More Summer Reading 2016

Gone the Next by Ben Rehder
This is Reheder's ninth novel, but it is the first in the Roy Ballard mystery series. I love mysteries, so this book was a perfect match for me. It kept me interested and engaged with the different characters and scenarios for the kid napping. I love how Rehder intertwined Roy's character's backstory into the novel.

Forget Me Not by John Hemmings
This is a Mark Kane Mysteries Series
This book was a great introduction to the main character, Kane. He is a private investigator that uncovers multi-dimensions from a simple case. But without much evidence, Kane uses his skills to uncover murder, fraud, identity theft, and organized crime.

A Honeybun and Coffee  by Sam Cheever
This is the first book in the Honeybun series of romantic suspense series. The first novel introduces the whole family dynamics with the Honeybun family. It is a mystery with romance. I enjoyed the strong family bond and the multi-talents of the Honeybun family i.e. famous race car driver, doctor, lawyer, former lawyer to President Reagan, Gunny Sergeant, Financial Investment Broker etc.

I also read three more in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Childs: A Wanted Man, The Affair, and Rules of Engagment.

Summer reading 2016

Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki
A fictional account of  Benedict Arnold's betrayal of our nation. The story had many factual based people, timeline, and events while the character development and the reader's emotional connection was fictional. I enjoyed reading the account of Benedict Arnold and got attached to Clara one of the fictional characters. Even though it was a fictional account of his betrayal, I did learn some true accounts of history from the story. I did attempt to read another story about Benedict Arnold some years ago and was not entertained nor curious enough to finish it.

Summer reading

I know summer just began, but I was dying to begin reading! Dying figuratively not literally. I am sorry to disappoint any future students. The first book I tackled was Lee Child's Jack Reacher novel Make Me. This thriller novel did not disappoint me. It kept me engaged and wondering until the end. I recommend it for adult readers.
The next book I read was 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly. This book is another suspense story with twist and turns with serious consequences. This book is part of the Harry Bosch series Connelly writes. If you like that series, you will like this book.
My next book is The Traitors Wife by Allison Pataki. This might take me a while longer than the other two books. I will check back in when I'm finished.

Maia's exploration of ESL topics

Knowledge	Want to know?	Learned
Thematic approach: I know that connecting content and skills to thematic units create connected learning that relates to student interest and building cultural background knowledge in order to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing language skills in academic content areas. A teacher using thematic units helps create long term memory of the skills and make it easier to recall.click link	How can we build interdisciplinary units in the middle school when we do not have teaming? Can we get 1050 students or may be grade level thematic units? Who has done this? How do you get everyone involved?	Develop themes across all disciplines: One example was using many topics from the Caribbean and Central America. Another school uses global literacy across all disciplines. Teachers can link cross-culture commonalities and differences to political,  ecological, economic, technological systems, and apply concepts locally through community service projects. Thematic units do not have to be interdisciplinary.
Culture is important in math and science to help students build connections to what they know and what they are going to learn. Relating to students culture or funds of knowledge will help increase engagement, interest, and inquiry.	What are some culture activities that help build class culture?	Ovando & Combs (2012) describe “ ‘Ehnomathematics’ and ‘ethnoscience’ enable us to see mathematical and scientific systems within their rich cultural contexts.”  Teachers can use these cultural references to build a positive multicultural classroom environment for ELLs and non-ELLs. The class is taught to accept differences and embrace diversity respectfully. Some of the cultural contexts can refer to the history of numbers like pi (π) and the different cultural references: Babylonians, Greeks, Bible, Chinese, etc. click picture for link
Applying multiple approaches in teaching social studies allows students to connect with the material through different learning modalities. These learning styles help students build procedural and critical thinking skills through multiple intelligence.	If there are so many different learning styles in the classroom, do we really need to keep track? As long as we are using different modalities throughout a unit, all students will have opportunities to learn. Besides students should be developing the multiple intelligence they are not strong in?	Social Studies curriculum has low context-concepts, a large amount of vocabulary that is difficult to visualize and explain, complex sentence structure, and high language demands. Teachers need to actively engage students in the content using role play or language experience. These concrete strategies bring the content to the cognitive and linguistic level of the students to gain content understanding. Critical thinking skills need to be incorporated to prepare students for high school and college or career ready.click link.
There are different methods for teaching bilingual learners with special needs in content areas.  All tasks can be scaffolded to meet the cognitive demands and the language proficiency of students. Some strategies that can be used to help all students have access to high standards is to differentiate the input or the process or the output, using cooperative groups, and cultural connections. Specific strategies I have used in the past are sentence starters, illustrations, multimedia representations, modeling, gradual release, cooperative learning, building cultural background, hands on materials, use of surveys, Project base learning, and Portfolios.	How can I get the students to work as hard as me in the classroom? How can I reduce the amount of grading I do? How can I get the students to be self-directed learner.	Thematic units engage special needs ELLs in content area material. These units engage students in critical thinking with multicultural and global perspective. Graphic organizers can support the development of concepts and reduce the linguistic demands. Explicitly teaching the concepts of chronology, compare/contrast, cause and effect, problem-solution, description, and enumeration. Instruction of special needs ELLs take extra care to scaffold and differentiate material to ensure comprehensible input and zone of proximal development.

