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Blog #6

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In my classroom, inquiry learning is student driven environment where students are using math to answer real world questions that apply to their own life and environment. Inquiry learning needs to be  collaborative, fostering social growth and individual ability to work in a team. Inquiry should be using the content in real way that helps to foster deeper understanding than traditional textbook learning. In regards to my mini-lessons, I plan on creating my three lessons around the first three elements of the Digital Information Fluency Model. The first would be over how to best locate information online. The second mini-lesson would cover the reliability of the information found from the first lesson. The final lesson would then cover the ethical use of the information found from the first two lessons. This third lesson would also tie in to the content I have already curated on my PLN. I really want to focus on the principle of authentic teaching and learning, and one of the ...
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Progress towards Learning Goals

At the start of this course, I set the following goals for myself.  1) Become familiar with new web 2.0 tools and determine how to best use them in my math classroom. 2) Relate inquiry learning and information fluency to my sixth grade math classroom. 3) Curate a assortment of resources that help support students in my classroom in regards to information fluency. 4) Learn how to integrate informational fluency into my math instruction. These goals are still what I hope to  achieve, however I now see that for my third goal that I need to become more thoughtful with my curation. We have been reading about the importance of consuming online material with a critical eye, and I find that to be of the upmost important when curating content for my peers and my students.  The video of Eduardo Briceno from TEDxManhattanBeach where he speaks on the topic of growth mindset was not new to me, in fact I show parts of it to my students. I incorporate growth min...
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Letting Go

This year in my math class I followed what I called a "self-paced" model in my classroom. Students took notes from pre-recorded lectures that I had created, completed practice problems online and were assessed online as well. I though that I was letting go of control, because students worked independently so often and I was able to work with students in small groups or one on one. This really allowed me to differentiate their pacing. After reading and listening to this week's resources, I see that I really did not let go of control at all. I create math guides that walked students through the exact resources the should use and the order they should use them. We we did our project at the end of a unit, I still directed what that end product should l ook like. Yes, my students were independent learners in some aspects, but they still were following a predictable script based on the math guides I had created.  In reading the article "Great Teaching Means Letting Go...
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Reflective Searching

As a consumer in this day of an over abundance of information I can sometimes find myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available to me on the internet. At other times, I will find myself completely at ease with searching for key information that I need while quickly and easily scanning multiple resources. So why do I feel these two different ways? I believe it has to do with my own comfort level with the content that I am looking to find. When I am looking to find information about something unfamiliar to me I am not sure exactly what keywords to use to search for the answer. I will often have to refine the words I am using to search with several times before I will get the results I am looking for. When I am searching in this manner, I identify myself as participating in "horizontal information seeking" as described in the article Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future by the University College of London. I will skim information quickly ...
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Insight to Goals: Blog 2

While taking a moment to reflect on these goals that I have created, I noticed one major thing. Each goal looks at how I can relate what I am learning to my math students. I find that thinking about how I teach math in comparison to some of the questions raised by the video InfoWhelm and Information Fluency has lead me on a path of questioning some of the things I do in the classroom. How does this idea of using informational fluency and how students can easily obtain information today change what I do in my class? I am looking forward to all that I will learn this semester, and I hope that it will help to ease some of my fears of allowing students to seek more information for themselves. I know that through all that I learn, the focus must still be on the relationships I build with my students. One of the parts of this week's readings that continues to stick with me is the idea that my students are kids first. The focus should always be on them, not just the math that I teach. ...
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Learning Goals

Each semester brings the opportunity to learn ways to improve my own understanding of what I can do to best serve the students in my classroom. I always look forward to the prospect of adding new material and methods to my teaching. For this course, I have set the following goals for myself. 1) Become familiar with new web 2.0 tools and determine how to best use them in my math classroom. 2) Relate inquiry learning and information fluency to my sixth grade math classroom. 3) Curate a assortment of resources that help support students in my classroom in regards to information fluency. 4) Learn how to integrate informational fluency into my math instruction.
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