Unit 4: Podcast

Note: Note: you can’t do things like 15+6 = 21. You have to use the four operations as ‘binary’ operations: ((1+5)*6)7.

Hey everyone! So this unit focused on podcasts as an instructional tool. I'll be very honest-- I was not super excited about this. I actually felt kind of nervous making the podcast and it took my a little bit of time to research how I could use this in my own classroom. Those of you who know me know that I love to talk about everything, so it should have been right up my alley but I wanted the podcast to be math focused. After some digging around, I decided on using the podcast as a supplement to instruction rather than a main focus in the form of a weekly math riddle. My idea is that this can be incorporated into my classes digital "presence" and can encourage students to participate digitally in discussions and such.

AFTER making the podcast (which was super easy by the way), now I'm excited to try this in real life :) Obviously this project is teacher-centered-- I made the podcast for the students, but I can see it being used as another way for students to communicate their ideas and contribute to classroom discussions. That being said, using Audacity to make the podcast took some Googling skills to figure out how to add an audio track, how to turn the music volume down and amplify the speech, but honestly it wasn't anything that your average 9th grader couldn't also google and figure out. I like the idea of NOT giving them a lot of instruction on how to use Audacity or PodOMatic, just directing them to those sources and letting them explore. I sometimes tend to over-direct when it comes to these sort of things, especially if I'm worried about time constraints; but there is definitely value in just setting the students loose and letting them figure it out on their own.

I also like this idea because it didn't take long for me to make. It means I'll be more likely to maintain use throughout the year if its not a huge burden to make and publish, so that's awesome.

Let's hear your thoughts on classroom pod-casting!! How could you use it in your classroom? Have you done something like this before? Did you figure out the answer to the riddle?

Unit 1: Blogging

Introduction
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to look at and analyze my assignment. As many of you know, I'm currently working towards my Masters degree in Instructional Technology & Design, and this assignment is part of an ongoing series of posts about technology implementation in K-12 education. We are taking a community-based approach to this discussion and value any input, thoughts, comments, or critiques you have to offer regarding the product offered in each unit.

This week's unit focuses on blogging as a classroom tech implementation. I remember having a personal blog when I was in high school (and still naively under the impression that my posts were private...). It offered an outlet for me to express myself in a more thoughtful way than just having a conversation with a friend or parent. The idea behind using blogs in the classroom follows the same thought process-- students will have the opportunity to thoughtfully reflect on their learning as well as their personal experiences throughout the course of a lesson or project.

What we know about learning has evolved a lot since the time when I was in high school and the direction of educational theory and practice has shifted to incorporate technology in a way that provides students with a more "authentic" learning experience; in other words, teaching  students core content through real-world experiences. This is a grand departure from the direct instruction model of learning that most of us experienced in school, but we know now that giving students the opportunity to use the skills we want them to learn and also reflect on their own learning significantly deepens their understanding of those topics and also builds problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

Technology Product - Click here
My product for this week focuses on encouraging students to express their mathematical ideas and engage in meaningful discussion with their teachers and peers. I think that students in math classes often have performance anxiety that makes verbally contributing in class a very scary activity. By bringing the discussion to a place where they can think first, communicate, and edit their responses before sharing will take away some of that anxiety.

The product will be a unit-by-unit math journal component, where each student will make a reflection post at the culmination of every unit of instruction. Each post will incorporate a teacher-supplied prompt or selection of prompts to which the student must respond, as well as a fully articulated reflection portion. The posts will be graded on a standardized rubric or rubrics that the students will have access to while constructing their responses. An example of the content rubric is offered below:

After viewing the sample blog above, I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and suggestions below. If you are a classroom teacher, have you used something like this in your classroom before? Is it something you would consider using? What changes would you make? If you are not a classroom teacher, I still want to know what you think! How might an activity like this have changed your own learning experience? 

Thank you so much for your participation!