Grant Proposal
This assignment opened my eyes to just how many grants there are available to teachers. I truly had no idea that there were so many! It also showed me why there are people out there whose whole job is to write grants! This was a time-consuming assignment. Once I get the necessary paperwork from my school principal, I plan to submit this grant to Toshiba. Fingers crossed that I did enough research to show how useful a 3D printer would be to my students.
Monday, October 9, 2017
EEND 678 Artifact #1 & Reflection - PBL Unit
UBD - Tiny House Project
I am super excited to try this project out with my students this spring when we get to the unit on Area! I have always wanted to put together a Project-Based learning unit, but have struggled on where to start, what to include and how to assess. This assignment gave me the opportunity and the "push" to do all of those things. I think that my students will enjoy this project and will also appreciate the kind of learning that allows them to figure it out themselves. I am confident that they will not only learn, but have fun while learning!
I am super excited to try this project out with my students this spring when we get to the unit on Area! I have always wanted to put together a Project-Based learning unit, but have struggled on where to start, what to include and how to assess. This assignment gave me the opportunity and the "push" to do all of those things. I think that my students will enjoy this project and will also appreciate the kind of learning that allows them to figure it out themselves. I am confident that they will not only learn, but have fun while learning!
Thursday, October 5, 2017
EEND 678 Effective Technology Integration into Lessons & Curriculum - Fall 2017 Reflection
I feel like I learned a lot from this course. There were a lot of articles that were helpful in my growth as a connected educator. All of the articles from Module 7 were interesting. Karen Kane in the article 41 Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Your 1:1 Classroom had some great tips, separated by topic. It included links to other articles or applications that would help manage your 1:1 classroom. I have already used several of the links from that article! So many ideas!
I also enjoyed the Tech Tool Hunt google doc that we created in Module 2. It is great to have a resource that is filled with ideas put together by other teachers. I have moved this to my Google Drive with the intention of revisiting it in the future.
I look forward to taking more technology courses to help grow my knowledge of EdTech. I hope to get an endorsement in Instructional technology.
I also enjoyed the Tech Tool Hunt google doc that we created in Module 2. It is great to have a resource that is filled with ideas put together by other teachers. I have moved this to my Google Drive with the intention of revisiting it in the future.
I look forward to taking more technology courses to help grow my knowledge of EdTech. I hope to get an endorsement in Instructional technology.
Monday, August 21, 2017
Introductory Blog Post Fall 2017
Hi! My name is Jill Casey and I am a mathematics teacher in Indian Prairie School District 204. I have taught mathematics at Waubonsie Valley High School since 1995, with three years off when my first daughter was born. I can't believe I am about to start my 20th year of teaching! I have taught a variety of levels of mathematics. I currently teach Geometry, Honors Precalculus and BC Calculus.
I started taking ed tech courses in the fall of 2016 in order to help be more prepared for the district roll out of 1:1 in the fall of 2017. I feel that this has helped tremendously. My comfort level with technology was already pretty good; now I am willing to try almost anything with technology in my classroom.
I started taking ed tech courses in the fall of 2016 in order to help be more prepared for the district roll out of 1:1 in the fall of 2017. I feel that this has helped tremendously. My comfort level with technology was already pretty good; now I am willing to try almost anything with technology in my classroom.
My current favorite tech tool is probably EdPuzzle. I like the possibility of using it to flip the classroom. I am sure my favorite will be in continual change, since that is also what happens with technology in general.
One of my favorite EdTech success stories would be my first use of a Hyperdoc in my BC Calculus class. The students used the Hyperdoc to first view a video on Khan Academy, work through some examples on Desmos, and then post examples of their work on a Google Doc. They seemed to learn a lot from this activity.
One of my favorite EdTech success stories would be my first use of a Hyperdoc in my BC Calculus class. The students used the Hyperdoc to first view a video on Khan Academy, work through some examples on Desmos, and then post examples of their work on a Google Doc. They seemed to learn a lot from this activity.
