Created Google Docs for the presentation and the handout

I created Google Docs for my VoiceThread presentation and handout. So far I have shared these only with Jim. I will share them will everyone once they are finalized.

Have a more detailed design

Well, after I started fiddling around with VoiceThread, I realized that I needed a script or at the very least a storyboard to guide my musings. I created a PowerPoint presentation "storyboard" to help me plan what what I wanted to say. Many of the slides can be saved as .png files and uploaded to VoiceThread as visuals. I also created a handout to go with the lesson. I will figure out how to upload these files so you can have a look at them. The VoiceThread project is going to be an inquiry lesson on how to figure out the sum of the interior angles of a polygon. At the end of the lesson, the students should know how to use the formula 180(n-2) and know how to derive the formula. The lesson can be used with or without the accompanying handout, but the handout provides most of the individual hands on for the students. The students are encouraged to add notes all along the VoiceThread and to interact with many of the slides.

looking into Voicethread

I created a VoiceThread account and am looking into the tools. I have been super busy writing my thesis, so I am hoping to get more completed on the project this week. I wonder if it would be okay to use the blog on my Ning site rather than having two blogs.

Idea for Project

I have been thinking about what I would like to do in VoiceThread. My curriculum consisted of three parts: mathematical vocabulary instruction, explanatory proofs, and blogging. The curriculum was implemented in a middle school PreAlgebra classroom. VoiceThread will replace the blogging. I will create a mathematical inquiry lesson with which students can interact. For this project, the lesson will cover slope and linear equations. Since I do not have any students to work with this summer, I will see if other members of our cohort or the new cohort would like to play around with the tool as well.

Discussion with Kendra

We talked about our different backgrounds. Kendra started and ran her own preschool in Cambria and moved down here to be part of this program. She is interested in Reggio inspired preschool and elementary education. Kendra wants to create a tool to help her students' parents understand what Reggio education is about. We brainstormed about different applications that she could use including videos on YouTube and a web site. I showed Kendra a demo of VoiceThread.

My curriculum project involved using blogging in a mathematics classroom. However, my students found blogging to be cumbersome and outdated. Another complaint that the students had was that they wanted pictures of the math problems. I would like to try creating a math lesson using VoiceThread so that the students can interact with each other as they solve different types of equations.

Oh, and to get feedback from other students in the class.

This is a blog set up for EDS 231 Summer 2009. This will be used to report status of my work in the class!