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Response Journal 6
April 6, 2012 by Micheal
Another year of university is almost down the drain; only one day of classes left along with a workshop and an internship seminar. With school wrapping up for the semester it usually means one thing for students everywhere – finals. One of the benefits of being in education is having very few, if any, finals for classes; since it is very difficult to test someone on being a teacher. Unfortunately, I do have two finals in education classes this semester, which is quite the change as that’s never happened before, so I’m very intrigued and curious to see how they’ll go. As a last assignment for emath 350, we have to make two questions that could potentially be on the exam.
My first question is: “How does implementing inquiry and discovery based activities aid in assessing the learning of students?” This question overs the two main foci from the class in my opinion; inquiry lessons and mathematics assessment. By having students reflect on this question they’ll have to bridge the gap between the two and see how they’re related. It forces students to not only think how implementing discovery based activities are important, but also how we can assess them and what that assessment means. It also allows students to examine how we don’t, and can’t, assess inquiry lessons in the traditional, testing, means of assessment and how that’s meaningful.
My second question is: “What’s one assessment strategy you used in your pre-internship that displayed authentic learning and the assessment of such? If none were done, describe a strategy and state how you could have made it more authentic.” My professor will either love or hate this question in that it goes a bit beyond class content. The main focus for the entire semester has been, without a doubt, pre-internship. This question allows students to examine their pre-internship and what they did and relate it to inquiry and assessment. If no authentic, inquiry based, learning was done then it gives students the chance to reflect on what they actually did and think about how they could have potentially changed it.
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Response Journal 5
April 1, 2012 by Micheal
In my last post I talked about my expectations, hopes, and thoughts going into my pre-internship, as well as what I thought the purposes for education internships and field experiences are. It seems like I was writing that blog post just yesterday, when in fact I’ve since finished my pre-internship and over three weeks have passed. At the time I thought my insights into the purposes and goals for internships were quite in-depth and insightful and almost, without exception, completely true. But having been in the classroom teaching for a solid block of time, I now realize that I was very off track and too idealistic with some of my assumptions and hypotheses.
I talked a great deal about how field experiences and internships are the medium through which the knowledge and theories we learn in classes are applied on a practical basis. While that it true and I did apply a great deal of learned knowledge, I simultaneously realized how useless a great deal of what I’ve been learning is as well. I’m sure most of my professors would be taken back to hear that, but many of my fellow interns agree that much of what we learn simply isn’t practical and would only be possible to implement in a completely ideal classroom situation. It all sounds great in lectures and in university classrooms but trying to put most of it in action simply is not realistic.
I also talked about teacher education programs requiring us to study greatly into our major and minor subject areas to greatly expand our knowledge and insight into them so we have a solid well of information. While I agree with this concept in theory, I found that during the field experience I actually had to lessen and limit my knowledge base on mathematics to better relate and teach to students. I can do abstract algebra and Euclidean geometry all day at university, but the fact that I had to think almost just as much to relate to grade nines in their math as I do in hose higher level maths I think speaks to how there might be something wrong with the thought process in the system. I do have an outstanding
knowledge base on the subject matter, which did help me, but I found myself constantly having to lessen my thinking and intellect to be able to relate more to students.
While I did find some discrepancies in my initial thoughts and reasons for field experiences in the teacher education program, and perhaps with the program itself, I did have one good thought on it. Field experiences and internships are simply the chance to try your hand at teaching.
Some people learn best by doing and practicing things in action, and this experience was exactly that. It was my first time to be in a school for an extended period of time where I could truly be a teacher and practice the profession. It was the practical application of doing what I’ve aspired to be for the past few years and I genuinely loved it and can’t wait to start my internship in the fall.
