Prezi / PowerPoint / SmartBoard Presentation Reflection

View my presentation here:

http://prezi.com/5nbhr2lqnedk/pacific-crest-trail-thru-hike-2010/

Looking back on the presentations, I do feel that most of the presentations hit upon something done well. The content of the presentation was frequently mirrored in the layout of the presentation. Jerry presented on Roberto Clemente, discussing his life story in a relatively linear fashion. As such, his Prezi layout demonstrated a linear flow of information along the body of a snake. Ryan presented on sampling music, and included a large portion of audio/video files for the audience to listen to, in an effort to help us grasp and recognize sampling. Erin and Sarah both demonstrated high levels of enthusiasm for their content, while keeping the presentation slides to a minimum, without loss of content. Finally, I was particularly intrigued with Cassandra’s presentation on Static Mindset verse Growth Mindset. I appreciated this presentation the most, because it is the most far reaching in relative applications. It need not be reserved to one subject matter, or even for the classroom alone. Not only that, but Cassie also engaged the audience effectively with well-constructed questions which kept the “listener” present in the discussion. I was impressed with the way in which Sara was able to overcome the tech problem with prepared material as a substitute for the video. If I looked back upon my presentation, I really wonder how effectively I could have generated flow without the presentation guiding me.

I love the ability that Prezi has for cohesively laying out non-linear ideas. As a first run in tool use, I was pretty impressed with the “Visual Information Maps” created by several classmates, but at this state of our Prezi use, we are still novices of using Prezi as a tool for “Idea Maps.” I believe Sara utilized Prezi best for her etymology presentation, unfortunately, the presentation did not have slides which zoomed to an appropriate level to show the branch map of the presentation layout. This would have been a great opportunity to hammer home the benefit of Prezi over PowerPoint. Cassie and Andy started to play with the ideas, and I think with more time to work on the presentation and a longer time slot to present, all of us would have generated much better content maps.

Often within the confines of a new presentation, or incompletely developed lesson, we as teachers make the grave mistake of focusing on facts rather than the bigger picture. This results in an un-engaging lecture of “bullet point” ideas. The unfortunate consequence of this is that it folds easily into asking poorly developed questions (e.g. In what year… , Can you tell me how many… , Where else did “such and such” happen). I am not saying that these questions should not be asked, as it is important to formatively assess content knowledge, but rather that a lecture should shy away from questions like this. Instead a lecturer should ask more open ended questions to activate the listener. I think this is a teaching method we are all working on, but it was more evident to me in Jerry’s presentation. On the flip side, the presenter should shy away from not asking any questions, which was my mistake. Another aspect of today’s presentations which most all of us struggled with was technological problems. It seems apparent to me that Murphy’s Law attacks technology like a bitter enemy. I don’t recall any presentation which was flawless, but I do recall most everyone handling the technical glitches with relative ease. Aside from the 10 minutes it took me to get the presentation started, everyone resolved their issues in under a minute.

I don’t know if my presentation was quite as elegant as I wanted. Part of the purpose of the exercise was developing an understanding of Prezi as a tool for laying out non-linear ideas. My hike, while all over the map, was a linear story. I could have just as effectively told the story with a more linear tool like Powerpoint. Certainly Prezi provided an engaging backdrop to a collection of snippets from my experience, but I believe my presentation did not exhibit the real benefits of using Prezi over Powerpoint. I think this was a result of the subject matter chosen, and I do believe that given a different subject the task would have been more exciting and rewarding. Nonetheless, I am confident that the audience enjoyed the presentation. I believe this, however, is a result of engaging content over engaging presentation. I did have the good fortune of extending my presentation beyond the 12 minutes, which gave me an unfair advantage. I am curious what would happen to my presentation if I were required to pare down my content, would it still be engaging? Would the presentation be engaging to people who didn’t know me personally?

If I were to go back to Friday to restart the assignment, I would choose Prezi again, as I wanted to familiarize myself with the program. However, if I had the knowledge I do now, and more time to prepare a presentation I would definitely tackle SmartBoards. I refrained from SmartBoards this go around, because I knew the learning curve was steeper. I did not have adequate time to dedicate to learning this tool. Here’s to summer projects.

