Transformed Educator

Reflections on a Semester of the Flipped Classroom

2012-01-15T07:59:00.003-07:00

I have now spent an entire semester teaching my Math 20-1 students using the Flipped Classroom Model. I have learned a lot using this model. Some of it good and some of it not so good. This post is going to outline the good, the bad and the ugly. I distributed an end of semester evaluation this week and had my students reflect on their semester in the flipped classroom as well.

The Good:
1. I now have every lesson in the course in video format.
2. About half of my class really likes the Flipped Classroom model. If I was to guess, these were the students that are doing well in the course.
3. The Flipped Model allowed students to progress at their own pace. Some sped through the video lesson. Some watched it twice.
4. The Flipped Model allowed me to spend a lot of time with those students that were struggling.
5. The Flipped Model transformed me from a lecturer into a facilitator.
6. I had lots of students and teachers in many different locations use my videos to supplement their learning and they thanked me for it.

The Bad and Ugly:
1. About half of my class did not like learning under the Flipped Model. One student said, "I don't learn this way!". Interesting comment. I need to reflect on it.
2. I feel like I have lost or have not been able to use a number of good teaching practices I have employed in the past.
3. The facilitation part of my role was mostly just answering questions that the students could not solve.
4. Almost everyday in my classroom felt the same. Not nearly as much variety as in the past.
5. A couple of students dropped the class because of the Flipped Model.

I realize that this is only one semester of implementing the Flipped Model. However, I am really thinking hard about whether or not this model is worth continuing. It definitely needs revising.

The following questions are running through my head:
1. If half of my students do not like the Flipped Model is this model meeting ALL of the students needs?
2. If my students continue with the Flipped model in their next Math class will they adapt to it more?
3. If I stop using the Flipped model am I doing so to the detriment of the students that say this model works for them?
4. Could I run a hybrid flipped and non-flipped model in the same classroom?

So, as I reflect back on an entire semester of using the Flipped Model, I have lots to consider. In the coming weeks I will decide if I will continue with the Flipped model or not. Right now it is 50-50. Your feedback might help me make my decision.

LEGO - My New Hobby

2012-01-01T19:47:00.003-07:00

In June 2010 myself and Jared Nichol had the privilege of attending ISTE in Denver, Colorado. While at ISTE we took a shopping trip to a mall and hit the LEGO store. I had never been to a LEGO store before but it was amazing. LEGO has come a long way since I was a kid back in the 70's. After the visit to the LEGO store, I thought I would look into purchasing a few kits for myself and start a LEGO collection. Well, 2010 came and went and I still had not bought any LEGO.

In the Fall of 2011 I was looking at the curriculum for the Workplace and Apprenticeship Math course (Math 20-3) here in Alberta. Lots of curriculum outcomes on scale factor, 2D and 3D diagrams etc.. While reading the curricular outcomes I thought that LEGO would be a good tool to use with my students in learning these curricular outcomes. That triggered the idea that I wanted to start my own LEGO collection.

So, I said to my wife this fall, "I want some LEGO for Christmas!!!" She looked at me kind of funny but after I explained the multitude of kits available she kind of understood my request. I asked for Star Wars LEGO for Christmas.

Christmas 2011 has come and gone and I DID NOT receive any LEGO. I was kind of upset. I asked my wife why I did not receive any LEGO for Christmas. She explained that when she went in search of Star Wars LEGO she found kits from $20 - $300. She had no idea what I would want. She instructed me to, "Go out and buy whatever LEGO you like." She did not want to buy something I would not like so she felt it was best if I bought my own.

This past week we headed to Edmonton and Red Deer for some post Christmas shopping and to visit my brother-in-law. While in Red Deer, I hit the Toys R Us store and headed straight for the LEGO section. When I started looking at the Star Wars LEGO I was having trouble deciding what my first purchase should be. Most of the Star Wars LEGO I liked was over $100. I thought that might be a bit pricy for my first purchase. So, I started looking at the rest of the LEGO. I discovered a number of Transformers LEGO kits and they were on sale for $35 each. I was sold. I would make my first LEGO collection Transformers. There were 6 different kits that I saw and I decided to buy Megatron for my first kit. Why? My oldest daughter's name is Megan and her nickname at school is Megatron.

I have spent a few hours working on the Megatron kit and here is the Megatron Truck!!!

I will keep the truck around for a week or two. Then I have to tear it apart to build the actual Megatron Transformer character. Stay tuned for more posts about my LEGO collection. I have a birthday coming up in January and hope to receive another Transformers LEGO kit to add to my collection.

Yahoo!!! University of Alberta Changes Admission Requirements for Nursing

2011-12-13T21:01:00.003-07:00

My good friend John Scammell tweeted the following today.

Here is the email announcement with details. It is good news for students trying to enter Nursing!!!

Subject: Admission Requirement Change - University of Alberta - Nursing
Importance: High

Good Afternoon Counsellors!

Please note the following important change to admission criteria for our BSc Nursing program.
Nursing will be accepting either Math 30-1 or Math 30-2 for admission to the BSc Nursing Collaborative and Bilingual programs (for Sask, BC, Manitoba, please see equivalents below). This change will impact students applying for Fall 2013, as we are currently only accepting Pure Math 30 or Math 31 for Fall 2012.

BSc Nursing

English Language Arts (ELA) 30-1
Biology 30
Choose one of Chemistry 30 or Science 30
Choose one of Pure Mathematics 30 or Mathematics 30-1; Mathematics 30-2; Mathematics 31
Choose one of Chemistry 30; Science 30; Pure Mathematics 30 or Mathematics 30-1; Mathematics 31; Physics 30; Computer Science- Advanced Level CTS (5 credits); Social Studies 30-1; 30-level language; Fine Arts Course

BSc Nursing Bilingual

English Language Arts (ELA) 30-1
One of French 30, French 30 (9-year), French 31, Français 30, 30-1, 30-2; French Language Arts 30, 30-1, 30-2
Chemistry 30/Chimie 30 or Science 30
Biology 30/Biologie 30
One of Pure Mathematics 30/Mathématiques Pures 30 or Mathematics 30-1/Mathematiques 30-1; Mathematics 30-2/Mathematiques 30-2; Mathematics 31/Mathématiques

Observations About Students Thinking

2011-12-06T18:27:00.003-07:00

Over the past month and a half I have had the opportunity to scribe for one of our Pure Math 30 students. They recently had surgery and they are unable to write. So, when it is time for an exam in Block 2 Pure Math 30 this student asks me to scribe for them. I have a prep at that time and am more than glad to scribe for this student.

Scribing for this student has been an eye opening experience for me. As a scribe, you cannot assist the student in any way. All you do is write down what the student tells you. I have been amazed at how much I can observe about a student's thought processes as they talk through what they are thinking. They have to tell you everything to write down, everything to label etc.. Because this student is unable to write on their own, they have to tell me all of the work they wish to do but they need me to write down for them.