From the proposed quote, I agree with much of it. The fact that we are teachers and also the same time students was a very difficult aspect of the field experience. Knowing that I still had assignments and finals and such still dwelling on me definitely hindered my thoughts and time available for the experience. How can I give something my all when I have to essentially have a full time job as a teacher and also be a full time student, with the workload of both? It was very difficult. The quote is very accurate in its description of the importance of interns needing to realize their strengths and weaknesses during the experience and to also be open to new ideas, thoughts, and changes. I had many professional
conversations with my cooperating teacher on identifying both his and my strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs about education, teaching, and children and we offered each other advice and insights into each of those. We both knew that we are not perfect by any means, so being able to talk about such things as professionals to strive to be better was a fantastic aspect of my field experience.
The quote mentions a great deal about discovering things through inquiry and reflection, but I’m unsure whether it’s implying that we plan nquiry lessons for students to learn through those methods so that we can grow from their experiences; or if we need to be the ones using inquiry to reflect on our own practices, discovering things on our own. I’m sure both are important in the process of internships experiences, and I feel like I did do both to some extent during my field experience. My partner and I did have an inquiry based lesson during the block which went fairly well, but it was hard to do a great deal of it because of the time constraints on us. I do also like the idea that with much of what we do during internship and in university in general, reflecting is a major aspect of it. We need to try to do new things, reflect on them, and then make changes and adaptations to improve what we tried to better ourselves and the learning experience for our students too. It’s through always making tweaks, adaptations, and changes that we become better educators and our students improve as well.
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Response Journal 4
March 10, 2012 by Micheal
It’s finally here. The very thing I’ve been waiting for and anticipating all semester (and no, it’s not reading week); pre-internship. My pre-internship is only days away and all of the anticipation and preparation is about to come into effect and pay off. This isn’t my first stint of being in a school before, but it will be the longest I’ve been in one. There are many goals and purposes to field experiences and internships done at university, but a select few resonate with me most. The opportunities to be in a classroom and around a school environment since I finished school have been very minimal. Field experiences allow potential teachers to get back into the classroom and school environments, enabling them to see and solidify the very reasons why they became teachers. Practical experiences like this are also the key piece in transforming what’s preached and learnt in lectures and from university classes to implementing them on a practical basis. We learn dozens of teaching strategies,
ideas, and other pieces of information daily in education classes and field experiences are the chance to put those learnt things into motion and apply them. I believe the biggest purpose for field experiences are however, the start of building your own identity as a teacher. It’s very easy to talk about, reflect upon, and imagine who you’ll be as a teacher and what you would like to be like as a teacher, but field experiences actually give you the practical aspect of that. They allow you to begin to see who you truly are as a teacher and what your teacher identity is; an invaluable experience.
A teacher education program is essentially the single thing that bridges the gap between being a student and being a teacher. For me, and many of my classmates, we went right from being a student in high school to being in university in the teacher education program. It’s unthinkable to go right from being a student in high school to someone who’s teaching; it should be very clear that some sort of program is needed to bridge that gap and prepare people to become teachers. Essentially, the purpose of teacher education and training should be to produce professional teachers who have the theoretical knowledge and understandings combined with practical skills, competencies and commitment to teach at a high standard. Teacher education programs should provide a body of knowledge on education, and subject matter. Simultaneously, they should be describing practical classroom knowledge and skills, which are then used and put into practice during field experiences and internships. They should also compliment both their learned knowledge base and practical applications with knowledge and information on ethics, morals, and ther applicable organizations and relevant information related to teaching. While no teacher education program is going to do a perfect job at
preparing everyone to be a teacher, they are definitely essential to the process and should be looked upon to be a major starting point to one’s career.
