Passion and Curiosity Quotients in my work

This week in CEp812 looks at an article by Thomas L Friedman that talks about his belief that the Passion Quotient and Curiosity Quotient will be as helpful and in some cases more helpful in the future than Intelligent Quotient at having the right people doing the right jobs.  While I do not think the situation is as dire as he makes it out to be I agree that passion and curiosity are valuable traits to have and to foster in my students.

We were asked in response to this article to create something with some digital technology that shows our passion and curiosity in our job and how we use digital technology to foster that passion and creativity in our students.  When I got this assignment I was really at a loss as to what to do to show my P.Q. and C.Q. that I have for my work but I knew without a doubt that I show them everyday at work.  When talking to my colleagues at lunch they said just film yourself doing anything and that will be good enough, but I was not satisfied with that.

This year I was inspired to try gamification in my classroom using points and badges to monitor formative assessment and to leave the marks that go on the report cards to summative assessments.  I knew I wanted to do this but I struggled with what that was going to look like.  That is when I discovered the blog of Michael Matera.  He has created a system that mimics the points, levels, and badges found in many digital games.  I purchased his set of google spreadsheets and got started setting up my classes with it. Since I started investigating gamification in the classroom I have seen many iMovie trailers on youtube.  So for this project I decided to make one for myself.  I had never used iMovie before but I felt confident I could do it, not to mention curious about the old fashion map animations I saw, so I got started.  I decided to create the trailer to whet the curiosity of my students about what they could expect math to be like this year in the gamification world called Foxhaven.

My students asked to watch it a 2nd and sometimes a third time and kept asking what the different pictures meant.  The excitement was palpable in the room today. I hope it continues as the year progresses.  I can’t wait to start the exploration of Foxhaven in my classroom, hopefully it will help to foster curiosity in learning mathematics and create students who are passionate about learning as much as they possibly can.  I do not look at the work I do as a job but as a calling so I love what I do.  Every year the learning needs of my students increase and as a result I need to be curious to figure out what exactly will work for each child.  While Friedman labeled the CQ as curiosity quotient I think it would be better served to be Creativity Quotient.  Nothing changes if you are just curious it takes creativity to make the changes you want in the world.

Friedman, T (2013, January 29) It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q.. The New York Times Opinion Pages. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html?_r=0

References from the iMovie trailer in order of appearance to make it easier to find what you want.

NASA/JPL-Caltech. (2005) NASA Scientist Finds World With Triple Sunsets [image file] Retrieved from  http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/newworlds/threesun-071305a.html

Tangient LLC (2013) Landing on Mars [image file] retrieved from Mars 1650 wikispaces at  http://mars1650.wikispaces.com/Landing+On+Mars

4EL Classroom connection (2013) 33078-Clipart-Illustration-Of-A-Female-Math-Teacher-And-Students-With-A-Calculator-And-Numbers Retrieved from http://teachers.saschina.org/elau/2013/04/08/math-survey/33078-clipart-illustration-of-a-female-math-teacher-and-students-with-a-calculator-and-numbers/

Wohl Isard (2013, August 22) OMG-AIMS [image file] Retrieved from Raising Arizona Kids http://rakadd.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/omg-aims/

The Physical Educator (2011, October 21) Responsibility Badges in Physical Education [image file]Retrieved from http://www.thephysicaleducator.com/blog/files/responsibility_badges.html

geralt (2006) learn note sign directory direction arrows street [image file] Retrieved from http://pixabay.com/en/learn-note-sign-directory-64058/

We Want To Know AS (2013) Dragonbox algebra http://dragonboxapp.com/

ABCya.com (2012) Virtual Manipulatives https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/virtual-manipulatives!/id471341079?mt=8

Tetz (2013) Education as a force for equality Retrieved from https://mathrocks4life.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/education-as-a-force-for-equality/

The Math Learning Center (2012) Geoboard https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geoboard-by-math-learning/id519896952?mt=8

Thirteen (2011) Cyberchase http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/videos/

Holladay, Justin (2012) 4 Dice: Fraction Games https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/4-dice-fraction-games/id583546023?ls=1&mt=8

Launchpad Toys (n.d.)  Toontastic https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toontastic/id404693282?mt=8

AR Entertainment (n.d.) Grid Drawing for Kids Lite https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grid-drawing-for-kids-lite/id581373862?mt=8

Brainingcamp, LLC (2012) Algebra Tiles https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/algebra-tiles/id568896224?mt=8

DigitWhiz Inc. (2013) DigitWhiz http://digitwhiz.com/

Alberta Education (2003) Math Continuum Retrieved from Learn Alberta http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mec/html/index.html?launch=true#