Roland O'Daniel's Comments

Thanks for the tip(s). I've read the 17 tips and will study on incorporating VoiceThread. Too much to do and too little time.
Mil gracias
Pam

Hi Roland, yes moved on. We have found that the free online manipulatives/applets suited our needs (for now)

Just looked more closely at your second topic and it intrigues me, even though I am not sure what you mean. ;)

using metacognitive reflection and threaded discussions to identify processes and concepts that students are using in problem solving situations in algebra.


Metacognitive reflection...what do you mean by that?

Took a little while to get back. Your thesis idea sounds interesting and I would lke to take a look and give my reactions. I am interested in incorporating a spreadsheet into all math courses so the arithmetic becomes invisible and the students can concentrate on the math.

By the way, do you notice learning styles in math. For example, geometry and more graphically oriented material vs algebra and more digitally oriented material.

Glad you liked the newsletter. Thanks again for your contribution to it. It has been extraordinarily busy lately! Let's keep in touch with topics of interest!

Hey Roland, more good points you are making about the "power" of the arts and in particular music. I see it as an academic middle ground especially for my at-risk and reluctant learners. Talking about the meaning of songs and lyrics seems to create an intellectual "comfort zone" for my students where they begin to engage in critical thinking about course content themes and ideas. My area is social studies but will look around for music and math resources.

Good points in your reply regarding social networks, I have been using comments on my arts in education MySpace to engage and motivate middle school students. Since MySpace is blocked at my school, and the students are young to be using MySpace I simply cut and paste the comments at home into a word document and share them with my classes that way. Check them out...

http://www.myspace.com/learningfromlyrics

-10 right now; it's been as low as -26. We haven't been above zero in the past two weeks; really odd for the Anchorage Bowl. The snow's beautiful though as I get ready to take my labs out snowshoeing. Thanks for asking. I lived in KY years ago; I was a drill sergeant at Fort Know in the early 80s. Art

Hi Roland,
Thanks for your comments on the math/literacy blog. It looks as if we have similar occupations and interests. I coach/mentor teachers in literacy education. I see you are interested in technology as well. Did you ever go to the Alan November conference in July? It's a great experience.

Roland: Thanks for the idea. I intend to use it for my very next thread. I just gave it a look see. I didn't see a limit on words, and I'm going to assume each discussion will post without interference with any other post? I'd really like to move away from the "journals" and go digital where ever possible. I've been reluctant because of the issue with students posting over one another. Perhaps you've provided the answer I was looking for. Incidentally, I've been giving serious consideration to pursuing a doctorate in curriculum development too!

Roland: The WIKI works quite well. The only real issue I'd like to either fix or better understand is when you have multiple students responding to the same prompt, sometimes their comments overlap or step on one another. I haven't figured out how to either fix this or compensate for it. I've been working on this single issue over Winter break; we go back to work on Jan 5 and I'd like to invite the remainder of my team's 134 students into WIKI.

Roland, I have to admit that I am blown away by your dedication to this ISN discuss. I am 110% grateful, and I believe that this would not be as exciting as it is for Dianne and myself without your input and guidance. School starts for students tomorrow and we are ready to begin our ISN journey at BMS. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you for everything.

I had the pleasure of meeting Amy today. We talked a little about the ISN and the interactive word wall. She is great lady.

I found a site, teacherweb.com and created a site for my students. I was telling Amy today that I hoped to connect the site for students and parents to the interactive notebook and other classroom management issues. I just started last week, so it is a work in progress. I think this could be beneficial to our discussions also. I hope to use student examples as we move throughout the school year. Let me know what you think.

www.teacherweb.com/KY/BelfryMiddleSchool/MeganSmith

think about coming here. There is a college - northern marianas college -- that does nothing but produce teachers. Problem is, it is in serious danger of losing WASC accreditation because of (sigh) funding issues and (SIGH) terrible management.
All said -- this is a great community. People work together to solve problems in a way unheard of on the mainland, and so many groups mix.

Hi Roland. New at this. I teach on a tropical island in the North Pacific and am taking my first step in collaborating online. I am a sixth grade teacher who practiced law for 20 years (after teaching middle school for five). Am busy learning about web pages, learning about blogs, learning about being a better teacher, participating in a mentoring project for new teachers, and figuring out how to work on some grants for badly needed equipment and supplies. Math is my worst subject, so after I work on what I like (Social Studies and anything to do with Language -- even Science), will turn to math. It should be the other way around, but no one's perfect. I need a lot of help in figuring out how to use my page.