The Gifted Side

Throughout the course of the semester, I have seen that my use and ideals regarding technology in the classroom have been broadened and challenged at the same time. Entering the semester, my perfect idea of technology being used appropriately within the classroom models the very vague and basic use of technology. This includes the following: smartboards, elmo, iPads, Chromebooks, etc. in which the students would be able to use inside and outside of the classroom. However, as previously stated, my ideals of technology changed vastly in such ways that I believe I will be able to incorporate within the classroom from my first year until my last year of teaching. As I have developed and maintained my technology annotations (resources) over the course of the semester, I have realized the depth in which one is able to take into the technology that can be used efficiently and effectively within the classroom.

As we learned in our face-to-face classes during this semester, we talked about the difference between replacement, transformation, and differentiation when using technology. Thus, throughout the course of the semester I placed my focus on the transformation and differentiation of my instruction when using technology. What I emphasized and focused on was when offering and using resources within the classroom, would the students be replacing the previous types of instruction or were they benefiting from the use of the given technology? This is an important question that I believe ALL teachers should consider when providing instruction to their students. Thus, I realized the importance of even applications that can be used within classroom for my present and future students.

The specific technology piece that I would like to reference within this post is flipgrid (feel free to click on this link to have a "tour" of the website). Students are able to use this to post videos to communicate their reasoning and problem solving skills to a thread that would be posted by a teacher and/or another student. Within flipgrid, the teacher is "in charge" in such a way that they are able to organize and maintain the discussions that are posted. This technology tool is easy and free to use and can be used with any device including computers, iPads, Android devices, and even cell phones. Basically, any piece of equipment in which one is able to take video can be used with flipgrid. regarding gifted students, we see that they are able to take the knowledge that they have obtained from the classroom and are able to apply it in such ways that will not be capped within the classroom. They will have free reign to develop problem solving strategies that they would be able to post outside the classroom to be evaluated by other students and/or the teacher themselves. We can also see that this is a great tool to use for formative assessment as we are able to capture the students knowledge based on their reasoning and skills that they used within the video that they have posted to the thread/topic.

Furthermore, we see that this tool allows for students to work independently but also be able to watch and respond to one another to give their own voice to the specific problem/solution that was proposed. I have seen and plan to see my future gifted students able to respond to students who have posted questions about the topic instead of the teacher simply replying. Also, we are able to grasp multiple means of solutions that the students have created to give differentiation to the instruction (even though it is outside of the classroom). By using this tool, we see that all students have their own voice by posting their own videos without feeling pressured as one possibly would in front of the classroom. We can also think about the lesson extending into the flipgrid tool by proposing different means of obtaining the same results that we had within the classroom and also proposing connections that the students would be able to find after they have been exposed to the material inside of the classroom. Finally, I believe that the gifted students would be able to expand their communication skills by basically taking the "teaching role" by posting videos to responses. Instead of the students having more work thrown at them to "keep them busy," it could be suggested that the students use this tool to broaden their communication skills and their problem solving skills by helping the students who have posted their own videos if they had questions and/or other means of problem solving. Thus, I believe that this technology piece involves all types of learners and would definitely be a use of formative assessment and could possibly be used as a summative assessment tool that I may incorporate within my TILP.

Digital Citizenship

Newsletter "Did You Know..." 

Technology has and will shape our ideas of education over the next few decades in ways that we see as being advantages and disadvantages. At this point, we know that more than 50% of jobs within the world have some form of technology skills that are needed. Within the decade, there are predictions that state that the percentage will increase to more than 70% of jobs will contain some form of technology skills. Thus, we must be able to prepare our students in an informative and assertive way so that they are able to be efficient and safe within the technology world. When we enter the real world, whether that be a post-secondary education and/or the working world, we will need to go for interviews to obtain the jobs in which we desire. At this point, we are able to search a person at ease and find out a multitude of information upon that person. Students need to realize the seriousness of the technology world in which they participate in especially social media. Within the classroom, we will discuss the seriousness and danger of posting to social media and teach technological skills to our students such that they are fully prepared and aware of the technology world and it's usefulness upon graduation. 

