Kalkulation Korner Blog

I started a blog solely for the purpose of Kalkulation Korner. It links to the podcast. Contains transcripts of the podcasts and is set up for comments to improve Kalkulation Korner. Check out the Kalkulation Korner Blog.

Second Podcast Episode

The second episode of Kalkulation Korner is now available. Listen to it and let me know what you think so I can make it better. Thank you and enjoy.

Keeping Up

I have had a difficult time keeping up with posting resources. As stated in an earlier post I am feeling overwhelmed with all the new applications I am learning. I am going to focus my attention on one or two things for the time being and get them down pat. I feel that this is the perfect time of the school year to do this. If I start focusing on two things, classroom blogs and podcast, then come next year I will really be able to implement them for the whole year. I will continue to post resources as I find them and I will also update the status of implementing technology into my classroom.

First Podcast Finished

The fourth and final day of the workshop with Tony Vincent was today and I walked away with a published podcast. The podcast is named, Kalkulation Korner, and focuses on multiplying and dividing integers. I hope to refine this podcast before submitting it to i-tunes and really spreading the word about my podcast. If you listen to it please come back and post a comment so that I can make it better. I am looking for comments on both the podcast and the mathematical content. After I get a few under by belt I am going to have my students record the podcast. Then Kalkulation Korner will be for kids by kids instead of by Mr. Burns for kids. Thank you for reading and I hope to get comments so that I can make my podcast better.

Web Design

I am starting to get saturated with technology. I just finished creating a mock class on BlackBoard and will soon begin working on creating a website. This is all fine except I still have to finish my podcast. I am still in the recording and editing phase of my podcast which will be finished on March 14, 2009. As I work more on the podcast I will post anymore resources or hints that I find or use.

I have found some resources already for when I do start creating a website.
The resources are -
Mardiros Web Design - I have read a few of the articles on this page and found them very informative. This site was my favorite.
KillerSites - I have not navigated my way through this website but I found some good information on it.
Web Pages That Suck - Again I have not read everything on this site but the basis of designing a good website by looking at bad ones sounds reasonable.

You can find all the links from this post and my other posts at my Delicious account.

Podcast Resources

After a three day workshop, one more day still to come on the 14th, I have learned a great deal about recording a Podcast. The first thing I learned was I still have a lot to learn. The second was I do not like hearing my own voice. I got use to that after a couple of listens. To record my voice I used a free resource called Audacity. This software was relatively simple to start working with. After a few trail and error sessions I was recording like a pro. Tony informed us that in the 1970's it cost 1,000's of dollars to do what this free software can now do. Another resource we are going to use is Levelator. I have not worked with this software yet but it is also free and we will be using it on the 14th. I have a rough copy of my Podcast without any sound effects or music. My trails and experience will be shared as I go through that process.

Some hints I would give to people first starting to record are: just go for it, use your hands and remember you have to get your point across with only words. By just go for it I mean put energy into your recording. I felt silly at first but when I put energy into I like I was really talking to a class of students the quality of the recording got better. As I put more energy into my recordings my hands and body started to move like I was really teaching a lesson and again the quality of the recording was so much better. The first script I wrote was very short and not very descriptive. After recording with the first script I realized that students would be more confused by my lack of explanation.

More resources and experiences to come...

Math Podcast

After working with Tony Vincent for two days I am in the process of starting a podcast focusing on the fundamentals of math. The workshop is put on by the Arizona K-12 Center. The time line for the project is to have it up and running on March 14, 2009. As I develop and move through the pre-production stage I will post the resources I use. I am looking forward to this process.

Links to Educational Resources

The purpose of this blog is to share educational resources and build a network of individuals involved with education.

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ - Illuminations provides resources for teaching mathematics.

http://www.funbrain.com/ - Funbrain can be used by both students and teacher. Students can find games to play while teachers can find lesson plans and activities.

http://learninginhand.com/ - Learning in Hand is a website teachers and students can use to help them create podcasts. This site links directly to the Our City podcast where students can listen to podcasts about different home towns as well as post there own.