Tapped In Newsletter: March 1998

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********** ...ON THE TAPIS **********
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Issue # 8 March, 1998
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...ON THE TAPIS is a monthly letter with updates on TAPPED IN and related events. Check our website to learn more. Contact us if you forgot your password or user name.

Quote of the Month:

"The teacher is one who makes two ideas grow where only one grew before." - Elbert Hubbard

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[1] New! Math Forum Office hours and discussion time
[2] Event Calendar
[3] New! Announcing TAPPED IN mailing lists
[4] After School Online
[5] TAPPED IN Quick Notes
[6] Math Forum Summer Institute
[7] About ...ON THE TAPIS
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[1] NEW!! Math Forum Office Hours and discussion time!
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Starting Monday March 23, Math Forum will be holding weekly office hours. Stop by to talk to Dave Kershaw, a project developer for the Math Forum and math teacher. For the last two years he has been an Internet curriculum developer specializing in Math and Science. Math Forum's office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays 1-2 Pacific (4-5 Eastern).

Starting Monday March 30, Math Forum will have a weekly real time discussion time for teachers in TAPPED IN. The topic for 3/30 is Using Writing in Math Class. Students can develop deeper understandings in math by writing about what they are learning. Journals for students are a popular use of writing in math class, but the key is to then use those journals and other writing exercises to assess students learning. Areas of concern regarding journals and writing in math class are: does it take extra time grading, what about correcting spelling and grammar, and how do we motivate students to write about math? This session will focus on specific examples that make writing a more effective assessment tool in math class.

[2] Event Calendar for TAPPED IN
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We've added an event calendar to our website to help you keep track of all of the Activities in TAPPED IN.

The calendar lists all of our formal events in TAPPED IN for the month. Just below the calendar are the weekly office hours for our partner organizations (ED's Oasis, New Haven Unified, Lawrence Hall of Science SEPUP & IOESL, Geological Society of America) in TAPPED IN. To get an event listed on the event calendar, contact us.

[3] Announcing TAPPED IN Mailing Lists
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You asked, we listened and made it so. TAPPED IN is starting two mailing lists. We hope that these new mailing lists will allow you get to know the other teachers and educators who are members of TAPPED IN better. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to the lists at any time through our web site. All messages sent to the mailing list will also be archived on our website for you to browse.

The first mailing list is set up to encourage members of TAPPED IN to get to know each other better. Post ideas you have for collaborative projects, tell the community a bit more about yourself, and set up meetings directly with your colleagues in TAPPED IN through this list. This list should help keep you more TAPPED IN.

The second list is set up so that members may ask each other and TAPPED IN Staff technical questions and questions about what's the best way to do something in TAPPED IN. Since the list is archived on the web, you will also be able to see if others have asked and answered the question before.

If you are interested in being part of either list you must go to the website and follow the directions there to subscribe. (Read the directions CAREFULLY.) You can get to the web archives of these lists from that same page. For more information or if you need assistance, contact us.

[4] AFTER SCHOOL ONLINE
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After School Online is every Monday and Tuesday from 3-4 pm Pacific (6-7 Eastern), Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. Pacific (9:30 Eastern); Wednesdays 1-2 pm Pacific (4-5 Eastern). After School Online is a time for teachers to get a chance to talk to other teachers, and a time to come learn about a topic that interests them.

The April After School Online schedule will be coming out soon. If you are interested in leading an After School Online session contact us.

Remaining this Month:

March 23 3-4pm (Pacific) Talking across Disciplines

March 24 3-4pm (Pacific) TEACHER TALK!!

March 24 6:30pm (Pacific) Incorporating the Internet into your classroom

March 25 1-2pm (Pacific) Science! Volcanoes and Global Climate Change -- lots of curriculum ideas!

March 30 3-4pm (Pacific) Using Technology to Learn a different Point of View

March 31 3-4pm (Pacific) TEACHER TALK!

March 31 6:30pm (Pacific) How I introduced my 5th graders to the Tombs of the Mummies and had a snowball fight all in one day. Using Technology for fun and learning.

Here's a correction to the description for 3/23's session:

Cross-curricular Projects: Why should your students participate in interdisciplinary projects? How difficult are they to accomplish?? Can your students be involved in projects and still do well on those "standardized tests"? This session will be facilitated by Mary Pat Horn (a teacher for 25 years: middle school science and project based learning facilitator for the last 5 years)

[5] TAPPED IN Quick Notes
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Are you going to be at AERA? So is TAPPED IN! If you would like to stop by and say hi to us, we'll all be at the Apprenticeships in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environments session on Tuesday April 14th at 10:35 am - 12:05 pm. See http://ericae.net/aera/ann98/9811_04.HTM for more information.

TAPPED IN will have a hands-on training workshop on Monday June 22 at the 1998 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC'98) in San Diego. The conference runs June 22-24, with workshops from June 20-23. More details about our workshop will follow when we get them. If you would like more information about NECC, contact us

A big welcome to Douglas Gordin and his preservice teachers! Doug's preservice teachers are making electronic portfolios and linking to them in TAPPED IN. When they have finished making their portfolios, they will share them with TAPPED IN members in an open house on 4/20/98 at 4-7 pm Pacific. Stop by TAPPED IN and meet them, and check out their work. http://www.arcturus.educ.msu.edu/~gordin/Public/CEP416-People.html. Email Doug if you are interested in attending the open house.

[6] Math Forum Advanced Summer Institute
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DEVELOPING INTERNET MATHEMATICS PROJECTS AND RESOURCES
June 29 - July 2, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA

This summer the Math Forum will host its third Advanced Summer Institute for mathematics educators who are developing high-quality uses of the Internet. We plan to bring together a group of creative, Web-savvy teachers in order to introduce them to each other, to new tools, to interesting mathematics, to Forum staff from whom they might receive continuing support, and to the possibility of receiving modest financial support during the school year through the Forum Teacher Associate program. Our goal is to enhance projects and resources you are already developing, and to build a community that will help others do the same.

[7] About ...ON THE TAPIS
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Postings of all ...ON THE TAPIS issues are available online. Contact us if you have any questions about your subscription, login name or password, or if you have any news items that you want to share with the community for ...ON THE TAPIS.