Trigonometry Architecture

Within my EDT 370 class that I am currently taking at Grand Valley State University, we had the opportunity to create a digital story about a lesson that we "taught" within our classroom. Please find the logistics of the lesson below:

Students had to create a blueprint of a portion of the city that was currently under development. They were broken up into teams within the classroom and had to use trig based mathematics that they were currently studying to create the blueprint. Upon completion of this, they then had to present the blueprint to real architects of the city to see which plan would be "chosen" for the development!

Just Give Me Paper and Pencil.

How is this helping me? 

Students always seem to ask these questions within the classroom. "When will I ever use this?" "How is this helping me?" And now, another question that I am hearing from students is the following: "Can I just use paper and pencil?" As we step foot into the classroom, we are starting to see an increase in the use of technology within lessons across disciplines. Specifically relating to a mathematics classroom, I have seen students struggle with using technology for the purpose of transforming the lesson so that they can better understand and comprehend the concepts being taught. But, I argue that the students are struggling because they are not being taught to use the technology in a transformative way but rather a replacement way. If students are able to use pencil and paper (which is what they have done in the past) for the given activities within a lesson, then technology is not being used to it's full potential. One of the main reasons as to why I believe that technology should be used within a classroom in a transformative sense is for students to investigate mathematical concepts in which wouldn't be able to exist within a 2-Dimensional world (paper and pencil). 

In today's society we, as a whole, are moving constantly. This being said, the fact that we are able to stay in contact with one another and communicate on a consistent basis needs to be extended to the classroom. In my personal experience, I have seen technology used in such a way that students are able to communicate with one another on a consistent basis even when they are not in the specific classroom. Say that a teacher is giving a summative assessment on a Monday and has a review set up on Friday. The teacher can set it up so that the review is online in which students are able to complete within class with one another as a collaboration piece but then they are also able to work on the same review guide over the weekend. If the teacher used an interactive program such as Classkick (which I have used within the classroom that I am Teacher Assisting in right now) then the teacher is able to set it up so that students are able to help one another out with the given problems. In my eyes, this is a transformative use of technology rather than a replacement piece. If the students were simply sending emails to the teacher over the weekend to communicate about misconceptions then that would just be a replacement piece. By the teacher using this program, or one similar, which gives the students an opportunity to work and help one another, I believe that this is transformative given the fact that this could not have been completed unless students were to meet over the weekend to study (which in many cases is not plausible). 

One of my biggest concerns about my future teaching is for the questions that I stated previously. When students are questioning when they are going to use the mathematical concepts in the future then I know that I am not doing my job righteously. I believe that these questions would diminish through the use of technology within the classroom. In all honesty, there are not many jobs in the real world in which people are using Algebra to solve systems of equations or finding the area under a curve for a specific project. But, when the use of technology is introduced to students and we are able to make connections with the real world in which they will be entering at one point or another, then it starts to make sense to them. The millions and millions of programs in which we have at our fingertips is thrilling to me. We are entering a day and age in which we are able to accomplish within minutes what it took months for others to complete just a mere 50 years ago. With making these connections and by providing the tools for our students that they need we see the understanding of using technology within the classroom skyrocket. 

The Organizational Piece

Growing up, I would say that one of the many aspects that I have noticed about people that I have met whether it be within a personal or professional setting, is their sense of organization. With the given profession that we are going into, I believe that the organizational piece is incredibly important. With that being said, technology can be used to keep our students and ourselves organized in such a way that is non-distracting and gives us the ability to flow. When referring to the High Level Teaching Strategies, we see a numerous amount of strategies in which need organization to be accomplished. Specifically speaking, student feedback. When considering the use of technology within the classroom, we can start by having assignments to be submitted via technology. This avoids students having trouble finding their assignments or losing them or leaving them at home/school. That's one organizational piece that is cured. 

Another piece, would be the ability for a teacher to give the student feedback on their assignments (formative or summative). When the student is able to gather the feedback via technology, this is yet another piece that is not lost. Also, the students are able to gather the feedback in a personal space instead of having to obtain the said feedback within class (many would be fine with this but for some this is important). This gives the students the opportunity to compare the feedback to their own work and adjust accordingly so that they are able to obtain a better grade through revision or just to be able to have it as a resource moving forward within their class. In regards to the teacher, it provides an organizational piece by simply having the assignments turned into the same location via technology. But as we refocus our attention onto the High Level Teaching Strategies, we can also see that through this process of turning the assignments in via technology, then the teacher is able to develop and implement lesson plans according to the needs of the students as a whole. We are able to use technology to confirm the misconceptions within assessments (through the use of statistics) which would then guide the teacher to develop the future lessons in a given way. These are just a few of the reasons as to why technology can be used as a transformative piece within my future classroom. 

