What a great class. I've learned so many things in this class and have incorporated so many things in my class. Some of them have worked well, and others will need some improvement. But, the students enjoy every new thing that I try in class.
For my final class blog, I will describe a lesson that I have been working on this semester to use in my Algebra class. We are about to start a lesson on graphing quadratic equations. I'm taking my students to the computer lab to work on this 2-day project/lesson. Students will begin with the handout that has the instructions and websites needed to be successful. In creating the handout, I used google url shortenr to shorten the lengthy web pages that the students would need to access. Students will follow the directions and answer the questions. I will guide them through the lesson using the SmartBoard. When finished, I created additional websites using the google url shortener to allow students to discover relationships. For the second day of the project, I will create a wall on wiffiti.com in which students will will text the answer to the question "What factors change the shape of a quadratic equation" and discuss all students answers. Students will then be given time to create their own comic strip about how a graph changes from the parent graph. Also, as part of the handout, students will be introduced to the popular game "Angry Birds" and associate the game with graphing quadratic equations. On the handout, I gave the students a website to look at and also used a QR CODE translator to create a QR CODE for those students who have a Smartphone.
I hope this is helpful and that you and the students enjoy!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Blog Post #6
Here are a few of the Web 2.0 tools that I could and have incorporated in my classroom.
Wiffiti – I created an account for use in my classroom. I tried it once with my Geometry class. I posted the question “Name a polyhedron that has at least 5 faces” and allowed the kids to post. It didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. The students did answer the question, but I had to refresh the page for it to work and show up for the students. When I refreshed, it did show everyone’s answer and we had a discussion about the answers.
Xtranormal – I liked this web tool. I created an introduction video about studying for the Pre-Algebra test. The kids loved it and I would definitely use this again. It was very easy to use. The only downfall was that I could only create the one video for free. If I want to create more, I will have to pay or find a different website.
QR Codes – I downloaded an app for this on my phone and actually used it at Lowe’s in the garden department. The QR Code brought me to a website about how to care for the plant. I like the idea of placing these on homework assignments to guide students to a helpful website. The downfall is that the student would have to have some sort of Smartphone.
Discovery Education Network – Our school district currently uses parts of the Discovery Education Network. We can create probes that allow us to test students, see immediate and real-time results, and allows us to track student progress. The website also provides videos and tutorials for specific learning targets.
Bitstrips looks like a fun tool to allow students to be creative with a project. I created my own little comic about spheres. It was quick and easy. Students could easily use this tool to create a comic strip on a given topic – say – finding the surface area of prisms. Students could include the formulas.
Wiffiti – I created an account for use in my classroom. I tried it once with my Geometry class. I posted the question “Name a polyhedron that has at least 5 faces” and allowed the kids to post. It didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. The students did answer the question, but I had to refresh the page for it to work and show up for the students. When I refreshed, it did show everyone’s answer and we had a discussion about the answers.
Xtranormal – I liked this web tool. I created an introduction video about studying for the Pre-Algebra test. The kids loved it and I would definitely use this again. It was very easy to use. The only downfall was that I could only create the one video for free. If I want to create more, I will have to pay or find a different website.
QR Codes – I downloaded an app for this on my phone and actually used it at Lowe’s in the garden department. The QR Code brought me to a website about how to care for the plant. I like the idea of placing these on homework assignments to guide students to a helpful website. The downfall is that the student would have to have some sort of Smartphone.
Discovery Education Network – Our school district currently uses parts of the Discovery Education Network. We can create probes that allow us to test students, see immediate and real-time results, and allows us to track student progress. The website also provides videos and tutorials for specific learning targets.
Bitstrips looks like a fun tool to allow students to be creative with a project. I created my own little comic about spheres. It was quick and easy. Students could easily use this tool to create a comic strip on a given topic – say – finding the surface area of prisms. Students could include the formulas.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Blog Post #5
Google has lots of tools! The first one I want to talk about is the google calendar. Our school uses google calendar and I started a calendar of my own through this class. I recently bought an iphone and downloaded an app so that I can access my school calendar, personal calendar, and phone calendar all at one spot. The app is called "Calengoo" and seems easy to use. With google calendar, I was able to combine the school calendar, my personal calendar, and a calendar of U.S. Holidays. Each calendar is a different color so I can easily see each day what is on my agenda for that day.
Other tools I explored include Google Squared. I searched "regular polygons" and it showed a really good square. It listed many polygons, the item names, the image, and a description of each. I clicked on "add a new column" and found the measure of each interior angle.
I looked up some books using Google Books. I searched for Geometry and lots of examples popped up, but nothing that I wanted to use in my class. I searched for "math is fun" and found a book called "190 Ready-to-use activities to make math fun."
As I explored Google Reader, I realized that it shows many of the pages of the book and I have the option to buy if I wanted.
I noticed that Blogs that I follow as a part of Blogger.com show up in my google reader. I recently started following a blog designed by our technology department. In the blog, there was a post about "PI" day - March 14 - that listed some comics that I shared with my class.
Google Earth is pretty fascinating. The first thing I did was try and find my house to see what it looks like from the air. I could incorporate this into my class by having students search for their houses and other St. Louis landmarks and using the latitude and longitude, have students use the distance formula to find the distance between each point. This makes learning more fun and real for the students. Here is a website that lists real world lessons that I can incorporate into my classroom. http://www.realworldmath.org/Real_World_Math/Lessons.html
Other tools I explored include Google Squared. I searched "regular polygons" and it showed a really good square. It listed many polygons, the item names, the image, and a description of each. I clicked on "add a new column" and found the measure of each interior angle.
