How to Videos

I have created 2 screencasts on how to improve your Growing Posts. One is on Embedding Gliffy and Bubbleshare. The other is on how to leave comments and how to mark each others work.

Thanks for doing such a great job.

Harbeck





Here is how you leave comments and marks for this assignment.



Thanks Harbeck

Growing Post Marking Rubric

Percent Growing Post Rubric


Remember you only create one post. You then edit it as you add more information.
Due Date Monday December 18

Overall Growing Post Instructions

5 Marks

1. The Growing Post is labeled correctly.(2)
2. The Growing Post is titled correctly. (1)
   
3. The questions for the Growing Post are copied in and in a different colour than the rest of the post.(2)

Question 1 What is a good definition of percent? You should use words symbols, pictures and numerical examples in your definition. (suggestion gliffy is an excellent tool for adding detail to your definition.)

10 Marks

1. The question is answered correctly.(1)
2. There is a symbol, picture and numerical example for the question(3)
3. There is an image with this question.(3)
4. The image for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(2)
   
5. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question.(1)

Question 2 How are three fifths (3/5), 3:2, 60% and 0.6 all the same? Use pictures and words to show your answer.

10 Marks

1. Shows how the values are equivalent using numbers.(3)
2. Shows how the values are equivalent using images.(2)
3. Shows how all the values are equivalent using pictures.(2)
4. The images for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(2)
   
5. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question.(1)

Question 3 Show 3 different ways to find 35% of 80. (bubbleshare is an excellent tool to animate the many different ways of finding these answer).

10 Marks

1. Shows 1 way to find the answer.(1)
2. Shows 2 ways to find the answer.(1)
3. Shows 3 ways to solve the question.(1)
4. Illustrates the ways to get the answer.(3)
5. The images for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(3)
6. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question. (1)
   

Question 4
Find a link to blogs that deal with percentages. Leave a comment behind and add the link with a review (What the post was talking about....yes you have to read the post and why others should read the post) Hint In the side bar there are links to other schools. Three of them have done work on percentages!

5 Marks

1. Student left a comment behind at a different school.(1)
2. Student left a link in their post that works.(2)
3. Student left a review of the post they were linking too.(1)
4. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question. (1)

Question 5
The principal announced that 50% of the children in Ms. Stanzi's class met their reading goal for the month and that 55% of the children in Ms Lowrey's class met their reading goal for the month. Ms Stanzi said that a greater number of her students met their reading goal. Could Ms Stanzi be correct? Why or Why not.

10 Marks

1. Student answers the question correctly.(2)
2. Student explains Why or Why not.(3)
3. The images for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(3)
4. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question. (1)

Question 6
Use a hundred grid (unit square) to illustrate the following questions. Once you have explained and illustrated what the question means solve it.

15 Marks
a) 16 is 40% of what number?

1. Answers the question properly.(2)
2. Uses an image to illustrate answering the question.(2)
3. The images for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(2)
4. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question. (1.5)

b) What is 120% of 30?

1. Answers the question properly.(2)
2. Uses an image to illustrate answering the question.(2)
3. The images for this question has be used in Gliffy, Bubbleshare or another application from Studentblogwikitools.(2)
4. The student showed beyond normal effort in answering this question. (1.5)

This is the end of your first growing post. It is due on Monday December 18. There are late penalties if you do not complete the assignments on time. Late Assignments will be accepted.