I feel like the mathematics teacher education program I’m enrolled in has made me grow a great deal both as a person and most obviously as a ath teacher. By no means am I close to being an excellent, fully proficient mathematics teaching, as I still have a great deal to learn, but I do feel as if I have a solid foundation under me and have gained some beliefs and morals that won’t soon change. I know how to do math, it’s as simple as that. I’ve had to take a great deal of mathematics courses at university and from all of my experiences, troubles, and growths in the subject, I can comfortably and proficiently understand and work in a mathematical framework. Some of the terminology and methodology related to the subject may differ in my upcoming coop’s classroom, and I may have forgotten some of the more basic concepts that I haven’t worked with lately; but regardless, I have a solid mathematical body of knowledge and framework under me which will aid me well in being able to figure out and
engage in mathematics at all levels. This will without a doubt be a tremendous asset to have in my repertoire as a math teacher as I can quickly understand the concepts and be able to display, teach, and explain them in numerous ways. I also strongly believe that mathematics is of utmost importance and is a major piece of our modern society. We need math on a daily basis in a tremendous variety of shapes and forms and it’s up to me, as a math teacher, to be the one to instill that real life knowledge of math into students. Getting students to see the importance of math in their everyday lives is a very vital goal to strive for and one that will see me not selling my students short mathematically. If I can get my students to bear with the math and see the value in it, I’m not saying they have to adore it, but if they can genuinely be content with it, maybe even to the point of liking it, then I’ll be happy with the job I’ve done. It’s a simplistic way to view things, but I truly think there’s a legitimate value in it and that it will pay off.
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Response Journal 3
February 20, 2012 by Micheal
Jordan,
As you know I’ve been taking education at the University of Regina for a few years now and recently the focus of study in many of my
classes has become assessment in education and inquiry in education. Obviously you are familiar with what assessment is in regards to schooling, but in relation to inquiry, you may not have been introduced to what it means. Essentially, inquiry is the idea that students learn best from their own ideas and those ideas, insights, and past experiences are the key to fostering much deeper, thorough learning. I was recently asked to watch and analyze two videos on assessment and inquiry that I thought were quite interesting in comparison to our experiences in our high school math classes.
The first video I watched (the 10th video down found here: http://www.learner.org/resources/series31.html) titled Teacher Insights 9-12 (High
School) focused on assessment in math classes. I don’t know about you, but when I think of assessment in our high school classes, my thoughts are fairly limited. Having end of unit tests, occasional homework checks and assignments, a project here or there, and a final exam is all that I
can really think of. Is there anything else that you remember or that comes to mind with regards to assessment in high school? This video deals with a multitude of interesting ideas with regards to assessment; some of them might even be applicable to you in your current schooling, even if it is business, so you should check out this video. Group work was a major prevailing factor throughout all of the cases in the video and seemed to be stressed quite heavily. I remember doing a bit of group work in high school, but not in the fashion that was shown in this video.
Having students keep math portfolios was described in the video, as well as having conversations/interviews with regards to their portfolios and work was also mentioned. I couldn’t think of anything like that in our classes; the closest thing that comes to mind is our folders that housed our tests and assignments that we’d already completed. Perhaps the only thing that was described as being important in a math classroom that we did partake in semi-regularly was class discussion. We would from time to time talk through our answers and problems as a class so that everyone’s understandings of things became solidified, which was also described in the video. Taking a test in groups was something mentioned that I thought was very interesting and definitely something we never would have been able to do. The video argued that by taking a est in a group, the teacher can ask more difficult questions and it forces students to talk and think about the questions with one another so that everyone in the group gains an understanding of the concepts. Overall, the video was definitely interesting and would be good for you to look at.
The second video I watched (the 9th video down found here: http://www.learner.org/resources/series34.html#) titled Finding Proof had to deal with proving mathematical reasoning through exploration process dealing with inquiry. We didn’t have a lot of experience or exposure to proofs in high school that I can recall; what about you? I remember doing a little bit of mathematical induction and some proof based things like that, but I didn’t realize that they were actual mathematical proofs at the time. This video shows a teacher introducing a historical perspective to his students about Greek mathematicians and then introduces them to a question dealing with circles to which they have to create a hypothesis and prove. I loved the methods that this teacher used to display his messages and points to his students, as they’re some that we were never exposed to in high school. Do they do things like this in the classes you’re taking right now? You should watch it to see what I mean.