I do enjoy the addition of PowerPoint and Prezi to our toolbox of lesson aids (and look forward to playing more with SmartBoards). As I discussed above, the content being presented should dictate the tool being used. Jerry’s presentation would have worked equally well with PowerPoint, as would have mine. As Prezi is a new tool to use, it is still under development. As we learned, it lacks the ability to input sound files, unlike PowerPoint. I look forward to seeing how Prezi develops in the future, and would appreciate a wider array for editing abilities. For example, the ability to have different font colors based on individual edits per stop would enable the user to use typography and color to compliment the presented image. Additionally, the ability to animate portions of the presentation could really round out Prezi as being superior to PowerPoint. Unfortunately, no one who presented used the SmartBoard, so it is difficult to see the power of this presentation tool, and I am left to research it individually. I do believe that the SmartBoard has the greatest potential, as it can enable the use of all three systems throughout a presentation, grabbing the strengths of each independent program.

When it comes to using these tools with students, it is a battle of upfront planning. This battle is one all teachers must face on a regular basis, and the time put into developing a presentation with any of the three tools is definitely worth it. Unfortunately, at times, the teacher is unable to appropriate adequate time to preparing a preparation with the program. I hope to use all three regularly in the classroom, but anticipate that it will be a gradual process of refining lesson plans over the course of several years. In the time that I refine my lessons, new technological tools will surface. I will be under a constant battle to keep my lessons up to date, but I embrace this challenge.

I stand by the belief that as an instructor, we need to create a diversity of lesson formats. The more tools we use, the more students we reach. We are continually driving forward in a technological age, so ignoring electronics seems to me to be a poor decision. However, the content should drive the tool. There is an appropriate time to use each tool, as well as an inappropriate time. A well prepared teacher should know when to use each. I anticipate that as I progress forward with teaching, I will become more familiar with electronic tools, implementing them into more lesson plans. This process, ideally will pick up as I become more proficient with the tools. Sadly, I anticipate my first year will largely devoid of electronic use as I will be focusing on nailing down the process of content delivery. Methodology will be a part of this process, but it will likely fall into a second tier position which gets tapped into time permitting.

The question of how I will teach is always a hard one to answer, because I feel that I will continually refine this. It is hard to draw predictions of how I will, when I have not really had the opportunity to present a full lesson, or a full unit. I look forward to getting in the dirt.

View my presentation here:

http://prezi.com/5nbhr2lqnedk/pacific-crest-trail-thru-hike-2010/

Social Networking

Any tool that can be used to reach students is of benefit to teachers. A strong teacher is a teacher who is equipped to take anything impacting a student’s life and is able to turn that into a teachable moment. Student’s today are growing up in a community of Social Networking. The difficulty is figuring out how to effectively use this tool. It is my belief that education is less about building a knowledge base, and more about building a skill base. More specifically, education is the key element to developing community awareness. According to Ramig (2008) Social Networking is a key which helps demonstrate “what it really means to live and participate in a global community.”

Human nature is ever evolving towards heavier reliance on technology. In 2008, Ramig points out that “By sixth grade, about 40% of the students will already have experience using social networking tools at home or at a friend’s house.” We, as teachers, cannot ignore this all-consuming element of today’s students. The term “like” has a new context to today’s youth. The effective teacher can use Social Networking to connect with the students, which establishes community, and opens more doors to potential learning opportunities. If a student is going to spend time using Facebook, why not insert your footprint into their Facebook experience? It can enable your teaching to go beyond the classroom.

The only issue that Social Networking presents a teacher with is developing a time effective and quality approach to using this tool to develop their classroom community. As the internet and technology evolve, the teacher is repeatedly forced to address new ways to use technology in the classroom. Additionally, the teacher must critically examine how to use the tool appropriate. Even when using the tool appropriately, and perhaps anonymously, a teacher can fall victim to accusations of inappropriate use. In Natalie Munroe’s case, discussed in Webley’s article, Natalie came under fire for the way she behaved online. Furthermore, the “school district does not have a policy in place that dictates what teachers can and cannot do online.”

In fact, technology has evolved so quickly the courts are having trouble keeping up with interpreting the law in relation to online communications. Does a teacher have the right to free speech in the same way that a regular citizen does? Does a student? Administrators are left in a perplexing conundrum, unable to stop cyberbullying. Hoffman (2010) points out, “Schools these days are confronted with complex questions on whether and how to deal with cyberbullying, an imprecise label for online activities ranging from barrages of teasing texts to sexually harassing group sites.”

