Saturday, October 11, 2014

'Midterm Reflection Magazine' interview

While in Las Vegas for the Pearson Education expo, I was approached by Dr. Mary Schoffner for the  Educational magazine "Midterm Reflection." I was asked a series of hard hitting question in regards to my supported thoughts on educational technology. Enjoy!






1. How has planning technology-integrated lessons affected your believes in role of technology in education? Why?

"Well that's a great question because I have always been a firm believer in technology and the role it can play in the classroom. Although I am a mathematician at heart, I am still a man of science! Technology is growing exponentially.  I remember as a child the rush I felt being allowed to play a computer game called 'Number Muncher'  after completion of my 6th grade work in class. I did not really know that I was learning, but I was because I wanted to advance farther in the game.


2. What is your theory of how you learn? How do the ways you learn affect how you plan to teach?

I am a learner who is intrapersonal, linguistic, and bodily kinesthetic. I learn best when I have time to review the material at my own leisure during independent study as opposed to group learning. I am auditory and have excellent retention skills. I am able to listen to lectures and recall the information readily in conjunction with reviewing the material independently. I also learn by doing. Being shown how to do something will enable me to perform the same activity unassisted. Although these methods work for me, I know that some of my students may benefit from different types of instruction. This is why knowing your students is key! Providing engaging instruction to students can be accomplished through a variety of mediums that appeal to a multitude of children's learning styles.

3. What was the most difficult part of lesson planning for technology integration in your instruction? Why?

As a teacher, there are many resources that we have at our disposal that can ease or workload and let us focus on delivering engaging content. One such resource, which aided me in lesson planning, was "Common Curriculum." This site made lesson planning a breeze and with the ABCD lesson planning objectives, the only obstacle to my lesson planning was procrastination!

The only hiccup I ran into was not having a textbook to work in conjunction with my lesson planning. I felt like within the guideline of the educational standards, there is a lot of wiggle room to insert more information to students. Having the textbook handy would have enabled me to find out just how much wiggle room I had!

4. What aspect of lesson planning was the most challenging? What will you do to help address this challenge?

The hardest part of lesson planning for me was finding the motivation to write them! Once I sit down in front of my Macbook, navigate to my common curriculum lesson plan, put on my noise canceling headphones and crank up Erik Satie, I can get in the zone and I am ready to rock out. My procrastination is something I am constantly battling. I am learning to take 'small bites' out of my lesson planning, so I do not end up with a 72oz steak of an assignment because I failed to compete milestones on the assignment.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

ASSIGNMENT : USING THE WEB TO FIND THE RIGHT ANGLE


Instructions: Using an internet browser of your choice, you will be using a search engine to find the answers to these questions.

  • Who was the first person to prove the Pythagorean Theroem? In what year was this done?


  • Find a real life example of a Rhombus? Link the url of the picture in the space below. Use you ruler to draw a Rhombus with sides of 3 inches and find the area.



  • How many sides does a Dodecagon have? Can you find a real life example of a Dodecagon? Link the url of a picture you find



  • Can you find a real life example a pentagon shaped building? Where is this building located? Draw a smaller scale pentagon and find the number of vertices and edges


  • Identify and find the dimensions of this polygon. Once you have found the shape and dimensions. Calculate the area. 


    Answer Key if you get stuck, all the answers you need are here!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

3 Blogs you should be using in the classroom


  1. Free Technology for Teachers
This is a great blog to get unbiased insight into new technology that will be of use to educators. 




2.  An innovative approach to educationAnyone who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks,  must not have checked out Lisa Nielson's great blog. It provides fresh ideas and ways to convey course material to students.

3.  Social Media and education?As students are some of the biggest users and adopters of technology, this site run by graduate students seeks to bridge the gap between education and social media for students. 




Can technology and education mix?


1. What role do you believe technology should play in education? Why?   
Education in technology should go hand in hand. Technology is constantly in flux. Everyday our lives are made easier by technology. With that said, having the technology is all for naught if there is not a subject matter expert on said technology to utilize the technology. Being a product of the public school during the 90’s, I got to see the direct effects of putting technology in the classroom. Thinking back, I remember that getting computers in the classroom was a big deal. On the surface, this sounds great! In every classroom a working computer that will help children learn! In practice what it amounted to was a Pentium 2 computer with windows and maybe a few educational games such as Number Cruncher, Oregon Trail, and Dino Park Tycoon. The one computer served the ~20 students in the classroom. Rather than be used as an instructional or multimedia aide, it was used as a reward for children like myself who finished their work early and liked to fidget. Becker would have found that the conditions for technology use in the classroom were lacking. Although there was convenient access to the computer, it was heavily regulated. The computer games were not part of the lesson and the teacher had no flexibility to alter the curriculum to the game. The teacher was not adequately prepared to use the computer as I can recall several instances of instructing the teacher on basic computer operations.


2. What is your theory of how people learn? How does your personal theory affect how you plan to teach?   
Prior to taking this class, I had a vague concept that people learned things in different ways. You were either someone who could be shown how to do something and repeat the task, or you could be told how to do something and by discerning it on your own to complete the Since taking a myriad of education courses, I have learned that there are multiple types of learners. The difficulty in teaching comes from giving equal instruction to students who may learn in different types of ways. Knowing this, I plan to utilize my students as peer teachers. Knowing that some students will grasp concepts quicker than others, I plan to use those students who have grasped the idea of the lesson as aides to students who may not understand. This interaction between the students builds learning for them both.  The student who has grasped the topic will reinforce what he knows by explaining it in simple terms. The student struggling with the lesson will be helped by having a peer explain it to him in a way that is easy for him to grasp.


3. What ideas do you already have about using technology in your instruction?
It has been said that many new teachers will emulate the style of a teacher that they admire and carry those traits into their own classroom. I am no exception. Some of my favorite teachers have been prone to the lecture style of teaching, using expressive and descriptive language to bring the lecture alive. On the flip side of that, I can also recall many heads on the desk in blissful sleep. The use of technology such as videos and interactive quizzes can break up the monotony and help solidify the material to the students.

4. What are your goals in taking this course and what do you hope to accomplish?

I consider myself quite tech savvy and only after writing this post and thinking about how I will implement technology….
I hope to find ways to successfully integrate technology into my lessons and arm myself with a

powerful weapon to wage educational war with in the future!



Thursday, June 12, 2014

Allow myself to introduce myself



My name is Andre. I was born in London, England.


I am a veteran of the US Navy and my ship the U.S.S Wasp (LHD-1) is at a swim call in the Dead Sea

Getting sideswiped in my Jetta sucked, but it allowed me to find a new car!


A new car!



Myself and my family. I don't see them to often but when I do it's always a good time.

I spend a lot of time in Hawaii. It was my last duty station and I keep in touch with many friends on the island.


I am an avid cyclist!


Sometimes accidents happen :-(
I love playing chess. Chess in the park downtown is where I can be found when I have free time between classes. 



I front a band called 'Sensual Unicorn', however I am changing the name to 'Forever Abroad'


Click here to enjoy a short video about me!