What a weekend, I spent 10+ hours in the library working on Maths 331 HW. It was such a long weekend too. 5 hours on Saturday and nearly another 5 today. I did not really enjoy one bit of it. Half the time, we spent the time arguing with each other. I don't know why our group doesn't seem to be molding too well right now. It just sucks that we argue a lot. It seems like me and Christian are the only two that don't argue with each other. Anyways, I have learned a lot about the TI-Nspire over the weekend, the different capabilities, and how to actually use some of it. It still is really hard to use, I can see why it isn't used in the classroom too often. Sean Bird already responded to us, he thinks that a phone interview would be best, and he would love to meet with our class, but in a f2f meeting so he can do hands on activities. I think him coming in would be great for the class and for us as a group. We could learn so much from this man. He has multiple ideas and understands how important technology is to the group. I also found this great website with Tom Reardon, I think I mentioned this in my last post, but there is just so many fascinating things he has on his website. I downloaded a zip file with a bunch of applications that can be downloaded to the calculator as a .tns file. These can also be used on the computer format. I just couldn't believe how much this guy knew about this fairly new technological advancement.
Also, after seeing multiple responses to Chris's blog I realize the concern for the class. I think people went at the the completely wrong way. Overall I like the setup of the class, I just think sometimes a few more instructions would be beneficial. I mean no disrespect to anyone that responded. People are right though, we aren't gonna have our hand held or in Jenkins class, we aren't gonna be Spoon Fed the directions and how to do things. I just think that people are frustrated because there is so much to do and not a whole lot of time. I really like what I am learning in this class and hope to blossom as a future educator after this semester. The bickering and fighting within my group has become a real concern for me. I wonder if everyone else has similar problems? Probably not. It seems that some people keep trying to out-do everyone else in the group. It's not always about who did this or who did that, it should be about getting the final product in. Each group member will account for you if you did your part. If you didn't they will make sure to let the teacher know. Anyways I had a pretty awful weekend, well besides Friday night, where I enjoyed Penny Pitchers a little too much.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Saturday Jan. 30th
Today I have been working on Module 1 for the TI project. After a while of trying to look up basic activities online, I stumbled upon a great mathematics website that a man named Tom Reardon created. Here he has multiple things including great N-Spire activities for multiple classes and grade levels. There were great tools for classes and just fun things that I can incorporate into my future classroom. Also Module 1 is very difficult to complete because there aren't a lot of intro things to this calculator. The greatest contribution to Module 1 would be the examples in the calculator itself. However, these are self explanatory and seem to be difficult to create an activity based on these. The activity itself seems like it would be these examples in the calculator. One downfall is that we noticed differences in these intro lessons from the TI-Nspire and the TI-Nspire CAS. These differences, though, are very minute in the fact that the functions and numbers are different. There is a difference also in the TI-CAS that you had given Christian and the one Chris Braden has. These differences are much more noticeable and worse. Christian's calculator went off in a completely different direction, while Chris's did the same things as mine and Trent's. I think we will state this in activities and say that they are based on a certain calculator. In this case, I believe we are using the simple TI-Nspire that comes with the 84-plus face plate. We all agree that this module is very confusing, in that we are not entirely sure what exactly it should entail.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Plans Change Jan. 29th-2010
Although I am disappointed it had to happen, things do change and plans that have been made do get canceled on occasion. My plans this weekend were to go with my girlfriend to her home in the Fort, (Fort Wayne), and visit her parents for her father's birthday on saturday. Friday plans were set to go to the Fort Wayne Komets game. The Komets are their "pro" hockey team, and it was fun for the last game since they were the league champions the year before. Saturday was casino night at their church of St. Vincent's. Saturday was the night where Notre Dame football players come and visit to give autographs and hang out with the church folk. Either way I was excited as a giddy boy at 4:30 a.m. Christmas morning. Plans changed though, homework was assigned and must be completed. Group projects take over the weekend. Though what seemed to be a great and entertaining weekend, turned out to be nothing but homework filled. Preaching to the choir when I say this, but priorities are priorities and I have to put business in front of pleasure on this one. Though I am disappointed I do not get to enjoy a funfilled weekend in Fort Wayne, I do understand the importance of homework and graduating school with a well achieved GPA.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
NFL Football Sun. Jan 24th
The playoffs, what an exciting time in the NFL. Unfortunately my favorite team, the Chicago Bears, are not even close to the playoffs. I am very disappointed in the way the Jets played. I wanted them to win due to how much I hate the colts. Either way I am rooting against them. I hope the Saints pull off the win against the Vikings because the Saints have never been to the Super Bowl....and I hate the Vikings..lol
Sunday Jan. 24th
Today I went into the library and worked on Voice Thread with Chris Braden. I had my account set up so I had previously taken a look at Voice Thread. Originally I thought the assignment was to make a video report on the website, but later learned that it was a written report. I thought many things were good about this website. I feel like it is like youtube, but in this you can comment with a separate video, a voice record, or a text. I thought the video doodling was the most interesting. With this you can stop an actual video and mention a comment, then the video will continue on. Overall I think this is a good use of technology that can be used in the classroom environment. However, as of right now, I believe that Video Thread is useless in the high school setting. For the most part, things are done in class and I think that this program would be most successful at the collegiate level.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
