BJ Roberts

Week 12

2010-08-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

I think that this week opened me up a little. I have had an iPod for 2 years and I really don't use it. I liked to learn where the free things were so that I might use it more. The Google Sites was interesting in that I would use to make a Website more than the others. Good week for learning and yippeeee we are done.

Week 10 Since I forgot

2010-07-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Week ten was interesting because because I got to listen to one of my Favorite high school teacher again Mr. Howard Bezzant. It brought me back to the good ol days. I like how Jing allows you to help those students that were absent. When students are absent that is when I pull out my hair because they think that we stopped while they were gone. I think that this would be really helpful. I don't know if I would be ready for Moodle that seemed just a bit above what I'm comfortable with.

Week 9 since I forgot

2010-07-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

During week nine we had two presentations and one of them (Facebook) was mine. You Tube was something that I have looked at but at my school we can not access and I have tried to have the website opened while at my home but accessed the site at school and it did not work. When I was looking at Facebook I never thought that I would have any educational uses but it had many.

Week 11

2010-07-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well I just remembered that this was part of the class. During this week we learned about Wiki spaces and Chrome. I have never used either and haven't even heard of Chrome both gave me some different perspectives that I had never thought of. I would still like to find out how I could use a Wiki space for my math class. I struggle to get out of the box when I hear something new.

Week 8

2010-07-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have learned a lot this week. I have never made a movie or edit clips or audio ever before. I like what David Blake said how he uses Audacity in his class because he is a math teacher and gives me ideas of how to use it in the classroom. I also learned about the clip of video from David Mellinger because there are time when I would like to show clips of math from movies or show but I don't want the whole clip now I know that I can edit the clip and play it in the classroom. Good week for learning how to implement this into the classroom.

Week 7

2010-07-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

I believe that this week is the when I learned the most about the presentations. In PowerPoint I always struggled when I made them because I was looking for the animation and putting a lot into one slide. I like how he said the you should have one point of view for each slide not multiple. In Google Docs I learned a whole lot. I am a math teacher and like she said to have an equation editor is essential when writing tests or assignments. This is a great place for those that don't always but Microsoft when they purchase their computer. I never knew what was in Google Docs. I like how you can also see who is doing their fair share of the work on a group project. This is a great way to hand out points on participation. I also loved how we can make a survey and it goes directly into a spreadsheet. This weeks presentations got me a little excited.

Week 6 New info

2010-06-24T21:33:00.001-07:00

Wow this weeks presentations were something that I have never used before. I liked the U-Stream because I think that I am able to archive a presenter and allow absent students to get the same info. I really thought the reading of the Open Educational Resources was great because I have been at a school that colleagues did not want to share ideas or best practices because they were nervous that others would look better in the eyes of parents and students. I believe that finding new ideas to learn is amazing for all.

Week Five Things I've learned.

2010-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have never used Skype before. I loved the idea of allowing a speaker to come in on Skype and do the presentation that would work great for my Driver's Ed class. As it comes to the Google Calendar I was very surprised by the means of the calendar and the capabilities it has. I think that it would be great also for a way to remind myself of what I have done and taught for the day. I normally forget somethings here or there so it would be nice to look up what I've done before.

How can a teacher effect learning? 11/23

2009-11-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

A teacher can effect learning by simply letting the student communicate what they are thinking and then fill in the nessecary holes. When helping students one on one I always like to see what the student knows, alot of the time I hear "nothing" or "I don't know." I probe the students to give me something they know. What operation is being used, what theorem is being used, or what do we have here and where do we want to go." Allow the students to think is a great way for students to learn. Never give them something they already know.

What is learning? 11/23

2009-11-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

Learning is a time that the student is gaining new information and for the student to rationalize the new information. The student needs to apply this information somehow so that they can retain and access the information at a given time. If the information is useful to the student they are able to access the knowledge a whole lot easier.

How do teacher effect learning? 11/16

2009-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

Teachers effect learning by letting the student's think for themselves. Some times I as a math teacher like to see if the students can come up with the formula to a problem. This gives the students a sense of ownership to the problem which in the long run they will remember for a lifetime. I do need to work on this as a teacher because I do jump to help students without letting them think. Teacher can help by asking probing questions so the student comes up with their own answer.

