Blackboard Notes

For all that read this blog, I've gotten some new tools for you to check out at both my tutor site http://www.sheldahltutoring.com/ , and my wiki http://www.mrshel.wikispaces.com/ , and you may notice that they might look a little better too.  rCampus development has come to a halt, because the more I study it, I'm not as sure how friendly it will be to navigate for someone who has a lesser degree of technical knowledge; I'm not saying ignorant or "dumb," just that I want to make sure it meets my standard for LCT (Lowest Common Technology).  There are several people in this country, who've I've had the chance to bump into on the virtual by-ways, who still use dial-up.  Though the standard for a modem is 56Kbps, the chances of it maximzing with the C.O. or local branch are 16% or less.  Not to mention I spent a whole semester studying the concept of throughput, and still don't have a good definition! (By the way, ask your local ISP what their definition...

Mostly I love to talk all things math (and this could be related), but somehow I got intrigued by YoYoGames platform of a gamemaker, GameMaker8 .  I walked through most of the tutorial so far, and though I didn't need to be a programmer, there are a lot of properties to be aware of...bouncing, clicking, bouncing off walls (which is almost what I did in learning the environment).  I am going to hold true, and eventually design a basic arcade and/or math game.  Who knows?  Perhaps I'll get nostalgic and create my own version of LodeRunner.  Long live Commodore 64! Til I chalk again, Mr. Shel

I really didn't understand what I didn't understand until I had to take a class for more understanding...Lost? Me too, as I am studying Research Methods, which seems to be actually about methods research.  Do I sound like Andy Rooney yet?  I am grateful for 2 important things in this graduate class; a very patient professor who has extensive experience with this work, and a creative cohort body of students to help me along the way. I knew there is a reason I picked Math over English for a major, so sorry Mrs. J!  The intricate way the words form together (especially in questions) make me frustrated over getting them wrong the first time.  After all, aren't we in a society where you put the pop-tart in the toaster for 45 seconds, watch 1 minute of "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" before flipping the channel, and get answers right on the 1st guess when it comes to standardized tests?  You'll be happy to note that I'll save my Mark Twainisms for another...

To those who I've shared my goals and visions, I have NOT made any headway to make any lessons for rCampus.  The fact that there are 1000's of online videos already have discouraged me from this amibition, yet if I were to do as PatrickJMT of Youtube.com, charge 99 cents a download for the videos produced. In reality, I have been making unseen advances with my downstairs office/video production area.  My backroom is cleaned up (finally!) and ready for work/recording.  This brings me to another passage in the plan to produce electronic curriculum,  "How should I deliver it?"  There are several choices. Pen and paper method. (w/cam) Presenter in front of the board (w/cam) Jing it Use online whiteboards (such as vyew.com) Doing live sessions. I like how easy option 1 makes for doing a tutor or lesson session;  the presenter just writes down the concepts in almost a notation form you could copy and use for your own notes.   However, the only way ...

Thanks to the new enhancements through Blogger, I now have a somewhat different look to my blog.  In addition, I have been working on rCampus, but not yet ready to publish any curriculum, because I've been sidetracked with other projects, though I did take the summer "off" from my master's program. So far, I have registered and set up a tutor account through rCampus, and going by a handle appropriately named "MrShel" which I also have a code to find me quickly, which is T4763864. That's all I have, as I keep diligently working at "finding" students to tutor this summer and fall. Til I chalk again, Mr. Shel

 I hope you've enjoyed the change in scenery (if you're a student OR a teacher).  Now that my status has been changed, I have now more freedom to create my little snippets of lessons...not that there isn't a plethora already of Math and Reading.  I've found after being let go of one job, that I do better motivating myself as the boss. (make or break).  The comments I've followed from the blogs I'm subscribed to have been helpful to my mental appetite; however have been anorexically rejected in practice by the district I formally worked in.  This gives me new light and new motivation...specially to encourage those in the regular (math) education, to follow dan's link (see links at bottom) of his latest comments...to make the students "struggle-think," drop the concept as if in the middle of a cliffhanger movie, then when they ask for a conclusion, and if there's time, supplement the concept.  I like that kind inquiry and curiosity.  It really ...

Since I've been working feverishly on finding relevant work, I've neglected my post (pun intended). With the freedom of no new contract, I may seek to develop my tutor center with more withall, for lack of a better word. Likewise, I will be changing my Wiki space page name to CSES-Int-Algebra.wikispaces.com (the one I've been working on since last fall). It is my intention to make it more standards-friendly and less text dependent. This transition will have to be over the summer, after I come back from Disney World. Til I chalk again, Mr. Shel