NCTM National Meeting-Salt Lake City

For the first time in my memory, the entire middle school math department attended a national conference together. For myself, it was the most productive and worthwhile conference I have attended. I concentrated on three areas. First, a new (free) piece of software called Geogebra that is modeled after the Geometer’s Sketchpad. It is dynamic algebra software meaning that changes are made dynamically to functions, graphs, constructions, and other mathematical representations. And, currently, Steve has put it on both labs and I have had students download it at home. They now can explore assignments using Geogebra and submit their work online.

The second thing I focused on was the Smart Board and new ways to use it. I learned a lot and found myself agreeing with this quote regarding the use of this great technology, “Engage, not entertain.” In the end, learning is the goal. If it is entertaining as well as engaging, that is good.

The third area that I concentrated on was the adoption of a new algebra book. I spent a lot of time with the people at Key Curriculum Press. I talked to the owner of the company, who did a workshop at their booth about a new product they are going to offer where their sketches from the Geometer’s Sketchpad are linked to the textbook that is being used. They have correlated their software with most textbooks that I know of. This software is not free. I also talked to the author of the book that I have adopted for next year. He gave me some insight into how the book was developed and some of the content of the text. I spent a lot of time there-I felt like a groupie!

I would like to end with a quote that was used by the gentleman who developed the Geogebra software. This is not his quote, but it is from a study where they looked at the science of instruction:

“What we have learned from all the media comparison research is that it’s not the medium but rather the instructional methods that cause learning. When instructional methods remain essentially the same, so does the learning, no matter how the instruction is delivered.” (Clark and Mayer, Learning and the science of instruction, 2007)

Francine, Laurie B. and I attended a workshop put on by the Bureau of Education and Research (www.ber.org) on Thursday, April 10th. It focused on the best new books for young adults. Although it was a bit heavy on titles that may appeal more to girls than boys, we were very pleased that the presenter was so very up to date. Many of the books had not even come out yet. We took copious notes and came away with lists and lists of books to read and recommend to our students and colleagues. It was extremely exhilarating to listen to hours of "book-talks" like that. Two titles that stuck out to me and that I can not wait to devour are Schooled by Gordon Korman and Deadline by Chris Crutcher.

What Booklist says about Schooled: *Starred Review* Homeschooled on an isolated "alternate farm commune" that has dwindled since the 1960s to 2 members, 13-year-old Cap has always lived with his grandmother, Rain. When she is hospitalized, Cap is taken in by a social worker and sent—like a lamb to slaughter—to middle school. Smart and capable, innocent and inexperienced (he learned to drive on the farm, but he has never watched television), long-haired Cap soon becomes the butt of pranks. He reacts in unexpected ways and, in the end, elevates those around him to higher ground. From chapter to chapter, the first-person narrative shifts among certain characters: Cap, a social worker (who takes him into her home), her daughter (who resents his presence there), an A-list bully, a Z-list victim, a popular girl, the school principal, and a football player (who unintentionally decks Cap twice in one day). Korman capably manages the shifting points of view of characters who begin by scorning or resenting Cap and end up on his side. From the eye-catching jacket art to the scene in which Cap says good-bye to his 1,100 fellow students, individually and by name, this rewarding novel features an engaging main character and some memorable moments of comedy, tenderness, and reflection. Pair this with Jerry Spinelli's 2000 Stargirl (the sequel is reviewed in this issue) for a discussion of the stifling effects of conformity within school culture or just read it for the fun of it. Phelan, Carolyn

What Booklist says about Deadline: Just before his senior year, Ben Wolf is diagnosed with a rare, incurable leukemia. At 18, he has the legal right to keep the news to himself until he's ready to reveal it. With only his doctor and therapist in on his secret, Ben sets out to live an entire lifetime in a year: There are insects that pack it all into a day, he reasons. His goals are to join his brother on the football team; learn everything he can; and ask out gorgeous Dallas Suzuki. Crutcher fits far too much into this ambitious novel, which includes subplots about incest, pedophilia, manic depression, and intellectual freedom, as well as a Jesus-like character who appears in visions. And readers may feel distanced from Ben, whose first-person voice and reactions never quite feel authentic. But, as usual, Crutcher writes vivid sports action scenes, and teens' interest will be held by the story's dramatic premise, Ben's unlikely turn as a football hero, love scenes with Dallas (including some mildly explicit sex), and Ben's high-gear pursuit of life's biggest questions. Engberg, Gillian

Webcast Academy

After moderating a few large group conference calls via skype earlier this past fall, I decided to get a little more formal experience in webcasting by enrolling in the Webcast Academy's class of 2.4. The Webcast Academy is essentially an online course where you learn all about the world of producing, airing, and moderating a webcast. I have to say that this has been a wonderful experience for me! The class began in early January and we have meetings each Sunday from 1:00-2:00 PM. People from all over the world are in the class of 2.4. Classmates include people from England, Germany, all over the US, China, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I've been many, many connections throughout the experience. I'm probably about half way done with the experience and I think I've done a fairly decent job of keeping up with all of my assignments. Last week I collaborated on a live webcast with three educators from New Hampshire where we had a conversation with a WWII Veteran and USS Oklahoma/Pearl Harbor survivor, Paul Goodyear. It was really neat because we had schools from all over listening in to the conversation. My brother even listened in live from his desk in Washington DC and my sister listened in live as well from the Detroit area.

