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.
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.
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!
Hello Mr. Webb, I am in class with the students right now, and we are leaving you this comment as a thank you from our class for all that you have contributed so far. We will be addressing the topic of iPods in the classroom sometime this week. We are thinking that maybe we could have a classroom debate on the issue of whether iPods should be allowed to be used in class as a learning tool. Maybe we could skype you into the classroom during the debate?
The students are impressed with your blog post, they are really impressed at how you used links to other websites and materials. You are doing a great job, keep it up! We look forward to talking to you soon.
Mr. Poluk, I would love to be included in that debate, or just even to observe. Maybe this could be another podcast for your class, if you were able to record it somehow.