He related math to history, which is one of the things I find most interesting about mathematics at university. I’m sure you remember all of those talks we had relating other subjects and topics to history during our social studies classes in high school, which made our experiences much more relevant and insightful. The teacher in the video had the students work in groups to try and come up with a proof and general reason for the question he posed to them. I remember doing a couple of things like this in high school, but they seem almost meaningless to me, as I don’t remember them. I would consider myself as someone who has a very strong memory and who is able to recall meaningful lessons and activities
done; so if I can’t remember what we did in groups, they must not have been very significant. Do you recall any of these moments?
Anyways, that’s all for now, and I’m sure I’ll talk to you soon and see you when you’re back for the summer. I strongly encourage you to watch these videos and to let me know what you think. Have a good one buddy,
Micheal
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Response Journal 2
February 3, 2012 by Micheal
Lately in Emath, we’ve been talking about assessment, and how it relates to math, quite a bit. Everyone in the class is taking ECS 410 this
semester, which is a course solely focused on assessment and evaluation. Personally, I dislike many aspects of the class, so assessment and evaluation have grown to have a bit of a negative connotation to me. It is very nice however to be having a much more positive, meaningful experience with assessment and evaluation from Emath 350, which is helping me turn around my negative perception of the assessment and evaluation and see it in a new (math) light.
Assessment in mathematics in high school was the normal stereotype of assessment. When we finished a unit, we would review for a day and be tested the next, and at the end of the year we would have a comprehensive final. There were very seldom other things that went into the mark allotment for the class; primarily we would have an occasional homework check, a test after every unit, and a final exam. From time to time we
would be given other things like a problem of the week or an assignment to hand it, but they didn’t happen very consistently. I had several semesters that followed that mark allotment, but when my graduating class got to math C30 in grade twelve we saw on the class outline that we would have to do a project. There was major concern and agitation over this by many of my classmates, including myself; we had never done a math project before and were used to our consistent routine, so varying that seemed very unreasonable and almost scary. Everyone in the class was so used to the way things were, that when our teacher tried to implement some change in assessment and learning, we all threw up a
big red flag and immediately disliked the change. (The project in question turned out being an amazing experience, and I learnt things doing it that I still remember today.)
In Emath last week everyone was given an assessment strategy to research what it is, pros and cons related to it, what it looks like in a (math) classroom and any other interesting information or points from it. The strategy that I was assigned was paper and pencil testing. I felt like everyone has had a great deal of experience with this form of assessment, so I tried to stretch my research to find information that wasn’t necessarily common knowledge. Many people believe that teachers need to try and get away from this type of assessment, so I made it a point to find evidence of positive aspects of it. Some of those aspects include that results can be empirically documented; they’re generalized and consistent for those taking it; are a good assessment of an individual’s mastery of a domain of knowledge or skill; and they are perceived as being very fair, as everyone takes them under the same conditions, regardless of race, status, etc. There were definitely also some major negatives found for testing such as they don’t encourage higher level thinking; they don’t judge things like personality, creativity, etc.; and one point I thought was particularly interesting was that test scores are influenced by three things: what students learn in school, what they learn out
of it, and innate intelligence, but schools only control one of those factors. In general, I believe tests are seen with a rather negative connotation, mainly due to the frequency in which they’re given and also the dynamic in which they’re administered. There are definitely good reasons for having tests as well, as mentioned above. Teachers need to start looking into alternative ways to give tests to draw them away from being strictly pen and paper form.
During the presentations of the other assessment methods by my classmates, there were two in particular that caught my attention and thought I
might like to look more deeply into. Self-assessment, as described by Alanna, was found to be the single most valuable means of assessment that is not done regularly in classrooms. Each student evaluates her or her own progress or performance and actually marks his or her own self. Students become much better at becoming aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and improving upon their intrinsic motivation for learning and their school work. The second assessment strategy that I found interesting was interviews. Two types were described by
Jonie; structured, where everyone gets the exact same set of questions, and open where the interview has no set structure and questions turn into
conversations and can lead to whatever direction they may. I`ve always believed that relationships are a major part of being a good teacher, so being able to interview each student not only lets you get a sense of their understanding and learning behind a concept or project, it also allows you to get to know them much better as people. One of the major negative aspects of doing individual interviews is the amount of time they take to administer, so they have to be planned and structured quite well to be used effectively.
