Pythagoras rap

sorry I have no video of me performing this rap but there are actions...


If you want the hypotenuse
You gotta use Pythagoras
Square
Square
Add
Square root

you'll have to search for the trigonometry rap

using wikis to encourage reflective writing

Please see www.splatshs.wetpaint.com - 'what's new' page and find the three attachments for an article about using wiki technology to encourage reflective writing for teacher PD. This article is published in vol 59, no 3 of Education today, journal of the College of Teachers and will soon be accessible on their website www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk

using wikis in school

I have three main ways of using wikis in high school.

With students, we have the relevant wiki page for that lesson on the IWB and they can type up any time they like during the lesson - even when they are doing assessments - e.g. I'm stuck on Q3 - they can type up ideas to help each other or if we are at a stalemate I type up hints [Thanks to @jimwysocki for a comment via Twitter for querying this so I'm making it clearer - I hope - I don't do this in tests that 'count', only in practice tests so that they can share strategies]. This way their reflections and collaborations are saved for them to come back to any time. They also have regular homeworks which ask them to summarise a topic and what they have learned or to post about key words. I blog my lesson evaluations so that they can see them (not stuff about individual students obviously). This year, I am going to experiment with getting collaborative group work going.

With staff we have two wikis, one private and one public. The private one came first and people added resources and their reflective writing.

The new public one (SPLAT) has resources attached to our weekly professional development sessions and I am hoping that people will blog their reflections on each session on the wiki. I am also hoping some collaborative work will develop here.

It would be great to hear from anyone who has done anything like this and how I can improve it.

latest post on ePortfolios

first thoughts about ePortfolios some thoughts that may be applicable to my work as CPD leader at school

blogging my self evaluation so students can share

First attempt at blogging how my own lesson evaluation went in student-speak (age 15). I am going to ask them next lesson what they think of it.

This is what I wrote:
8th September 2009 - solving equations
Well we have had two lessons so far (1 single and 1 double). I am pleased that every student has made progress during those lessons. Some of them have also made a good start on keeping a learning journal - I need to persuade the rest that it is well worth it.

I am glad that all but a few have really concentrated on their work. I still got that old favourite ' I was chatting but I was working as well' - I need to show that you can do even more if you don't chat off task - if we can get the technology working better, they will be coming up and typing on the board to maintain their attention a bit more.

I'd be really grateful for comments or if others have tried something like this

using student feedback

I was browsing through the two new wikis I have set up for my High School students for this new year. They'll have their first lessons on 7th September. I always put personal pages on the wikis so that students can keep their learning journals online if they wish to do so. I also always put my own page on - but why? I think that this year I will use it to reflect back their evaluations of our lessons to them.

I generally ask students to use traffic light cards during and at the end of lessons to say if they think the lesson objective was met, partly met, or not met. This is helpful for me to plan the next lesson and also to target students who need help or extension work.

So here's my idea. I'll use my personal page on their wiki to reflect on how the lesson went - using their feedback. Hopefully, they will contribute to it to say if certain activities went well or not.

Has anyone else tried anything like this? I'd love some comments and ideas.

small group work in class

Following some ideas from Larry Ferlazzo's blog on how to make small group work I started thinking about extending my 'don't pass notes in class' idea to group work. So I immediately added group pages and instructions to my two private class wikis for next term. The idea is that when they are working on an assignment in a group, they can add a page for that project and type up a group learning journal with ideas about who said what, who had an idea, who brought some resources, and final presentation of work.

I'll let you know in a few weeks' time ...