that the key to growing a personal learning network begins and ends with a genuine and sincerest effort to connect in order to serve a cause greater than ourselves” (Casas, Whitaker, Zoul, 2015, p. 3).

Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What Connected Educators Do Differently. New       York, NY: Routledge.

Collaboration

 

Collaborating falls under the Mozilla Web Literacy Map under the “Connecting: Participating on the Web” portion of the map. There is a lot to consider when thinking about collaborating. Collaborating can be brainstorming, thinking, sharing, and working with others to bring all ideas and concepts together as one.

My favorite tools when it comes to collaborating are:

Google Classroom

Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Sheets

Within each of these apps comes the ability to share and work with others with the ultimate goal of completing a project or assignment as a group, digitally, and on separate computers or chromebooks.

Google Classroom allows all students and teachers to interact with one another on line in the digital world. Students can leave comments, ask questions, and submit assignments just like they would in a normal class setting, but in a tech friendly way.

Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets is Google’s version of Microsoft word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Excel, but with the capability of not having to save, and the feature of sharing with others to work on together. These three applications have changed the way projects can be completed, worked on, edited, and submitted.

These applications can be used for research papers, presentations, graphs, notes, charts, and numerous other amounts of ways to integrate collaboration in the classroom.

“Mozilla’s mission is to keep the Internet open, accessible and editable. We put users first and believe that empowering people to tell their own story online is of the utmost important.”

Encouraging the Heart: Taking Action Part III

Create an environment that makes it comfortable to receive and give feedback- including you.

This environment, once created, reflects a positive group of both students and teachers that invite all who enter to feel safe out of the realm of criticism. Feedback does not always have to amazing or perfect, but it can still be positively given in a nice way. As a 6^th grade teacher I come across negative comments sometimes, and I have to shut it down so fast. I want my students to know that I love them, I support them, and I want to encourage them in all they do. With those responsibilities comes a big task: honesty. Being honest with those around you will create a more meaningful relationship and encourage students to do the same with their peers.

Make saying thank you a natural part of your everyday behavior.

Let me start by saying thank you. Thank you to my classmates who made this class enjoyable and easy to manage with all the support and guidance. On that note, it is not that hard to say thank you. Say thank you for the little things. Say thank you for the big things. Remind those around you that you are appreciative, at all times, and can show gratitude on a regular basis. Thank you for reading this.

Tech Leadership- Taking Action Part II

Ch. 8 Foster Collaboration

“Share information about yourself- your hopes, your strengths, your fears, your mistakes- the things that make you who you are.”

A leader is not quiet, a leader is known by those who follow them. As a tech leader on my campus, I want to inspire my colleagues and help them the best that I can, but that comes with building strong relationships. I want those I work with to know more about me. They need to know that I am confident in technology and excel when speaking in front of others, but one of my fears is being wrong. I don’t like being wrong, and when I am, I let myself down and strive to do better. We all learn from our mistakes and downfalls, but I just have to continue to get back up and try again. My next action plan is to open up to my colleagues and become more of an open book for them. I want to be someone that they depend on, laugh with, helps, and inspires them to be the best that they can be.

Ch. 9 Strengthen Others

“Do away with routine assignments as quickly as possible.”

As a teacher, it is really easy to get put into a routine and stay there. Who doesn’t like just cruising in the fast lane? I love the fast lane and know that I will get to where I’m going faster, but faster and easier is not always better. I am going to instill this action plan into my weekly lesson plans, and begin taking out routine assignments and worksheets that aren’t always necessary. I want everything to seem more meaningful and beneficial, not busy. I believe that this will help make me a better teacher when developing lessons and activities, and also will help my students stay focused, engaged, and interested in knowing that change is okay.  If I can find a new way to change from routine worksheets and weekly assignments to an exciting and meaningful tech related activity, it could be a huge win.

Tech Leadership: Taking Action

Model The Way

To model the way you need to begin with examining what you did in the past or previously to understand what you can do better in the present and future. By understanding how to improve on what you’ve done, you can begin to model. When beginning to model, it is also important to find your own voice and words to share your opinion on what you are leading and expressing to others. This will help with being a confident leader. Lastly, reinforcing behavior over and over can guide you to reassuring what you believe in and showing others that you are serious about what you are trying to model, and how you want to lead.

Inspire A Vision

The next step in being a successful leader is inspiring a vision to those following you. Being a leader isn’t solely about you, but instead it’s a group effort where you need to listen to others a find out what is important to them. Listen to your followers, will guide you in your vision. From there, it is also key to express your own hopes and dreams to others. Sharing your views and passions towards leadership will hopefully inspire others. As a teacher, and leader at times, it is my goal to inspire my fellow teachers by getting them on the same page and helping them see my own vision, and guiding them the best that I can. If we are all on the same page and the same path, we can all go in a similar direction and be successful together.

