Picasa update

There is a cool newish feature in Picasa that I want to alert you about. It is facial recognition. I am running it right now and so far I LOVE it. This may make many of my projects simpler. Once you tag a photo with a name the program will seek out similar photos. A question mark will appear near some pictures that are closely related and you can click a check box to let Picasa know that the photo was identified correctly. Very cool. Not sure what I will do with it yet, but so far I really like this enhancement.

Reading and Literacy

I received another email today about a literacy project. I get one pretty much once a day in my school account. To be honest I am getting a little tired of this. Maybe it is because I am a math teacher. But please take a hard look at all the offerings in the newest Professional Development catalogs. Easily more than half of them are for reading. Most of the rest deal with special needs students and then topics like using technology. Where are the math conferences?
Please understand that I know how important literacy is for schools and students. There is some irony here though. Of all the topics math students hate word problems are at the top of that list. All that time on reading, comprehension and literacy does not seem to translate into the world of math. No solutions here. Just venting a bit. I think the "old me" is coming alive.

Stones Into Schools

Some of you will remember my recommendation of Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea". He is back with a follow up that may well be better than the original. It is called "Stones Into Schools" and it picks up where the first book left off. He talks about how his success made his job much easier and much harder at the same time. More money. More responsibilities. More schools. More requests for more schools. Higher profile and recognition. More time on the road away from the American family and the family in Afghanistan. The more I read about this man and his vision the more inspired I become. I may reread both books soon. Pleas pick up one or both of his books. I would lend them to you but since the money raised goes toward helping his many causes I think you should but them. With all the (deserved) attention Haiti has gotten it is important to realize that there are places all over the world who need our help and support. Some are even here in the states. Do something. Anything. Now. Thanks.

Amazing

It has been a while since something inspired me and this is that something. I am always amazed when people make something extraordinary out of the ordinary.

New to me

Often I have an idea that I think pretty useful and when I share it I know it is only new to me. But I had not seen this before so I want to lay some claim on it. What is it you ask? It is a geometry lesson I created when I was having trouble explaining volume and area. I like students to think for themselves and imagine what shapes look like rather than always having a physical model in front of them but I knew I was losing them when we began talking about slant heights. A simple fix would be to construct some nets for the shapes but I went one step further. I found THIS SITE when I searched for ways to fold paper into the shapes I needed. I printed out a number of sheets, cut out the shapes and assembled them. That alone would have been enough. But then I thought, "Why not put the applicable notes on the faces of the shapes?" Why not make a 3-D graphic organizer? And it worked wonders. The students who were the most confused were very happy. They could see all the pieces they needed to work out the solutions. I also re-discovered something I always seem to forget....kids are kids. They liked cutting and taping together the shapes. They liked the paper folding. I think it made them feel like they were back in elementary school. I am not ready to call this a success just yet because I rushed it a bit and tried to squeeze it all into a few days before the Christmas break, but I can see how I can make this a beneficial unit for next year. I also will see what other ways I can make the subject matter a bit more tangible.
Little challenge for you - how can you add some thing into your classroom that lifts the concept off the page and into the 3-D world?

Communicator Clearboards

I was reviewing for a test today with something new I just bought. I used the Communicator Clearboard. It is a product I read about in one of my most recent math journals. The product looks a little like a menu holder from a restaurant. You can slip some paper inside and it can be used as a personal white board. You can save paper by making only one class set of worksheets. You can get more responsive work from students because you make them hold up their answers. It is simple but it works. I hope the test scores will bear this out tomorrow. You can learn more about this HERE. My only concern is how long the materials will last. I tried some personal white boards a few years ago and they only lasted a short while before they were not useful. They would not erase cleanly and the markers never lasted very long.
I was inspired to use these and then inspired again to create some more of my own inserts. It is one of those tools that can be overused (and there was some needless doodling from time to time) but when I think I need to increase the level of participation I can use this.

Show them something

One of my little goals this year for my room is to decorate it with pictures. Not educational pictures. Not motivational posters. Nothing you would see in a catalog. What I am decorating with are pictures I have taken. Some of my favorites. I started the year with two photo collages and this past week I added two new ones. A pleasant golf course scene and a remarkable lucky picture from a parade in Chateaugay.
The reason is to show the students I am not just a teacher. I think they tend to forget we are people with interests and hobbies just like them. I also think we forget they are people just like us. I know when I speak with other teachers about certain students I gain a new appreciation for that student. I do not always see the best of a student because I am only involved as a math teacher and math may not be their strongest subject.
I also think it is very important for the students to see other parts of who we are. I know as a kid I always thought of my teachers as...well...teachers and little else. I never considered their families, whether or not they had kids or anything. They had one role in my life.
To be honest I also know that to reach some kids they have to think you are more than just the person trying to force feed them something they do not want. Some students nee to know you may have something in common with them. So I let it slip what books I like, what movies I like, what music I like and more. Maybe they will hear something that makes them think, "He's not so bad." Many students commented positively about the pictures and then more so when they hear I took them. It's something small I know. But it is forward progress. Any little hook has to help. Show them something. Not everything, but something. Keep them guessing. Show them you can make mistakes. Show them your imperfections. Show them your human side. I wonder sometimes if we get so caught up in the lessons and the classwork that we forget that teaching is an interactive pursuit between humans.
I have a few more pictures to share and maybe some other tricks up my sleeve. Small challenge - hang up something you created. Not with any fanfare. Just hang it up. See who notices. Engage in a small moment. It may last a lifetime.