https://podcastaddict.com/math-chat/episode/199233095 via @PodcastAddict
Monday, June 2, 2025
Inclusive Questioning
https://podcastaddict.com/math-chat/episode/199233095 via @PodcastAddict
Friday, May 30, 2025
The Beginning of a Blog Post from 10 Years Ago
Teaching a Blended Classroom - Midpoint Reflection
It was only the third lesson I have been involved with during this unit.
I started going through the anchor problem and one student answered my questions. What I should have done instead was to group the students and have them work out the problems in the group.
I was able to sit with a few students to have them explain how they think through the problems. This included one who didn't have any quizzes completed.
I forgot to record the lesson so I could give them a summary, but the lesson is on video anyway.
I noticed a few things in this lesson:
• students need to be taught early to allow other students a chance to answer
• teachers need to be intentional about grouping
• I need to update the pacing guide to show pass/try again instead of simply "done".
One other thing to note is that students need to understand that they are taking responsibility for their learning. This means they need to work to really understand what they are learning.
When I was reflecting with the math teacher, she suggested that students should be asked to do all the assignments posted.
I like that idea, but I am not sure that is teaching them to think about what they need for themselves. I wonder if another way would be to do more tests along the way. I would make the tests "redo-able" (maybe this would be less awkward if I wrote "I would allow students to retake tests"). I would like to allow students to try to recognize what they need help with.
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
AI: Environmental and Humanizing
On the environmental side, I didn’t have the exact data with me last night, but I’ve read stories about how much water is used per AI search or prompt. I’ve noticed that I sometimes type “thank you” at the end of a prompt, and then the AI responds with something like, “You’re welcome! Come back if you need anything!” It’s nice—but those extra, polite responses from the AI actually add to its environmental footprint. That politeness might be better embedded within the prompt itself, not tacked on at the end.
The more concerning issue, though, is humanizing AI. I've read about how people are starting to fall into the trap of thinking AI is communicating with them personally. I’m all for teaching students to be polite—it’s good writing practice, and a good habit in general—but if we encourage them to be polite to AI, we need to be very clear why we're doing it. We also need to teach them that AI isn’t alive. Just because a hammer doesn't talk back when you use it properly doesn’t mean it's “happy”—it's just giving feedback based on your action. AI is kind of the same: it responds, but that doesn’t mean it’s feeling anything.
These conversations among teachers are important. The more we talk about these issues, the better prepared we’ll be when they come up with students. Hopefully, students will feel comfortable enough to share how they’re using AI, what they’re using it for, and why. My concern is that they’ll feel the need to hide their usage instead, and that’s when the real risks start—when they’re exploring these tools without guidance.
That’s why it’s so important to bring up these topics. We need to help students understand the various costs of AI—environmental, cognitive, academic, and even social. Every tool has trade-offs. I don’t think we can use AI without some cost. So our job is to help students become aware, to look at the bigger picture, and to consider multiple perspectives.
In a way, it's like playing chess. If you're locked into getting a particular piece or following a single path, you miss the bigger strategy. The same goes for AI—if we're only thinking about the tool in one way, we're not really thinking critically about how it's shaping our thinking and communication.
- https://www.greenmatters.com/technology/cost-of-saying-thank-you-to-ai
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/politeness-vs-planet-surprising-cost-thanking-chatgpt-techverx-sjlge/
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/our-new-discontents/202403/dont-be-fooled-by-ai
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Filter Multiple Google Forms to a Single Sheet - Update Main Sheet as "Done"
- It doesn't show the score,
- It wasn't automatic.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Blended Lesson 1 Reflection
Room a little warm
Sunny day
Second to last period of day
Activity in the hallway
Students getting bored during score problems
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Check map scores about angles
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Google Docs access with first few lessons off
The design was for free use of time. Not sure we will have time for students to redo mastery checks
The conferencing piece to the blended learning is missing
I've been thinking about my blended Grade 7 geometry unit and how to improve it. We're only in Lesson 3 right now, but I can already see that students need more time for conferences. I need to figure out how to make that work since I'm only in the classroom one day a week.
One of the most important parts of this model was to be able to work with small groups. This needs to happen more.
I also think I need to communicate more with the homeroom teacher and better explain how I envision the unit unfolding—something like a clearer program or a visual of student progress. I want to use a student progress tracker, but I need to figure out how to input scores automatically. Checking each one manually every day will be too time-consuming.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Piloting a Blended Model of Learning
When I was first planning this unit, I thought it would go more smoothly than it has so far.
I should explain what hasn’t gone well—mainly the communication with my co-teacher and the limited time I’ve been able to spend in the classroom. Since this is my first time blending a unit, I didn’t know exactly what to expect.
I’ve done a lot of reading on blended learning and flipped classrooms, and I know it’s normal for things not to go perfectly at first. Still, I think it would be easier if I were in the room and leading. Because this isn’t my own classroom, I don’t have the same authority as the homeroom or content teacher.
At the beginning of the year, I was scheduled to be in this class three times a week, but that has dropped to once a week. So during this unit, I’ve only been in the classroom once so far, and that’s made it difficult to prepare students for what to expect.
