Following:

The blog I have been following posted on September 21st. In this blog, Darren Kuropatwa asserts that the problem with math education is that too much emphasis is placed on content and not enough emphasis on skills. He says that the emphasis should be on "pattern recognition," since this is what explains science as well as the world around us. He challenges his readers to consider making patterns the focal point, and asks if that is not an important math skill. His reasoning is that math is essential to understanding the world. In essence, my understanding of what he is saying, is that the learning of these skills is key to being able to figure out "what to do when you don't know what to do."
I think that what he is saying is necessary to think about. Math patterns are found in all of science, whether it is gravity and the planets, relativity, momentum, chemistry or just the cycles of life and ecosystems. If a child can learn to recognize patterns around him it can serve to help him understand the system and concepts of math better. In turn this may serve to give students clues as to how to solve difficult math problems. I think this type of thinking would even help me as an educator. As an educator I need to realize that all the things I teach are interrelated in so many ways. If I can learn to see the connectedness of each subject, then I can find ways to correlate one idea in one subject to another idea in another. I think this may be something I will need to think about and learn to incorporate into my teaching skills. I hope that he will post more on this and maybe elaborate as to how to teach math patterns as a skill.

When I Google My Name:

The first time I googled my name, my husband John's name came up under Intelius with my name listed as a possible relative. Then my name came up listed as having a Facebook account--which I do---but that was not the Virginia Grimes I was looking for. I found pages and pages of "Virginia Grimes" using the quotation marks and variations such as adding my middle name, or alternating with my maiden name.
The only hit I got that was actually me, was my third attempt with Intelius which listed me as living in Anchorage and the cities I've lived in, in Colorado. The only other hit I got that was really me was listed with Classmates. com under my maiden name. Incidently, my profile with Classmates.com is incomplete and only tells where and when I graduated from high school.
It was interesting to see an obituary listed for a rather aged Virginia Grimes, and also one listed for a Virginia Hardman. Hmmm. I found there to be all kinds of "Virginia Grimes" out there, which surprised me, but none of them are me. I guess my identity is safe for the moment.

Tech Tool:

In looking for educational uses for the tech tool I explored last week (nasa.gov) I started with Youtube. I watched a Tech Watch video titled, "Nasa's Newtools: technologies effect on schools (Part3). It simply noted that the gaming and simulation used in on the nasa site has been proven to obtain higher results in learning. They noted that watching animation of a frog dissection in tandem with performing a frog dissection brought higher results. Technology and Cognition together bring higher quality of learning, and gives students ways to produce, be engaged, and thus be able to reflect on their own learning.
I then went to the ISTE site and found Nasa"s Robotic Clearing House: http://robitics.nasa.gov/rcc
This site maintains a link to lesson plans. Teachers can search the site by grade level and find full range courses or just a single lesson plan. These are good for math, physics, English and the arts. They focus on inspiring interest in STEM skills---science, math, technology and engineering.

Following:

The education blog that I plan to follow is from Darren Kuropatwa, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The title of his blog is "A Difference", and is found at : http://adifference.blogspot.com
Darren Kuropatwa is a math teacher. His last posting was on September 10, 2009. He shares strategies for teaching EAL (English as an additional language) students. He discusses the language of mathematics and how it plays an important role in the development of mathematical ability.
An archive post that he also posted on September 10, lists the the 10 Commandments for Teachers. Some of these are: "Be interested in your subject", "Know your subject", "Let them learn guessing", "Let them learn proving", and "Know about the ways of learning: the best way to learn anything is to discover it by yourself."
I noticed that in 2006 he was an EduBlog award winner, for best teacher blog post. I like the quote that he has at the top of his profile page. It reads: "We sometimes feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

Do You want to know what works in Technology? Ask your students.