Technology Inventory

Hardware & Peripherals:

Currently, I am Teacher Assisting at Creekside Middle School which is located within the Zeeland Public Schools School District. I have 8th grade mathematics students who have a 1-to-1 technology based policy at the school. This means that each student from elementary to high school is given an iPad in which they are able to take back and forth from school to home on a daily basis. The teacher that I have been placed with has utilized this opportunity in which she has decided to teach from a "flipped classroom" perspective. This is working absolutely brilliantly with the students, which will be elaborated on periodically during this blog. In regards to specific hardware, within the classroom we have a main computer (PC), an Epson projector with smart-board, ELMO document camera, portable (wireless) document camera, and iPads. Students typically do not have and/or use cell phones within this classroom because they have other means of technology to utilize throughout the course of the hour in which they are in. It is promoted and mandated for the students to use technology either individually or in groups (some naturally forget their iPads or need to charge them) in such a way that the lesson plans incorporate technology on most days. This is because the students have the means to use technology and it is beneficial to use the technology to "see" the mathematics in a new way that they may not have seen during the notes/instruction. 

Infrastructure: 

Seeing as the students are able to have iPads throughout the school day, a wireless internet connection is needed throughout the district, which is provided. The students also have a media center in which they have a section of computers for the students to use if they do not have their iPads or if they need a more structured hardware type of equipment. When working with the students on their iPads, I have seen that the firewall is rather strict based on the "hacks" that the school has endured over the past few years. It is so strict that I can't even connect my own computer (PC) to the guest network because of the massive amount of issues that have arose in the past. The only way that one, such as a guest like myself, is able to connect to the wireless internet is having an Apple based product which includes Macs, iPads, etc. Luckily enough, I have my own iPad in which I am able to connect to the network so that I am able to utilize the same programs that the students are using within the classroom to solve their problems that are being assigned. The IT Department are the ones who fix the issues that students/teachers/admin have if another teacher/admin in the building is unable to fix. The specific teacher that I am assisting for uses technology so much that many come to her to see if she is able to fix their issues. She is considered to be one of the individuals that others "seek out" with their technology issues so she is even paid a little extra by taking upon this role within the building. If there is an issue with a student's iPad I typically see that the student is given a "loaner" or they have their's returned within the next few days so that they are able to keep using it within the classroom. 

Software/Electronic Subscriptions: 

One of the main software programs that the students use for my given classroom is called Edmodo. This is a platform in which students are able to communicate with teachers, students, etc. about homework or work that they may have missed or simply just being able to ask a question to their given teacher. Within the classroom, we use Edmodo to post notes for students to use since the classroom is a Flipped Classroom or even if we are assigning a few problems over the course of a weekend. This is a great way to communicate with students such that they get notifications on their iPad and they are able to log in and locate their homework/notes/etc. on the daily. We also have textbooks that stay within the classroom because the students have eBook versions as well located on their iPads. The textbook company that we are using is called Holt and we have both the Algebra and Geometry books within the classroom that I have been placed within. I use these resources for some of the lesson plans that I have created thus far for the students. My Coordinating Teacher and I also use iBook to create notes for the students since they are doing them at home before they come to class the next day. We also use free online programs such as Geogebra, Desmos, Socrative, Quizziz, etc. to create activities for the students and allow the students to explore by using these programs. We are able to create activities ranging from small (warm-ups) to whole quizzes in which they are able to just simply take them on their iPad and submit them electronically. I have realized how many positives are coming from technology especially when you are using a Flipped Classroom design. Mathematics is a very hard concept in which technology is used for because some of the design process takes an insane amount of time. But, there are more and more resources that are being created and implemented to help with this and I believe that the technology implementation is key for students and development learning techniques within the 21st century. 