Resources:

Colorincolorado. (n.d.). Special education and English language learners. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/special_education/

Fredricks, A. (2007). Much more social studies through children's literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=opol8i8XragC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Makofsky, S. (n.d.) Free ESL lesson plans. Retrieved from http://www.mastersinesl.org/teaching-esl/free-esl-lesson-plans/

Ovando, C. J., & Combs, M. C. (2012). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Radical Math. (n.d.). Browse resources for 'ethnomathematics'. Retrieved from  http://www.radicalmath.org/browse_socialjustice.php?t=ethnomathematics

Final Project: Media literacy, Popular Culture & Education

Final Project:
National Junior Honor Society  (prezi)
NGMS SIT (google site from template)
NJHS (weebly for honor society)

Last slide of class:
by Bill Ferriter

    My expectations before taking this class were to learn some “new” technology applications to bring back to my school to train teachers and improve student learning. My idea of Media Literacy was to do a google search for an educational video to engage students in the current curriculum topic we were studying. Throughout the course Dr. Bogad was probing my educational beliefs while engaging my technological quest.  I do not think I really understood the marriage between the two until the last slideof the class, which I think I can sum up by stating the difference between using technology vs technology integration. The former being my mindset before Dr. Bogad’s Curr 501 class and the later being my mindset after the class. This transformation will not only benefit my teaching practices, but my students' learning, and my professional development for NGMS staff. 

               The transformation will take time and energy, which I will relate to a gymnastics competition each element in the transformation as important as the next (i.e. strength, flexibility, power, agility, coordination, and balance), when integrated together is an artistically creative production. This is what I envision for my students as producers rather than consumers as well as myself. My initial pedagogy can be related to "Julie" the cruise director on the Love Boat . In other words, how can we have fun with math and still be learning, nothing too deep or controversial. As I always say, "personal propaganda in the hallway", which allows more time on math, but limits the social impact of their math work. It limits the importance of math in their lives and in our society. The Common Core State Standards not only calls for such connections in the Mathematical Practices Standards, but also in the Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. Math is a Technical subject that can be used to bring cultural awareness and social justice . Infusing the technical subjects (i.e. math) with cultural and social issues will help students develop much needed critical thinking skills such as problem solving, simulation, application, synthesis, performance etc.Integration of technology can be an important aspect of reaching these higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomies. There is actually a great visual that supports the integration of technology with Bloom's Taxonomies. Developing a critical pedagogy will take strength, flexibility, power, agility, coordination and balance as well as time and energy, but these skills are much needed to reach the vision of our school "to prepare every child for the college/technical school or career of choice". This type of pedagogy is also supported by the 21st Century Learning .

