ABOUT ME
Hello and welcome to Tangents in Technology, a blog about teaching, adolescence, math, ed tech, and anything else I find interesting.
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| Image Source: Personal Photo |
My name is Pete Drinan and my wife, Katie, and I have been married for 17 years and live in Downers Grove, IL. We have two children, Charlie (12) and Maggie (8) that keep us very busy with school, soccer, cross country, theater, basketball, dance, and softball. In what little free time I have, I like to travel, spend as much time as I can outdoors (golfing, biking, boating, and hiking), reading and listening to podcasts. One of my favorite vacation spots is Hilton Head Island, SC; specifically the Sea Pines Resort. My family has been going there since I was a toddler and Katie and I have started a tradition of each summer alternating between Hilton Head and somewhere new. Two summers ago we went to Breckenridge, CO and this past summer was Hilton Head so we are in the process of finding somewhere new for next summer if anyone has suggestions.
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| Image Source: Personal Photo |
EXPERIENCE
I am currently in my 20th year of teaching mathematics. I taught junior high for 3 years, and am starting my 17th year of teaching high school. All 20 of these years have been spent in Catholic Education. I am a product of Catholic Education, my kids go to a Catholic School, and I am a firm believer in the important role that it plays in education along with the the positive impacts and unique opportunities that it provides students. I have taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus at both the college prep and honors levels. Currently I am teaching Honors Algebra and Advanced Algebra Trigonometry.
Throughout my career I have used a multitude of technologies including chalkboards, whiteboards, overhead projectors, document cameras, graphing calculators, iPads, Macs, PC's, and projectors. I have gone from a paper/pencil classroom to 1:1 iPad classroom all while trying to keep class engaging, challenging, and informative. It has been an exciting and often exhausting journey, but one in which I have thoroughly enjoyed!
TECHNOLOGY
The learning management system (LMS) that we are currently using is PlusPortals by Rediker Software. However, we are considering making a change next year to Blackbaud. I am very excited about this potential change because the new system seems to offer many more features than our current system which would benefit our school community. In my classroom, I use Google Classroom for organization and management, Notability for guided notes and homework, and the TI-SmartView for presenting calculator applications.
Incorporating and integrating technology into a Catholic high school math classroom can be challenging for a couple of reasons. First, resources can be scarce. We don't always have the best, brightest, or newest equipment, software, systems or applications and rarely do we spend professional development time on ed tech. And second, change comes very slowly. The word tradition often gets thrown around, but all to often what is really meant is "because that's how we have always done it." However, this shouldn't stop us from moving forward. We must forge ahead, be creative, take risks and continually remind ourselves that tradition is simply innovation that worked, which is why I am excited about this course.
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| Image Source: www.gifer.com |
This is a fantastic introduction to who you are, Peter! We visited Hilton Head for the first time in April this year and went to Sea Pines for dinner! Have you visited Yellowstone yet? That is a must-do. We were in the park for 3 days and then stayed a night near the Tetons and white water rafted on the Snake river. Highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteI love that you listed a chalkboard as technology. This is 100% true! To your point, it continues to evolve and we continue to adapt, even if it is sometimes as a snail's pace. Looking forward to learning with you.
Hello Peter,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the introduction! Hilton Head looks beautiful, what a great place to visit regularly. I am also a big fan of the outdoors and have not been able to visit the Carolinas yet, so it is high on my list. Last summer I was able to visit Acadia National Park in Maine as part of a tour around the Northeast, which I would definitely recommend.
I'm really looking forward to hearing your perspective on technology as a math educator. I am not super familiar with this area of education, and I am very interested in how applicable tools have evolved in the classroom. You listed some great examples of these tools when speaking to your experience, and I'm sure that each has presented its own unique set of benefits and challenges that has informed future development.
Thank you again for sharing, and I am excited to learn with you!
Peter,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to virtually meet you. I live in Lombard, so *hi neighbor!*
I work at a Catholic private high school, and I have to agree with you that there is something about it that offers a unique experience to our students. I think it's important to learn about the whole person, and spirituality & religion is part of that.
With regards to tech, we use Blackbaud for student records, but not as a "typical " LMS. Schoology is what we use for the everyday assignments and assessments. I'm interested to hear what you think of Blackbaud once you start using it!
Also, I have a quick suggestion for your blog with regards to formatting. One thing I learned (when I took a web design course at Dominican oh so long ago) is that contrast is important. While it's not a huge deal because it only affects your links in your blog, it may be harder to read in relation to the rest of your blog. I did have a hard time reading your hyperlinks; the red is quite bright with regards to intensity. An easy solution would be to change them to the orange color you have for your footer links. This might make it easier in general to read. But again, it's just a suggestion. :)
Thank you for all that you shared, and I'm excited to work with you in this class!