Handed in on time

20 Marks

1. On time 9:00 Monday December 18th (20)
2. Late Any other time after 9:00 December 18th (17)
3. Tuesday December 19th (15)
4. Wednesday December 20th (12)
5. Completed Assignment (10)
   

Marked other assignments and left mark as comments. (You must leave links in your growing post on the posts that you have marked.) There may only be two marks per student. If that student already has 2 marks you must choose another :-)

15 Marks
Your Growing Post

1. Marked another student and left helpful comments behind.(3)
2. Left a link behind in your growing post telling whose post you have marked.(1)
3. Handed in marking rubric to teacher.(1)
   

First Student

1. Marked another student and left helpful comments behind.(3)
2. Left a link behind in your growing post telling whose post you have marked.(1)
3. Handed in marking rubric to teacher.(1)

Second Student

1. Marked another student and left helpful comments behind.(3)
2. Left a link behind in your growing post telling whose post you have marked.(1)
3. Handed in marking rubric to teacher.(1)

A little Percent Work

Calculate the value of the percent or the unit square for the following questions. Show your work 2 different ways.

Percent Questions

What is 35% of 90?

What is 40% of 180?

What is 90% of 320?

What is 65% of 120?

What is 130% of 90?

10% of a number is 35. What is that number?

55% of a number is 60. What is that number?

Twenty-Five acres of land are given to a community and the donor stipulates that 6 acres of this land should be developed as a playground.

What percent of the land is going to be used as a playground?

Use a percent grid to show that 20% of a business’s 240 employees work at night. How many employees work at night?

Your First Growing Post

It is almost time for Winter Break and this is an important computer assignment. It is called a growing post. It is called a growing post because you create one post and add to it everyday. This assignment can be done at the last minute or it can be done a few questions at a time over the two weeks.

Remember you only create one post. You then edit it as you add more information.

Due Date Monday December 18

You must copy the questions into your Growing Post. They should be in a different colour than your responses.

Tools You can make this growing post simple or advanced. For full marks you will have to use Web 2.0 tools to make it more interactive. You can find many web tools at studentblogwikitools.wikispaces.com.

Label Please label your growing post using growingpost, percentage.


Title (Place Name Here) Percentage Growing Post

Question 1
What is a good definition of percent? You should use words symbols, pictures and numerical examples in your definition. (suggestion gliffy is an excellent tool for adding detail to your definition.)

Question 2
How are three fifths (3/5), 3:2, 60% and 0.6 all the same? Use pictures and words to show your answer.

Question 3
Show 3 different ways to find 35% of 80. (bubbleshare is an excellent tool to animate the many different ways of finding these answer).

Question 4
Find a link to blogs that deal with percentages. Leave a comment behind and add the link with a review (What the post was talking about....yes you have to read the post and why others should read the post) Hint In the side bar there are links to other schools. Three of them have done work on percentages!

Question 5
The principal announced that 50% of the children in Ms. Stanzi's class met their reading goal for the month and that 55% of the children in Ms Lowrey's class met their reading goal for the month. Ms Stanzi said that a greater number of her students met their reading goal. Could Ms Stanzi be correct? Why or Why not.

Question 6
Use a hundred grid (unit square) to illustrate the following questions. Once you have explained and illustrated what the question means solve it.

a) 16 is 40% of what number?
b) What is 120% of 30?

This is the end of your first growing post. It is due on Monday December 18. There are late penalties if you do not complete the assignments on time. Late Assignments will be accepted.

Using Gliffy and Bubbleshare

In recent days I have introduced you to bubbleshare on-line embedded presentation tool, and gliffy an on-line embedded mind map tool. Both are great tools you can find at this wiki . As we enter the 3 unit for scribe posts I hope you will take advantage of new tools to show you understanding of the concepts being taught. When you use these tools it provides a better picture of what is being said instead of a paint bmp.

Here is a bubble share that explains the process of creating and embedding a slide presentation.


This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog

Comments

Welcome students to the third round of Scribe Posts. Your scribes get better all the time and I am looking forward to this next batch of posts.

As we discussed in class on Friday I expect all scribes to create a link in their post showing me where you left a comment outside of our class blogs. I will include an instructional screencast to show you what I expect.

Even if you are not a scribe I encourage you to leave comments at these sites. The more comments the better.

Here are the Classes that I know of that use Scribe posts in Math.