Just by listening to the student think out loud I am able to really tell if a student understands a problem, process or a concept. The light bulb has really gone off in my head. I need to find time to sit with all of my students and scribe for them. Listen to their thinking and observe what they know and do not know.

In terms of assessment, scribing for a student can be very informational to me as their teacher. I also need to think about how I can document my observations in some sort of Google Form or check list.

I love it when I come across great ways of seeing into the minds of my students!!!!

Slurpee Adventure

2011-11-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Roland Dargis (a colleague of mine in the math dept. at Cold Lake HS) and I set out to create a Dan Meyer style video for the Gr.12 unit on Permuations and Combinations. Our idea was that we could videotape ourselves filling up slurpee cups and then have our students try to determine how many possible different combinations of slurpees could be created.

Here is our final product

If you look at the end of the video, you will see that we have a shot of all of the possible choices of slurpee flavors , cup sizes and prices. This allows for a lot of extension activities.

Click here to download the video and all of the other files we have compiled.

Is the Flipped Class for Every Course?

2011-10-10T19:48:00.003-06:00

I had a discussion about this with my wife, who is also a teacher. Her training is in teaching elementary school. She made some valid points about whether or not Language Arts or English and Social Studies would work with a flipped class model. These courses lend themselves much more to a "seminar" type environment where the class has a whole as a lot of discussions and debates.

So, I went to school and had a discussion about the flipped classroom with two of my colleagues in the Social Studies department. They pretty much confirmed my wife's thoughts. In Social Studies, they have a lot of group discussion about things such as liberalism, economics, etc.. They thought that my way of using the flipped classroom in Mathematics was brilliant. Both of them wished they had the flipped classroom when they studied math in high school.

The other thing to consider is that if a student in high school takes 4 courses per day and ALL of these were flipped they may have to watch between 1.5 and 2 hours of videos per night. Is that realistic to expect them to watch that much video? I suppose they may be doing that much "homework" each night.

Some interesting things to think about!!! Please comment on this post and give your thoughts.

Another Week in the Books

2011-09-30T15:11:00.002-06:00

Another week has come and gone in my flipped math classroom. A few students are still not watching the videos on a regular basis and they paid for it on their unit exam this week. One of these students said, "I do not like the flipped classroom!" When I asked him why he said, "Because I cannot get away with doing nothing!!!". You bet. That is one of the awesome things about the flipped classroom. It places the responsibility for learning on the student. They have to OWN their learning. I love that. When I used to lecture, the students put the responsibility for their learning on me. That was the absolutely wrong place.

I had a parent from Yellowknife, NWT email me this week and ask if he could use my class wiki to help his son with his Math 20-1 studies. I said, "Of course, that is why I post my video lessons online.". Glad to see that I am able to help students in other parts of Canada.

Today, a teacher from Saskatchewan, tweeted me and asked if my video lessons correspond to the Saskatchewan curriculum. I informed him that they do indeed correspond. He asked for the URL to my wiki and checked out what I am doing in my flipped classroom.

If you are just reading about my journey for the first time, you can access my wiki here. Feel free to look at the wiki and use anything that is of value to you.

The thing that surprised me the most, today, was the number of students that were "voluntarily" making corrections on their unit exams. Even though some of them did very well, they wanted to know how to do every single question on the exam. This kind of self-motivation and concern for their own learning is what I want all students to be doing. It is never about the mark, but about understanding the math. My flipped classroom students really seem to be getting this.

The Journey in my Flipped Classroom

2011-09-25T19:55:00.002-06:00

This coming week will mark an entire month in my "flipped" math classroom. This week has been very interesting. I have had all kinds of teachers at my own school (Cold Lake HS) come up to me and ask me to explain what this "flipped" classroom thing is that I am doing. This is a good sign. If other staff are asking questions then maybe they will try the same thing. Apparently the students are talking about it a lot with their other teachers.

When I am out and about in Cold Lake I have had parents and former students approach me in public to discuss the flipped classroom. The parents love it!!! The former students are asking me why I did not do this when I taught them. They believe they would have learned better. I am starting to think that I have created a really good thing here. If people are approaching me in public and raving about the "flipped" classroom that has to be positive. In the past most people just said hello and kept walking.

The really strange thing occurred last Saturday. I was out working in the yard at my house. I had stopped, for a moment, to talk with the neighbour. The house across the street is for sale and a realtor was showing the house to a prospective buyer. She stopped showing the house, left her customers and walked over to me and said, "Are you the math teacher from the high school?". I replied, "Yes". I was bracing myself for an abusive comment. She said, "I recognize your voice from the videos my son watches each night. Great stuff!!". I thanked her and she returned to showing the house. Apparently I have become somewhat of a celebrity. Watch out Khan Academy here comes Mr. Kaminski!!!

This past week I started implementing formative assessments at the beginning of each class. I wanted to see if the students really understood what they "supposedly" learned the previous day. I place a couple of questions on the board and have my students use mini-whiteboards to work in partners to obtain a solution. I have the students show me their solution. Most of them are kicking butt. However, the few that had some misunderstandings, I get a chance to clear up the issues. This formative assessment will continue to be a daily part of our routine.

Another benefit of the videos is showing up. The beginning of October is prime moose hunting season in northern Alberta. I have students that are going to miss an entire week of school to go moose hunting. Every single one of them has asked me for a list of the videos they need to watch so they can work ahead before they go hunting. I am smiling!!! They get it!!! It does not matter that they will miss class. They have a way of keeping up with their studies. The only problem has been that video production has had to kick into high gear. I am usually about 1 week ahead of the class. Now I have to get 2 weeks ahead so that these students can benefit from watching the videos before they go hunting. Oh well. I do not mind this kind of problem. It is for the benefit of my students.

Stay tuned next week for an update on the adventures in my "flipped" math classroom.

Week #2 in the Flipped Math Class

2011-09-19T18:43:00.004-06:00

Week #2 came and went very much like week number one. The kids watched the videos each night, came to class and they worked on their practice exercises in class with assistance from myself or their fellow classmates. However, the flipped classroom idea is spreading like wild fire amongst other teachers.

I spent 3 hours on Sunday meeting with two other math teachers at another high school in Cold Lake. They really are interested in flipping their class and wanted to discuss how it all would work. I explained the entire process to them but cautioned them that they need to lay a little ground work with their students, parents and admin before beginning the process. I advised them to take the next week to lay this ground work and then start flipping their class near the end of September. They were pumped about the whole idea when I left them!!! The chemistry teacher at this same high school is also interested in possibly flipping his class. I will have to meet with him in the future.

On Friday, we had our first unit exam. For me, this was going to be a really good indication of how well my students had faired in the first unit of flipping the classroom. Overall, the exam went very well. The results on the exam did not surprise me in any way. With all of the walking around I did each class and all of the assistance I was providing students I had a pretty good idea of which students were grasping the content well and which ones were struggling. I was glad to see that my impressions were fairly accurate.