What is Learning? Week of 11/16

2009-11-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Learning is more than just gathering new information. While reading Bruner I had an understanding that he was saying if we don't use the information as adults why learn it. I teach math and I know that some people will not use what I teach them in their adulthood. I always tell my students that math is great for deep thinking skills. They also learn problem solving skills by asking themselves the question "This is what I have and this is where I need to go how do I get their?" I understand what Bruner is saying but I disagree just a little.

How can a teacher effect learning? 11/9

2009-11-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

I believe that a teacher can effect learning by giving the students what they want. I think that if you can get the students interested in the material they can dig deeper and look for ways to apply their learning. When I was a student I got hooked into drafting not only because of the teacher but I could see how it was being used. I loved trying to build house plans and see if my thought were reasonable for a house plan. I kept at it and I never was a great drafter but I enjoyed what I was doing.

What is Learning? 11/9

2009-11-11T20:29:00.001-08:00

Learning is where the student is able to take the lesson and apply it to the real world or the community. In my lesson for class I did it on Linear Programming and I recently just taught it to my Algebra 2 Students. They were amazed how they could find to maximize their profits or minimize their costs. I had students say " I could use this in the Real World" For me that is music to my ears.

How can a teacher effect learning? Nov 2

2009-11-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Teacher can effect learning by explaining others stories so that the students can gage for themselves the mistakes or the achievements of others. The students then learn what has been successful to try for the positive aspect of the story and they also learn for the better when they can see mistakes of other and not want to travel the same path. In drivers ed we show movies that have a scare tattic toward the students. These clips of the videos usually show a person that their live was affected because of someone else's behavior. The students can see that if they make these decisions that they can affect others live as well.

What is learning? Week of Nov 2

2009-11-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Learning is when a person still takes an interest to investigate the information a little deeper to understnad their questions on the material. Besides math I teach Drivers Ed. THese kids are very interested in asking if certain techniques that they do are correct and how they can become a better driver. Their interest in driving allows them to probe and get a deeper understanding of what they want to know. These students also learn from other peoples stories of what went wrong for them and how to avoid the situation to happen to them.

How can a teacher effect learning.

2009-10-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

I believe that a teacher can effect learning through their attitude toward the subject. This gives the students a glimpse of energy that could excite them to learn. This is not putting on a dog and pony show but just an excitement that the students can then take and put that energy into the learning for the day.

What is learning? Week 10/21

2009-10-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Learning is when a student is gaining new information. I believe that learning can best take place when the student believes the new information is important to what they want to do in life or at least can use it. Being a math teacher I get the question that " Where am I ever going to use this?" I agree that there are lots of "hoops to jump through" but I don't believe some students understand that some of the material that I teach is a pre cursor to something that they might use.

How can learning be effected by a teacher? 10/21

2009-10-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

As I was explaining in what is learning I taught the concept of line of best fit and correlation. I think that if you show how the students can use the information in their lives they can relate to the subject and internalize the material. They are then able to take that information and use it to their interests and then make your subject more enjoyable and useful for the student.

Learning Week of 10/12

2009-10-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Learning is when a person gains insight to something new or has a deeper understanding of a subject. Deeper learning is usually a style of learning that correlates to something that is important to that person or that they already have an understanding. In my math class I always hear " When are we ever going to use this?" I introduced line of best fit and how that it can predict the future if there is a a strong correlation. I asked things that people might want to predict in the furture and gave an example of those situations with the line of best fit.

How a Teacher can effect learning. 9/27

2009-09-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

As I said in the previos post about Learning. I explained about a conference I attended. I being that learning is effective if the student is able to be sold on the idea that is being taught so they can also feel that they now ownership in the idea. We did an exercise by explaining certain driving situatuions. We were acting like students and we taught the subject on what we believed was the correct manevers for the situatuion. The teacher guided the discussion with a few questions but we owned the theory for that situation.

Leaning 9/27

2009-09-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Learning is an experience where a person gains information that they didn't have prior. Students are able to learn when the teacher is using techniques that are comfortable to them. I went to a drivers ed conference today and the presenter said the students are loosing their ability to concentrate because they are in a media world with everyone trying to sell them something. He was a previous CEO of a Marketing Firm that built a curriculum that is built to catch their attention. We might have learned by a teacher preaching to us but he said that the new generation needs to be sold on the idea. I thought that this is an interesting topic.

