Computer Talk

November 14th was Orange County's Teach In. I had my father come into my two Advance Math classes to talk about computers. We started by teaching my students base 2, 8, and 16 numbers. After that, my father opened up the discussion to any computer questions that the students had. I am shocked how much students do and don't know about computers. They know more about computer than I did at their age, but not enough to help keep their computer save from viruses and spyware. I only hope that my father's discussion with they have helped they seek out more information.

Teacher Websites

I had a parent email me last week asking how she could help her son improve his grade in math class. I pulled up the student's grade and realized that he does well on tests and quizzes, but needs help with the writing assignments. I discussed this with parent and attached a link to my website. The great thing about having my own website is that I have directions on how to complete the assignments and I have several examples of these assignments. With the website, parents can stay actively involved with their child's education.

Two In One

So my students are playing Jeopardy this week to review for their test. That means that the PowerPoint will be on the board and I am at my desk waiting for them to answer the question. For me I can be doing things like taking attendance, checking my emails, or working on something while they are doing the Jeopardy. I learned how to turn on the duel monitor and have the PowerPoint on the overhead screen and I can still work on other things without the students knowing. If anyone wants the secret, just ask.

Old Friends, New Tricks!

I have an old friend that thinks that he knows everything about computers. This week we decided to go to the movies on Friday, so during the week we would e-mail each other about what movie to see and at what time. On Thursday I did a "print screen" and cropped it in powerpoint. I then added highlighted squares on the movies and times that were good for me. After that I emailed him the image. He was amazed at the fact that I did that. He thought that I highlighted the newspaper and scanned it in. It just goes to show that you don't know everything all the time.

This week in Math Class!

This week in math class I was teaching my sixth grade students how to round decimals. Rounding is a lesson that most students have learned in fourth and fifth grade, so my sixth grade they are tired of hearing about it, but still can not round. The text book that my school uses has a powerpoint that goes with each chapter. I used it to help the students become more interested with the lesson. To add to their interest, I pulled out my Smartboard and allowed the students use it to round numbers on the board. They became more active with the lesson and more students wanted to answer the questions just so they could use the Smartboard. What made it even better was when my principle walked in and saw the students actively involved with the lesson. It was a great day.