My first ever YouTube video

I created this welcome video to add to my MsFernandezMath wiki that I have already started using in my classes at Yavapai County High School.

Screencast of a Trig example

I created this Jing screencast to show my students how to work one of their trigonometry problems. I am using the Bamboo tablet in OneNote and this is new for me. I need lots more practice writing with this pen and using onenote as you will see in this video. But I'm excited about the possibilities of creating short videos for my students (since my classes are open entry, open exit, my students are seldom at the same place in the lessons at the same time so I find myself repeating the same problems one-on-one with them. These screencasts will provide instruction when I'm unavailable or to supplement my one on one time with my students) Very exciting!

My first audio podcast!

In this podcast, I give my students tips on how to do the problems in their Scaling and Proportion module.

Using Photosharing Sites

I am inspired by a classroom Precalculus Wiki that I visited in which students photographed everyday items that had an underlying math structure within them. They then drew and described the underlying math function. One cool math activity that my class could do then is to use a photosharing site to find photographs with underlying math structures in them. Each student could pick a math figure, say a circle, and then create a slide show of photos from the photosharing site that had circles in them. The slideshows could then be posted in the classroom wiki for other students, and parents to view.


I also like the idea of taking photos of students' projects and sharing the photos with parents through a photosharing site. I couldn't believe how easy it was to create the Picasa album with my Puerto Rico photos and then to upload the slideshow to the classroom wiki. I'm very inspired! As part of my students' geometry class, they create three dimensional polyhedra from templates they find online. I could take photos of the polyhedra, create a slideshow and share with parents, staff, and students. I like the fact that parents could comment on their students work as well. It'd be great for them to give their children "attaboys" or "attagirls" through the classroom wiki.

Social Networking Sites

I researched LinkedIn because this is a network that I've heard mentioned but never explored before. This social networking site targets the business community and business professionals from around the world. Its purpose is to provide a way for its users to build and list their business contacts. The site was launched in 2003 and is still in existence. Its competitors are Viadeo and XING, but with more than 75 million users, Linkedin is the most popular business SNS.

I would definitely consider creating an account and using it. I could use my account to follow companies and job postings that they may have. LinkedIn provides statistics about companies that would help me research future jobs. By having an updated profile, employers for whom I may be a potential job candidate would be able to contact me. By building a network of business contacts, business referrals may be initiated. LinkedIn also has groups that I may join such as my undergraduate institution's alumni group.

Building Effective Social Networks

After reading the Steve Hargadon's article, I came away with some ideas to help build a successful network. Foremost, the network must fulfill a need for its participants. A network where my math students could discuss ideas they heard in class, help each other prep for standardized tests, just get to know each other and develop a community would fulfill needs for high school students. Most high school students are familiar with social networking from their Facebook or MySpace experiences. To be able to tie social networking to their math class could engage some students who otherwise might not find the subject motivating. The article emphasized the idea that engagement is the key to a successful network and that early adopters can propel a network. To this end, since my students have probably more experience with social networking than I, it would be good to get their input on what things they would like to see in the network. Being able to foster some leaders in the class who would participate in the network by sharing and posting would also help develop the network. Making sure that I keep to my role as facilitator rather than trying to manage the network will also help. The math network would provide a place where my students could collaborate with each other in a way that may not be available during classtime. Setting boundaries and expectations as to appropriate posting behavior in the network is also an important part of developing a successful network.

Using a Wiki in my classes

Until this class, I had never understood what wikis were. In fact, although I had used Wikipedia, I didn't realize that the page was editable, or that there were discussion pages cataloguing the creation of each page. I am excited about the possibilities that are available in my use of wikis in my high school classroom.

A New Pedagogy?

I do believe that a new pedagogy is trying to emerge due to the advances in technology, but as discussed in Richardson's blog, Weblogg-ed, it faces multiple roadblocks. Teachers have the potential to be strong champions of this new pedagogy or we can be its greatest detractors. Our interactions with our students, positive or negative, have the potential to affect lives because our students pay attention to what we do (even more than to what we say!). To teach is to model, and if you don't think that students aren't watching what you do and say, just come to class one day with a different haircut or attire!

So Many Blogs...So Little Time!

I love using the Internet for research....Several years ago, a close friend of mine told me that she was taking on online math class and said, "You should be doing this!" It wasn't until I started taking classes online myself two years ago that I became interested in teaching a math class online.

Reminiscing about Chalk!

I jokingly say that one of the reasons that I became a teacher was because I loved writing on the chalkboard! Remember the days when it was a treat to write on the classroom chalkboard? And being allowed to use the "special" colored chalk? Oh my!

My Teaching Philosophy

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself. Abraham Maslow

Math can serve as a major barrier for students achieving a degree; thus, sensitive, patient instructors are of great value. I strive to create in my classroom an environment that encourages each student to succeed and in which students can feel safe to ask questions, and to make and correct mistakes. My work with students with behavioral and emotional disorders and students with learning disabilities has made me even more aware of the struggle that some students have for the subject, their "math phobia" and the gaps in their math background.

My very first post ever!

I'm so excited! I can hardly stand it.