I haven’t had the chance to clearly explain to students what they should be doing, and I’m already seeing the effects of that. I did make a video explaining the flow of the unit, but I had wanted to redo it before we started and didn’t get the chance.
- The lessons have three kinds of problems - Must do, Should do, Aspire to do - and they are color coded. Students were looking for "Must do" to do - not the color.
- The videos are a support. They are there if the students need them like a textbook. Some students are not using them at all, or are unsure of what to do.
- I changed lesson 0 vocabulary baseline to aspire to do since not many students got to it. This is what I believe to be a crucial part of the unit, and I need to get them back on that.
- Mini lesson (anchor problem) ended at about 13:05 - giving the students more time to work on math.
- We are still in the weeds with learning how to do the lessons, and one student asked me what would happen if he finished all the lessons early. I said there is always more, but this students was particularly engaged with GeoGebra - my Aspire to do tasks.
- Each lesson has an essential question. I changed this from an "I can ..." statement because I thought they knew what they were. I got a question about what it was and why I was "giving them more work".
I'm looking through the data I've collected about Grade 7 and the geometry unit I'm blending. There are a number of things I should have expected, but I had hoped things would go more smoothly. I should have known that things wouldn’t go 100% smoothly.
One thing that stands out is that because I wasn’t there and didn’t have good communication with the homeroom teacher, students weren’t properly informed about how the unit runs. In fact, they were misinformed. They weren’t told to complete the exit tickets I call “lesson snaps” for each lesson.
I had to go in last Thursday and explain what to do, but I don’t think many students were really listening. There’s a low response rate to the lesson.
Looking at the data from Lesson 1, the question was:
Kelly says that angle CEB is vertical to angle AEF. Explain why her reasoning is incorrect and name the angle that is vertical to CEB.
A lot of students assumed the angles were right angles. They need to be shown that unless you're told it's a right angle, you shouldn’t assume it. They don't have protractors to measure the angles themselves, so they have to rely on the given information.
Another issue is that this is a two-part question, but many students only answer one part. Which part they answer varies by student. They either need to be explicitly taught to recognize two-part questions, or the question should be split—or maybe both.
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Use Kahoot Better
Monday, April 21, 2025
Using Google Calendar and Google Maps Together
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Quietening
Friday, March 14, 2025
Belonging
When we feel included, we’re more likely to take risks, which helps us grow and reach our potential. When all voices are heard, people feel valued and respected. That sense of validation encourages self-expression and motivates participation.
The Head of Inclusion summarized my thoughts to be:
Thomas Hammerlund, our MYP/DP Inclusion teacher, underscored the power of inclusion in encouraging risk-taking and personal growth. He pointed out that when all voices are heard, individuals feel valued and respected, leading to greater self-expression and motivation to participate.
My first draft was a paragraph that somewhat slighted my school. "How dare you ignore others' opinions and not allow outside opinions!"
Senia Cambodia 2025 Resources
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Let's Make Sure We Remember to Model What We Want to See
Saturday, March 1, 2025
What? You Used AI to Make This?
Yesterday, I had a presentation for grades 9 to 12, and at my school, I was asked to do this pretty suddenly, so I didn't have much time to prepare.
The night before the presentation, when I was preparing, I decided against giving a traditional presentation and opted instead to make a quiz. This would make Friday afternoon more interesting.
I've seen many teachers at my school and at other schools I've worked at turn to Kahoot to do a quiz. The problem with Kahoot is that it's stale because students have done it so much. Another problem is that the same people always win. And then, another problem is the way it's set up; you need to have a device in order to use it, and your screen only shows the answers, making it less accessible for those of us with weaker eyes.
Fortunately, I know about another tool called Baamboozle. I really like Baamboozle because the students don't need a device to answer - you can project the questions and answers at once. You can set up a quiz very quickly because there is a library with premade options. Additionally, the teacher has control over the answers and whether they're right or not on the spot. Even if a student gets the answer correct, you can choose to not give them points. I can’t think of many use-cases for that, but one thing I do is allow the other teams to challenge the answer to add a little more thinking to the game.
In order to set this quiz up, I turned to AI and asked it to generate 25 questions with answers (see below).
During this quiz, I mentioned to the students that the quiz and the answers were generated with AI. I was surprised by the response.
Many students seemed to think that it was not OK to do that. I am wondering how the school can better educate students about when it is OK to use AI.
Friday, February 28, 2025
More AI Summaries
- Record the lesson with my Android phone
- Send the file to me through Slack
- I could use Slack to get the transcript, but I like using Apple's Voice Memos
- I copy and paste the transcript into ChatGPT (free version)
- I ask for a summary of [Programme] [Lessson] [Grade] and 5 main takeaways, key vocabulary, and I have started adding common misconceptions, which I call "mistakes".
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Using AI to Help Make Summary Pages for Students
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Rethinking Assessments Workshop Reflection
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
The Generic Effect of AI
Monday, January 13, 2025
Take a Pause when Things Get Nuts
I should use this more.
The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast - EduTip 23: Calm an out-of-control class with a notebook.