Thursday, November 29, 2012

PLN

As a soon to be teacher, I recognize how important it is to lean on my peers and any available resources to make my classroom as effective as possible.  Here are some of the websites that I will use, each of which has a various benefit:

Wolfram Mathworld

This is probably the most advanced site available to mathematics teachers, explaining topics in depth and at a high level.  Not only does it explain topics in depth, it covers a multitude of topics ranging from high school level to well beyond.  For example, there are 62 pages on Game Theory, which is not a typical topic in high school mathematics, though it may be of interest of a student during a project.  It seems just about every mathematical topic is covered here from a very credible source, making it an invaluable resource. 

Khan Academy
The benefits of Khan Academy are immense and any teacher utilizing technology should have this high on their queue.  Often Khan Academy is used for flipping lessons, which allows teachers to work with students on questions after having the video "teach" the lesson.  Another approach would be to offer it as a resource for students who are struggling with a specific topic that had been learned in the past.  Rather than re-teaching the entire class, Khan Academy can be used as a resource for the student to re-learn the material independently.  Finally, it may be useful to see their approach to teaching certain topics.  Whether the lesson was taught unsuccessfully or you are stuck on the approach to take, Khan Academy can provide one method on how to teach it.

PBS for Teachers
The benefit of PBS for Teachers is in its diversity.  Lesson plans? Check.  Online community? Check.  Professional development?  Check.  Discussion Board?  Check.  The lesson plans seem most useful to me, as they are typically dynamic and interactive.  It also helps to know that they are coming from a credible source rather than randomly from Google. 

Reflections of a High School Math Teacher
I randomly came across this blog and thought it would be interesting to follow.  The teacher is down to earth and realistic about the job, but at the same time thinks creatively about what could make him a better teacher. 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Web 2.0 Applications

The internet is home to a plethora of tools that can be used in a mathematics classroom.  Here are two examples and how they can be applied in your classroom:

Geogebra:

I might be cheating with this one, since you do need to download it, but it is an incredibly powerful tool with a lot of features and would definitely be worth the download.  The best usage may be in Geometry, where it show a visualization of the figures you are discussing.  I personally cannot draw remotely accurate figures.  3-D shapes are next to impossible for me.  Geogebra solves that problem by doing the work for me.  I just need to give it a shape and specific characteristics.  Another feature of Geogebra will allow you to chart a function and its first derivative at the same time.  The derivative is an extremely difficult concept to pick up for students when it is first introduced (or at least it was for me).  This can help students visualize not only by showing the two graphs, but also lets you follow the graph with your mouse to see how the respective y-values change as you move along the x-axis. 

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives:

In my Methods class, my teacher would often bring in manipulatives to show us examples of creative ways to teach kids a lesson while at the same time being a little more dynamic and interactive.  The biggest downside I saw was that these tools all would cost a lot of money and had a high potential of being lost.  Enter the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.  This website has a digital version of all of them.  This site would be perfect if you were in a school where every student had a tablet or laptop, but is still good as long as you have some access to technology.  Have a lesson where students need to calculate the perimeter for shapes? Use the geoboard to have them create unique shapes then calculate the perimeter for it.  Want to prove the results for multivariable equations?  The algebra tiles can be effective for that.  I could go on, but there are around 100 tools just for grades 9-12.