Musings from Mrs. Galvan

My algebra and geometry students have been creating digital portfolios (using blogger) for the last 4 school years. Summer 2013, spurred on by my school's upcoming 1:1 laptop program, I attended CUE Rockstar conference. While there, I had time to think about how I might have my students use their laptops in class. I wanted them to be able to look at virtual manipulatives , graph things quickly and interactively using desmos, create constructions using geogebra, use online formative assessment tools like socrative and generally be able to use the internet as a tool to enrich their learning. All of these enhance learning, but I was also looking for a way to build in reflection and creativity into class also. After all, as Dewey said  “we do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.” My theory was that blogger would be the house for my students' reflections.  Via the blog they have... ... Reflected on in class problem based learning tasks ...

The following post can also be seen on Chalkup . I stand at the door of my classroom, greeting my 6th period algebra students as they peel themselves from the herd of middle schoolers thundering down the hallway. As my last student makes his way to me and we exchange hellos, inside the classroom, students are already taking their binders from their enormous backpacks while continuing their conversations. Without prompting, their conversations shift to discussing the homework. “Hey did you get number three?” asked one student to her seat partner. Before her partner can answer, another overhears and eagerly jumps in to point out what she did in order to get number three correct. On the other side of the room another student, the appointed classroom manager, takes her completed homework to the front of the room where a document camera is on and ready to project. Seeing her, students quiet. She asks, “Does anyone have any questions?” Hands shoot up and a student requests to see nu...

Tomorrow will mark the end of mt first two weeks in New York. My family arrives this evening. I am both incredibly excited for their arrival and a teensy bit nervous about balancing the workload with my desire to spend time with them (BTW apparently "teensy" isn't a word but "weensy" is - what's with that?). Today then seems to be the shift from being a mom set loose in the big city to learn and grapple with being alone to being a busy mom trying both to learn and have fun with Dave and the kiddos. It seemed appropriate then to take a break from writing the 10 page ethics paper to write a blog post. Somehow I have become a person who takes a break from writing to write something else. I mentioned in my last two posts that things have been making more sense. Yesterday, our class on ethics ended and I am no longer in a quandary over ethics, or rather I am at peace with its vagueness. I finally have a sense as to the possible meaning(s) of the word aestheti...