The conversation with Paul was absolutely amazing. He is truly a special, special guy. The entire conversation was recorded and is posted online at my portfolio page at the webcast academy.

If you're interested in learning more about Webcasting and creating authentic experiences and opportunities for your students, then I would recommend that you take a look at participating. You'll meet some amazing people and learn a great deal in the academy!

Related Links:
Edtechtalk Live
Paul Goodyear Interview Planning Page

Matt's Summary of Educon 2.0 conference

EduCon 2.0 is both a conversation and a conference.
And it is not a technology conference. It is an education conference. It is a School 2.0 conference. It is, hopefully, an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas -- from the very practical to the big dreams.

Two weekends ago I attended this grassroots conference that took place at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA from the comfort of my home (thanks ustream and thanks for the students at SLA for doing the broadcasts). I participated in several sessions over the course of the weekend. One session that I particularly enjoyed was Dennis Richards' session on school change and "Claiming What We Imagine." Dennis is a superintendent from a school district in Massachusetts. He is a true administrator-leader in the area of 21st century classrooms and learning. He is an active, engaged participant in online professional learning networks and he shares his practices with other teachers and administrators around the country (and the globe!) And he does a wonderful job of effectively modeling the use of 21st century communication tools for teaching and learning.

I followed several other sessions Saturday morning as well. On Sunday morning I watched and listened a panel presentation on the "Future of Learning." This panel featured David Jakes (who is consulting with USM on an instructional technology plan), Will Richardson, Gary Stager, Sylvia Martinez, Joyce Valenza, and Chris Lehman (Chris is the principal of Science Leadership Academy).

One of the things I enjoyed most throughout my participation in the conference was engaging in the back channel chat that took place. I enjoyed the conversation and exchanges with educators from all across the globe-this conversation really helped stretch my thinking.

This conference was totally grassroots, with over 200 face to face participants. The cost for each one of the attendees was $50. There were several 'big name' session facilitators, and they presented without charging a fee! Many participants attended at their own expense. It was wonderful to see so many passionate educators participating in the conversation at Science Leadership Academy two weeks ago. Congratulations and thanks to Chris Lehman, principal of SLA, and his students and faculty members for putting on a wonderful conference for both the physical and virtual attendees.

Finally, I had the honor of participating in a live conversation the Wednesday following educon with Alex Ragone and Arvind Grover, the hosts of the weekly webcast show, "21st Century Learning." Bill Knauer was the other guest participant on the show (Alex, Arvind and Bill are educators at different independent schools in New York City). Alex actually attended the conference at SLA while Bill and I tuned in from our homes. I enjoyed processing the conversation and sharing our unique perspectives on our experiences in attending educon. The audio recording of the conversation I had with Bill, Alex and Arvind should be posted at the 21st Century Learning page of the edtechtalk.com website shortly.

AATSP National Conference in San Antonio, TX

Neelie, Todd, and Jeff traveled to San Antonio for the AATSP annual convention. As usual at these conventions, we had more workshops to choose from than we had time for. We tended toward the workshops that dealt with technology. We learned about the use of wikis, ipods, and blogs in the classroom. Some of this we were already doing, but it's great to see and hear from other teachers. Other workshops we attended were the old standbys, those sessions led by veteran teachers where everybody shared ideas and techniques that they found useful. As a result of this conference, we'll be introducing speaking activities using voice thread, ipods and you may hear our students singing and chanting.
San Antonio is a great city. It's rich history and great cuisine made it an ideal place for a conference. Jeff was able to take some photos of places that appear in his text and we have a picture of the three of us in front of the Alamo.

Karen's Garden Prepares for Winter

On December 1, 2007 about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow/sleet/freezing rain hit the Milwaukee area. Karen's garden, which produced over 200 pounds of tomatoes for the USM community last fall, has now entered into winter phase. The tomato plants have been composted and the ground awaits the coming of spring. It is cold and silent out at the garden, but under the snow the soil continues to thrive.

NCSS 2007 in San Diego

View the collaborative voicethread project online that we created as a summary and reflection of our conference experience at this year's National Social Studies Conference in San Diego. This is a work in progress. Feel free to leave any comments that you'd like on our voicethread (you'll need a voicethread account to leave comments however).

Matt's more detailed reflection may be read by visiting his blog post on this topic.

View a little Animoto multimedia presentation with pictures from our conference: