Truth or Dare Davis Style

I thought you might enjoy seeing my computer classroom. I teach math in a different room. I put up these photos in a response to a blog I read over the weekend. I wish I could find the author to point them to the photos. The person who wrote it was saying that they have the computers facing the walls and it makes it hard to see what everyone is doing. Mine face into the room. It makes it easy to see what the kids are doing at a glance.



Vicki Davis posted a set of 20 truth or dare questions. Here are my answers, let me know if you posted your own. I'd like to read them.

Do you spend any time talking about proper methods of e-mail? Not sure what you would categorize as proper methods of email. (Like letter writing etiquette?)

Do you have a facebook or myspace profile? Yes and yes, but don't really use them since I haven't friended anyone. Might think about Facebook or Myspace if there were colleagues there.


If someone wrote about you, is your name hyperlinkable? Yes, if you count this blog or my web pages/ wikis for the school.

Do you know the names of all of your students? K-8 down to the last two girls who look alike in Kindergarten, but I think I nailed it this week. I also mix up the identical twins who now have two different hair styles so shame on me.

If your students have computers in the classroom, do your students make ongoing eye contact? N/A, but in computer lab they chat the whole time they work.

Are you unafraid of what would happen if youtube, myspace, and facebook were allowed in your classroom? In K-8 I do worry about inappropriate images


Do your students collaboratively create documents? We're steadily working toward this in wikis and math blogs.


Do you expect your students to complete their reading assignments? I really don't assign reading assignments, per se.

Do you assign papers and grade them after reading EVERY WORD? For math chapter closure problems - yes - and I comment throughout the writing.


Have you ever given an assignment and allowed students to create content on the public world wide web? Not really. I have a moderated blog and protected wiki.

Do you allow students to post content WITHOUT premoderation? Not yet on the blog. The wiki is posted live and I go through it all after school.


If you allow students to post online, do you subscribe to 100% of their content in your RSS reader? Yes


Do you comment on your student blogs? Yes


Is more than 50% of your content relevant "to life?" Good SurveyMonkey question for the year.


Do all of your students open their textbook for your class on a weekly basis? Yes in math class, probably not at home unless assignment requires opening the book to answer math questions. Do not have a textbook for computer class.


Do you give reading assignments that include web content? Yes


Have your students been taught methodologies for assessing the validity of web documents? Yes, I drip it on them each year slowly.


Do you give students projects where they must manage themselves, multitask, and deliver a comprehensive output that is relevant to your topic? Yes


Have you changed anything significant about ALL of the courses you are teaching THIS YEAR? Not all K-8 computers and math, but 5-8 certainly.


Do you care? You bet.