This blog will be used to show students that math is more than textbooks, lists of problems, and tests. Math is problem-solving, which is something we do every day. We decide how to prioritize our day, how to get from one location to the next, how to navigate relationship challenges, and the list goes on and on. Creative problem solving is not limited to the outside world. I want this blog to be a space to showcase student creativity.
"We live in an era dominated by online media." (Thompson, 2018) This blog will provide my students with an introduction to the "mathematical blogosphere [which] is alive and well." (Thompson, 2018)
In this blog, I will highlight student work as they "develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions" and as they "communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals." (ISTE, 2016a) I will provide prompts and assignments for students to show how they can do math differently, and I will post work on this blog to brag about my students.
As an educator, it is my job and my goal to "continually improve [my] practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning." (ISTE, 2016b) I have classes full of students with so much to teach me, and this blog is a space for all that work to come together. I want my "students to positively contribute to and responsibly contribute in the digital world. (ISTE, 2016b) This blog will start our collaboration, and perhaps we will grow and create class and student blogs. The possibilities are endless!
References
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016a) ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016b) ISTE standards for educators. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators
Thompson, K. (2018). A survey of the math blogosphere. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 8(1), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.201802.09
Ms. Kaufman, First of all, I love your positive approach to math. When I was a young student, math always scared me, so I would have appreciated your optimistic demeanor. Your idea to showcase student work on this blog and celebrate student success will certainly create student buy-in, helping create an atmosphere where they want to do their best work! I, too, will be utilizing a blog in my classroom. I feel skeptical about my students posting online because I worry about occasional negative comments from the public, but I remembered that I will be moderating the blog, so I can control what gets published. That is definitely one of the advantages of a blog compared to Twitter.
ReplyDeleteI am working on a new approach to my class this year, so thank you for supporting my new ideas. I worry about the negative comments too, which may be part of the reason why I'm starting with my own blog and building to student blogs. But you bring the up the point that we are in charge of the blogs, so monitoring it will be of the utmost importance.
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