Friday, November 28, 2003
Hi Ladies,
I came to MLK on Tues. of this week, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day.
Tuesday was what I call a Heinz day. That's a day we use to Catch-up on things. (groan).
One of the items on the agenda was to work with the AlphaSmarts to move data from them to the laptops. Unfortunately, the technical problem gremlin popped up again. Event though everything seemed to go well with the installation of the software, there were still communications problems that prevented the files from transferring. It seems to be the type of issue that will require company technical support. That will be an item on the agenda for next Thursday.
We did a little more talking about the workshop day that's coming up in January. You all expressed the problem of the difficultly you were finding focusing on state testing and integrating the new technology. "WE NEED TIME!" was the universal cry.
I think between now and then that then we can look at how we can use that day to create some activities that will help prepare for the state test.
Along those lines, I also worked with Janine who had expressed a wish to look at Math activities that could be tied to writing or reading and state testing. I pointed her toward the NCTM Java applets link I had posted to StarW Resources page. http://www.starw.org/resources/math.htm
There are about a dozen interactive applets that allow students to explore and discover math concepts. There are no lessons, just a set of digital manipulatives that you can use to build lessons of your own. In some cases, simply turning students loose on an applet will result in discovery, but the most effective technique is to provide scaffolding and activities for the students.
Scaffolding can effectively be provided by demonstrating the applet using the projection unit and going through some type of class activity and discussion. From there, you could create printed material that makes a learning station that the students take back to the computers. The activities can focus on math concepts and writing activities.
If each person was to take a single applet and develop material for it, the result would be a set of activities you could all share. This is one way to manage time and is something to think about for the January workshop.
Similar activities can be wrapped around other kinds of interactive games or activities that you have already explored.
Remember the Ready, Fire, Aim concept? You've already created a good number of activities. If you have a chance, take a look at some of the early work and think about how they can be polished and changed to allow for a greater impact on learning. It might be the creation of printed material, changing some questions to prompt higher order thinking, the addition of reading or writing components, or any number of other things.
Well, I hear some left over turkey calling to me...
See you Thursday,
Art
I came to MLK on Tues. of this week, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day.
Tuesday was what I call a Heinz day. That's a day we use to Catch-up on things. (groan).
One of the items on the agenda was to work with the AlphaSmarts to move data from them to the laptops. Unfortunately, the technical problem gremlin popped up again. Event though everything seemed to go well with the installation of the software, there were still communications problems that prevented the files from transferring. It seems to be the type of issue that will require company technical support. That will be an item on the agenda for next Thursday.
We did a little more talking about the workshop day that's coming up in January. You all expressed the problem of the difficultly you were finding focusing on state testing and integrating the new technology. "WE NEED TIME!" was the universal cry.
I think between now and then that then we can look at how we can use that day to create some activities that will help prepare for the state test.
Along those lines, I also worked with Janine who had expressed a wish to look at Math activities that could be tied to writing or reading and state testing. I pointed her toward the NCTM Java applets link I had posted to StarW Resources page. http://www.starw.org/resources/math.htm
There are about a dozen interactive applets that allow students to explore and discover math concepts. There are no lessons, just a set of digital manipulatives that you can use to build lessons of your own. In some cases, simply turning students loose on an applet will result in discovery, but the most effective technique is to provide scaffolding and activities for the students.
Scaffolding can effectively be provided by demonstrating the applet using the projection unit and going through some type of class activity and discussion. From there, you could create printed material that makes a learning station that the students take back to the computers. The activities can focus on math concepts and writing activities.
If each person was to take a single applet and develop material for it, the result would be a set of activities you could all share. This is one way to manage time and is something to think about for the January workshop.
Similar activities can be wrapped around other kinds of interactive games or activities that you have already explored.
Remember the Ready, Fire, Aim concept? You've already created a good number of activities. If you have a chance, take a look at some of the early work and think about how they can be polished and changed to allow for a greater impact on learning. It might be the creation of printed material, changing some questions to prompt higher order thinking, the addition of reading or writing components, or any number of other things.
Well, I hear some left over turkey calling to me...
See you Thursday,
Art
