I was so pumped after my 3rd teacher workshop of the year that I had to take a picture. 

Earlier this year I did my first math workshop.  Here was the description: 

Are your academic & applied grade 9s disengaged? Learn how other teachers and I transformed our teaching practice utilizing the spiral curriculum to increase retention of math. By using a combination of Dan Meyer's problem-based 3-act math, collaborative white-boarding, and Knowledge Hook's online technology, students are more engaged and rediscover an enjoyment of math. Come and learn how to efficiently implement one or any of these strategies to jump start your classes' retention and engagement! 

I checked quite often (even though I know it was unhealthy to) to see how many people were attracted to my description. It was crushing.  Even on the last day leading up to OAME, there were 3 people who signed up for my session. I managed to console myself by stating that it will be easy and having fewer people is  a good way to start one's first math workshop.  I also managed to convince myself that because it was on a Friday and it was the last session of the day...most people wouldn't come anyway.  So I managed to not take it personally.

Boy was I wrong about the number of people.  I had 30+ show up to my session!  Well, this OAME “Endlessly Spiralling  through Grade 9 Math” was much better than my previous two presentations on “To Blog , where No Blog has Gone Before”. 

There are a couple comparisons that are important to note here:

·         

• After two workshop presentations, I think I got the hang of it.  I went from a 1-way presenter of  disseminating information to an interactive teacher/facilitator that talked and listened to the audience.  I sometimes would lead a discussion with the audience but also lean on the experience of the audience as well for input or further expertise.  

• I’ve been using blogging as a tool in the classroom for over a year whereas I’ve been spiraling for only 9 months.  However, I am much more comfortable talking about spiraling in math than I am about the use of blogging in the classroom. 

• I used Pear Deck many times in the classroom before I did my math presentation vs my blogging presentation. 

Here is some feedback on my presentation.  Looks like about 7 people answered this first question, even though over 20+ attended.  Not everyone fills out feedback forms:    

Leading a discussion with fellow educators and administrators requires a very different than I had developed teaching teenagers. One of the biggest difference I learnt was that there was a curriculum when teaching the students versus no curriculum when at a workshop.  At a workshop, the content discussed better be useful for the audience or else it’s a failure.  In the classroom, the content discussed often isn’t the teacher or student’s choice, so we just have to make the best of it.  As a result, I started my presentation using Pear Deck to interact with the audience.  I used to only use it to get to know where everyone is from, which age group they most affect etc….

This time I used it to ask what they expected out of the workshop.  It became evident as I was browsing through their comments that some of my expectations and their expectations didn’t align.  I went through the list and acknowledged each one of their expectations; I would defer some, promising to get to it later in the presentation, and others I would answer on the spot.   A few questions I wasn’t within the scope of the presentation and I apologized but at the same time used this as a segue to the fact that I wouldn’t get offended if anyone left early.  This portion was informal in nature and opened up the floor quite a bit.  

I spent only 3 hours explicitly preparing for my OAME presentation whereas I spent days preparing for my blogging presentation.  It’s amazing that out of the 7 people that responded, 3 stated that I was ‘somewhat organized’ and 4 stated that I was ‘well-organized’.  However, upon reflection, I’ve actually spent a lot more time preparing for this presentation than the 3 hours beforehand. 

When I went to George Couros’s presentation back in October, he stated that he formatively spent 5 years writing on a blog getting feedback from all sorts of people around the world.  He would get his ideas refined and learnt how to wordsmith. 

Something similar happened to me here – I blogged about spiraling for 7 months beforehand, and I could whip together a presentation in 3 hours and then speak about it in an organized, confident manner the next day.  Normally I would have much trouble talking about my experiences, but blogging helped me refine my thoughts so that when I spoke, it wasn’t a big jumble.  

Wow.  I was thinking that OAME was hiding negative feedback at first here, because there seems to be only one person answering these questions now.  However, I looked back up and saw that there is still some negative feedback, so maybe? 

Nevertheless, I guess the respondents finished off the survey at the end, which showed I did an ok job:  3 people said it was ok, 3 people said good, and 2 found my session to be great!  I still have to work on things as only one person would recommend me as a speaker – now I have something to work towards.  Looking back – I have to work on my content.  I am not very knowledgeable about the changing math education.  My goal is to read Jo Boaler’s “Mathematical Mindsets” this summer and hopefully I’ll have a better scope and understanding of what her student Dan Meyer was going towards.    

Except….I forgot to apply to run workshops for 2016/2017 year as ultimate took up my entire life from May to June.  You live and you learn I guess.    On to the next year!  Can't wait to start tomorrow!

Presenting at YRDSB's Edtech Spring

Today I presented to a total of 3 people for the second iteration of "To Boldly Blog where No Blog has Gone Before".  It was quite the different experience compared to my first time I presented for my 2016 QUEST conference with 60+ people from all over the world.

That time I didn't have my slides organized, I was trying to use Pear Deck for the first time, and I didn't know exactly what I wanted to say.  Needless to say, it wasn't very good.

