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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Safe Wheelchair Ramps (inquiry based learning)


Our inquiry based learning group has now planned a lesson on safe wheelchair ramps and we have observed the lesson in two teacher’s classes.
Here is the lesson: https://docs.google.com/a/ocdsb.ca/document/d/1cmBfTzcf53tUxuxGb-Rbl5HBnSUqw7HIlKhBhObtcfc/edit#

In both classes the level of engagement amongst the students has been significant. Both teachers were quite happy with the engagement.
Lots of questioning and inquiry in both classes with students showing mathematical thinking. Definitely some misconceptions in the classes but....I think the students resolved these.

Debriefing the lesson the second time seemed to have a little more structure to it and seemed to be a little more focused. I think we as a group will get better at this process as the semester moves forward. I am so lucky to be able to work with this group of educators who are focused, committed and taking risks. Kudos to all. Looking forward to hosting the next lesson study in early April.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Inquiry Based Learning Professional Learning Community

For this semester I am participating in lesson study with a group of about 18-20 teachers in my board who are interested in creating lessons based on inquiry based learning. All the teachers have classes of either grade 9 or grade 10 applied classes, I am very grateful for the opportunity and am lucky to work in a board that values creativity.
At this point we  have met for one whole day to go over the structure and to develop our first lesson which is safe wheel chair ramps.
This is a great group and should be very exciting-looking forward to the learning. More to come.......

Monday, February 27, 2012

Ottawa Shooting Stars - Small Ball





Ottawa Shooting Stars - Small Ball:

Who: 5-8 year olds (with keen parents)
What: Introduction to Basketball 'fun'damentals
When: Friday, 6:15 to 7:15pm (January 27th to April 27th, 2012)
Where: Glebe High School (Map)

For more information contact Alex Overwijk at alexander.overwijk@ocdsb.ca

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Dan Meyer: My Muse

In the spring of 2010 I watched this video of math teacher Dan Meyer blog.mrmeyer.com

His presentation had an immediate impact on me. I have been following dydan's blog for 2 years now. His ideas have influenced how I now teach math.

My Journey as a World Freehand Circle Drawing Champ

Like most math teachers, who have been in the business for a while, I have a repertoire of "stories" that I use with students when I am introducing new concepts. One of my favourite is my story of being a former World Freehand Circle Drawing Champion (this seed was planted one weekend while watching a broadcast of the world bar tending championship - in Vegas).

In June of 2006 (after 10 years of telling the story) a student of mine asked if he could make a video of me and my story. It was posted on our school website where it sat for 6 months. In January of 2007 someone from Fargo, North Dakota found it and posted in YouTube and several other social media sites. The video went viral... and the rest is history.

I will post more about the story over time, but the reason that this is really important is that it has provided me with a vehicle to talk about my true passion, which is engaging students in mathematics.