Schools that Scribe

S3 Math from Scotland
Linden Meadows 8M
Linden Meadows 8Z
GeoBlog from Alabama
PreCal 30s Danial Mac
PreCal 40S Danial Mac
APCalc Danial Mac

Math Challenger

Math Challenger

There will also be a link to classes that scribe on your sidebar.

It is important to show student from around the city and around the world that you are an audience for their writing. I know you will use appropriate language and leave creative, positive comments that will inspire those students to continue to blog.

Include in your comments what you liked about the post you have read. Include any suggestions you have for their posts.

As I have said already. The most important thing about a comment is that people know that you are reading.

Blog Etiquette

Hello everyone. I am very pleased to see everyone reading each others scribe posts. I would just like to give you a reminder. We have an international audience that reads these posts and uses them in classes all around the world. Since we have started these blogs many page hits have happened.

I will show you just how many countries are showing up,

Wow. This is why I would like to mention a few points. I love your enthusiasm. I want it to continue. Please for some of the comments you leave use the chat boxes provided to you. comments on peoples blogs must be polite and have no hidden meanings. You are excellent commenters on other peoples scribe posts. I think you do this better then any group I have ever worked with. Please do not stop commenting. Just think before you comment!

I encourage you to strive for excellence and have fun with your blog. It is a legacy that will remain here forever. Please use this tool wisely.

Now with that over I would like to say that the quality of the scribe lately has be beyond my expectations. You are to be congratulated on your terrific work and effort. Keep it going.

Please make note that your first Growing Posts will take place in December. I will keep you informed.

Once again. Remember you have an audience. This blog is an extension of the classroom. Stay in control.

Thank You

Mr. Harbeck

Please make a Personal Learning Network

I encourage you to make a personal learning network. It will require you to create a bloglines account and then add the classroom links. Here they are if you cannot see them in the video.

Sargent Park Blogs
816math.blogspot.com
817math.blogspot.com
841math.blogspot.com
873math.blogspot.com

sargentparkmathzone.blogspot.com

Other Math Blogs
http://exc-el.org.uk/blogs/s3scribeposts from Scotland
http://mathchallenger.edublogs.org/ from Alabama
http://linden8z.blogspot.com/ from Winnipeg


Here is a better video explaining how to create a bloglines account. Thank you for your time.



Harbeck

Update for Janna and Abdul
My comments are not working from home so here is info relating to your requests

Go into bloglines
log in
on the lefthand side there should be the word add
this should open the right hand side of the screen to "add blogs"
paste in url in the needed spot

Good Luck
Keep me informed

Harbeck

Math Pretest Equivalents

Math Pretest

Convert the following values so that you can place them on the number line below. Show all your work.

0.175

55%

3:10

15/51

9:3

How could you determine whether the average of these numbers is greater than 10 or less than 10 without actually computing the average. Explain how you decided the average was more than or less than 10.

Equivalents Assignment 3

Equivalent Assignment 3

1. Convert the following percents into decimals, fractions and ratios. Then put them on a number line.

35.5% 12.6%1.67% 93.6% 48%


2. Convert the following decimals into percents, fractions and ratios. Then put them on a number line.

0.23 0.906 0.078 0.65 0.1064

3. Convert the following ratios into fractions, decimals, and percents. Then put them in a number line.

1:7 4:5 9:56 7:3 10:1

4. Convert the following fractions to decimals, percents and ratios. Then put them on a number line.

8/9 4/7 12/17 3/8 8/21

Personal reflection.

What is the easiest conversion for you to do in this equivalent unit? Why?

What is the hardest conversion to do in this unit. Why? What makes this conversion hard for you?

Choose 3 values to convert to practice what you find difficult. Practice makes perfect.

Equivalent Number line

Place the following values on a number line. Show all of your work.