This article, by David Andreade, advocates the use of student evaluations and focus groups to discuss what does and does not work in the classroom. He purported that most research and educational programs are written by those who have spent little or no time in the actual classroom.
Gleaning what students say works for them in the classroom is a great and honest way to bring effective change as an educator.
Some of the student complaints talked about the overuse of powerpoint and a teacher trying to present too much text on a slide. I have found this to be true in my own education. As these students lamented, I too feel the need to try to copy all the text and then fail to hear what the teacher is saying in regards to the text. Whereas powerpoint certainly has its place as a visual presentation, often good class discussions and interactions can stimulate more learning and interest than a dry lesson.
I realize that the students the author garnered his information from were high school students. However, the need for interaction, respect, personal acknowledgment, and interaction remain the same for any age level. I agree that it is also very important for a teacher to be passionate about what they are teaching, as well as being well versed in the subject so that they do not lose the credibility or the interest of their students.
I agree that homework should be meaningful and aid in the learning process. When students feel overwhelmed they begin to feel hopeless and learning is hindered. Overall, from this article I am reminded to focus on the needs of my students and always strive to gauge what is working for them to give them the best education possible.

Using Technologies with Students/Parents:

I found a variety of tools that can be used from the nasa.gov site. There are sources directly labeled as education tools for particular grade levels. One site was titled "Play and Learn Educators Tools." These tools are interactive and a great way to incite learning. These sites also explore space, black holes, comets, and the planets, as well as some aspects of physics and space exploration.
These tools can be used in the classroom as a place for the child to learn and explore in a hands on way. Since these sites are accessed online the child can continue to explore at home and initiate the involvement of their parents in their learning.
The documentary tools are useful in terms of facts and data. The pictures are visually exciting and pique the interest of young minds. The interactive tools not only capture the imagination as do the images, but they also teach the child how to use technical tools, how to think and figure things out in a hands on way that gives them instant feedback. This is a great way to engage children and to generate a desire to learn and explore more as well as to integrate technology into their learning process.

My First Impression:

I looked at several different sights such as scratch just trying to get a feel for what was being offered. I didn't actually download enough to interact with all that scratch had to offer. Initially, though I was able to use a couple of programs such as symmetry. It was interesting and creative but seemed to offer little beyond that.
Nasa. gov. though is the sight that really intrigued me. We used some programs from that sight in our LSIS A 202 Science and Processes class. Though the programs we used were geared for young children, it helped us as college students to grasp the concepts and visually see what we were learning. These programs are fun, easy to use, stimulate learning, and are interactive as well as very educational. I think they have a lot to offer.

How Do Images Fit Into the NETS-T?

As teachers seek to inspire their students in technology usage, images should always be taken into consideration. Many students have artistic talents that can be challenged in their usage of images and technology. Children can learn basic techniques of cropping and resizing images and adding them to their class projects. Children also learn to research for images to add to book reports or research projects. Many children are already using digital cameras to create and edit videos to post on my-space and such.
In terms of the NETS-T, the publication of images should be addressed in the same way as any other publication downloaded and cited from the internet. Students need to be responsible with images just as they would with any other information.

Comparison of the old and new NETS-T

A brief overview of the new and old NETS-T showed very little difference between the two. However, as I studied the NETS-T 2000 further it became apparent that the times have changed significantly.
The 2000 standards are very general, and only marginally assume any extensive use of technology in the classroom. The implication I gather from the 2000 standards were that they were written as a means of addressing the current changes that had taken place in technology at that time, and were written as basic precautions, should problems arise.
It is interesting to note that internet usage was only beginning to be popular in 2000. In the eight year span between the new and old standards, cell phones, text messaging, ipods, facebook, myspace and a myriad of other media and technical advances have come into play in a huge way in our society. As was noted in the videos, technology and its usage have grown exponentially!
The idea of digital citizenship did not exist in the year 2000. Now the influx of information that can be retrieved from thousands of sights is mind boggling. Our society has become face-less on so many levels. Electronic communication has become a standard of communication in our society, and with it come a slue of ethical and legal issues to be addressed.
The newer standards do not just suggest, but expect teachers to implement higher levels of technology into the classroom. The newer standards also address the idea that our expression and retrieval of information is not just national, but global. With this in mind teachers in the 21st century are expected to use, understand and implement technology into the classroom in such a way that students are stimulated to learn and to be creative, as well as find new ways to use technology to broaden the world they live in. In addition, students need to be challenged so that they can be functioning and productive citizens in society and in the workplace.