All of the assessment methods talked about in class were definitely very worthwhile and when used properly could be great for any class. Trying to implement them all, however, could prove to be very daunting and is seemingly impossible. I think that as a new teacher, trying just a select few of them and then expanding as you grow as a teacher seems the most reasonable and practical. I believe that all three of the methods I’ve described are valuable to a math classroom when administered properly with the right intent. Testing doesn`t have to be just assessment of earning; it needs to definitely be applied to assessment for learning to see where students are and where their learning needs to go. Both self-assessment and interviews are very valuable in means of assessment for learning as they give you, the teacher, the opportunity to see exactly what students are thinking and what they understand. The key for almost all types of assessment, and learning in general, are the time constraints
everyone faces to do things against the grain by trying new things. But when that time is managed properly, and alternative methods are implemented, it will benefit students tremendously.
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Response Journal 1
January 22, 2012 by Micheal
I found the first article, ‘Why Teachers Matter’ by Merrilyn Goos an extremely good, insightful read. It made me think back the first day of Emath 350 when we had to write a brief starting paragraph to our mathematical biographies. Goos explained a similar process she went through with her pre-service mathematics teachers in asking them to do a similar thing in answering the question ‘what is mathematics?’, along with relating some other metaphors to math. The answers she received didn’t really surprise me in the slightest bit. People, both students and others in society, have a very bad connotation towards mathematics. They view it as being black, boring, and something that it makes them feel angry or frustrated; results which most people could likely conclude. There are only a select few in society who have a love and admiration for math, and
likely it is due to a positive experience they’ve had in their lives with the subject matter or someone related to it. A portion of the article which I thought it was rather comical was people’s perceptions of how people physically view math teachers; being old, grumpy and dressed poorly.
So what does all of this mean? Blatantly, we as math teachers are doing a very poor job at getting people excited about math and making it relevant to their lives. I love math; and the thought that the majority of people find it to be something fearful doesn’t sit well with me. It makes me want to become the best math teacher possible. Getting students excited about math, encouraging their independent thinking about it, making it applicable and relevant to their everyday lives, and of course dressing and looking well while doing it (we can’t have people thinking math teachers dress without fashion in mind) is what I’m going to strive for. It is up to me and the next generation of math teachers to break down those negative connotations and attitudes towards math and to get students excited about doing and living it.
The second article, ‘The Importance of Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs’ by Kim Baswick talked a great deal about the beliefs people have and some of the contradictions related to those beliefs. She talks about how someone could state how much they dislike math because of a bad experience, but at the same time not realizing they use math in another part of their lives quite proficiently and enjoy doing it. This realization made me
think back to last semester when I, along with many of my classmates were taking an abstract algebra class at university. The course was very difficult and almost weekly I heard comments and complaints from my classmates exclaiming how much they hated math and wished they didn’t have to take the class. But at the same time, those same people were doing wonderful work with math in other classes and had completely different beliefs about it, completely contradicting their frustrations with their abstract algebra course.
It’s in our beliefs and views as teachers which shape who we are as math teachers. Students are not dumb. They can see right through us, often better than we can see ourselves. So when we’re having a bad day, when we’re not believing in what we’re teaching, or when we don’t believe that students can succeed in learning math, those thoughts are passed right along to our students without us even realizing it. It’s our own beliefs and ideas about ourselves, those we teach, and what we teach that will make us successful and meaningful math teachers. We need to believe in the product we’re selling, what it is we’re selling, who we’re selling it to, and what’s the best method that we can get it to them.