A couple of students did surprise me, in a good way. A couple of students that I thought were struggling actually performed quite well on the exam. These are the kinds of surprises I like!!!

I did not receive any negative feedback from the students regarding the exam or their grade.

I am operating my classroom in a way that the students will have the opportunity to reassess on certain outcomes on the unit exam. The students will analyze their exam using the exam blueprint I provide them and then determine which of the outcomes they would like to reassess on. They will have to complete some additional practice on these outcomes to "qualify" to write the reassessment. For some students, this helps take the sting out of the fact that they may not have done as well as they wanted on the first unit exam.

So, everything keeps rolling along in my "flipped" classroom. After having used this model for approximately 2 weeks I would say that I would not go back to the "old" way of doing things. The "flipped" classroom just has so many advantages over the way I used to do things.

First Full Week of Flipping My Math Class

2011-09-10T06:53:00.005-06:00

It has been a GREAT week!!! My students in my Math 20-1 class have been watching the videos religiously each night. A few of them are still having some technical issues accessing the videos I have created but we quickly worked around this by providing them the videos on a memory stick. If you would like to check out my videos you can access the location where they are posted here. The great thing is that when they have been having difficulty watching the videos at home they come to class "begging" to use a laptop to watch the videos in class. They are taking ownership for their learning. I am not chasing after them and hounding them they are doing this all on their own. I love it!!!

My classrooms looks and feels SO different. I have been able to be a true facilitator of learning. My time is NOT taken up each class "lecturing" but I now get to walk around, help students, clarify misunderstandings and truly see my students owning their learning. I am SO happy about this. I no longer feel like I am the hardest working person in the room. In the past, the students would come to class, I would teach the lesson, they would have some time to work on their practice and they would head home. However, everyone came back the next day with at least one question in the practice that they could not solve. In fact, many students came back very stressed and frustrated because they struggled with the practice. I always felt pressured to "get through the material" during class time. Now, there is no pressure on me. My job is to "help" the students. In fact, I have way more time to do this. I have the entire class to "help". This is a really satisfying feeling. I can honestly say that I get to talk with every single student in my class every day. This never happened in the "old" non-flipped classroom. The students are far less stressed and frustrated because they get help on their practice when they need it.

The students are really enjoying the "flipped" classroom. The only thing they have to do each night is watch the videos and write their notes. This is very low stress for them. Some of them are unable to watch the videos because of work commitments, sports etc.. They come to class, grab a laptop (I have a cart of 30 laptops in my classroom) and watch the video in class. I very rarely have to "kick a kid's butt". They know the routine and they make it happen.

I have really struggled in the past with differentiating instruction in my math classroom. However, I can honestly say that I have differentiated more in one week this semester than I probably have in one month in the past. The videos allow the students to differentiate for themselves. They can pause the video, rewind the video, rewatch parts of the video. Their instruction is differentiated every day. In class, I am able to treat every student as an individual and assist them where needed.

My classroom is noisier than in the past. But, it is a "good" noise. The students are discussing the notes from the night before. They are helping each other complete the practice. They are teaching each other. I am SO happy. I would have to say that, so far, flipping my classroom has been the single best thing I have ever done in my teaching career.

I want to talk a little bit about the technology. It is truly being integrated. The "flipped" classroom is NOT about the technology. The technology allows the flipped classroom to happen. The ease of creating video lessons and hosting them online is made possible by the technology we have today. The computers and the Internet are the "tools" that help me flip my classroom. The technology is necessary to flip the classroom. The technology is not forced it just fits in like a textbook, paper and pencils.

The curriculum states that teachers need to facilitate "learning through problems solving" or LTPS. This means presenting the students with problems and letting them wrestle with them to find a solution. The students work on the skills of reasoning, communicating, connections and visualization. It is really hard to address these skills without having the students work on real problems. These are situations where the students DO NOT know the answers but have the knowledge and perseverance to find the answers. In the old days I would have had trouble finding "time" to do this in class. Now, there is lots of time for this. We have already completed two problem solving activities in this unit. They were Coffee Cups and Bucky the Badger.

After school yesterday, some of the staff got together at the local watering hole. We socialized and enjoyed everyone's company. Some of them asked me, "What are you doing in your math class? The kids are talking about it." This was exciting. I know it is a good sign when kids are telling other teachers about what is happening in our "flipped" classroom. I described to my colleagues what I was doing. They think it is pretty cool. Some of them even think they should try it!!!!

The videos that I have created are not only helping my students in my classroom. I have had students from another Math 20-1 class ask for the URL for my website so they can watch the videos. My oldest daughter attends another high school in town. She is also studying Math 20-1 . She sometimes watches my videos to help herself out. She has given the URL for my website to some of her classmates. This kind of thing is humbling.

Stay tuned for further adventures in the "flipped" math classroom. I believe that the flipped classroom is the future of education.

Arithmetic Series - Bucky the Badger

2011-09-07T09:40:00.005-06:00

As part of "flipping" my classroom I will be using my class time to have my students do some "Learning Through Problem Solving" (LTPS)

We have not yet studied arithmetic series. So, the following activity is a LTPS activity because the students have not yet learned any of the formulas associated with arithmetic sequences.

I will be using John Scammell's 7 step Learning Through Problem Solving approach.

The following activity was originally created by Dan Meyer.

Step 1: Show video Bucky the Badger

Step 2: Ask the students- What question do they want to explore?
Hopefully the students want to know how many push-ups will do during the entire game

Step 3: Elicit student guesses: Have the students make guesses about how many push-ups they think Bucky will do. As a class, agree on a range of reasonable answers.

Step 4: Ask the students what further information they need to answer their question. They will need to know the scoring summary for Wisconsin for the game. Show them the following data to provide them with the necessary information.

Step 5: Allow students to work on the problem. Students who finish could be given an extension like, "Does it matter where in the sequence the field goals are kicked?" “Where should the field goals be kicked to have Bucky do the least number of push-ups?”

Step 6:Share student solutions. Have students share solutions with other students, or with the whole class using a document camera or chart paper.

Step 7: Show the answer video.

The Flipped Classroom After 2 Days

2011-09-02T15:52:00.003-06:00

On day 2 in my flipped classroom we watched the first instructional "videos" together. I wanted to help guide my students. I wanted to give them hints and suggestions of how to watch the videos and take notes. Remind them that if they are having trouble keeping up with the video they can, stop the video, rewind the video, fast forward the video etc... I did not want to just send them home to watch the video lessons without some guidance.

The good news. Not one student or parent has confronted me about hating this method. All the students like flipping the classroom, so far.

Next week we really get into the true flip. Every night they will have to watch a video lesson at home. Then come to class, work on their assignment and participate in some TRUE problem solving activities.

The only glitch I ran into this week is that the iTuneU server that is hosting my videos was down today. Hope this is not a regular occurence!!! Otherwise, I will have to host the videos somewhere else. My students need to be able to access those video lessons 24/7.

