Tuesday, March 06, 2007

There's something happening here!

Out in the comments and the posts of students--
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
--Buffalo Springfield
The Pre-Cal 40S class have shared lots on their blog! Darren Kuropatwa, their teacher, asks each of them to reflect upon what they’ve learned prior to unit testing. He calls it Blogging on Blogging; his students renamed it BOB. I’ve had the privilege of reading BOBs for about a year now; usually students share what was most difficult for them, often they vow not to get behind again. This semester, these students have taken BOBs to the next level and have provided a real window into learning from their view.
In general, I think this unit is easy and fun bcause of the moments where we could all draw on the PRO SMARTBOARD! See how technology evolves and aids us in our daily lives! Gotta love it!
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-ing-2.html
Since the time we first received the smartboard, Mr. K has been practicing his smartboarding skills and now it's more than just incorporated into our daily lessons, but is the basis of where we conduct all of our lessons. We now all come up to share our answers with the class on the smartboard, and I think it's ingenious the way Mr. K set up this peer evaluation process mixed with some competitive vigor to help our overall education. With the smartboard, now we're all willing to go up and put up our answer, and whether we're correct or incorrect, we inevitably end up learning. I wonder what the year would have been like without the almighty smartboard.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/bob-barker.html
math is awesome with Mr. K is around teaching us, with the help of his new toy smart board. its not my time with Mr. K class hahah but i really understand it all with the study group and extra audio files he made to help us understand better than read it
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/blogging-on-blogging.html
Hahaha. Well anyways. The highlight of the class right now is the Smart Board. And how it has incorporated our learning to a whole different level. We can learn and read the blog at the same time... Oh wait were already doing that.. Hahaha. But seriously, the smart board has turned the class upside down and right side up. It has taken this course into a whole new mode of learning with a lot of interacting. http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob-thon.html
The whole working in group thing was a good idea. I would say it was pretty fun. A lot of people also said that they learned more through working in groups. I have to agree, I did learned a lot of and understood it better working in groups with the whole sharing ideas about how to solve the problem.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob_4941.html
I have gained much knowledge from the lessons and now that I look back on the earlier exercises I'm finding them a breeze. This is probably due to the group work in class which has been monumentally effective in my mind. All our minds working synergistically to solve problems shines much more effective light on the questions.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob_19.html
When we wrote our pre-test for the unit, there seemed to be a sense of tension in the air while we wrote the test. Everyone was silence and the sounds of pencil scratching, calculator punching, and the blowing of eraser shavings off one's desk filled the air. I myself was not expecting such a "tricky" test so I was also thinking and working furiously. After Mr. K. told us to stop writing and split us into groups, the sounds of frantic problem-solving seemed to morph into a more relaxed sharing of ideas. I feel this class was great because different people got a chance to get together and share their ideas and methods, all of which were greatly appreciated. Finally as Mr. K. shared the correct answers with the class there seemed to be a great excitement as if each answer was the winner of and Oscar. Groups exploded with cheers, fist-pumps, and hi-fives to members of their groups whom they weren't friends with before.
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/bob-circular-functions.html
Groups definitely help mind enrichment due to the fact that integration of minds exists and therefore enhances every member's knowledge about a particular topic. like today, my group members and I shared answers and opinons about our answers. It felt good!
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-on-blogging.html

There’s something happening here too! Eddie, a bright and perceptive grade 5 student from Georgia with a contagious enthusiasm for learning has discovered the power of commenting! He found Darren’s blog (with a little help from his teacher’s bloglines account) and left quite a comment. He then returned to his blog to post about it and link to what he found and the conversation continued. Darren commented to Eddie here and here and when he shared Eddie’s blog with his Pre-Cal 40S class, not only did they visit Eddie’s blog to encourage him through their comments here and here, they posted about him on their class blog too!
I say this for all my classmates, that we were astonished and inspired to learn that a grade 5 student could make such a great blog. This is for Eddie in Georgia.
Leave him a comment just to show how him what you think of his blogger skills and finesse
http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/wow-world-of-blogging.html
After we talked about our place in the blogsphere and he showed us how to find out about it. We also went to one of our young visitors Eddie, he's a grade five student in Georgia. I believe Mr. K said something about him being in a grade ten level, impressive much?. Seven days ago he looked at our blog and blogged about it. We read it and everybody was impressed of Eddie. From what I can remember when I was in grade five I didn't even know what a computer is! He's so interested learning about Pi and Phi's. Everybody had different reactions when we read the part when he said he can't wait to get in highschool. Wow, Eddie your awesome. You are very inspiring. I wish I had the same attitude as you when I was in your age. Hey, you should listen to our podcast sometime for our class on Friday, March 2, 2007.http://pc40sw07.blogspot.com/2007/03/whooot-go-eddie.html
WOW!
“We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down”
There’s something happening here! Are we listening?

3 comments:

Bill Dolton said...

What a wonderful collection of student blogging! Rife with reflection, introspection, and individual voice! Thanks so much for sharing. I referenced your post in my blog to serve as a model of student work and inspiration for teachers in my own district.

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