Equivalents The Assignment

Equivalents The Assignment

1. Make 4 different fractions using the digits below. You may only use each digit once. Convert these 4 fractions into decimals, percents and ratios.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

2. Make 4 different decimal using the digits below. You may only use each digit once. Convert these 4 decimals into fractions, percents and ratios. (Do not use the decimals from the question above).

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

3. Make 4 different percents using the digits below. You may only use each digit once. Convert these 4 percents into fractions, decimals and ratios. (Do not use the fractions and decimals from the questions above).

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

4. Make 4 different ratios using the digits below. You may only use each digit once. Convert these 4 ratios into fractions, decimals and percents. (Do not use the fractions and decimals or percents from the questions above).

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Look at what I did to your Probability Games

I found a new site that lets you make movies from pictures and videos. I made this movie in under 10 minutes. What could you do with this technology?



Enjoy. You guys did a great job with your games.

Mr. Harbeck

Oops goofed again Part 3

Ratios and fractions can be difficult to understand. What did I do wrong in the following question. Please think about you question before you add it to the comments.


Have Fun Harbeck

Oops I goofed again the Sequel

Ratios and fractions can be difficult to understand. What did I do wrong in the following question. Please think about you question before you add it to the comments.Have Fun Harbeck

Oh No I goofed Again

Here is a problem that I completed am I correct? Leave a comment on what I did correct and where a mistake could be. Please explain to me how to do this question correctly.

Don't forget. Answer this problem first then leave a comment. I'll make a new mistake tomorrow.

Oh no I have done something wrong

Here is a problem that I completed am I correct? Leave a comment on what I did correct and where a mistake could be. Please explain to me how to do this question correctly.
Don't forget. Answer this problem first then leave a comment. I'll make a new mistake tomorrow.

Square Root Homework Day 2

Use fractions to estimate the following Square Roots.



A farm has 7 equal square fields with a total area of 616 acres squared. Estimate the dimensions of each field using fractions.

Square Root Homework

A warehouse has an area of 2940m squared. It is divided inot 15 equal sections. Find the dimensions of each section.

Is this about You??

I am curious about what you have to say about this video. Not the music not the pictures but what is the video trying to say? Are you part the the I-generation?

Leave a comment please.

Mr. Harbeck

During the week extra problems

On your desks there were extra word problems. Here are the links that you need to complete the problems.

Problem 1 How long do you have to Stand in line.

Problem 2 How fast does you heart beat?

Problem 3 If you like popcorn which one would you buy?

Problem 4 Why arn't manhole covers Square?

Square Roots

Square Roots

This will be a quick unit on Square Roots and Square Numbers. What Are they does this video help?

During this unit the Scribes will be at work. Please choose a person from the Scribe List to be the next scribe. The Scribe list can be found in the sidebar under the category other Sargent Park Math Blogs. Tell that person at school as well as on your scribe post. Please label your post Scribepost.

Happy Scribing


Homework Assignment 1
Which of these numbers can be Perfect Squares. 6,8,9,10. Justify your answers using pictures, words or numbers.

Homework Assignment 2
Show your understanding of square roots. Draw the squares for the following numbers: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, then 12,14 and 17. Remember the mullet!!!


Long mullet

This Video might help.

Mr. Harbeck

Using Flickr to add pictures to your Probability Post

Flickr is a online digital photo service. If you take digital photos you can create an account here and upload your phots'. It is also the place where I put the pictures of your Probability Games.

You do not need a flickr account to access these photos. Here is how you will find what you need.

1. Go to Flickr.
2. In the box called Find Picture type in charbeck10(this is my account) It will not work but will take you to the next page. Click on the button people and type charbeck10 again.
3. When you find my pictures go to your rooms set of game boards.
4. Find your game board.
5. Download it to your hard drive and then upload it to blogger.
6. You can now use this picture in your blogpost.

Good luck

Harbeck

Probability Assignment 2

Here is the second assignment you have to add to your first post. Please at the end of your first post create a title Fun and Games and complete the following questions as demonstrated in class.

