Webb of Thoughts

So far my mentorships have been going very well.  I’m really enjoying working with all of my mentors and we have been learning alot from one another.

With Mr Kaechele, in Kentwood, Michigan.  I created a math video for his class that went over very well.    You can view it here, and his students’ response here. His class also has blogs, but I’ve honesty struggled trying to keep up with them and comment.  I will be trying to do this more in the next while. I’m not entirely sure what is next for me and this class, but I cannot wait to find out.   Hopefully we can arrange another Skype meeting or I can make another video or problems for his class.

I got overwhelming feedback on the video but I still felt it could  have been better.  I wanted to get the students thinking more outside of the box.  Really, it was just a textbook-type problem put into a video, and I didn’t want it to be a typical math problem.  Then I noticed Dan Meyer had created a post on his blog, dy/dan, regarding my video:Redesigned: Kyle Webb.  He went into some great detail about what I could have done different to make this problem less like a typical textbook problem.  ”The fix is simple but difficult: be less helpful.”  He told our ECMP 355 class this when he presented to us.  His feedback was priceless and something I would have never received had I just presented it to a class.  It’s been awesome having an audience outside of just our class to get some more comments on my work.  So far there have been 366 plays of the video.

Skype with Mr. Poluk

With Mr. Poluk, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  I have been having Skype meetings with him and his class.  In the last meeting we did a quick Q & A session where we talked about Bitstrips, a comic site they are using, some science, and about podcasts.  His class had created an awesome podcast, which you can view here.  I also told them about my math problem video, and they are going to use it as well.  I told them about my final project about using iPods in the classroom and Mr. Poluk is planning on having his students do some sort of writing assignment about using them in the classroom, which will be great for giving me a student perspective for the project.  I hope we can do another Skype call again this Friday.

Adobe Connect with Ms. Ionno

With Ms. Ionno, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, I haven’t been doing too much because she has been in the middle of some class restructuring.  However, last weekend we were able to use Adobe Connect and talk one on one for a while and make a plan for what’s coming up.  Last Thursday, I was going to do and Q & A session with her students and their parents, however we encountered some technical sss difficulties and had to reschedule.  You can read more about that here.  We are now meeting on this upcoming Thursday for a Q & A session and I will also do a quick lesson on area and circumferences of circles and present my video for a problem with her students.   I’m a little nervous for it, but at the same time very excited to do it.  It still blows my mind that I’m working with students 4000+ km away from me!

Overall, I’m really happy with how these mentorships have been going.  I just wish I  had more time to dedicate towards them!

This past Friday I connected with another one of my ECMP Mentorhips!  This one is with Mike Poluk from Sault St. Marie, Ontario.  This is my only mentorship within Canada, but is by no means close to me.  Sault St. Marie is some 1500 kms away from Regina.

I quickly introduced myself to his class before they headed outside for a project.  They were quite surprised that we had snow already!

The class just created a Project Earth Homes (inspired by this blog) where they were split into groups and given half of an hour to gather 25 natural objects and build an earth home (perhaps inspired by earth houses I found on Wikipedia).  Mr. Poluk has created a video of the creations which can be seen here.

This week the class is setting up blogs and learning about blogging etiquette.  I’m excited to see what kind of blogs the students come up with.

I will also be using Skype once again to interact with the class this Friday! I can’t wait!

Two of my student mentorships for ECMP 355 have already begun.

The First Email from a Student!

Over the weekend, I created this video for Ms. Ionno’s class in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to introduce myself to her students.  I’ve had one student already email me informing me that NASCAR fans are crazier than Saskatchewan Roughrider fans.  (The video is at the bottom of this blog post)

This morning I also got up early and spoke with Michael Kaechele‘s Grade 6 Math Class and his Grade 8 Tech Class later on.  I did this through Skype, which was really neat as the students were all able to ask me questions.  The most interesting question?: “Why don’t you have a Canadian accent?”

These were both scary but exciting experiences.  It boggles my mind that 11 and 12 year olds in Florida were watching a video of me.  And talking to 6th and 8th graders in Michigan over the internet was really neat.

I can’t wait to get deeper into these mentorships and get my other two going!