Challenge The Process

By challenging the process, you also need to keep things fresh and new and put yourself in new situations and put yourself in new opportunities periodically. This will keep you on your toes and help with not being too stagnant. It is also important to reach out to others, not necessarily in your circle or group, but seeking information from others to build on new experiences, while encouraging those with you to do the same. Lastly, stay positive and remember to never stop experimenting. A leader can still always learn, and staying humble will never go out of style.

What is a Leader?

Leadership can be defined in so many different ways, yet all definitions and examples usually lead to a leader.  Now, not all leaders tend to be positive, supportive, and uplifting, but they still lead.  Walt Disney was a leader.  John F. Kennedy was a leader.  Ellen DeGeneres is a leader.  Hitler was also a leader.  All four different examples of true leaders with followers who followed and still follow their lead.

I believe a leader is someone who has the charisma, passion, stability, motivation, and maturity to persuade others in what they truly believe in.  A leader needs a group of followers or believers to inspire their passion, and help them to continue moving in a forward motion.

A leader can be you.  It takes believing in yourself first, others believing in you, and “doing the best you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Albert Bandura

When given the task about studying and research a theorist, I selected Albert Bandura blindly, and was a little nervous.  I will tell you I learned a lot about this man and the theories that he set forth and studied.  So here is a glimpse of my research, my paper, and the learning theories of Albert Bandura.

When discussing a learning theory, one usually starts thinking about how they learned, or maybe how they teach. They might also begin wondering how their student’s learn, or how they are interacting with the teaching. What is coming across? What isn’t working? A theory is a personal belief or system of thought that controls ones way of doing/thinking about something. Learning theories consist of many different beliefs and thoughts, and are continually argued, changed, and encouraged on a regular basis. Albert Bandura is what I would call a father of Psychology and learning theories, and is a leader to many.

Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925 in Mundare, a small town in Alberta, Canada. He lived a very simple life in his elementary and high school days, and was extremely successful. He attended college at the University of British Columbia, and received his B.A. in Psychology in 1949. The bachelor’s degree was not enough, and he continued his education receiving his Ph.D from the University of Iowa in 1952. It was his graduate schooling that really got him thinking about behaviors and specific learning theories. After graduating with his Ph.D., he eventually accepted a full time teaching position at Stanford University in 1953. Albert Bandura was an incredibly impressive and successful professor, with the world as his oyster, so many ideas to explore, and all at the young age of 28 (Boeree 1998, Pg. 1)

Bandura states, “ in the social learning view, man is neither driven by inner forces nor buffeted helplessly by environmental influences. Rather, psychological function is best understood in terms of a continuous reciprocal interaction between behavior and is controlling conditions” (Bandura 1977, Pg. 2). Bandura believed in a behavioral learning theory through observation and meditational processes. His observational learning expresses how children learn from simply observing others and their surroundings, and how they interact. While children usually observe and then follow or imitate, there is a process in-between observing and imitating, known as Meditational Processes. The focus of these two learning theories and beliefs, are that of Albert Bandura and reflect his own social learning outcomes and results.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Boeree, G. C., Dr. (2006). Albert Bandura. Retrieved December 08, 2016, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html

How Do My Student’s Learn?

This is my sixth year of teaching, and I am still extremely intrigued and amused with how my student’s learn.  This year is probably one of my favorite classes that I’ve every taught, and it fascinates me on how each and everyone of them learn.  Do they all learn directly from me?  Do they learn from their peers?  Do they learn from the SMART board? Do they learn simply by having their chrome books in front of them?  Do they learn from all the homework they have?  Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer to all of those questions is yes.

My students do not simply learn from me.  I can stand up from and teach a lesson and drill an idea into them, but they will not always learn from that scenario.  There are days where they will grasp that and days where they will be bored out of their minds (hopefully not, but let’s be honest with ourselves, it happens).  My students learn from a wide array of opportunities and advancements that they have each an everyday.

Let’s pick student A, we will call her Amanda.  Amanda is sitting in a math lesson, and we are currently learning about Area of Parallelograms.  Amanda struggles in math, and is not doing very well with understanding what I’m teaching up front.  Her next door neighbor, student B, we will call him Bradley, is very advanced in math and is able to assist, swoop in, and teach that student in a different one on one way that she would not have gotten simply from just listening to me.  She is learning from a peer.

Another day, student C, Cassandra, is exploring the web and is very interested in ancient Egypt.  We are learning about ancient Egypt in History, and our book does not have enough information for Cassandra.  Cassandra loves to explore and expand her mind, and she is learning so much new information that would not have been in her textbook, but instead was valuable information from the internet.  Again, not from me, not form a peer, but from a positive resource that she has an opportunity to use.

My students are learning everyday, and it make me happy to know that they are willing to help one another, use their resources given to them to discover new learning experiences, and engage in specific lessons when they want to.  Learning is all subjective, but with the right mindset and positive outlook, it can happen in so many different ways.