6-18-2007 Blog for EDTP 620

First things first, It is Jennifer and I's anniversary (Married two years), so horrah for us. As for the previous blog, yes, I do understand the meaning of 'canon': I have a Minor in Latin and one in Classical Languages, I just felt the author overused the word and did not understand why, that is why I chose it as one of my words. Let this be a lesson to all future teachers; in my experience you have to have fun and enjoy what you do and make a joke (although not at anyone's expense, because you may inadvertantly hurt their feelings) and go on. It is one of the best ways to build a rapport with students, show a lighter side sometimes.

But on with the Blog. Todays presentation by the Social Studies/History discipline was very interesting. I found it interesting the way the activity was geared toward making predictions with little or imperfect information. I would have liked to heard that students were not only given a chance to form a prediction but have a minute or so to research to see if their prediction may be correct. But by following it up and leading to the conclusion with more predictions, I was able to connect it to my own discipline (math) by thinking how certain long problems could be predicted on using a multiple choice format with the students working out the problems as they go along. Keep working hard Social Studies teachers, I have always found history fascinating and students need to be in tune with their past.

Ah yes, the phone conversation. At first I was a little hesitant to try it, because my understanding of the exact context was a little shaky, or was that just a lack of Diet Pepsi? Anyway, after the first caller, I began to understand the point of the lesson was to talk about the different perspectives that the class had on a particular topic, but in a fun way where every person had the opportunity to participate in an orderly way. I tried to think of a way to use this idea in math, and I can but I would have to change the problems after each ring and correct answer, and maybe allow only people one at a time to ring in if they can answer the question, or have it in a group format as a sort of game or competition.