Diving into Geometry

My 3rd period geometry class just finished participating in "Diving into Geometry" put on by CILC or the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration.  It was fantastic.  The three divers spoke to the students, got names, assigned jobs and interacted with them in such a way as they were so involved that the whole hour just went and none of the students were bored.
Since there were three divers, three students were assigned to do air checks every 5 mins. They taught the students various signs for communicating information when under water, talked about how to figure out distance using a fin kick.  They covered area, volume, amount of water to fill a pool, the Pythagorean Theorem and a multitude of other topics.  All my students were engaged, actively participating and at the end with five minutes left, they did not want to leave and even wanted to continue till lunch after the next period. 
If your school can do video conferencing, the CILC has some fantastic programs whose cost is quite reasonable and the students find these programs really interesting and they love them.

One time distance class

Today I had my students participate in a wonderful presentation through CILC or Center for Interative Learning and Collaboration.  I signed my geometry class up for the "Ancient Egypt: Proportion, Symmetry and Size" from the Milwaukee Public Museum and it was awesome. 
The students learned about the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 body ratio that is still used today.  They learned that a royal cubit was the length of the ruler's arm from elbow to the tip of the middle finger and changed every time a new Pharaoh came into power.  They learned about the Egyptian idea of perfection, perfection and symmetry in art, buildings, etc. The war between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.  I learned so much from this.  Everything that was shown or talked about in this presentation always came back to proportion, symmetry or size. 
I have four more on request over the next month or two so we'll see how they go.

Thank goodness it is friday.

Due to a couple of students taking tons of photos during class rather than working on the assignment, I spoke with a tech guy at school and  he suggested we adjust the profile to turn off the camera.  Great, so I did that and the scan program did not work due to the camera being off.  So one hour later, I redid the profiles so the cameras now work.  These students will be doing their work using pen and paper rather than actually getting to play some of the games.
I just found out that the state mandated test will be given online beginning next year so I'm preparing the students for it.  I am making quizzes that will be given via the computers and many of the games I've down loaded require the student to select the proper multiple choice answer to gain points. 
Over the weekend, I am going to be creating some learning menus with a variety of projects to choose from.  The work will be due one week after we finish the unit and will have things like prepare a 2 min lesson on Showme.  Or create a book on the topic using book creator.   I am hoping this will help more students learn the material and will provide a certain amount of differentiation.  It will be several weeks before I know how well it works.
I had students go to coolmath.com and it worked well on their iPads including the practice problems. Unfortunately, not every website with activities or material works with the iPads.  
I don't know if I mentioned it but the CILC has a series of programs which cost money but are well worth it.  I found one on origami and geometry that I am going to see about requesting with my students. 

Downside to technology

Our school has discovered the downside to technology during the past two days.  We use an automated bell system so that the bell schedule changes on Wednesday for the early out.  No one has to mess with it.  Unfortunately, someone made a change that resulted in having a lock down drill go off instead of the first bell for lunch which tells us we have 5 min to lunch.  my kids don't mind it  as they are allowed to sit in the corner with the iPads and have been having fun trying out various educational math games while we wait for the all clear.
On the other hand, I am trying to use the CILC or Center for interactive learning and collaboration which has some nice topics with which to supplement and add to a students learning experience.  I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.