One good idea I would like to take from the readings are the questions/metaphors about math. I think it would be very beneficial to ask the students:
- What is mathematics?
- If mathematics was a food, what kind of food would it be?
- If mathematics was a colour, what colour would it be?
- If mathematics was music, what kind of music would it be?
Along with some possible other questions about their view on math. I would ask them the questions at the begging of the semester, and also at the end of the semester, and potentially even in the middle, to judge how their views on math and what they’re learning is changing. If I am
doing my job right, I hope their answers will transform from broccoli to pizza, from black to blue, and from classical music to rock and roll; and that they’re now truly enjoying math.
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Back At It
January 22, 2012 by Micheal
I logged back on to this blog for the first time in over two years today, which I thought would never happen. Originally creating this blog in my first semester of university for my ECMP 355 class, I really liked the idea of having a classroom blog in the future, but had just intended on making a new one when the day came that I would be in the classroom. So being back on this blog and working on it is something very unexpected, but also quite enjoyable. The reason for me logging back in and now continuing to update and post things on the blog is it’s needed for my education math 350 class, now that I’m in my third year of university.
I suppose I could just delete all of my old posts, comments, and work to start over again on this blog, but i kind of like the idea of having a basis started and just continuing on from that. For all of my new EMTH 350 related posts, and easy way to navigate them is through the categories tab i created for the class, where i will be sure to include all class related posts. I’m not entirely sure how many people will be viewing my blog now, but for those of you who are, enjoy!
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Final Project
December 11, 2009 by Micheal
Perhaps the biggest thing that I’ve learnt this semester in ECMP has been the limitless possibilities of technology and computers, both in the classroom and out. So when posed for an idea for a final project, i had the brilliant thought to make a video. The concept i had seemed great, and i was genuinely excited to undertake such a project. At the time, however, i completely disregarded the fact that i have had absolutely nothing to do with movies, nor made a movie in my life; save the couple of web cam videos i made for ECMP. When it was time to start going on my project, i was faced with a very large moment of feeling unsure, “how they heck am i going to make a video?” I’ve never used a video camera before and I’m not even sure how to properly use the recording part on my digital camera, never mind the mass edditing that would come with doing a video that way. So that was completely out of the question (i also didn’t have a video camera, and my digital camera was away being fixed, so i had very little choice).
So if making a video by hand was out of the question, how else could i do it? I had thought about trying to use the web cam off of my computer, or even buying the appropriate devices, but the first would be of very poor quality, and the latter would be very financially straining. So i started researching alternate means to make a video on my computer, which is where i came across a website called screencast. With thise website, i have the ability to take a video of what is on my computer screen, save it, and publish it. I liked the idea as soon as i saw it, and step one was complete; i had found a means of making the video.
As I previously mentioned, i knew nothing about videos, so the next step in the process was finding out everything i possibly could to make a video of this nature. I found multiple websites, each of which have provided me with some very helpful tips and strategies to what goes into making a good video. The screencast website also had a wide variety of tutorial videos and things of that nature, each of which i watched until i understood how to use the program and how to make a video that people will actually want to watch.
Now that i was literate with the technology, the next step was writing a script for the video, which i had learned from the research I’d done and from the short videos we made in class. This was probably the hardest part of the process, as i had to try and visualize what i would say, and how i would portray it, while i was making the video. Some of the things that i tried to take into consideration while making the video were trying to not make the movie very lengthy, as long videos are often boring after a while; trying to show each individual step needed to portray what i was getting across; and also to come across in a semi-professional demeanor. I also made several short attempts at making portions of the video, so i could be learned of how the program works and so when it came time to do my final video, it would be simple.
I then made the video, and i feel that it came out pretty darn good. I’ve seen some other people’s final projects and have been impressed with them thus far. There is definitely an obvious difference in the projects that were done by multiple people and those that were done individually, in my opinion. I did my project all by my lonesome, which i’m kind of proud of and feel that there wasn’t really a way to do this project with a group.