Fun and Games

You and some classmates need to create a game for a booth at the school carnival. The game should be easy to make and set up. I should be fun, too, but it mustn’t take long to play. Of course the game must be fair. This means that any player would have about the same chance of winning as losing.

Explain the rules of your game. Tell why it would be fair and fun. Use Probabilty to prove your rules are fair.

Play your game 10 times. Record your results. Is it really a fair game?

Here is the Scoring Guide for this Assignment

Instructions 5 Marks	Above Expectations Perfectly understandable Instructions	At Expectations Instructions are missing some information.	Some Effort Instructions are hard to understand	No effort Below Expectations No Instructions
Rules 10 Marks	Rules are fair. Probability is explained in the rules.	Rules are fair. Probability is partally explained	Rules are not fair. Probability is not explained in enough detail.	Rules are fair. No probability is involved.
Game Board 5 Marks	Game board or game is artistic and creative.	Game board or game has had some effort in its creation.	Game board was done at the last minute and shows little effort.	Game board or game shows a lack of pride or effort.
Extra 5 Marks	Above and beyond the call of duty. In all aspects of the game board, probability and clarity of instructions.	Less than above.

Extra

Look what you can find on probability

Here are some excellent sites to practice probability. Many are interactive and expect you to read and then try some activities. Try them you might like them.

Probability Movie

Here is a movie that explains probability.

Probability Lesson

Here is a brief lesson on about Probability. It is fun and interactive. what do you think?

Now watch this Video.
Now try this interactive activity.

Interactive Spinner

Here is an interactive spinner. Can you use it to help you determine the difference between Theoretical probability and Experimental Probability?

Crazy Choices Game

Here are the instructions for the Crazy Choices Game. Use this to determine the difference between theoretical and Experimental Probability.

How do you know your game is fair.

Try these two activities using the Crazy Choices Game.

Probability Problems

Here are the 4 problems that were presented in class today. Please be able to explain 2 of these to the class. One question must be question 4 and you can choose one of the remaining questions.

Probability
(Answer ID # 0738518)

Complete.

1. You are playing the �shell� game. In this game, there is object (let�s say a coin) hidden under one of three cups and you have to try and guess which cup it is under. Assuming the game is fair and there are three cups, what is the probability you will guess correctly on the first try?

2. If you flip a fair coin six times and it comes up heads each time, does this mean that for some reason the probability of getting heads is greater than the probability of getting tails on that particular day?

3. Isaac thinks of a whole number between one and twenty-four. He then asks his mom to guess what number he is thinking of. Assuming Isaac is not known to have any number preference or predictable pattern to his number picking, what is the probability that his mom will correctly guess what number he is thinking of?

4. Amber bought a bag containing assorted hard candies from the local corner store. They were on clearance and she got a good deal. All the candies are the same size and shape but they are different colors and flavors. There are five blue ones, two red ones, three purple ones, eleven green ones, and five orange ones. If the bag is shaken really well to mix the candy in the bag, what is the probability that the first candy she pulls out of the bag will not be green?

These Questions are from Ed Helper.

Harbeck

Some Probability Homework

Here is a link for the questions we had in class today.

Here are the questions.

Find the probability.

1. A number from 18 to 25 is drawn at random. P(22, 24, or 21) Express the probability as a percent. Round to the nearest percent.	2. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(not a 1) Express the probability as a fraction.
3. A jar contains 11 black, 24 red, 25 orange, and 10 pink marbles. A marble is drawn at random. P(orange or black) Express the probability as a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth.	4. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(a prime number) Express the probability as a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth.
5. A number from 9 to 21 is drawn at random. P(14) Express the probability as a percent. Round to the nearest percent.	6. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(a number divisible by 3) Express the probability as a fraction.
7. A jar contains 4 blue and 17 black marbles. A marble is drawn at random. P(not blue) Express the probability as a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth.	8. A jar contains 24 black and 6 purple marbles. A marble is drawn at random. P(black) Express the probability as a percent. Round to the nearest percent.
9. A number from 10 to 16 is drawn at random. P(a number greater than 16) Express the probability as a fraction.	10. A jar contains 26 red and 8 pink marbles. A marble is drawn at random. P(red) Express the probability as a fraction.
11. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(not a 4) Express the probability as a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth.	12. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(2 or 4) Express the probability as a percent. Round to the nearest percent.
13. A jar contains 13 yellow and 10 green marbles. A marble is drawn at random. P(not yellow) Express the probability as a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth.	14. You roll a number cube numbered from 1 to 6. P(a number less than 6) Express the probability as a fraction.

