This time last year, I posted about my new classroom at a new school. After reading Spaces and Places, my perspective on classroom design drastically changed. This year, I am at the same school, but I had the opportunity to move into a bigger classroom. I now have tons of tech tools including 15 netbooks, as a part of a “technology model classroom” grant I won last year from my school district. I also found another couch on Craigslist this summer! Rather than photos of my classroom alone, here are some pics of my students enjoying the space. We had an extended homeroom today, so we had a potluck “breakfast buffet” complete with eggs, bacon, fruits, coffee, and waffles fresh from the waffle iron! Everyone had a great time, and I think we are all looking forward to many more good times in my new room. Enjoy the pics!!!

The above video was tweeted by one of my many “tweeps”, and something told me that I was going to want to take a look at it at some point in the future.  I had no idea.  I am currently attending a summer institute presented by the Math Forum at Drexel, and the idea and process of “patient problem solving” has been at the center of much of what we have done this week.  We have explored a few “PoWs”, problems of the week, that are available on the Math Forum’s website.  Some problems were given to us in an incomplete state–with a math scenario presented with no specific question to answer.  Without a concrete mathematical goal, we were able to simply observe and decipher the given information without the urgent need to “get the right answer”. I am so looking forward to incorporating PoWs in my daily class routine and teaching my students (and myself) to practice patient problem solving.

I know, I know, I haven’t written a post in ages! It has been a super-busy summer for me what with teaching summer school, baking cakes (hobby of the month, lol) for every birthday party and baby shower imaginable, and trying to wrap my mind around how I am going to prepare for the upcoming school year. I am currently attending a week-long Financial Math Institute in Philadelphia hosted by the Math Forum at Drexel University. In the photo above, you see the director of the Math Forum @ Drexel, several financial education consultants, Dr. Math (as in “Ask Dr. Math”), university professors, software engineers, and math teachers from all over the U.S. and Canada. We spent our time together discussing and exploring an array of financial literacy topics and how they could be integrated into secondary math courses. I come away from this experience with a renewed sense of purpose with regard to the importance of teaching my students how to deal with money.

If only it were this easy…LOL

One thing that I noticed years ago is that Financial Math is a subject that is typically reserved for students who have been labeled as not being “college-material”. For this reason, it is rarely offered in schools or programs with a college-preparatory curriculum. At this institute I have met many teachers from schools in other states who have observed this issue in their districts, as well. Interestingly enough, college students often fall prey to credit card peddlers (remember the “free t-shirts”?) and are unequipped to handle the many financial pitfalls that await them in their lives after college. It seems that anyone, regardless of their educational background, needs to be financially literate. As teachers, we need to prepare our students, all of them, to make solid financial decisions in their adult lives.

As I step down from my soapbox, I encourage all my fellow math teachers to consider how they could incorporate financial topics into their mathematics curriculum. Many of us already do. One thing that always gets kids’ attention is MONEY. We all use it to teach fractions, decimals and percents, but it does not have to stop there. In the coming weeks I will be putting together a PD for the math teachers of my district and compiling as many online resources as possible where you can find problems and projects that bring financial issues into high school math classes. Stay tuned for links and ideas! Here are a few good places to start:

• Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy– http://www.jumpstart.org
• Practical Money Skills for Life (one of my favorites)– http://practicalmoneyskills.com/
• National Financial Capability Challenge Lessons for Teachers–http://www.challenge.treas.gov/toolkit/topics.htm
• Bankrate.com (lots of free financial calculators)– http://www.bankrate.com/

Tags: financial math

If you visit apple.com in the near future–this is what you’re going to see:

It’s kind of a big deal. If you follow me on Twitter, then you may know that I was one of the psychos who were lined up outside of Apple stores all around the country when the iPad was released a few weeks ago.

Ever since I got it, friends (and strangers) all want to know: “Was it worth the $499?” Probably not, if I’m being honest, especially since I’m shelling out so much to buy apps, and I kinda wish I would’ve waited on the 3G version to be released, since wireless is not as widely available as I once thought.  Most of my apps require an internet connection, so being away from an access point is a real inconvenience that could be solved by 3G.  Nevertheless, it is fun to use, ultra-portable, and I am having a ball discovering its capabilities through endless play. It’s also fun to see the looks of awe and envy on people’s faces when you pull it out, lol.  Sometimes I think people truly believe that I am showing off when I use it in public, but, is this not what I bought it for? I can use my desktop or laptop at home or work–the iPad is easier for me to use when I’m out and about. You better believe that my $500 dollars will be put to use wherever I go-the grocery store, the airport, in a meeting, anywhere!

So, with no further ado,  here are my top five apps (and a note on productivity):

My Favorite Apps

1. The Elements ($13.99):  This is the perfect app to show off your iPad.  It is a fully interactive periodic table filled with vivid images that spin in 3D.  Beautifully made for chemistry enthusiasts, students, teachers, curious laypeople, and everyone in between.  This app succinctly answers the question: “Isn’t it just a big iPod?”

2. Things($19.99): OK, it’s expensive. Still, I use this awesome to-do app more than all my other apps combined.  With its capability to organize tasks into projects, I  look forward to using it as an organization tool for my classes as well as my personal stuff.  Also available on Mac (can be synced wirelessly), iPhone, and iPod Touch.  Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVruDH16tRc&feature=youtu.be&a or http://culturedcode.com/things/ipad/

3. Wolfram Alpha ($1.99): Think Google for numbers, AKA   computational search engine. Must buy for math lovers.

4. Quick Graph (FREE):  Easy to input and view non-implicit 2 and 3D graphs.  Lots of custom options…  TI better watch its back!

5. Scrabble ($9.99):  Great adaptation of one of my fave pre-iPad games.  Try party mode where players with iPod Touches or iPhones can hold their letters wirelessly with a free tile rack app.

There’s a lot more where that came from–I download new apps almost every day! Rather than reviewing them all, I’ll include screen shots of my iPad so you can see al the apps I currently have:

Click to see my other screens in Flickr.

Productivity:  I cannot say that I have used iWork a lot, but I have made a very nice Keynote presentation using my iPad and I am very impressed with the features and templates that are offered in the iWork suite (available from iTunes for about $30).  With capability for creating spreadsheets, documents, and slideshows, the iPad has a lot of potential as a publishing tool.  That said, the onscreen keyboard leaves a lot to be desired, and I do not see this as a laptop replacement for that reason.  Another thing I do not like is that I paid $29 for a VGA adapter that I hoped I could use to project my iPad screen in presentations, but it will ONLY show Keynote and certain downloaded videos (no iTunes or Netflix).  This means that all the cool apps that I bought thinking I’d be able to share them with my class or an audience are stuck on the small screen.  I am optimistic that with enough complaints, this will be fixed soon.

There you have it–my take on the iPad craze. What do you think? Do you have an iPad? Are you waiting for the price to drop, or are you uninterested? I would love to get some other folks’ (especially teachers) thoughts on this–comments, please!!!

Tags: nctm

If you’ve been following my tweets, then you know that I have a new love in my life– my new Macbook! I have been experimenting with iWork, and I have to say that the cool factor is way more than anything I’ve tried with a PC. Nevertheless, the learning curve is pretty steep, and I am still practicing and seeing the ins and outs of what Apple has to offer. Here is a Keynote presentation that I created for a PD with my teachers yesterday. You will not get to see all the cool transitions that it had since the slideshare player does not show it. Nevertheless, this one turned out to my satisfaction, and I am excited about what I can do with this software in the future!

When I have time, I would like to turn this slideshow into a slide cast by adding audio narration to each slide:

Stay tuned!

Tags: gles, iWork, Keynote, mac, powerpoint, slidecast, standards, Technology

Today, I conducted a PD with my staff about writing. I reminded them about using the “hamburger paragraph” (top bun=topic sentence, meat/lettuce/tomatoes=3 supporting details, bottom bun=conclusion sentence which “holds it all together”) as a way to help students structure their writing appropriately.

Above, you see an example of how a teacher used the hamburger paragraph to help her students write short answers on a test. One student even drew a hamburger in the margin to help her remember how to write her answer!
I also enlisted some students to make “hamburgers” for the faculty to get them excited about this idea…

Visit bakerella to get the details on how to make these cute cupcakes! (Yes, they are CUPCAKES.)  Thank you, Robyn, David, Rinieca, Terralyn, Ashley, Shane, and Ahmad for your help! You did a great job!

For more info on writing the hamburger paragraphs, visit this page for a printable handout for your students and go here (at the bottom) for lots more.