math from around the farm

This week I have been playing with Google my map, powered by google. I use google often for getting to new places, tracking daily commutes, and for mapping out my farm space. Google Maps is an awesome tool and now there is Google My Maps.

I have played with it a little with adding pins to my favorite places in Hershey. My fiance and I go every year and try a new venue or two each time. We have never stayed in the same hotel and take a different route each time, but we have our favorites!

With google my map app you can pin your destinations and search for nearby places and see them all in route. This is so cool to me because it will make planning easier for this year’s trip. There is also a way to share the map, so my fiancee and anyone else traveling with us will be able to add places they would like to stop, or just view it depending on how I share my map.

This is a great tool and with the video below I am venturing into ways I can use it in my classroom.

This semester has been . . . Strenuous! To say the least. I have learned new things about myself from taking such a strange mix of courses. Currently, I am enrolled in CalcII, Math foundations(completely different description FM the title),Christian theory,and a global learning. My brain hurts when I leave campus !

Apparently I need to brush up on my test taking skills, organize my standing, and sleep more.The semester is Still young so I did some research and grabbed this video from The infographics show on YouTube.

I have learned to reach out to the communities of learners for help. I am not the only person with questions of certain subjects and chances are if you don’t understand something someone has made a video, screen share, blog Post, forum comment . . that would help you arrive to an understanding and create learning network. Technology offers plenty of resources. The most helpful to me this semester has been Slader.com. You can find student derived answers to questions and problems. Not only are the answers there, which can be checked in the back of most text, but the “work” is there and easy to follow. This helps with self Checking work as you can go line by line and find your mistakes. In the event you still cannot follow the site allows you to make comments at areas for the publisher of the answer or anyone else to answer.

When you have a class load and feel overwhelmed; do some thing, say something if not you will be caught in the mud and it will not be easy to play catch up at finals.

I have been trapped in a TV series on Netflix called Playful Kiss. I do not remember how I stumbled onto it, but I am glad I did. The subtitles were easy to follow with pausing here and there. The language is Korean with English subtitles. It is like the equivalent of a romantic comedy. The series extends to this awkward couple handling everyday mishaps and issues. From their high school days to living together.

The series relates to the US in the Romance component imagine every teenage love story. The couple meets by one having a huge crush on the other, friends try to “help”, but do more embarrassing at times, and parents just do not understand.

The difference lies in the humor. The main character Ha Ni is clumsy and at times very clueless. That type of comedy is not really practiced in our recent comedy. Now we have movies and TV shows filled with side jokes, innuendos, and witty humor. Check out some comedy moments here or below and check out the show!

I have always had twitter, but never got into using it until taking the class Global Web Tools. Part of this class involved us creating a social presence on twitter. Being involved in a community of professionals sharing ideas and giving feedback, telling war stories and creating memories. It would have sounded weird even to me a few months ago, but when engaged in #edtalk conversations and chats, it feels like the people on the other end are closer that states away. I have a newfound appreciation for the twitter community, and I am proud to say I belong to #Ideachat.

I think the conversations have made me think more of learning in the whole, not so classroom focused. In all my classes and even professional development the core discussion is about what is done in the classroom. Through the social media space conversations, I am realizing to think of community, household, and extra-curricular activities as sources to help in the classroom. The conversations I have had broadened my viewpoint.

I haven’t learned anything significant, but I have gotten the chance to further learning of topics such as rising issues in the distracted student, ways to be open and accepting of students, and methods of making a connection between the students and the curriculum being taught. It is refreshing to expand on an issue and take others trial and errors and tricks of the trade to add to your own. Without social media I wouldn’t have connected with the education professionals that I have, not in a million years.

In today’s society everyone is online. Teachers, school officials, and students are online networking on social media platforms. It is very easy to go home and get behind your screen and have a mental block that anything you post has no effect on your 9-5 life, but it does.

Teachers have to realize social media isn’t “private” as long as there are other people online to see their posts. Posting pictures of private parties and situations that show teachers drunk and partying too hard has serious consequences leading to termination.

For the teachers that decide to accept friend request from students, or seek out student profiles, they have to be very careful with their wording. When in doubt if you wouldn’t say something to a student at school then you shouldn’t write a post, and tag the student. Teachers have gotten serious backlash for sharing a status calling a student an inappropriate name or speaking ill of a student.

Another thing that can get teachers fired is speaking ill of their supervisors, principals, or any other administration. Even with other teachers participating in a conversation, it still doesn’t make it right. Social media ranting could lead to teachers getting fired for not being respectful.

Social Media Nightmares

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