I looked up some books using Google Books. I searched for Geometry and lots of examples popped up, but nothing that I wanted to use in my class. I searched for "math is fun" and found a book called "190 Ready-to-use activities to make math fun."
As I explored Google Reader, I realized that it shows many of the pages of the book and I have the option to buy if I wanted.
I noticed that Blogs that I follow as a part of Blogger.com show up in my google reader. I recently started following a blog designed by our technology department. In the blog, there was a post about "PI" day - March 14 - that listed some comics that I shared with my class.
Google Earth is pretty fascinating. The first thing I did was try and find my house to see what it looks like from the air. I could incorporate this into my class by having students search for their houses and other St. Louis landmarks and using the latitude and longitude, have students use the distance formula to find the distance between each point. This makes learning more fun and real for the students. Here is a website that lists real world lessons that I can incorporate into my classroom. http://www.realworldmath.org/Real_World_Math/Lessons.html
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Blog Post #4
On my igoogle page, I added a few extra gadgets that what was required. One of the gadgets is "Famous Optical Illusions." I'm always fascintated by optical illusions. Since I teach geometry, I think optical illusions are a great way to introduce students to geometric figures and topics.
I also added the gadget "Google Translate." When I taught at Poplar Bluff Junior High, I had a student with limited English profenciency. I used a translation website to translate directions and assignments from English to Spanish. Google Translate will be a great resource to use in a situation like this.
"Mathchallenge.net" and "Number Cruncher Game" are great mind challenging math games that I could share with my students. I tried playing the "Number Cruncher Game" and it's definitely a great challenge to exercise the brain.
I also like the weather so I enjoy seeing the "Weather" gadget.
I also added the gadget "Google Translate." When I taught at Poplar Bluff Junior High, I had a student with limited English profenciency. I used a translation website to translate directions and assignments from English to Spanish. Google Translate will be a great resource to use in a situation like this.
"Mathchallenge.net" and "Number Cruncher Game" are great mind challenging math games that I could share with my students. I tried playing the "Number Cruncher Game" and it's definitely a great challenge to exercise the brain.
I also like the weather so I enjoy seeing the "Weather" gadget.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Blog Post #3
There were quite a few websites and resources listed in the text for teachers and students. One teacher website that I found useful and would use in the classroom is http://www.proteacher.com/. It seems very user friendly and returned many relevant websites for the search. I often personally use http://www.google.com/ for most of my searches in the classroom and it seems to be a quick, easy, and reliable website for many searches. Even for students, it has a default setting to "moderate" filter to prevent many unwanted websites. The text explores some other options for search sites for students, including http://www.kidsclick.org/. I tried to search some high school mathematics terms like 'distributive, quadratic, and sine' and no results were returned. I'm not sure this would be a good site for high school. In my classroom (and the test mentions this also) I use http://www.math.com/. It has lots of good examples and resources for students to use if they are struggling with concepts. I've also used http://www.mathforum.org/ to get ideas and allow students to search items.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Blog Post #2
Many times, i have used the internet to enhance student learning and assess student knowledge. There are math websites that allow students to assess themselves and give examples for them to study if they are struggling. I also have used Brainpops videos and quizzes to grab student attention. In one internet teaching experience, my students were to act as a travel agent and create three plans within a certain budget to a specific vacation destination. Students had to use Travelocity.com, orbitz.com, hotels.com or some similar websites to find information about flight and hotels. The students were using authentic learning because they were attempting to solve a real-life problems. They had to think about real-life situations and goals. For example, if looking for a flight, students had to also think about travel expenses - renting a car, taking a taxi, or public transportation - to get around to various destiations while visiting the city. Students were asked to find information about average temperatures for the travel destination and present they information to the class. Most students presented the information using Powerpoint.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Blog Post #1
Hello everyone. My name is David Tidwell. I live in Webster Groves and am a high school mathematics teacher. I think technology is very important in the classroom and in everyday life. Just tonight, for example, I emailed my tax information to my aunt (who is also my accountant) and saved myself a lot of time and some postage. I used a scanner to scan the information sheets and saved them on my computer to send via email to my aunt.
In the classroom, I use a scanner to scan information and good documents that I find to help create lessons. I use Smart Notebook technology for my SmartBoard I use at school. The students really enjoy it. I have a few mathematics websites I like to use including http://www.regentsprep.org/ and our book website http://www.glencoe.com/. Last year, I had students use digital cameras to create an instructional video using moviemaker in our school computer lab. The students really enjoyed the experience as did I. Students also use various calculators in the classroom. Teaching students how to correctly use certain aspects of the calculator is important, especially if they are using a graphing calculator.
Last year, our high school administrators had teachers respond to a blog instead of having a formal faculty meeting. That was my first experience with blogging.
In the classroom, I use a scanner to scan information and good documents that I find to help create lessons. I use Smart Notebook technology for my SmartBoard I use at school. The students really enjoy it. I have a few mathematics websites I like to use including http://www.regentsprep.org/ and our book website http://www.glencoe.com/. Last year, I had students use digital cameras to create an instructional video using moviemaker in our school computer lab. The students really enjoyed the experience as did I. Students also use various calculators in the classroom. Teaching students how to correctly use certain aspects of the calculator is important, especially if they are using a graphing calculator.
Last year, our high school administrators had teachers respond to a blog instead of having a formal faculty meeting. That was my first experience with blogging.
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