Modifying student behavior and cyberbullying is one side of a coin, the other is modifying teacher behavior. Cyberbulling and bullying in general is so rampant today because we as adults are serving as poor role models for our students. Take the Atlanta schools lying about test scores for example. What sort of precedence does this set for our students? Lying is acceptable? Or more accurately, look at Natalie Munroe, who semi-publicly vented about her students. Not only did she vent saying that she was having a hard time, but she downright insulted the students. Contained in her blog (until she took it down) is the saddest statement I can imagine hearing come out a teachers mouth: "There's no other way to say this: I hate your kid." If a teacher can get away with that sort of behavior regarding students, why can’t students do the same?

Natalie wrote this on a private blog, which was intended for a very small select audience. It, however, found its way into the public. This is rather unfortunate, but serves a purpose of letting us know how un-private private really is. We have seen some of the most secured networks fall victim to hacking, see also:

http://vimeo.com/25118844

As such, the safest way to approach our online profiles, our digital footprints, is to assume that there is no such thing as private online. We should not be putting anything on our profiles unless we are accepting of the idea that it may someday be viewed by our bosses, our enemies, our friends, our parents, our future employers, and our students. Specifically teachers should be held to this standard, because the damage caused by such an unveiling is far reaching. Children have thinner skin, and their brains are not developed mentally enough to understand. Teachers are in a profession of shaping the world. Virtually no one goes through life without having a teacher, as such, teachers should be held to the highest standards to generate the best possible students.

This is not to say that I disagree with Munroe, or even Nash who states, “I don't think there is anything wrong with calling kids out — I think they need it. There's this mentality that we can't say anything to kids, that we have to baby them, but I'm one of those tough-love kind of people.” It is not a matter of silencing ourselves, it is a matter of intelligently choosing our words. When we as teachers hold ourselves accountable for the actions we take, and the words we choose, we are generating a safer atmosphere. Also, we are behaving in a manner that is more respectable, and sufficient to be ideal role models to our student.

Modeling proper behavior, online and off, is at the heart of working to decrease bullying and cyber-bullying. “Preventative” is stronger than “Punative.” Additionally, our courts need to catch up with technology. As Hoffman (2010) points out, “Judges are flummoxed, too, as they wrestle with new questions about protections on student speech and school searches.” I am, however, not naïve. No matter what measures are taken to prevent cyber-bullying (and bullying in general), it will continue to exist. To me, the threat of cyber-bullying is on the rise, and the only way to stop that is to actively attack it. The use technology in the classroom can and should be used to develop appropriate patterns of Social Networking use. If we do not allow social networking into our classrooms, we will never adequately be able to demonstrate proper use, and the problem will continue.

As a teacher, I will definitely keep my ears to the web, seeking out and nipping cyber-bullying to the best of my ability. It is something that I should have to lookout for, because my role as an educator is to provide a safe environment for my student which fosters learning. The classroom is just a formal location for direct instruction and community development. If I have the right as a teacher to send a student home with homework, then my role of teaching extends beyond the classroom. If my role of teaching extends beyond the classroom, there is little to no limit on me to help provide a safer environment for my students to learn in. Even if I wasn’t an educator, shouldn’t I work to provide a safe environment for everyone? Wouldn’t you?

Resources:

Carter, Heather L., Foulger, Teresa S., Ewbank, Ann D. (2008) Have you Googled Your Teacher Lately: Teachers’ Use of Social Networking Sites.

Hoffman, Jan. (2010) Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray. retrieved July 16th, 2011 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/style/28bully.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1310862562-xhvCPQyRkTgMt4o6UYJyWA&pagewanted=all

Ojalvo, Holly E. (2010) Resources on Bullying and Cyberbullying. retrieved July 16th, 2011 from:http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/resources-on-bullying-and-cyberbullying/

Ramig, Renee. (2009) Social Media in the Classroom-For Kindergartners (!) Through High Schoolers.

