I can gather the information from students on what they would like to see on specific handouts, and then edit the handouts that are currently in use. For example, I decided to update our sheet on graph transformations which I felt needed to have a visual component. All it stated were the ways a graph could shift verbally, and this confused many students when I gave it to them. In order for this to be a good summary for students to use often, I looked through many books for reference and then used Microsoft Excel to create the graphs needed. When I pasted the graphs into Microsoft Word I was able to link the two together, so anytime I made an update in Excel it also changed the look of the graphs in Word. The graphs were color coded so students could see the differences, however I also made a black and white version with different line patterns for students who may be color blind, or do not have access to color printers. Students seemed to like this version with the added graphs so that they could relate the concepts visually and verbally.
I think remixing is a great tool in my job for helping out students who struggle with math. I am always looking for ways to expand and incorporate digital technologies into what we offer to students. In reading Erstad's thoughts on remixing, I am encouraged by the examples of how other teachers are incorporating digital technologies into their class projects (2013). Making videos that have either fun background music or adding in a math joke may make the resources posted on our website more appealing to students at home.
References
Erstad., O (2013). Ch. 2:
Trajectories of remixing: Digital literacies, media production, and schooling.
In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), A
new literacies reader: Educational perspectives (pp.38-56). New York: Peter Lang.
Breanne,
ReplyDeleteMan do I wish I had access to you as a tutor as I was struggling through math. I think it is amazing that you remix the notes to have some sort of visual. I am definitely one of those students that math terminology confuses me but if I can visually see it normally I can figure it out. I am hands down a visual learner.
I had the same realization as you when I read about remixing. I already remix some things within my classroom but after reading chapter 2, my mind started turning out all of these great ideas on how I can expand remixing in the classroom. I am definitely excited to take my remixing skills up a level and have my students get involved with it too. In my history classroom, I like to incorporate videos into my lessons. Normally they are videos I pull from various sources on the internet. After reading about remixing, I thought about having the students make their own videos. Looking towards the future I am excited about remixing and enhancing my students skills with technology in a fun and creative way.
~Kristen
Breanne-
ReplyDeleteUsing visuals to enhance your math tutoring was an excellent idea, and I think we as educators need to employ visuals as much as we can. It reminded me of my student teacher experience at Bethpage High School. I had two 9th grade level Regents Global Studies classes, but I also had one period where I worked with two special ed students. While they had some severe learning issues, they were very affable and open to learning. How to get through to them was the tricky part. After a lot of trial and error, I noticed that they responded very well to visuals, political cartoons in particular. The mere presence of the cartoon would bring a smile to their faces, and I would follow up by trying to get them to understand the point of the cartoon as well. It sometimes took some prodding, but they usually gained an understanding of the topic. Since this worked so well for them I made it a weekly part of my lessons. Remixing is definitely crucial to figuring out how best to reach our students.
You are correct in saying that Remixing is a great tool for educators to create unique activities for students. You can combine the best of other activities to create a much better learning activity for student skill development. As well as empowering students dissect texts to use information to create their own perspective. Remixing forces students to search for other texts and read through and evaluate the content to create their own work. This instills great strategies to be successful within their education career and professional. The question that was proposed in the reading, was that could remixing be considered as literacy practice? I believe the simple fact that students are reading through digital texts and creating their own perspectives based on their evaluation of resources constitutes greatly as literacy practice.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really awesome that you've created handouts with visuals. I agree with Kristen who posted above, where were you when I was struggling through math in high school and college?!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have the perspective of someone who teaches math and how they are utilizing technology and ideas of remixing/multimodal resources. When I look at math, I may as well be trying to read a foreign language and I find that this makes it difficult for me to suggest ways for math instructors to integrate technology, or things like remixing, into their courses. I look forward to reading more of your blog posts and hopefully gaining some insight!