Today, I distilled the presentation down to some key concepts producing an overall better organization. I allowed for some genuine conversation and discussion among the audience (easy to do with 3 people)- which actually allowed me to learn quite a bit.  

I had a senior kindergarten teacher, an intermediate French teacher who is part of the ETFO executive, and a person from the Director's office.  The vastly different perspective on education allowed me learn so much outside of my secondary school niche and it was an incredible exchange of information (at least for me).

As for blogging, the needs of the senior kindergarten teacher were unique and I was able to help her out with the newsletters that will connect with parents directly instead of relying on 3-4 year olds who lose those pieces of paper between the end of school, daycare, and home.  Communicating with the parents who want the constant updates that they used to receive from daycare was another purpose of the blog that I was able to help her with.

                                          Caption:  Edtech 2016 first time presenters!

Overall, this was a great experience as I learned much through the informal conversations as well as trying to meet the needs of my 'students' as they tried to create their own blog that serves its own needs.

York Region's Biggest Conference - QUEST - My Reflections as a Presenter and Delegate

Well.  Here I am, after I delivered a workshop last Friday  and spent some time on the playground, exhorting the importance of blogging -  and... I'm blogging.  Sounds very hypocritical doesn't it?

Except, I was mostly presenting "STUDENT" blogging.  I was trying to encourage other educators, even myself, to continue on this journey of student blogging so that my students wouldn't just be writing for me or for marks, but rather write for a global, authentic audience.

And yes, even my workshop contained a global audience.  I always 'heard' that QUEST was becoming quite an international conference.  I could see that it was from the keynote speakers that were invited, but how about the participants?  Well, I used something called pear deck, which allowed me to interact with my audience members as they moved their red dot on their device to where they lived - now granted, I had 41 responses out of 60, and some of those responses were apparently from off the coast of Antarctica and the north pole, but I would hazard that most of these responses were accurate:

I then outlined a few ways to guarantee student and/or adult comments and views.  This would then encourage some intrinsic motivation to write.  Here's the handout:

I went to George Couros' session at the beginning of the QUEST conference on blogging to see if my presentation would overlap and it didn't.  However, as he was speaking, I realized, I probably should present his point of view. 

You see, I'm an introvert.  And he's like an extrovert.

He's convinced me to blog about my teaching and to create a portfolio of my progress as a teacher.  I am now, putting on my mask of extroversion, as Susan Cain would put it so that I can champion the things that I value the most - education.

As I was presenting my workshop, I started to convince myself of George Couros' words and here I am executing it.  I am now blogging.  My own workshop transformed me.

I hope it changed others as well. 

EDIT:  I just received a general congratulatory note from the organizer of Quest:  "Numerous congratulatory emails sent to me internationally, nationally and locally confirm the excellent planning, preparation, and delivery of Deep Learning in a Digital World. Keynote Speakers share with me their ‘WOW’!!! "  It makes me a little happy to be a part of this conference.

EDIT2:  Here is my QUEST workshop description to save it in my portfolio

Spaces with Space with Volcanoes on the Pacific Rim

As you are approaching your final exams (not all of you...I'm looking at you grade 11s) with less than enthused study sessions, may I present to you some beautiful finds in the past month.

GoPro and SpaceX
SpaceX attached a GoPro camera to their falling module.  Just to see the Earth in all of its beauty in the resolution and motion that a GoPro can capture makes me feel like I myself am floating on the edge of the atmosphere.  The waltz music almost makes me forget about the heat and friction that accompany the falling back towards Earth - I was kind of looking forward to seeing that portion of the fall, but SpaceX elected to cut that out.

Feast your eyes, and then please go back to studying.

Star Party
Around 20 parents and students came on out two nights ago to watch Chris Vaughan of the Dunlop Observatory setup three telescopes to watch the night sky for almost 3 hours.  He was such a wealth of knowledge taking us from a pair of binary stars to swans to even spotting the ISS.  He masterfully had us observe Venus, then Jupiter, and then followed the ecliptic to find a third planet - Saturn!  I look forward to working with Chris again, and hopefully we can book him for another season to observe a different night sky.

Volcanoes

Remember how the study of Earth is also a part of the course?  Did you hear that our guest Chris Vaughan (see above) couldn't get a summer job after first year when he didn't have any geology courses, but after second year in university where he elected to take geology courses, he and all of his friends got summer job offers?  Don't neglect the geology portion of the course ladies and gents.  Here is a reminder of the power of our very own Earth shown in this Mount Shindake volcano video in which Japan raised the volcano alert level to 5, which is the highest on the scale.

NASA Mission to Europa

Looks like there's a mission to Jupiter's moon and they've chosen 9 instruments to help determine if this moon is habitable.  Guess which instruments they are?  (we've studied a couple of them in class!)

Hey, you're still here?  You should be studying...or blogging.  