         Do we need technology to get to the critical pedagogy we need in today's learning? As my mom always told me there is a difference between needs and wants. But if we have the technology we need or want, then integrate it rather than just use it. There is actually a great checklist for helping us integrate technology rather than just use it. Beth Holland, Communications and Instruction at the EDTechTeacher, relates using technology as a crutch rather than innovation and recommends getting rid of the crutches  in her blog. Bill Ferriter in a blog on Center for Teaching Quality, stated that students do not need technology to be motivated. They need opportunities to make a difference. In Dr. Bowser's blog, she claims "In order for our students to compete in the 21st century, they must be provided with an education that will arm them with the skills necessary for success in this new global world." She also, outlines the benefits of integrating Smart Boards into the classroom. Since there is no turning back from the technology takeover, we as teachers need to invest in becoming proficient as digital immigrants in order to effectively integrate technology rather than just using technology as another tool to deliver information for students to consume. As the technology support person for our school, my goal is to help teachers use their Smart Boards and technology more interactively for students to produce rather than just consume. 
       In my project for this class, I created a Weebly website for the National Junior Honor Society as well as a Prezi presentation for the induction ceremony. I am always scrambling at the end of the year with the SIP, SLOs, grades, graduation, etc. I really needed time to explore the Prezi and the format.I was not sure how I wanted the Prezi to look, so I searched for NJHS Prezis already made and got some ideas. There were over a 1000 Prezis made about this topic. Some Chapters make a Prezi for each meeting. I started creating my own and chose different designs, then I decided to edit the slides to incorporate my three favorite styles. I referenced the originals on the first slide instead of the last. I also fixed the title by hovering over the title before going into edit. Finally, I embedded the video to play as the presentation clicks to the slide. Over all I think it was a success. I will be sending it to my principal for approval.
         When we first were learning about Prezi presentations, I thought I was a more linear thinker and this was not going to work for me. After exploring and creating several different Prezi presentations, I am not sure why some one would ever use Powerpoint again. I know how difficult it was to create Jeopardy games using Powerpoint because of their linear nature. What is great about the Prezi, the path can be altered very easily without deleting any slides. You can just take them out of the path, but leave the slides changing the paths depending on the audience. Again, I need to rethink how students can be producers and demonstrate their knowledge using Prezi. 
      I am tutoring this summer, so I decided to have the student participate in a Webquest on Pythagoras and the Pythagorean Theorem and create a Glogster Poster to summarize his learning. He was actively engaged for 3 hours. While creating the Glogster, I noticed he put a picture of Pascal's Triangle, and we had a great conversation of why that triangle did not represent the theorem we were studying. He was a consumer in a nontraditional method as well as producer.
      I was also inspired by the Google Calendar to explore the Google Sites. I used one of the templates and 3 hours later I have a great site for the School Improvement site with the same calendar as the NJHS. They are the same link, so less to update.
       In conclusion, I have learned to rethink my goals when integrating technology and my goal to create more opportunities for students as producer. I am working on creating a school website to organize all the teacher sites and resources for our school. As the technology support person, I will emphasize integrating technology to "raise awareness, start conversations, answer student's questions, join partners, change minds, make a difference, take action, and make a difference" (Ferriter, 2013) The transformation will not happen overnight, but by exploring, applying, synthesizing, and producing digital literacy in my classroom and others' classrooms, we will closer to being proficient digital immigrants supporting our digital natives.

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins from myfitnesspal

Recipe
preheat oven to 325 degrees
1- box of Chocolate cake mix (I like Devil's food)
1-16 oz can of pumpkin ( I like Libby's)
1 C. of water
Chocolate chips (optional)

Beat chocolate cake, pumpkin and water for two minutes, add chocolate chips (optional).
Spoon generously into cup cake pan (I usually use Pam and spray lightly). Bake 15 minutes or so, test by sticking a knife in the center of the cupcake and it should come out clean.

You are connected... to what or to whom?

con·nect·ed

  [kuh-nek-tid]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

united, joined, or linked.

2.

having a connection.

3.

joined together in sequence; linked coherently: connected ideas.

4.

related by family ties.

5.

having social or professional relationships, especially with influential or powerful persons.

Reference: (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/connected?s=t)

Each generation defines connected differently in terms of societies norms of the time. I have always been conflicted as a mom raising 3 children in today's society too much technology or too little? I believe Socrates (or some great philosopher) said written books were going to be the down fall of society, since what made us intelligent was the ability to debate issues through conversation. Now, some philosophers might say technology is going to be the down fall of society, since again the art of conversation will be lost. Well, books never went away, so it is safe to say technology is not going away. Instead of resisting the inevitable change in society, we as teachers, parents, or people living in today's society need to adjust, adapt, alter our methodologies to educate today's child. Our roles as teacher and learner are changing. Ben's Blog is very entertaining and supports what I am trying to say here.

Turkel's article is not against technology, but rather a better understanding of the false sense of connectedness. She also points out the ability of people in today's society to be able to multitask and even explains a new skill: "My students tell me about an important new skill: it involves maintaining eye contact with someone while you text someone else; it’s hard, but it can be done."  The only people her students are fooling are those other people multitasking. Those of us who are not multitasking can spot the hesitations in a conversation, the nuances, the body language that their not completely there. Students are also not fooling their brains according to UCLA Associate Professor of Psychology Russ Poldrack in "The Multitasking Mess" by Carol Mithers. I usually explain this to my students, if you want to learn something short term, than fine do your multitasking. If you want to learn something long term and be able to retrieve the information months down the road (NECAP, PARCC), than don't multitask when your studying. I think Mithers says it better than I: "In other words, if you or your kids want to learn something permanently and usefully, do something very old school: Shut up, sit still, and pay attention."

The question is who or what are you connected to?