Thanks for taking the time to do this work. Be sure to have 1-8 done.

If you have questions leave them in the chat box. Thanks

Images and Assignments

Blogging Assignment 1
Part A

1. Answer one of the question Groups in Full as discussed in class.
2. What do all the questions have in common. What would you need to know about probability to be successful at solving them.
3. Are there any common errors students might make when answering any of these questions?
4. Create your own question(s) to challenge your classmates.

More to follow.

Here are the images you need to complete the assignment from class. I will post more info soon.

Probability

You have begun to do a unit on probability. I would like you to watch the following video. At the end you see this number 0.0000001% What does it mean? Leave a comment behind.

Time for Scribes

Mr. Kuropatwa introduced me to the world of Scribe Posts. It is an essential part of the Grade 8 Math Classroom. You will be expected to write one scribe post every 30 classes or about 4 a year. That doesn't sound like to much does it.

A Scribe post is

The assignment is simply to post a brief summary of what happened in class each day. A different student is responsible for the daily scribe post and they end their post by choosing the next scribe. The first scribe is a volunteer. The teacher's daily involvement is limited to updating a post called The Scribe List which is at the top of the links list in the sidebar of the class's blog.

To complete a scribe post the student must

Write a brief summary of what we learned in class today. Include enough detail so that someone who was away sick, or missed class for any other reason, can catch up on what they missed. Over the course of the semester, the scribe posts will grow into the textbook for the course; written by students for students. Remember that as each of you write your scribe posts. Ask yourself: "Is this good enough for our textbook? Would a graphic or other example(s) help illustrate what we learned?" And remember, you have a global audience, impress them.

Here are examples of good scribe posts Pythagoras Scribe One Day In Math Algebra Masterpiece

Here are some scribe posts that have made The Scribe Post Hall of Fame.

When you are done your scribe post choose another student to be the scribe and label your post scribepost.

Students Made This Rules for Blogging

Mr. Kuropatwa, a math teacher at DMCI, created this post for his students. It explains the power of blogging and blogging properly.

Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet. I have come across posts from my students on blogs as far away as Sweden! That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar -- a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you.

Two teachers in the U.S.A. worked with their classes to come up with a list of guidelines for student bloggers.

One of them, Bud Hunt, has these suggestions, among others:

1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.



2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.



3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.



4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.

Another teacher, Steve Lazar, developed a set of guidelines in consultation with his students. You can read them here.

Look over the guidelines and add the ones you like in the comments section below this post.
These are important guidelines and rules for blogging. Use this space wisely

Measures of Central Tendency

We have just finished our first unit on the Measures of Central Tendency. Here is a brief quiz to use your knowledge.

Measures of Central Tendency Quiz

What is the modial interval? There is always something new to learn.

Here is an excellent page to help you complete the Quiz. Read it well some great information is found here.

Can you find any other sites out there that would help us review Measures of Central Tendency?

One of the goals of blogging is that school never has to be done. Practice these questions on your own and find links if you wish. Happy MMMing!!

Mr. Harbeck

Making a Personal Learning Network

I would like you to create a Personal Learning Network. This is a network of Blogs and other sites that have RSS feeds. You could start with the 5 blogs out of Sargent Park and branch off from there.

