Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The students in my 10th Grade Geometry and Algebra II classes have never done any blogging other than social blogging. With this being my first attempt at a class blog, I am not sure what the students are open to try.
So I went to my students and I asked them, “What kind of class blog should we set up?” They all had blank looks on their faces. How do you blog in math? I explained to them that it should encourage discovery, processing, critical thinking and reflection. One student finally regained some sparkle in his eyes as he told me about a wonderful Darth Vader video on Youtube. In the video, Darth Vader is rapping about the Pythagorean Theorem. Would he be able to post something like that to share with the class? I explained that with the video he would have to critique it for accuracy and how it related to math. His enthusiasm was so great, the rest of the class wanted to see this video. The ideas started to flow.
I plan on staring with one of my classes. I see 138 students each day in six classes. If I have six different bogs I am afraid I will be over whelmed. It is a start. Where do I go from here?

5 comments:

  1. congrats on starting. I think that is a great idea. Math was never a good subject for me but when students work together then everybody learns. When students see the possibilities they can be great creators and inventors of ideas. Now just start. You will see the endless possibilities once you start. I think starting is the hardest part.

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  2. I agree that starting is the hardest part! I can invision your students all at their computers looking for the video mentioned by a fellow student. This is the kind of interest students need! As for all the students you teach, I can also see that being overwhelming! I am an elementary teacher, so the thought of that many students strikes fear in me! I thought the 46 I see was frightening. Maybe you can begin with one class. Make it like a pilot program and see where it goes. Start slow and gain speed when you are comfortable to do so. Who knows, before you know it they may all be blogging!

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  4. Math would be a very hard subject to explore using blogs. I taught Basic Math my first 3 years and decided that the subject was too abstract for some of my students. They needed to see the concept in action. I tried to show them pictures of great architecture and asked them to build them. they had to find out how much material they needed. I made them call actual companies to price materials. We built the Parthenon and the Great pyramid in Egypt for less then a million dollars each. Labor was free in this lesson, as it was when they were built. We constructed models using popsickle sticks in the classroom.
    I might try using other websites that have math games and have your students blog about their experiences.

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  5. What a way to think out of the box and trying to incorporate blogs in math. Initially these two ideas go together like pickles and peanut butter but after pondering it I believe you have some really helpful suggestions to begin you blogs in math. I would have to agree with others comments that I've read on your blog in regards to subject matter to blog about. In my opinion, I think as a start maybe have the students blog about different math sites/games that they have interacted with and that way you can get used to the idea of blogs and how to manage them while at the same time develop blogging in your classes. I think it is always best to put a foot in the pool before I jump in :D Good luck with everything!

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