There have been a lot of EdTech Failures for me as I have tried to implement them throughout this year. Since we are just about to go 1:1, we have had to use laptops brought in on carts to get the kids online. Unfortunately, there are only 20 laptops per cart and I have 28 - 30 kids in each class. I had planned an activity using Desmos for my Honors students which, if everyone had their own computer, would have worked great. However, they had to share. So, I couldn't tell whom from the pair was doing the work. I had students making obnoxious comments because they had the anonymity of not using their own computers and logins.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
EEND 713 Artifact and Reflection #2
Assignment 5: RLO using WeVideo for Constructions (click to see video)
Many teachers, myself included, grew up during a mathematical period when constructions were never taught or even shown. After the adoption of the Common Core standards for Mathematics, constructions of some for were required in all Geometry classes. I have taught, after first teaching myself, the typical protractor and compass method of creating a construction for several years now, but not with a lot of success. Students struggle so much with just using the tools and then in particular, they struggle with remembering the steps. I created this video to help accomplish two things. One, to teach a different method of creating a construction and two, to give the students a reusable tool to look back at as often as necessary to help understand and remember the steps. I feel like I accomplished both of my goals with this video.
The video was time consuming to create. This is primarily because I first needed to take all of the pictures of the constructions and then share them to WeVideo. The reason I wanted to create this video was because there are not a lot of resources available for patty paper constructions. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to create my own images. I had a small amount of practice using WeVideo from a previous class, but it was very basic. However, once I really got started working on the video, I realized that the program itself is easy to use and understand. I am happy with how the video turned out. I think that my students will use it and appreciate having it available.
Many teachers, myself included, grew up during a mathematical period when constructions were never taught or even shown. After the adoption of the Common Core standards for Mathematics, constructions of some for were required in all Geometry classes. I have taught, after first teaching myself, the typical protractor and compass method of creating a construction for several years now, but not with a lot of success. Students struggle so much with just using the tools and then in particular, they struggle with remembering the steps. I created this video to help accomplish two things. One, to teach a different method of creating a construction and two, to give the students a reusable tool to look back at as often as necessary to help understand and remember the steps. I feel like I accomplished both of my goals with this video.
The video was time consuming to create. This is primarily because I first needed to take all of the pictures of the constructions and then share them to WeVideo. The reason I wanted to create this video was because there are not a lot of resources available for patty paper constructions. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to create my own images. I had a small amount of practice using WeVideo from a previous class, but it was very basic. However, once I really got started working on the video, I realized that the program itself is easy to use and understand. I am happy with how the video turned out. I think that my students will use it and appreciate having it available.
EEND 713 Artifact and Reflection #1
Assignment 3 Assessment for Learning (click to see assessment)
Not only is teaching Geometry students to do a construction difficult, it is also difficult to assess mastery of those same constructions. A student might be able to draw an image that looks to be the same as the original, but they didn’t really use the correct steps. I have tried a variety of ways of assessing my students on the use of constructions in previous years, but none of them have felt like they were the right fit. I included this artifact because I am hopeful that this assessment will meet all of our needs.
This assessment works like this: the students will be assigned two videos (created by me on Youtube) to watch. After watching the video, or even during the video, they need to describe each step that is being taken during the construction. I feel that this will do a better job at showing me if the students understand how to do the construction, or if they are just “faking it” for the assessment.
There were not that many roadblocks while creating the assessment. The main one was that I needed to create 5 to 6 mini videos. Since this is not something that can be done as a screencast, I needed to employ the help of someone else to record me doing each construction. Thank goodness for husbands and children! The good news was that I learned how to use Youtube’s video editor, which was surprisingly easy to work with.
Overall, I am very happy with the results of this assessment. I look forward to seeing how their grades, and their general understanding of constructions, change due to the changes I have made during this course.