Here is a 7 minute screencast that shows you how to set up a Bloglines Account. After you watch it please start to make your own Personal Learning Network.

How to make a Personal Learning Network.

You need to create a Bloglines Account. Bloglines is a service that collects all the new posts from blogs that you subscribe too.


At this page please use your email address and a passwork youwill not forget. Change the time to 0600 central time. Now click register. This is the screen you should see.


In your email respond to the bloglines email by clicking on the link.
I would suggest skipping the next page and clicking on

Now for the good stuff!!

To start your Personal Learning Network I would like you to subscribe to the 4 math classes and the Sargent Park Math Hub. This will keep you up to date when other students create posts that you would like to view and comment on. Commenting on each others work is the most important aspect of blogging.

In the window
paste the following url

www.sargentparkmathzone.blogspot.com

Use the following feed to subscribe (click the box in the right corner).
Choose new folder
save as
now click subscribe.

You now have a new screen. This is your dashboard for Bloglines. To add the remaining blogs

816math.blogspot.com
817math.blogspot.com
841math.blogspot.com
873math.blogspot.com

follow the following proceedure.

Click add in the upper left hand corner.

Paste the address in the subscribe box then make sure you put this new blog in the following folder
Click subscribe and do the rest of the class sites.

These 5 blogs will be the start to your Personal Learning network. Next stop other sites that will help with your personal learning.

But that is another post!!!

Why we learn Math

As I was cruising the net looking for something interesting to say I found this movie at Google Movies. The Math Lesson


is the reason why we learn math and need to understand the concepts behind the arithmatic.

Enjoy the show!!

Mr. Harbeck

How to create an account to your class

Here are the instructions for you to get your blogger account active.

A) Get a google account. You can do this from either blogger or google itself.

Your google account will be your email and a password you create.

B. You will use this account to access betablogger.

At Blogger you need to create a blog. Call it any thing and follow the steps.

Create 1 post and publish it.

***** Keep this window open for the next steps*****

Open a new browser window (control n)


Find the email I sent inviting you to the blog.

Do not click on this link but paste it into your address bar and hit enter.

Reenter your google password on the page provided.

YOu should see your class blog on your dashboard.

Delete your fake blog.

You are in business.

Meet the Teacher Night

Every year there is an opportunity to meet the parents of my students. I get to explain how my course is run and what expectations I have of the students and of parents.

Assessment in the course this year for the first term is based on test and quiz scores, journalling, completion of TLE-8 computer units, mental math activities and interaction with the classroom blog.

I like to give the parents a heads up on the positive aspects of blogging and the importance of the students being responsible for their actions.

Blogging is a very public form of communication. Bud Hunt, a teacher in the U.S. has these guidelines for his students. I will use them too.

1. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.



2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.



3. Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.



4. Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.

One form of blogging work is Scribe Posts.

Scribe Posts

Write a brief summary of what we learned in class today. Include enough detail so that someone who was away sick, or missed class for any other reason, can catch up on what they missed. Over the course of the semester, the scribe posts will grow into the textbook for the course; written by students for students. Remember that as each of you write your scribe posts. Ask yourself: "Is this good enough for our textbook? Would a graphic or other example(s) help illustrate what we learned?" And remember, you have a global audience, impress them.

Students will be expected to contribute one scribe post every 30 classes or about 4 times a year.

Examples of Scribe Posts from last year.

LaraMae did a scribe post during our algebra unit. Her scribe included a picture that accuratly depicted a piece of paper that had been folded into 5 columns filled with notes. It was awesome.

Norielle through the use of one image described and explained how to find the surface area of a cylinder.

Josh showed how to find the volume of geometric solids in tremendous detail.

The Scribe Post Hall of Fame showcases the best Scribe Posts from around the globe. Our student figure prominantly on this site.


Another way we use our classroom blog is to create Growing Posts.