The 2015 Spring Blog Awards

The 2015 Spring Blog Awards are Out

Believe it or not, blog awards are a very important aspect of the digital ecosystem.  Just check out the swankiness of the UK blog awards that rewards individuals for their social media achievements, and it's no different in Shin's class either!  (minus the swank)

Most In-Depth yet Easy to Read Blog

You can tell that AL really enjoys writing about the latest from Rosetta and Philae, the adventures of the European Space Agency's (and humanity's) first mission to a comet.  Not only is it filled with jaw dropping pictures, it's littered with analysis dotted with his own reflections.  His personality shines through while he overviews the latest discoveries, and it's a good one to read.  Check it out at the  Space Buddha! 

Most Colourful Blog

Now, while it is colourful,my title also points out that this particular student challenged herself to stay on the topic of the unit (rocks) and was able to colour her words well to keep me engaged.  Her words engaged me and kept me going on a journey through to Australia and painted out a most interesting rock that I never knew existed.  She may have added a destination to my bucket list with this post on Uluru.

Most Learned Blog

Now JL asked a very important question in his blog that I'd bet all of us observed, but have probably never asked.  He went in deep and researched some profound analysis that brought me back to my electrical engineering university days and wow, I came out of that post a more learned man.  Now it might go over your heads a little, but it's one heck of an interesting post.  I'll bet you didn't know this! 

Most Unique Blog Posting

This student demonstrated his learning of rocks and the rock cycle in a way that I've never seen before. He must be recognized for writing something entirely different!  The number of concepts he runs through through his story is impressive.  

Best All-Round Blog

MA has created a succinct, yet jam packed informative post on the latest discovery about those ice crystals.  Her ability to hook you in, convey loads of information, and keep you engaged can be experienced right here.  

Welcome, Class of 2015

Whoa, another Earth-like planet was discovered, and some NASA scientists say it has probable life!  It is 'only' about 500 ly away from us, and its orbit is in the 'habitable' zone, a similar distance as we are away from the sun!    Check out the video below for further details.

A question was asked to me the other day - how do super massive black holes come into existence? Well, one way for a black hole to be a billion times bigger than our sun, is to merge black holes, of course!  Behold, a simulation of two merging black holes.

Oh my - some research into Einstein's equation has some scientists claiming that there was no big bang and that this universe has always existed.  Their math has the universe at a finite size, and thus an infinite age.  We will see how much traction this gets, if other scientists jump on board or find some error in their assumptions, or even their math!  Read more here at phys.org.  

The big four of Jupiter's moons were on display last month.  Take a look at this spectacular footage. Make sure you don't mistake the shadows on Jupiter for moons!  Read more at one of the more popular space blogs, Bad Astronomy. 

With so many questions in class regarding dark matter, I just wanted to post this oldie from popular science that really showcases how hard our scientists are at work trying to find dark matter.

An amazing animated GIF showcasing the powers of our current telescopes shows the pillars in monkey head nebula.  It starts with the constellations we see in the night sky, and demonstrates how far back in space/time we're able to see.  It's beautiful and really a sight to take in.  

Ok - now it's your turn to blog!  Find ONE topic and start going in depth.  Good luck!

Why are we blogging?

The topics and relevance of both earth and space science in today’s world is so vast that it cannotbe covered by the grade 12 textbook.  It is up to us to learn beyond the textbook and dig up the past, stay up to date with the present, and to predict and adjust for the future.

Blogging, like anything on Internet, can be time wasting, useless, and can have a negative effect on society.  However, with responsible use and with the right goals in mind, blogging and anything on the internet can be powerful tools for learning

Each week, you will be responsible for researching and blogging about a topic to take our learning beyond the textbook.   All you must do is find a video, topic, picture, quote, or discussion in class that you find interesting.  Then, research further and then blog about it.  It will serve as an ideaboard for future projects or research papers, as well as serve as a summative journal reflection piece (layer B) as you progress through the course.  Please see rubric. 

However, your audience will not only be me.  An important aspect of blogging is the community and its feedback.  We will be providing feedback to each other consistently to improve our blogging skills. 

When our writing has improved enough,  we will ask other teachers, professors, Masters/Ph D students, and even your parents to comment on your posts.  I have an agreement by the first year UT astronomy professor, Professor Mike Reid and a graduate student, to read and comment on a post of your choice later in the year. 

You are certainly free to post course related content as much or as little as you want.  After all, your blog posts are just a reflection of the learning that you want to get through this course.

However, after talking to a couple different professors, they need your writing to improve.  As a result, I will be looking to mark an in-depth blogpost on a biweekly basis according to the attached rubric.

Here are some spectacular blogs to read the latest on earth and space science from:

Space

https://www.slackerastronomy.org/wordpress/ http://thespacewriter.com/wp/ http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy.html http://hobbyspace.com/Blog/ http://nineplanets.org/news/ http://www.nasawatch.com/

Earth

http://all-geo.org/ http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/tag/basalt/ http://jerseyboyshuntdinosaurs.blogspot.hk/2014/08/interview-with-artist-luis-v-rey.html http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/ http://www.blogmetrics.org/Geology http://earthly-musings.blogspot.hk/