Not only is teaching Geometry students to do a construction difficult, it is also difficult to assess mastery of those same constructions. A student might be able to draw an image that looks to be the same as the original, but they didn’t really use the correct steps. I have tried a variety of ways of assessing my students on the use of constructions in previous years, but none of them have felt like they were the right fit. I included this artifact because I am hopeful that this assessment will meet all of our needs.
This assessment works like this: the students will be assigned two videos (created by me on Youtube) to watch. After watching the video, or even during the video, they need to describe each step that is being taken during the construction. I feel that this will do a better job at showing me if the students understand how to do the construction, or if they are just “faking it” for the assessment.
There were not that many roadblocks while creating the assessment. The main one was that I needed to create 5 to 6 mini videos. Since this is not something that can be done as a screencast, I needed to employ the help of someone else to record me doing each construction. Thank goodness for husbands and children! The good news was that I learned how to use Youtube’s video editor, which was surprisingly easy to work with.
Overall, I am very happy with the results of this assessment. I look forward to seeing how their grades, and their general understanding of constructions, change due to the changes I have made during this course.
Monday, July 10, 2017
EEND 713 Discussion Post #8: Course Reflection
This course gave me the opportunity to put together a unit from beginning to end, something enjoyed doing. Too often we end up working day to day and not always thinking about how all of the pieces should fit together. This class gave me the chance to do this. Since my school district will be 1:1 for the first time, I was able to gain ideas to use with my classes through our discussions and assignments.
I am eager to try out some of the ideas that I worked on through these 8 weeks. For instance, I want to work more at having my students participate in online discussion boards. I am still working out the details of how that will look for each of my classes, but I think that I will be able to make it work for all levels.
Another thing I am excited to try is creating more online assessments. This is a topic that I do not feel confident in yet. I hope to build my confidence by continuing to try new things in the area of assessment. I intend to use Mastery Manager, Google Forms, as well as research more items that might work as online assessment tools. The discussions we had regarding online assessment have helped to pave the way for me to find them.
I am planning on taking as many courses in technology as I possibly can over the next several years. I have enjoyed the challenge of learning new material as well as keeping up with what is happening in education in regards to technology. University of St. Francis has offered some terrific courses; I plan to continue much of my educational technology there.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Introductory Blog Post
Hi! My name is Jill Casey and I am a mathematics teacher in Indian Prairie School District 204. I have taught mathematics at Waubonsie Valley High School since 1995, with three years off when my first daughter was born. I can't believe I am about to start my 20th year of teaching!
I have taught a variety of levels of mathematics. I currently teach Geometry, Honors Precalculus and BC Calculus.
I started taking ed tech courses in the fall of 2016 in order to help be more prepared for the district roll out of 1:1 in the fall of 2017. I feel that this has helped tremendously. My comfort level with technology was already pretty good; now I am willing to try almost anything with technology in my classroom.
My current favorite tech tool is probably EdPuzzle. I like the possibility of using it to flip the classroom. I am sure my favorite will be in continual change, since that is also what happens with technology in general.
One of my favorite EdTech success stories would be my first use of a Hyperdoc in my BC Calculus class. The students used the Hyperdoc to first view a video on Khan Academy, work through some examples on Desmos, and then post examples of their work on a Google Doc. They seemed to learn a lot from this activity.
There have been a lot of EdTech Failures for me as I have tried to implement them throughout this year. Since we are just about to go 1:1, we have had to use laptops brought in on carts to get the kids online. Unfortunately, there are only 20 laptops per cart and I have 28 - 30 kids in each class. I had planned an activity using Desmos for my Honors students which, if everyone had their own computer, would have worked great. However, they had to share. So, I couldn't tell whom from the pair was doing the work. I had students making obnoxious comments because they had the anonymity of not using their own computers and logins.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Personalized Learning with Technology
Taken from the ISTE website article "Personalized vs. Differentiated vs. Individualized Learning" by Dale Basye
https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=842&category=Lead-the-way&article=Personalized+vs.+differentiated+vs.+indivdualized+learning
How can the use of technology, both within and outside of the classroom, support personalized learning?
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