As the students pass each other in the hall one of them asks, "Is Mr. Z here today?" The reply they get back is not what they expected. "He is here, but he is not here." How is this possible? Did Mr. Z master Quantum physics?
My daughter was sick with a stomach virus and I was unable to get to school to teach my Geometry and Algebra 1 Classes. I was getting worried about the time. My class was behind in the schedule and I felt that I could not afford to slip a day. There was a test scheduled for Geometry and Algebra 1 on Wednesday. I was planning on using Tuesday as a review day to get them prepared for the test. How was I going to still give the test on Wednesday if I could not be there to review?
I started to think about the resources available to my class. We have a moodle class set up where we share information. I posted a copy of the answer key to the review so that the students could view it in class. Was this going to be good enough? What else could I do?
My daughter was sleeping so I felt comfortable using my laptop and being on line. I sent a quick message using Moodle to all of the students in my class.
MR. Z [06:35 AM]: For Tuesday.
- Please check your Pretest answers in Moodle. Be Careful #6 is missing 4 lines of symmetry.
- Test is Wednesday! You may bring one sheet of paper with your own notes.
- When you are done checking the pretest, work on TUTOR.
- If you have any Questions please send me a message.
Thank you
Mr. Z
As the students entered the class they logged on to the computers and received my message. Some students started to message back some questions. How was I going to answer them? I took control of the teacher computer in the classroom and sent a message to one of the students to turn on the smart board. I used skype to link the video camera and document camera on the computer to my laptop. Great! I could see the class. I could see what they were writing on the smart board. I was able to write back on the smart board to mark up what they were doing.
They could even hear me with the speakers on the smart board. I did not have a microphone on the computer at school so they could not speak to me. This turned out to work very well. It forced the student to type or write their questions. For some of them this allowed them to answer their own questions or allow another student to answer the question.
So far today I have given the test to 3 of my classes with 2 to go. Not one student has complained about not being prepared or has asked to have the test moved out a day. The real test will come when I am done grading the papers. Did this review work?
I had several comments back from students saying that they enjoyed this format of review. Was it the way all of them could ask questions at the same time? Was it just because they got to see my house and my dogs? Was it because I could not hear them and the level of noise in the class was larger?