"How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher?" Week 9/21

2009-09-23T21:46:00.001-07:00

Teacher can effect learning by using material that is comfortable for the student. In math student might remember seeing a previous material but because they didn’t quite grip the material they struggle with. Teachers can use that time of slight recognition to enforce the ideas as well as teach the new material using ideas that turn on the light just a little bit.

Learning Week of 9/21

2009-09-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Learning is when a person is when they gather information that they can relate to the student. They gain their information when the student can relate to the subject being taught. Students also work better when they understand the previous material. I teach math so when students are comfortable with their previous material. Math is best described as a pyramid. If you do not have a strong base then your tower is going tumble and fall. People struggle in math when they have struggled on previous material.

"How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher?" Week Three

2009-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

As I was reading this article this week I was wondering how I might effect students as a teacher. I can totally turn a student off by how I handle a behavior problem in my class. I had a girl that wasn't doing what I wanted her to do by taking notes and so forth. I was frustrated and I made a mistake and called her out in front of the class. I had a talk with an administrator and the parent and discussed the wrong doing on my part. This girl was an average math student. After our situation I could see that she completely shut down in my class. I believe I'm right in saying this that I believe I destroyed her confidence in math for the rest of her life. I made a mistake and it might have crippled her " math career." Teachers have a very important part in learning besides just teaching. Their interaction with students needs to be in a way that works for the student instead of against it. I now make sure to talk to students more one on one and not in front of the class.

What is learning? Week Three

2009-09-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

Learning very interesting. I think that learning on a specific topic depends how far the learner wants to accept and question the theory being taught. In college I was a math major and I took some math classes that were with some general ed majors. These people learned the concept but asked the favorite math question "When am I ever going to use this?" I because I knew that I needed to continue on I was looking for understanding and not just repetition. They where getting the info that they needed because they weren't interested but I had to dig a little deeper to understand the theories. I'm glad that I learned a little deeper because I started tutoring at the school and I learned even more. Because I was teaching others I had to explain the problem in more than one way.

"How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher?" Week Two

2009-09-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

I believe that learning is effected by the teacher is again by students interest. After reading the Skinner articles using their interests is a positive reinforcement for the student because they are engaged in material that interests them. The time that you can engage the student to a positive thought about their interests can motivate the student to get a deeper understanding of the material. In teaching about using the best packaging for your dollar, I do a lesson on how we want to keep the costs of the materials low but we maximize the volume. At the previous school I taught at, most of the students want to own their own business because their family had a business. So maximizing their profit because of cutting costs on materials made sense to them and could see how to use that in their future. To me that gives the student a positive reinforcement because I could help them in the future.

What is learning? week 2

2009-09-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

Learning is gaining information in many different ways. Some are more visual learners while others are more contextual in nature. This is my first year teaching Geometry and I am seeing the visual learners point of view. I was teaching in my class about adding two segments together and explaining that they add to a new segment. Some students were struggling with the theorem that I was teaching because they didn't understand. I was struggling to get all of my students to understand the concept. Finally, a student told me to draw a picture. I, not being a visual learner, didn't even think of drawing the picture. As soon as I drew the picture of the theorem the students that were lost were now on the same path. I as the teacher learned that I need to challenge myself because everyone doesn't think the way I do.

"How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher?" Week One

2009-08-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

I believe that learning is best effectuated by the teacher when the teacher gives good examples or situations that the student can relate to. When the student can relate to the information that is being presented they are able to apply the learning to their lives.
As a Mathematics Teacher I love when I start to teach exponential problems. Most students in high school are fascinated in making money and how to obtain it easily. I love to show my students how that it takes the same amount of time to double $1 to $2 as it takes to double $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. When I show them this mathematical problem they start to figure out how long it takes there money to triple and so forth. I explain that there are people who work for money and there are people who's money works for them.
I also like to show them in this chapter how the people in the TV show " CSI" can find out how long a person is dead for in a theorem called Newton's Law of Cooling. These problems excite the learner because they like the how they are being applied.

Learning Week 1

2009-08-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

Learning? What is learning? I believe that learning is obtaining new information. Learning is obtained by pursuing things that a person does not know yet or has not mastered. Learning is a lifelong process that a person does up until they are no longer on this Earth. Learning could take place in a classroom, at the gym, at home, listening to the radio, or doing something you already know. Learning can be as shallow or as deep as long as the person is gaining insight or new knowledge.

BJ Roberts

2009-08-25T16:46:00.001-07:00

Here is my blog for my Masters in Educational Technolgy.