I hope next week goes as well as this week.

Coffee Cups Activity

2011-09-02T04:53:00.003-06:00

As part of "flipping" my classroom I will be using my class time to have my students do some "Learning Through Problem Solving" (LTPS)

We have not yet studied arithmetic sequences. So, the following activity is a LTPS activity because the students have not yet learned any of the formulas associated with arithmetic sequences.

I will be using John Scammell's 7 step Learning Through Problem Solving approach.

Step 1: Show video Coffee Cups- Act1

Coffee cups--Act one from Jahan Khah on Vimeo.

Step 2: Ask the students- What question do they want to explore?
Hopefully the students want to know how many cups will they be able to stack on the shelf.

Step 3: Elicit student guesses: Have the students make guesses about how many cups they think will be able to be stacked on the shelf. As a class, agree on a range of reasonable answers.

Step 4: Ask the students what further information they need to answer their question. Show them Coffee Cups - Act2 to provide them with the necessary information.

Coffee cups--Act two from Jahan Khah on Vimeo.

Step 5: Allow students to work on the problem. Students who finish could be given an extension like, "Develop a formula to determine how many cups you could stack on a shelf of any height."

Step 6:Share student solutions. Have students share solutions with other students, or with the whole class using a document camera or chart paper.

Step 7: Show the answer video.

Coffee cups--Act three from Jahan Khah on Vimeo.

Finally, summarize what has been learned.

Day One of the Flipped Classroom

2011-09-01T17:14:00.002-06:00

So, I survived my first day of classes of the 2011-12 school year. In fact, I would have to say that today went pretty well.

So far, my fears of introducing the "flipped" class to my Math 20-1's have been unfounded. They were not scared of the "flipped" classroom. Some said they thought it was a good idea.

I sent home a letter explaining the "flipped" classroom concept. This way the parents get the same message as the kids.

I used the following presentation to help explain the "flipped" classroom. In my letter to parents, I guided them to a link on the class wiki that will take them to this presentation. Hopefully, those that have questions and are unsure of things watch the presentation.

I hope that most parents are as receptive as the students were. We will see tomorrow. I may receive a tsunami of phone calls and e-mails asking about the "flipped" classroom.

Let the "Flipped" Classroom Begin!!!

2011-08-31T21:22:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is the first day for students at Cold Lake HS (CLHS). Teachers will be excited. Students will be excited. The 2011-12 school year will get underway. I will be rolling out the "flipped" classroom model in my Math 20-1 class. For those of you who do not know what the "flipped" classroom is here is a short explanation.

• Lectures/Direct instruction ars recorded in a video format and delivered on demand via the Internet
• Each night the students “homework” is to watch the video lesson for the next topic to be studied and take notes.
• Class time is reserved for student questions, guided practice, or group activities designed to help students more deeply understand the math they are learning.
• Because the instructor is not tied up with lecture, he/she can assist students in mastering content.
• This arrangement "flips" the traditional model by assigning lectures as homework and doing practice exercises in class.

I am excited about implementing this model in my Math 20-1 class but I am also nervous. How will the students react to this new way of running my Math class? How will parents react? Will "flipped" classroom work or will it fail?

Luckily, I have the full support of my administration. My fellow Math dept. colleagues are curious to see how this method works. They are intrigued. However, they are willing to let me be the guinea pig. None of them are joining me in "flipping" their math class.

Stay tuned. I will be blogging about my journey in "flipping" my math classroom.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

How to Have Students E-Mail Assignments to Folder in Box.net

2011-06-10T10:58:00.010-06:00

Thanks to Wes Fryer @wfryer for tweeting out that students can e-mail assignments to folders in box.net. This feature will make a lot of teachers lives easier.

Here is how it works:
1. Sign up for an account on Box.net.
2. Create a folder in Box.net that you want your students to e-mail there assignments to.

3. Find the folder you want your students to e-mail their assignment to. You now need to open the "Options" menu. This is located to the right of the word "Share" which is located to the right of the folder.

4. Select "Upload to This Folder" and then in the sub menu select "Email Files to this Folder"

A window then opens that gives you an e-mail address to use to e-mail files to that folder. Share this e-mail address with your students and they can then e-mail you their assignments.

Online Tutorial and Collaboration

2011-01-16T19:32:00.004-07:00

Recently I came across an awesome site called BigMarker. It is a lot like Elluminate but it is FREE. You can create a virtual room, upload files to share and view with others. View each other using your webcam. Share your desktop. And the best part of all for me, write on the screen. Being a high school Math teacher I need to be able to write when I discuss problems with my students.

After finding BigMarker and playing around with it, I had an idea. It is the end of the semester for my students and they are beginning to prepare for final exams. I can help answer my students questions while they are at school but when they go home they are really on their own.

So, I created an "Online Tutorial and Collaboration Room" for my students. I will be online in the room in the evening to help them with any questions they have and students can also enter the room and help each other.

I am really excited about the possibilities for this virtual room. I hope my students are as excited when I tell them about it tomorrow!!!

A Picture a Week for 52 Weeks

2011-01-16T08:10:00.002-07:00

So, I have decided to take the plung. I am going to try to document every week of the year of 2011 in pictures. (Yeah I know I am starting a couple of weeks late!!) I tried to do a picture a day last year but that just did not work. I missed a few days then just stopped doing it. So, I am going to try to do a picture per week this year.

AI few different people tweeted out a blogposting of themes for each week. Here is the list. I am going to try to use these themes as my starting point each week.

Here is one of the better pictures that I took last year while in Denver for the ISTE conference.

The 12 Days of Christmas - WCYDWT

2010-12-21T18:32:00.006-07:00

During this festive season we all get the opportunity to listen to Christmas carols. The 12 Day of Christmas was playing in a store today.

Here is version of it that you can listen to.

My mathematical brain kicked in and WCYDWT came to mind. The following are questions I came up with.

1. How many presents would a person receive over the entire 12 days of Christmas?

2. Could you write an equation or formula to predict the total number of presents received on any given day?

If you can think of any other ideas for using this song please share them in the comments section.

If you really want to see some cool math behind the 12 Days of Christmas, click here

Pictures of Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-21T00:58:00.004-07:00

Even with a partially broken tripod I managed to get some decent pictures of the lunar eclipse tonight.

Chrome OS Netbook is a Throw Back to Mainframes

2010-12-15T18:32:00.005-07:00

I was in high school back in the early 80s when personal computers first came out. I knew what a mainframe was and even got to tour the Credit Union Central facility in Regina and see their mainframe set up. The computers hooked to the mainframe were called "dummy" terminals. The terminal did not do much but allow you to enter commands and send them to the mainframe. All of software and data resided on the mainframe.

I have been reflecting on the Google Chrome OS netbook that was announced recently. It runs apps and is more powerful than a dummy terminal but operates on the same principle as a mainframe. All of your data is stored on a server in the clouds. Very much like in the days of the mainframe.

Google seems to have gone back in time and taken the mainframe idea and applied it to todays computers. Google has figured out that what most people want is a cheap computer that allows them to surf the net and access their data anywhere and anytime. How do you achieve this model? Store everything on a server and only access what you need when you want it.

I have to chuckle that we have come full circle. The personal computer allowed us to unchain ourselves from the mainframe mentality. However, it appears that the most cost effective way of computing is the centralized server with a bunch of "dummy" terminals connected to it.

How do you assess "Explaining"?

2010-12-15T18:04:00.001-07:00

The Math dept. spent some of our time today, during our "snow day", writing student friendly outcomes for our Math 20-1 course. One of the things we immediately noticed is that MANY of the outcomes ask students to "explain" Mathematical processes.

I experimented with having students videotape explanations of factoring quadratic equations. This worked OK. However, was a bit time consuming.

We discussed having students answer "explain" outcomes on the summative exam. But, I pointed out that we want to know BEFORE the summative assessment if they can explain or not.

Any suggestions of how else we can get students to explain a mathematical process?

Also, I developed a rubric to assess the explanation of the factoring of a quadratic equation. The rubric seems to work well. I gave the students the rubric after I watched their videos BUT they did not get to re-watch their video to compare it to the rubric. This is a downfall.

I DO NOT feel we need to assign a grade to the explain outcomes. I feel that the rubric is more beneficial. However, we have to document the assessment. I guess we can keep a copy of the rubric in our "Marks book" and record the level they achieved on the rubric in the "Mark book" then we have evidence to show parents.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Using Video to Assess "Explaining" in Math

2010-11-09T20:49:00.004-07:00

Yesterday, I read a blog post by David Cox. He used a flipcam to videotape some of his students explaining a mathematical concept. As I watched the video a light went off in my head. One of the outcomes that is in the curriculum for my Math 10 C class is "Explain your strategy for factoring a trinomial". I could try to have the students write out an explanation but having them videotape their explanation would be even better.

So, today I took my Kodak zi8 into my class and had my students videotape each other as they explained how to factor a trinomial. What an awesome experience!!! I was able to watch every single one of my students factor a trinomial and explain it. I gained a lot of insight into the skills and the abilities of my students. Way more than just walking around the class and observing.

I just finished watching every single video and grading it using the following rubric.

This was such a success that I will definitely use it again. Video is a very powerful way to assess your students. I would suggest you give it a try. Once you do I do not think you will disagree with me.

Here is one of the videos of one of my students.

Personalized Learning

2010-09-16T09:51:00.003-06:00

Today, I tried an experiment in my Pure Math 30 class. I gave the students a photocopy of the notes for the day and asked them to read the notes, add to the notes, discuss the notes amongst their group. (I have my students sitting in groups of 4).

Essentially I was having my students learn the material on their own!!!! Man was this awesome!!! The lesson that normally took me 60 minutes to teach was transformed into a self-paced, personalized learning experience for each and every student. It was amazing!!! The students help each other and clarified their understanding by asking me specific questions while I wondered around the room.

After about 20 minutes every single student was working on their assignment for the day. They now had the opportunity to complete their assignment in class, ask each other for assistance and ask me if they were really stuck.

About half way through the class I asked the students how they liked what we were trying today. Here are some of the responses.

"I could learn like this everyday."
"I like this way better"
"I don't learn like this. I need to hear the explanations."

All in all I can't think of why I did not try this a long time ago. I guess fear had a little bit to do with it. Today I jumped in to the deep end of the pool and did not drown. In fact, because I took a risk my students are having a far better learning experience than I have ever provided to them before. I am really glad I took the risk today.

First Exam - Math 10 Common

2010-09-13T21:14:00.002-06:00

Myself and my other dept. members (Lara and Emerson) have spent the last few days creating our first unit exam for our Math 10 Common course. Since we are running this course using a standards based grading model we had to come up with a test creation blueprint. Thanks to Lara, our keener, here is the blueprint we used to create our unit exam.

This blueprint is also what we are going to have our students use to self-assess how they performed on each outcome on the exam. The students will then use this self-assessment to help determine which outcome(s) they wish to reassess on.

I did not post the actual exam for fear that my tech savvy students would locate the exam. That would just be bad news.

If you would like to see the exam just drop me a tweet or e-mail and we will make arrangements for this to happen.

Standards Based Grading - Oberservations

2010-09-09T20:39:00.003-06:00

So, today I returned the graded quizzes to my Math 10 common students. Some were happy with their "grade" others were not. Then I had them turn to the self-assessment rubric on the back side of their quiz. I gave them a few minutes to rate themselves on how they performed on each outcome. I was amazed at how serious most of the students took the task. Then they had to explain why they gave themselves the rating they chose. Finally, I asked them to write a sentence or 2 about how they were going to try to improve on the outcomes they did not perform well on.

I had them hand this in so I could read what they wrote. Here are some of their comments:

"I need to do my homework."
"I am going to go back, re-read my notes and do some of the questions in our workbook that were not originally assigned."
"I am going to ask my mom if she can find me a tutor."
"Keep doing what I have been doing because I kicked butt on this quiz!!!"

The students pretty much nailed it on the head. Their reflections and observations were pretty much what I would have told them.

This whole exercise took less than 10 minutes. Getting the students to reflect on their performance in relation to the outcomes of the course was well worth it.

I am glad our entire math dept. has decided to try out standards based grading. Our students will be better for it.

Standards Based Grading Begins

2010-09-06T18:18:00.003-06:00

Last week was our first week with students at Cold Lake HS. Our entire math department has decided we are going to start to make the transition to standards based grading. We started our journey last school year by meeting with assessment specialist Deana Senn. She did an awesome job of helping us to understand Assessment for Learning and Assessment of Learning. We then took the next leap and began looking at the outcomes in our NEW Math 10 Common curriculum. This curriculum is new starting Sept.2010.

We spent approximately 4 months rewriting the curriculum outcomes in student friendly language. The result of our work is this document.

We have broken these outcomes down into units and during each unit we will be exposing our students to the outcomes for that unit. Here is what we gave our students for unit 1 on Radicals and Exponents.

After one week I am preparing to give my first assessment to my students. It is a quiz but has a twist. After the students write the quiz and I grade it the students have a self-assessment rubric to complete. Thanks to Deana Senn for helping me polish up the rubric. The purpose of this rubric is to help the students identify where their weaknesses are and what they need to continue working on. I did not come up with this rubric on my own. I "borrowed" it from Matt Towsley's materials from his summer course on Formative Assessment and Standards Based Grading.

Stay tuned and follow myself and my dept. on our standards based grading journey. Feel free to provide us with some feedback and guidance. We welcome it!!!

Refections from ISTE 2010

2010-07-22T09:43:00.006-06:00

It has been approximately 2 weeks since I returned from ISTE 2010 in Denver, Colorado. I find that ISTE is the best conference I attend because of all of the conversations that occur outside of the sessions. It is a conference where you can sit down and talk with some of the gurus of educational technology. People like, Jeff Utecht, Will Richardson, David Warlick and Dean Shareski. These people are in fact educators like you and me. They LOVE to have you walk up, introduce yourself and engage in a conversation with them.

Part of the benefit of ISTE is making connections with colleagues from around the world and sharing your thoughts, ideas and theories. I know many people have never attended ISTE or may never get the chance (if you get the chance you HAVE to go). So, this blog post is about sharing with my PLN. Those of you that read my blog.

I attended ISTE with Jared Nichol, a colleague of mine from Cold Lake HS. Jared and I share many of the same views on technology in education even though we teach different subjects. I teach mathematics and Jared teacher English and Multimedia.

Jared and I had the privilege of attending not only ISTE but TedXDenverEdu. It just so happens that this TED event was happening in Denver at the same time as ISTE. The entire event was focused on education. While many of the keynote speeches were excellent this one stood out. It is delivered by Keith R. Krueger who is CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a national nonprofit organization that serves as the voice of K-12 technology leaders, especially school district CTO's, who use technology strategically to improve teaching and learning. Keith not only talks about the problems we are having in education but also offers solutions to these problems that will not cost a huge amount of money.

While Jared and I attended great sessions throughout the entire ISTE conference there are always a couple that stick out as "really good"!!

The final keynote presentation by Jeff Piontek ,who is the Head of School for the Hawaii Technology Academy, was a great way to end the conference. We left this keynote presentation with that "feel good" feeling in the pit of our stomach.
Make sure you fast forward this video to 16 minutes. That is where Jeff's keynote talk begins.

Well, I know I have only shared a couple of sessions from my ISTE experience. I hope these two videos go a little ways towards inspiring you for the upcoming school year. I know I am pumped!!!

I have been thinking....

2010-07-11T17:19:00.004-06:00

Summer vacation is a great time to sit back and reflect. All of those ideas that have been bouncing around in my head can now be given some more serious thought.

One of the things I have wanted to do since attending NECC 2009 in Washington D.C. is to organize an EdubloggerCon event right here in my hometown of Cold Lake, Alberta. I really like the format of EdubloggerCon. You get a bunch of educators together, they decide what topics they would like to discuss, you set up an online schedule on a wiki and the attendees decide which topics they would like to participate in. The key word here is "participate". There are no "speakers" at the sessions.
Everyone gets together and discusses the topic for that session. It represents the collective sharing of knowledge amongst each other. We share our successes and failures, we help solve each others problems and the best thing of all, we develop connections amongst colleagues we may have never known before. This is truly powerful.

So, I guess my first goal for next school year is to organize EdubloggerCon Cold Lake. Stay tuned to find out how it works out.

If you have any experience or ideas for our event please leave a comment!!!

Assessment for Learning

2010-05-12T14:45:00.002-06:00

I have been trying some different Assessment for Learning(AFL) strategies in my high school Mathematics classes this semester. Yesterday, I gave a vectors assignment to my Applied Math 30 class. I had them complete the assignment in class but after each question come to my desk and have me check over their work and their solution.

It worked great!!! I was able to see how each student was progressing, I was able to reteach or assist the students with difficulties or misunderstandings. In the past, I gave out the assignment, had the students complete the assignment and them took it in for grading. The OLD way let me see what students knew and did not know but did not allow me to help them out in any way.

The problem I have is that in the past I would have had a mark to place in my markbook. Even though I did "mark" every students assignment as they did it I do not have anything recorded for this assignment. I realize that it is assessment for learning so the students are still 'learning" the material but I should document some how the progress of each student on this assignment.

Do I use a rubric? Do I use a checklist? Not sure how I can document my students progress. Any suggestions are welcome.

Sometimes You Know You are Doing the Right Thing

2010-01-16T13:34:00.005-07:00

In all of my classes we are currently having our students prepare for their final exams that begin in about 5 days. In my Applied Math 20 class I had two students request to borrow a laptop out of the cart to study for their final. I was curious what they were going to use the laptop for.

So, I said "Why do you want to borrow a laptop?"

Their response was, "I have lost some of my notes and my binder is really disorganized. I want to use the laptop to go to the class wiki and look at the notes you have posted. They are really organized well and I will be able to more easily study the material for the final exam."

I immediately got each of them a laptop.

Inside of me I had the biggest smile!!!! These two students made my day. They "get" why we have a class wiki and they were going to use it to help themselves out. Hopefully, the other students around them see how these two students are using the class wiki and make use of everything I have posted on it.

If you can check out the class wiki here.

These two students are living proof of why I use class wikis. It is because it "helps" students. Sometimes you just know you are doing the right thing.

How My Daughters Learn and Work

2010-01-16T13:11:00.005-07:00

This past Christmas we decided to get our two daughters a Macbook Pro as a gift. My daughters are definitely digital natives. They both have an iPod Touch that they use everywhere and they were continually borrowing mine or my wife's Macbook Pro.

So, a couple of days ago my youngest daughter, Sarah, said, "Dad, can I take my Macbook Pro to school to use in class?"

My first question was, "Don't you have carts of Macbooks at school that you can use?".

Her response was, "Yes, we have carts of Macbooks but our teachers NEVER let us use them!!"

I discussed this with her a little. She informed me that most of the teachers are either scared of using the Macbooks with their students or just do not want to bother. Interesting!!

I told my daughter that I would have to check with the Director of Technology (a good friend of mine) and her principal before I allowed her to take her Macbook Pro to school. I am all for letting her take her Macbook Pro to school as that is a TOOL she uses to learn and work. Why would I not let her use it at school!!!!

I did not want to step on any toes by just letting her take her Macbook to school.

I e-mailed the Director of Technology to see if he was OK with having my daughter bring her Macbook to school. He e-mailed me back and informed me that they are just adjusting the network at school to allow student owned devices on it. He asked me to wait a few weeks. Once things are functioning he will get back to me and things are a go.

Nice to see my daughters school district is preparing to let student owned devices be used at school.

I am very glad to see that my daughter is asking to use the tools she is most comfortable with to assist her in her learning. This skill of advocating for herself is going to be very useful in later life.

Conics Around Our School

2009-12-19T05:57:00.006-07:00

We have just finished studying Conic Sections in Pure Math 30. At the start of the unit I informed my Gr.12 students that, for 1 bonus mark on their unit exam, they needed to use their cellphone or digital camera to take a picture of a real life example of a conic section. Many of the students took me up on this challenge, but I was kind of disappointed. The vast majority of the students brought me a picture of a circular object. While this an example of a conic section, I was hoping for ellipses, hyperbolas and parabolas.

