My Summary of Learning is complete! I used GoAnimate this year and I liked it but I think in terms of sharing it afterward, I prefer Powtoon, which I used for my Summary of Learning for EC&I834 (although that video is a blend of Powtoon and other video editing programs).
Thanks for the great course everyone! I enjoyed learning with and from each of you!
This week, we were asked to reflect on Tony Bate’s chapter on the different types of media that can be used in the classroom. Initially, I thought I was right on board with many others such as Kelsie, Ashley, and Liz and that I prefer and learn best from text but as I was reading through the various other posts by our eci834 classmates, I realized that maybe I learn better through audio than I had thought.
I would like to address what Bates calls the unappreciated medium of audio. I love audio, and not just of the musical sort. About 2 years ago, I was encouraged by my sister-in-law to listen to the podcast Serial (Season 1) and I was very tentative to jump on board, I didn’t think that I would like just the audio. I had always had text in front of me before, I was sure I wouldn’t want to just listen to someone talk. The long, and uneventful drive from my home in Kipling to Regina that I was making at least once a week for classes was the reason I decided to try it out…and I LOVED IT! Now, it is a very interesting, even addicting, story (you seriously need to listen) which probably helped keep me interested but it made me think that this might be a good way to stay more up-to-date on my growing “to read” list. So, I downloaded Audible and decided to tackle a massive series, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, all 201 hours, 41 minutes of it, and my love of audio was fully confirmed. Since finishing what has been published of that series, I have started to listen to some of the more classic works on my list, The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and I am just about finished The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
My love of audio goes further than just listening to content. I find I focus better when I am listening to something, even if I am trying to read. While reading Bates’ Chapter 9 for this week’s class, I was listening to Spotify’s Intense Studying playlist., it helps keep me focused and minimizes the distractions around me.
Even though I enjoy audio, when I comes to what may be considered more academic reading, I still think I prefer text. Andrew‘s approach of which medium is the best for him is probably closest to my overall views of media. It depends on mood, topic, and the quality of the resource. Liz mentioned that she often writes and highlights all over text that she reads and I do the same. Last semester I took EADM 814 and found that I had notes, questions, and definitions jotted everywhere to ensure that I understood the cases we were studying. In this course, I struggle not to print the textbook readings so that I can make my notes in the sidelines. Luckily, I have found that Evernote is helping me break free of my not so eco-friendly habits.
Video is, of course, an amazing media to use when teaching as it can incorporate the audio and the text features along with visuals. Angela and Chalyn describe the way that video integrates all of these mediums.
What do I use when I teach? I use a blend of all three. I agree with Jannae that in teaching math, especially at the high school level, there is a need for text in the form of mathematical symbols. But I also describe what I am doing in each step of my work as we go through examples and I encourage my students to do the same. Bates references this stating that “explaining or ‘talking through’ materials presented through text, such as mathematical equations, reproductions of paintings, graphs, statistical tables, and even physical rock samples” can be “particularly ‘potent'” (Bates, 2015, 7.3.2). At the end of a concept, I try to incorporate a video that is well done and applicable. Much like Logan, I think I integrate both the text digitally on my SMART Board and the audio in the form of lecture and video.
It seems I am a part of a very small group of audio-lovers. Are you tentative like me to jump in or have you had a bad experience? Would you consider it for the “right” topics?
For this week’s blog, we were asked to either critique a unit of instruction done by someone else, or to use one of the content creation tools that we discussed to create our own content. I have decided to do both.
Like Andrew mentioned in his post Crash Course – 7 Thumbs Up!, I also like to use videos in my teaching for both learning a new concept as well as for review. I am a huge fan of the Crash Course videos as well as I use historyteachers as they present the information in a unique manner and give students another perspective or way of viewing things that help the importance of what we are discussing sink in.
As a math teacher, finding videos that are not super cheesy but that are mathematically sound is not an easy task. I also try to stay away from videos that fall into the “math is not cool” or “wow that person is a nerd” stereotype such as Mathmaticious. That is why I was pumped when I stumbled across WSHSMath‘s channel. They only have 7 videos but they are QUALITY. They are created by a group of teachers at Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio. The next video that I will be using in my classroom is the factoring video.
I love that they remake popular songs and sing/rap about mathematics concepts. This is Teach Me How to Dougie by Cali Sway District, but they also use Yeah! by Usher, Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It by Will Smith and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. They have their students in their videos as well. I find that this helps my students relate more as they can see people their age involved and engaged in the content (not to mention, some of them have some sweet dance skills).
These videos are catchy and educational, I will often hear students in the hallways humming the melodies after watching the video in class. (I am sure they are not thinking the “math lyrics” but a teacher can only hope!)
So, how hard would these be to recreate by the “average” teacher?
Personally, I do not have a singing voice nor am I very good with the remixing of the lyrics. To recreate an entire song would probably take me weeks or months of trying to make it work and sound good. I would say that these three gentlemen are masters of the parody of lyrics, but, that doesn’t mean it is out of reach for the average teacher, just maybe for me.
Their students are amazing. I am pretty sure that I could convince my students to join me in making a video such as this if I had the right “motivation” (which could be as simple as a candy at the end). If you are passionate about your project, I think that most teachers would be able to gain a dancing posse for videos such as these.
So what about the graphics? This is where I am going to try to out a new tool! I am going to try to recreate some of the graphics in the video Teach Me How To Factor (above).
The Difference of Squares example
I did not rap, but I did go over the example in a (not very catchy) way. The graphics were not very difficult. I used SMART Notebook and SMART Recorder to take the video.
Overall, I think that this would be an achievable goal for many teachers. And, knowing how my students react to these videos, I think that it holds a lot of value for students. It is not a lesson in itself as many of the videos glaze over some of the key things that are needed for understanding but as a review, I feel that they have done an amazing job of their videos! What do you think?
When I started to recreate the graphics, I really tried to used Screencastify but it repeatedly froze my computer for some reason. I will try again in the future but for now, I will settle for using SMART products instead of more “open” options. I am also very intrigued by Audacity for my Social Studies classes I did record myself reading out of a mathematics book that I own A Curious History of Mathematics by Joel Levy and will probably be playing around with that in the near future.
UPDATE: I have figured out Screencastify and have made a how-to video of me uploading files to Canvas in the modules. More work to come on organizing the course!
Kara Taylor's Blog 