Technicool - The use of Technology within the Mathematical Classroom

One of the most exciting parts of society in this day and age is technology. There are so many different aspects of life that have been able to come alive just from the mere part of technology and the advancements that we have made even over the past few years. The reason in which I decided to go into the mathematical field was because of how visual the concepts and ideas are. The more that I learned about mathematics, the more I was able to put ideas and concepts together which made an even larger picture for me. During my time while attending high school, there were few technology bases for us to use within the classroom. Even the limited amount of technology that we had didn't give our teachers enough confidence to implement them on a large scale, especially in the mathematics department.

As we enter a very unique and important time with teaching, technology is going to be able to give us advancements in which we were never going to be able to use in the past. First off, the technology that is provided within the district that I have been placed in is phenomenal. I see the students using their iPads and computers consistently during the day for the right reasons. As these technological pieces have been made, developers have had to create new and exciting programs for teachers to use within the classroom using these technological pieces.

Looking down the road, I believe that I would be able to use twitter in a sense that my students would be able to use for their own and to help their peers. I have already seen that on a snow day, the students at the school that I have been placed at have been able to communicate with each other and the teacher(s) on problems that they are trying to produce in order to stay on task. Knowing that teachers are not able to lose days of instruction, when we have these interruptions we are able to manage an environment that can stay up to speed even from home. The students would be able to take pictures of their work and submit them using twitter, for example, and get feedback from their peers and instructor(s) in order to allow them to complete the problem without confusing themselves further. The final note that I will attach to using technology within the classroom is the fact that technology is not going to be going away when the students that we are teaching enter the real world. With using the technology within the classroom they are getting more practice in which they will be able to apply to a post secondary education and/or work field given their interest.

About Me

To begin, my name is Nicholas (Nick) Karavas. Some aspects of life that I enjoy to do are golf, tennis, reading, football (watching and playing), research, and doing mathematics when I have time to understand the deepness and uniqueness of certain mathematical concepts. I grew up on the east side of Michigan in a small town called Cass City for the first part of my life, which then my family relocated to Lapeer prior to the beginning of my 8th grade year. I started my college life at Western Michigan and then transferred into Grand Valley at the beginning of my Sophomore year. Prior to the beginning of my junior year, I was studying to become a lawyer but then soon changed over to mathematics.

In February 2016, I decided to take a year off and obtain my BS in Mathematics from Grand Valley State University. When moving back to the east side of the state, I ended up obtaining a job as a long term substitute teacher where I taught Algebra II, Accounting, and Personal Finance. This is when I fell in love with education yet again. Soon after getting into the job, I realized that I wanted to go back to school to obtain my teacher certification which is why I am back at Grand Valley during my Teacher Assisting at Creekside Middle School in Zeeland Public Schools.

The school that I currently am Teacher Assisting at is a 1-to-1 classroom which means that each student has an iPad in which they are able to take home each night. Ms. Maynard's classroom has taken advantage of this 1-to-1 situation and has developed a classroom that is designed on the Backward Classroom Design in which the students are doing instruction at home on their iPads and then coming to class to do group work and hands-on activities. I have used programs such as Desmos and Geogebra in order to develop some type of manipulatives for the students to use both at my long term subbing position and the Teacher Assisting position that I am currently in. I have also used web-based programs such as Socrative, Sacretes, quizziz, etc. to create activities for students to be able to log into and participate as activities that are either accomplished at home or within the classroom. I have always wanted and always will want to include technology into my classroom in order for my students to succeed as much as they possibly can. This also allows students to see the mathematical concepts in a visual sense in order for them to truly  understand the concepts at hand.

The video that is embedded below is one that is truly important to me. Growing up, one of my favorite holidays to spend with family was the Fourth of July. When we were located in Cass City, we used to have parties in which family and friends would come and set up campers and stay at our house for a brief period of time. In 2015, my father and I spent the Fourth of July together in which we went and saw the best firework show that we have ever seen in Bay City, MI. The reason that this is so important to me at this point is that in early August of 2015, my father passed away unexpectedly. This was one of the last times that we had spent together and looking back, I'm happy to say that I will always have that being one of the last memories that I was able to share with him. I know that the video itself may not seem important to most, but for me, it's one of the most charitable moments that I have to this day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiHWMcToPvk

Finally, the following image is one of the few professional images that I have located on my computer. This will be updated as the semester goes on during my Teacher Assisting position.