Week 4 post

Well I'm currently finishing up the Sue guide for grades K-1. I'm not sure if it is what my supervisor is looking for or if she'll like all my lessons but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I'm still having trouble finding a post lesson to do with K-1, just because the common core standards that align with Kindergarten and 1st grade math are sort of repetitive. I also didn't realize how hard it would be to find lessons that teach about dinosaurs using math, not just dinosaur themed math activities (like pictures of dinosaurs on the page, connecting the dots to form a dinosaur, etc.). I already have ideas for 4-5 so I'm going to tackle that next.

Yesterday Taylor and I went to Stephen Foster Elementary to teach a "post lesson" on two class' trips to the museum (weeks ago). I worked as a camp counselor, coached an 8 and under swim team, and volunteered for years in K-1 classrooms so I'm used to little kids. However, it's very hard to make a "guest" appearance for a day during the last few weeks of school. The kids were going crazy, especially since we had our stuffed otter friend with us. It just made me thankful that I was going to be teaching 6-12 after graduation. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, but I don't think I could handle 18-20 at a time for 180 days. It was a fun break from the office and computers though.

Speaking of fun break, Taylor and I found out yesterday that we get to go on a little day trip with the museum "exhibit" crew this upcoming week! Dr. Ellis is taking us to Jacksonville to see the Megalodon exhibit on Tuesday! It will be nice to actually get to see the exhibit and it will definitely help in creating the guides for it. Taylor and I were also looking into seeing Sue. The permanent exhibit is in Chicago and the traveling one is currently in Vermont. So if anyone knows anyone in those areas who will let us crash for a night we wouldn't mind ;)

Well that's all I have. Hope everyone has a good weekend (or had if you read this on Monday/Tuesday). I won't be doing anything at all. The boyf is coming up to visit and we were thinking about maybe about going to Ginnie or Devil's Den but the weather doesn't seem to be too pleasant, so we shall see. See y'all in class!

Back to Work

As nice as the vacation was, I am so happy to finally be back in the states. It was a great trip but there's nothing like the good ole USA and a few days of rest at home to catch up on sleep.

Today was my first official day working for Dr. Ellis with "Math in the Museum". I didn't know what to expect coming into work today as my tasks were vaguely described to me before I left for vacation. Now that I'm back and actually able to see what it is we're creating, the picture is becoming a bit more clear. 

There are two exhibits coming to the Florida Museum of Natural History relatively soon, "The Megalodon" and "A Dinosaur Named Sue". I was under the impression that Taylor and I would be creating tours for these exhibits but now I see we are doing so much more. We are actually creating museum guides that include lesson plans, Power Point presentations, student activities, and tours for the exhibit in the museum. We will be making guides for grades K-8 so this task could take a lot longer than I thought. 

I'm taking on the "A Dinosaur Named Sue" and finding lessons that relate to the exhibit is incredibly challenging. The exhibit is current at the Field Museum in Chicago and they have provided guides online that cater to grades 3-8 however there is little to no math present in those activities.

Soooo, if anyone has any suggestions of lessons with dinosaurs and math (preferably younger grades) please send them my way! Hopefully I'll find a groove soon, because if not I'll be working past summer to get these guides done.

See ya'll in class this week!

Firenze

For now, here are some pictures from Florence!

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Piazza della Repubblica

Copy of 'The Rape of the Sabine Woman' in Piazza della Signoria

View of the Ponte alle Grazie from the Ponte Vecchio

Street performer at the Ponte Vecchio

Piazza Santa Trinita

Basilica di Santa Maria Novella

Chiesa di Santa Trinita

Introduction

Buongiorno!

Today was my last day in Florence and I'm off to Paris tomorrow until Saturday when I'm back in the USA. The trip has been fantastic but I'm actually excited to head back to Gainesville! (I get homesick, weird I know.) I'm going into my final semester studying math this Fall and will be graduating in December. This summer I will be working with fellow classmate Taylor Whitley in the Florida Museum of Natural History and supervised by Dr. Shari Ellis.

Unfortunately, I have only been able to experience one day in the museum before I left but I did have a lot of fun with it. I was able to shadow Taylor on a tour through the fossil exhibits with two fourth grade classes in Alachua county. During the tours, Taylor was able to include many probing questions about math such as calculating a shark's length by the length of it's tooth or how museum workers could figure out the best possible way to layout an exhibit. The students loved answering all the questions Taylor asked and for the most part seemed to enjoy the tour. I thought it was fun!

After the tours were over we went to the office where I helped Taylor prepare the lesson she and Dr. Ellis (our supervisor) would be teaching to the same students in school the next day. The lesson was on measuring heights of specific exhibits such as the mammoth and comparing those to similar animals today.
This summer, Taylor and I will be working under Dr. Ellis to create guides for the Megalodon and Dinosaur named Sue exhibits that incorporate math. There will be a lot of research involved in creating these guides so Taylor and I will be on the computers A LOT, along with some Starbucks.

Once I'm back in the states and actually being able to attend work, I will have more information to share. So for right, I guess that's it!