So, on Thursday I decided to put the student to work and actually have them find examples of every conic section. At the start of Thursday's class I told my students we were going on a scavenger hunt. This got their attention!!! I informed them that they needed to use their cellphone to collect pictures of objects around the school. They needed to find a real life example of a circle, an ellipse, a parabola and a hyperbola. Immediately one student said, " Can we half a half an hour to do this?". I informed them they had 10 minutes to collect their pictures. So, off they went. They were like little kids in a candy shop. They were so excited!!!

In under 5 minutes, every student,(there were 20 of them) had collected their real life examples. It was really amazing to see how quickly they could find real life examples of conic sections around the school. I then asked the students to e-mail me their pictures from their cellphones. Here are some of the pictures my students sent me.

My students even explained to me that they took these 2 pictures above because they were examples of degenerate hyperbolas. Cool!!!

This little extension of Conic Sections was definitely worth the 10 minutes of class time that it took!!

Try sending your students on a scavenger hunt with their cellphone. You will be really pleased with what they find.

Using Wolfram Alpha to Discover Properties of General Equation of a Conic

2009-12-08T11:27:00.005-07:00

Today, my Pure Math 30 students, took out our department laptops and logged into Wolfram Alpha.

We were investigating the general form of an equation of a conic. Ax^2+Cy^2+Dx+Ey+F=0.
I had the students graph many different equations and observe what graph Wolfram Alpha created.

The students then had to compare the equations with their graphs and answer the following questions.

1. Describe what values you must use for A and C in order to generate a circle?
2. Describe what values you must use for A and C in order to generate an ellipse?
3. Describe what values you must use for A and C in order to generate a parabola?
4. Describe what values you must use for A and C in order to generate a hyperbola?

Wolfram Alpha made this investigation quite easy for the students. All they had to do was type the equations into Wolfram Alpha and it gave them nice, easy to read graphs.

I could have just lectured for this lesson. However, I believe that the discovery approach I used was much more powerful.

Some math teachers would say that they could have their students use their graphing calculator to do the same thing. You are right. I have had the students use a graphing calculator for this lesson before. However, I had to install a special program on the calculator for the students to complete the activity. Wolfram Alpha is accessible to all students with a computer and an Internet connection. It is a far more valuable tool than a graphing calculator. Wolfram Alpha can do so much more than a graphing calculator.

Wolfram Alpha was an awesome "TOOL" in my math classroom today.

If you have not looked at Wolfram Alpha I think every mathematics teacher should.

Assessment for Learning in Circle Geometry

2009-12-01T22:30:00.004-07:00

I have been "dipping my toes" into the assessment for learning stream. The last couple of weeks we have been studying circle geometry in my Applied Math 20 class. The students ALWAYS struggle with this unit. It stretches their minds and really makes them use their problem solving skills. Needless to say, the students do not "like" this unit. It is hard!!!

Every semester I give a two page assignment with about 15 different circle geometry problems. In the past, I have taken this assignment in, marked it and returned it to the students. While this method gave me another mark for my mark book it really did not HELP the students to learn to solve circle geometry problems any better.

So, today, I switched things up. I gave the same assignment. However, I explained to the students that I was not taking this assignment in for marks. I explained that I wanted them to learn to solve circle geometry problems better. I asked them to solve problem #1 then bring it too me and I would mark it and discuss it with them. Then go on to problem #2 and do the same. You would have thought that the students would have grumbled that they were doing an assignment for no marks. Not one single complaint.

In this class we have had a number of discussions about how all of the work in a unit is to help them learn the material. They get the "marks" when they write their unit exam at the end of the unit. The more questions they ask and the more learning they do during the unit the better they will do on the end of unit exam.

I am struggling with the fact that I have less marks in my mark book. However, I really like the fact that my students are learning and understanding mathematics better.

Stay tuned for more adventures of the Transformed Educator!!!

Tweet Cloud

2009-11-29T13:59:00.003-07:00

Everyone using twitter should check out Tweet Cloud

Here is a tweet cloud of my twitter posts for the past year.

Nominations for Edublog Awards 2009

2009-11-28T20:42:00.002-07:00

My Nominations for The 2009 Edublog Awards are:

Best individual blog: Thinking in Mind - Neil Stephenson
Best individual tweeter: Dean Shareski @shareski
Best resource sharing blog: Free Technology for Teachers
Best educational use of video / visual: dy/dan - Dan Meyer
Lifetime achievement: David Warlick - 2 cents Worth

Make sure to submit your nominations for The 2009 Edublog Awards

Using Wolfram Alpha in Math Class

2009-11-18T06:34:00.005-07:00

Yesterday we were studying Solving Systems of Equations using Elimination Method with my Pure Math 20's. We had solved a few problems together on the board. Then I said, " I want to show you Wolfram Alpha". So, I walked over to my computer, went to Wolfram Alpha and typed in the same 2 equations we had just solved. Voila!!! Here is what Wolfram Alpha spit out at us.

In less than 2 seconds we had the answer to the question. I then asked my students, "How could you use Wolfram Alpha to help you with your homework?". They thought about it for a second. One student said, "Well I can just type every question into Wolfram Alpha and get the answer. My homework would be done in 5 minutes!!" I reminded the students that Wolfram Alpha ONLY gives the answer. It DOES NOT show us all of the work to arrive at the solution.

I then talked to my students about how Wolfram Alpha let's me ask them "different" questions. Things like, "Explain what the solution (-1, 4) means in this problem." This is a much deeper question and shows their understanding of the problem.

I informed the students that I recently read that every high school student in Denmark was going to be allowed to use a computer with Internet access on ALL of their final exams. This really got the discussion going!!! We talked about how their would be NO multiple choice questions. The students would have the ability to "collaborate" during an exam. Wow!!! Different way of thinking about education.

I asked my students to imagine what it would be like if every one of them had a laptop for every class at school and how that would change the way they learned. They really started to get excited.

I informed my students that I am thinking of wheeling a cart of laptops into class and turning them loose on the students. I also informed them that I am thinking of giving them a unit exam where they all have computers and Internet access. One student said,"Please do not do that. We will have to think a lot harder on an exam like that!". She really gets it.

Yesterday's discussion really opened the doors in my mind and in my students minds about how the world we know could be very different.

Stay tuned to find out what happens!!!

Catapult Project Day 2

2009-10-06T20:42:00.002-06:00

Today we finished off the catapult project by having each group fire their catapult from the top of a desk instead of flat along the floor. The students had to modify their original equation to factor in the height of the desk. Then they had to use their new equation to predict where a target should be placed on the floor. Part of their grade was based on how close they came to hitting a bullseye!!!

I had one group hit the bullseye dead centre. Most of the groups were within about 15 cm of the bullseye.

We ustreamed the final catapult firings so that anyone that wanted to watch was able to.

Thanks to Jared Nichol and Neil Stephenson for following along and chatting during the ustream. My students thought that was quite cool!!

I have also created an excel spreadsheet to help grade this project.

You can obtain the description of the actual project and the rubric from yesterday's post.