Schwartz, Harriet L. (2010). Facebook: The New Classroom Commons

Webley, Kayla. (2011) How One Teacher’s Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Classroom Debate. retrieved July 16th, 2011 from: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2052123,00.html

Zax, David. (2009) Learning in 140-character Bites

Digital Natigrant

When I read the word technology, I immediately become consumed with a variety of responses. Emotional and logical thoughts spill out over the idea of technology. Should I become terrified that one day we will be in a post-apocalyptic state, relying on John Connor working side by side with the California State Governator, or should I be excited at the prospect of getting lost in virtual worlds of perfect learning experience enriched by standing in the fields with red coats and yankees in a Holodeck.

Fortunately, I currently stand in a world where the technology is still fairly limited to being a tool rather than being a sentient being. As such, it is fairly simple to approach technology willfully. I have had the good fortune of growing up surrounded by the exponential growth of the technological age. In third grade, I was fording the rivers along the Oregon Trail. In eighth grade I was programming in Basic and other simple programming languages. Two years later, I watched as the world wide web was exploding its way into mainstream society, outside of just the institution of education. By my first years of college, most every student had their own personal computers and it was actually required as a part of my college degree to own and understand how to operate programs necessary for architecture. I was at the cusp of a dramatic change. As Prensky (2001) points out, "Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach."

Certainly, I am not a Digital Native, as defined by Prensky (2001), I did not grow up with "the digital language of computers, video games and the internet" as all of today's youth have. I, however, do feel that computers have been a big enough part of my growing up that I am a well adapted Digital Immigrant. I am continually trying to develop my understanding of how to use computers more efficiently, and how to enlist them within my role as a teacher. This, interestingly enough, conflicts with my belief that mathematics instruction should occur without the aid of a calculator. I am looking forward to seeing how I resolve the idea of using technology, while refuting the use of a calculator.

My age puts me mostly outside of instruction that involved technology in the classroom (at a high school level), outside of one "Computers" class. For my undergraduate work, we were required to implement tools provided by computers, and took classes instructing us how to use these tools. However, I have not successfully experience instruction which used technology to help educate. I look forward to learning ways in which this can be done. As Prensky (2001) points out, "Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task." I believe technology in the classroom will assist in this new nature of learning that has evolved with the introduction of computers. I had not thought of the point brought up in the video Pay Attention - Final Cut that the average college graduate has sent and received over 200,000 messages. That "sure seems like a lot of time spent with the 3 R's!"

It is on my responsibility alone, that I must take the initiative to be as "Native" to technology as I can be. As Prensky (2005) explains, "Even if you are the most engaging old-style teacher in the world, you are not going to capture most students' attention the old way." I feel excited to be finally entering teaching, but I am a little nervous about being a front runner to digital teaching. I can't define how I will incorporate it yet, as I have yet to understand completely what is available for my use. I suspect that as I develop my curriculum, I will work to continually find ways to implement and include technology within my lesson preparation.


RESOURCES:

Prensky, Marc (2001), Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants-- a New Way To Look At Ourselves and Our Kids

Prensky, Marc (2005), Engage Me or Enrage Me -- What Today's Learners Demand (in Educause Review, Sept./Oct. 2005)

Introduction

My name is Roger Binschus.

I am currently enrolled at Concordia University seeking a middle school/high school Advanced Mathematics endorsement. In an ideal world (as I see it now), I would like to have a job at a high school, teaching both 9th graders and 12th graders geometry and calculus.

I have always excelled at math, but I took relatively little in college, while attaining my Bachelor's of Architecture Degree from the University of Oregon in 2002. When I made the decision to leave architecture to teach high school students, I returned to Portland Community College and burned through a handful of Math Courses to refresh my brain, including a few new concepts above the standard high school math curriculum. I have experience teaching in the Outdoor Education environment through Multnomah Counties Outdoor School program, and found my passion for teaching with this experience.

One can never go wrong with me and pizza...I know, it is such a canned simple answer... but if I had to pair my vast array of culinary delights down to one food, I would have to choose pizza. It is versatile with toppings, but above all, it is riddled with cheese. Life, for me, without cheese would be a tragedy fit for an epic Shakespearean play. Another fun thing... A mathy pizza image



Pulled from http://truthpluslies.com/2011/02/21/pi-zz-a/


Oh, for kicks, lets throw out my favorite animal as wellPulled from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2679262701_dbfb47414c.jpg