Growing Posts

Growing posts are like unit reviews. Each growing post starts off as one post by the student answering one question about a concept. Each day the students have to answer a new question and add it to their post. At the end of the unit they will have a comprehensive resource of material needed to study for tests or complete assignments.

Here are some excellent Growing Posts

Michael's Growing Post Ingrid's Growing Post

Sometimes students strive for enrichment. Here is an example of intrinsic creativity

Aldrin's Fraction Growing Post

Dion's Growing Post

The Growing Post Hall Of Fame was created to allow student work to be displayed for the world to see. I am proud of the work that students did last year and am looking forward to this years inductee's.

This years classes will participate in many activities that will prepare them for their future. As parents enjoy their ride through the Sargent Park Math Zone of Room 17. If you dare come along for the ride with them!!

I showed the students this video today. Watch it and see where the world might... is going. It was made by a teacher K. Fisch from Colorado.

Did You Know

Mr. Harbeck

Why we Blog

As I asked you in class "How many of you blog?" Most of you put up your hands because of your experience with Mr. Reece last year. Many of you also indicated that it was not you favorite activity during math class. I hope to change that this year. It is important to know that times are changing. The world you know now will be different by the time you enter highschool, and that world will change by the time you are ready to enter Highschool.

K. Fisch a teacher in Colorado created this powerpoint presentation for his students. It demonstrates how the world is changing. It is a remarkable presentation.

Did You Know

In your journals or as a comment I would like you to tell me what you are feeling after this presentation. Mr. Kuropatwa from Danial Mac asked his grade 11 and 12 students these questions:

• What surprised you the most? Why was it surprising?


• Did you learn anything? If so, what?


• As you think about it now, does this change the way you think about school, learning or the purpose of getting an education? Is there anything you want to do differently related to school this year?


• What Shift is happening?

How would you answer them?

Mr. Harbeck

Mr. Barksalot's Bath Graph

Welcome to your Math Blog. It is a place for you to post answers to questions and to communicate to the world about what happens in 8-17 Math. I would like you to leave a comment answering the following question. Some of this work will have to be done in your math journal. The bold print can be left as a comment.

Bobby fills a sink with enough water to wash his dog Mr. Barksalot. He then puts Mr. Barksalot in the sink and washes him. After he is finished he takes Mr. Barksalot out of the sink. Then he drains the sink.

Draw a graph that represents the level of water in the sink from the time paula started to fill the tub until the tub was empty. Clearly label your graph.

Explain what the graph should look like in a comment on this post AND on the back of your graph.

Mr. Harbeck

This is our new home

On the old SP8 Math Zone I just posted the following.....

With much regret and yet excitement the Sargent Park Math Zone has moved to a new site. The reasons for leaving are that Blogger in Beta is a much better service. Please continue to use this site to see what happened over my first year of blogging.

Former students I encourage you to continue to use you classroom blogs as a way to communicate with each other and the math blogging community.

I enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing what will happen this year. Below you will find links to the new Math Class blogs for Sargent Park School. To the seven wonderful people who have subscribe to this blog. Come on over to the new site and continue the journey. Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

New Homes for.....

Sargent Park Math Zone This will be the new class hub. Students will find out what they need to do for Blogging assignments and have the ability to be interactive in their learning.

816 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 33 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


817 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 31 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


841 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 32 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.


873 The new class blog for this classroom. Its 31 students will become members and have opportunties online to reach new levels of learning.

Students will also post to their classroom wiki to create A Grade 8 Math Guidebook. This is a new and exciting opportunity to create a manual of everything that they have learned. The students will include problems and solutions, their scribeposts and growing posts.

The Scribe Post Hall of Fame will be a place to showcase the best class scribes.

The Growing Post Hall of Fame will house the best Growing Posts that the students create.

I hope you take time to visit our new blogs.



Mr. Harbeck
Thanks for watching our journey..... but it ongoing


I am looking forward to this next step