Catapult Project

2009-10-05T19:25:00.004-06:00

Today my Pure Math 20 class carried out the catapult project. I have been waiting for this day for 2 weeks. Ever since I built the catapults I have been excited to see how the project would play out for a whole class. I broke my class of 30 students down into groups of 3, handed out the project to them and gave them some guiding words on collecting their data.

My first words of wisdom were practice, practice, practice the firing of the catapult before you ever collect data.

The students took my words of advice and did an awesome job of carrying out the project. Some groups even realized once they started trying to calculate the equation of the flight path of their marble that their data was not good enough. So, they redid the data collection!!! Wow, most students would have just given up.

We ran out of time to finish the project today. So tomorrow, the students will use their equations to predict where they should place a target on the floor. Then we will see how good their math calculations really are!!!! I plan to ustream the event tomorrow at approx. 10:30 a.m. mountain time. I will tweet the url for the ustream. You can follow me on twitter at kaminskiterry.

Here is a video of one group collecting data.

Check out more pictures here on flickr.

I have posted the detailed handout for the project.

I have also posted the scoring rubric I am using for the project.

I have to thank Sean Sweeney for sharing this project over at his blog. It is because of his sharing that my students are getting to enjoy a truly awesome mathematical experience. Thanks Sean.

M&M Catapult

2009-09-19T17:20:00.003-06:00

Last weekend I came across an M&M catapult project on Sean Sweeney's blog. This really got me excited because I was just starting to teach the unit on Quadratic Functions with my Gr.11 Math 20 Pure students.

I read and reread Sean's blog post this past week. Last night I made a list of materials I needed to construct these catapults for my class. Today I built 10 of these awesome little devices.

The building of the first catapult took a little bit of time. After I constructed the first catapult I then tested it to see how well it worked. I was getting distances of between 2 and 3 feet with the catapult. Not bad, I thought, this will be good for a classroom setting.

After the first catapult was built and tested I changed a few things to speed up production. I had used wood glue to build the first catapult. While it holds well it takes a while to dry. On my wife's suggestion, I used her crafting glue gun to construct the second catapult. What a difference!!! The next 9 catapults went together in no time flat.

I can hardly wait to have my students work on this M&M catapult project. I think they are going to love it!!!

Hurry Up and Wait!!!

2009-09-19T06:48:00.002-06:00

We have just finished the first 3 weeks in our new high school. For the most part the start up of the new school has gone off without a hitch. However, the technology end of things is still in chaos. It started with not having Internet access because Telus was not coming to hook up our SuperNet connection until Sept.3. We would have to live without the Internet for awhile. This required ALL of us to think how we used to do things before we had the Internet and e-mail. Back to typing memos, printing them and photocopying them to distribute to staff members. We eventually received access to the Internet and that portion of our lives has returned to normal.

We are suppose to have 120 laptops on carts to use with students. At present not one of those laptops is in a cart and useable by students. How are teachers suppose to integrate technology into their classrooms when the computers are not even available?

Last May and June we tested some wireless networking at our old high school and determined that 20 concurrent users on one wireless router was about all the router could handle. Then users started dropping off of the wireless network. At that point, we informed our district IT people that they needed to install 2 wireless routers per classroom to ensure a class of 30 students could all access the wireless network at the same time. I thought they understood. However, it turns out they only installed one wireless router in each classroom and, guess what, the 2 classrooms where we are currently testing the wireless network are having issues. Once more than 20 students try to access the network computers start dropping off of the network. It would have been nice if our IT guys had just followed our advice from the start.

Then there is our 1-to-1 laptop program for our Gr.9's. With all of the network and wireless issues that the IT people have been dealing with, the 120 laptops for our Gr.9's are no where ready to distribute. We have not done any training with our Gr.9's yet because we need the carts of laptops to do this. It is going to be many weeks before these Gr.9s receive their laptops.

I know that opening a new school has its trails and tribulations. However, when we are trying to prepare our students for the 21st Century it just feels like we are being told "Hurry up and wait!!!"

New Way of Presenting Course Information

2009-08-31T20:50:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I was able to meet with all of the students in each of my courses for 30 minutes. In the past I would have handed out a course outline to them, talked AT them for who knows how long and bored them to tears!!!

Yesterday, I changed things. Instead of talking AT them I created a Keynote presentation that contained the key points I wanted the students to know. I placed some music in the background of the presentation and I had the students "READ". I also placed some interesting pictures in the presentation to help jazz it up.

Thanks to Darren Kuropatwa for sharing his "First Day" presentation. I have borrowed a lot of information from his presentation and mashed it up to my liking.

While my students were "watching and reading" the presentation I looked around the room and noticed that they were all engaged. I hope my first day with them was better than they experienced in their other classes.

You can view my "First Day" slideshow here.

First Day of Classes

2009-08-31T20:06:00.002-06:00

Today marked the first official day of classes at Cold Lake High School. A number of our staff planned a much "different" first day for our students. It started off with all of our students meeting with their teacher adviser for one hour in their TAG (Teacher Adviser Group). Since we were opening a new school today and TAG was a new thing at our school there was lots to talk about in that first hour.

The second hour of the day were grade level assemblies led by each of our administrators. This where the students heard about all of the rules, procedures etc.. for Cold Lake High School.

From 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. the students returned to their TAG and were given a tour of the school, received lunch (free), had time to socialize and walk through the displays that highlighted the teams and clubs at our school.

From 1 p.m. until 3:20 p.m. The students attended 30 minutes of each of their 4 classes where their teachers had a short period of time to meet with them and discuss their courses.

The day blew by pretty quickly. Before we knew it 3:25 p.m. had arrived and the students were on the bus home.

The kids LOVE the new school. Let's hope that, as teachers, we are able to instill a LOVE of learning in them during the 2009-2010 school year.

The Beginning

2009-08-25T06:15:00.007-06:00

About a week ago our staff was allowed to physically enter our new high school, Cold Lake High School. At that point, most of us began unpacking boxes, thinking about how to arrange our desks in our new classrooms (It took me 4 different arrangements before I was happy)and beginning the new school year in a totally new environment.
The transformation for me is not only the fact that I will be teaching in a new building but that I will now have access to a cart of laptops to use with my math students and a fully wireless network to use with those laptops. I will be trying many different things with my students. Some of them will fail miserably but I hope, at least some of them, will work out truly spectacularly. As I begin this new school year I am a little anxious because I am going to be traveling down a path that is new to me. However, I am excited because I truly believe that the changes I will be attempting to make will engage my students more and help them learn and understand mathematics better. No matter how uncomfortable I am, if my students end up happier and better educated I am all for it!!! I hope that you will leave me comments related to my blog postings so that we can make this journey of change together. There will be days I will need your help and encouragement and other days I want to "blow my own horn" because I have just delivered the most kick ass lesson of the week. So the journey begins.

**The pictures are from my new classroom at Cold Lake HS.