This video may seem very useless to my fellow ECMP classmates and people who are already very technologically inclined, as i made it for those persons who have very little experience in the regard. My intentions for the video were for someone who knows very little about computers to be able to watch it, and take even one of the things that i mentioned and use it to their advantage. I originally made the final project about a week before it was due, and i was really trying to encompass the short and sweet thing, so i decided to show it to everyone at my mom’s office to see what they thought of it, and i received some mixed reviews. The people there aren’t very technologically literate, which is the very reason i made this video, but by me making it short, they didn’t know how to do the things that i was trying to get across. I made a big mistake; i was assuming that they knew how already, which was wrong. So i re-wrote my script and re-made the video, and showed it to them again. This time it showed them the step by step directions and they were emphatic about it this time. I ended up staying at the office for most of the day, getting their new google accounts and desktops set up to meet their needs. It felt great actually.
It may seem like a simple video, but all of the time that went into making it, made it a very long, involved process, whether it may seem like it or not. It was a definite worth while process, as i learned a lot about things I’ve never had experience with before. So regardless if you know everything in the video, or nothing at all, I hope you like it, regardless. The program i was using only allowed me to have five minutes per video, so i made two parts, both of which have links below. I thought about having upwards of five or six videos, but i had originally hoped to have one single, defined video, so even having two went against my original plans.
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Wrapping It Up
December 9, 2009 by Micheal
Today is officially the last day of the semester. A fact that may be very exciting for some, as they have a two week break and no classes; while at the same time being scary for others, as they’re faced with the inevitable end of semester realities that most dread all term, final projects and final exams. It’s about a mutual feeling for both aspects of the end of the semester for me. I’m without a doubt looking forward to having some time off, and being able to kick back and take it easy. My kicking back is going to have to wait for about two weeks though, as i have finals off and on until the 21st and two projects due in the next four days. Luckily for me, i have at least three days between each of my finals, and I’m nearing completion of both of the projects (one of them is my ECMP project, which i should have up sometime on Friday, at the latest), so my schedule isn’t overwhelmingly engulfing.
I’ve been finished my mentor-ships for about a week now. They were my favourite part of this class by far. The new information i attained from this class was obviously great, but being able to work with some experienced teachers and create things for their classes, was beyond rewarding. The video conversations i had with two of my mentor-ships were amazing; I’m smiling right now, just thinking about them. The kids were so enthusiastic and happy to be interacting with me, their smiles and child-like questions made this entire course worth it. I would like to give a huge thank you to all of my mentorships, Ian Pratt, Lee Kolbert, and Gerald Augnst. I had different experiences with each of their classrooms, but they were each individually enlightening and very educational for me. Thanks.
I haven’t yet decided whether or not i’m going to continue with this blog after the class ends. It’s actually a lof of work, and has been quite the filler
of my time this semester, but i am getting marked on it, so i fully understand the allocation of my time with this blog being worth it. If i decide not to continue on with it, i fully am planning on creating a classroom blog one day,when i become a teacher. I now fully realize their importance, and feel that it’ll be a great tool for my classroom one day.
I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas, and hope that their holidays are favourable. If you’re writing Santa, feel free to request that the big man sends something other than coal my way. Hopefully I’ve made the nice list this year. Take care team.
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Final Project Update
December 8, 2009 by Micheal
My project is almost finished… thank God. I finished up my written script earlier this weekend and have been practicing going through it quite a bit. I’m pretty sure my roommates think i’m going crazy since they keep hearing talking coming from my room when i’m the only one in here. They’ve both came in to see if there was anyone else in here with me, but i keep telling them i’m just talking to my computer. My dog even looks at me funny when i’m practicing; mostly because i’m distrurbing his 6th or 7th nap of the day.
I hope that the end result turns out how i had originally wished it would. There have been some minor set backs and revisions along the way, but with any luck, it should hopefully be close to what i had originally envisioned. I’ll have it up near the end of the week.
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