Bringing the excitement to the math classroom?
I have been using a blog and a wiki in my classrooms for a little over 2 months. I have them do scribe posts on our wiki. I have been having them find links that enhance the lessons we do in class. Our district recently had Will Richardson come and speak to us about social networking and using web tools in the classroom. Hearing him talk about his students using their blog to connect with the author of the book they were studying was amazing. I want that type of experience for my kids but how? I can't quite get my students excited about producing their own content on the web. I talk about global audiences and them taking ownership of their learning but it seems to them like just another task, like doing homework. How can we make mathematics come alive for these students? I love exploring the new tools like skype and jing. I can't wait for the day when that great idea comes to me and I have students collaborting with other students across the country or the world on something. If there are any ideas about projects or activities I could have my senior algebra/trig students or my integrated math 1 students try I would love to hear from you.
Tags: collaboration, math, maths, projects, richardson, will
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lynn Marentette on
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Brian,
You have great resources! Now is the time for gathering information about summer camps, so if you have more information about it, post it.
I downloaded Scratch a week ago or so, but I've been too busy to play with it. It is a good way to teach object-oriented programming concepts.
Game programming almost "makes" some students want to learn more math!
Lynn
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Permalink Reply by Brian on
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If you're interested in programming/gamming summer camps, here's some info...
Grades 2-7
Bits, Bytes, Bots
Children's Technology Workshop
Grades 5-12
ID-TechCamp
Teachers
Scrach Conference (July 24-26 in Boston)
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Thanks@
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Permalink Reply by Darin on
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We do not subscribe but I have used then through free trials. They are very good.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa on
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I actually am surprised to hear that student's aren't excited about using these technologies! What about podcasts? Or vodcasts? Seems like every high school senior has an ipod now-a-days and it's something that excites them. You could consider incorporating this into your assignments. Instead of writing the assignments, or blogging them, have them create podcasts. They might get excited to start downloading them to their ipod to hear themselves, or sharing with their parents.
Another idea is to have them take the material and create a lesson that other students can listen to while prepping for an exam. This is a great way to review for a test. Each student is assigned one area and they create a podcast. Upload all podcasts to the class website and then everyone in the class benefits from the review before the final.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Stucke on
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I use a variety of online flash games in lessons, some are specifically Maths based, some are just a bit of fun for the end of the lesson as a reward (although usually developing problem solving / logical skills).
I've tagged them here:
http://del.icio.us/mrstucke/games
http://del.icio.us/mathssow/msow_games
Just been having a play about with Scratch which is very impressive. I'm very tempted to try and do something with that later in the year. If anyone has any experience of starting pupils off using the tool then I'd be interested to here how they went about it.
In the classroom I have also been using a set of voting remotes from Qwizdom, i'm going to blog about that soon and will post a link to my thoughts when they're complied!
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Some of my colleages who teach higher levels of program are considering Scratch to introduce basic concepts found in programs like C++ and Java. Using scratch they can tinker with basic concepts without having to worry about writing with perfect syntax. Alice (they say) is very object oriented, but not very intuitive.
Scratch is very similar to Logo or Microworlds. In fact, it was designed by the same people at the lab at M.I.T. The difference is that Scratch is the next phase in the evolutionary process. It's almost completely visual, which makes it easy for early learners as well as novice teachers.
I've seen primary students use Scratch as an extension activity to reading maps. When students learn about their local communities they can also use Scratch to understand distances, coordinates (in terms of relative or absolute values) as well as angles. It's also a terrific visual for demonstrating variables.
Even though scratch would technically be listed as a programming language, it has surprising connections to math and science. On two separate occasions, I've heard female teachers hailing Scratch as a wonderful way for girls to get interested in using technology.
The program is free and can be downloaded at http://scratch.mit.edu/
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Permalink Reply by Studica Skills on
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Hi Darin -
Are you familiar with Crocodile Mathematics software? If so, we offer a free competition that uses Crocodile, and it's perfect for secondary students, giving them a creative project and a chance to win great prizes. There is an evaluation version of Crocodile available, so there is no purchase or commitment required.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have, and if you're interested, I can have a free teacher's kit sent out to you with some literature about the company, the competitions, and some goodies for you or the students. Our parent company, Torcomp Studica, is an educational software reseller, but I represent the non-profit division, and our goal is simply to give something back to the education community.
Email me if you have any questions: KarmynL@studica.com
Good luck getting those kids motivated! Math certainly is NOT the easiest subject in which to do this!
---Karmyn Lucescu
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Algorithms CAN be exciting- I think kids need to know more about them.
-lynn
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Permalink Reply by Michael Seiler on
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I think that if you were a better teacher, you wouldn't have this issue....I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Clearly teaching in the same building as you, I feel your pain....man do I feel your pain. Every once in a while if I can find a good site (mathbits), a good real world example (parabolas and home runs), or a good project (creating kites for geo)....then the kids are really engaged and involved. As teacher's we know that trying to do this for EVERY lesson is tough. However, you are doing great things, you are giving students the opportunity on a silver platter they just aren't biting. Maybe for next year, see if you can set your class up on Moodle. You can have a blog, a wiki, running misc. update, as well as tests and quizzes for them to take. Just a thought. Keep on rockin' in the free world!
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Permalink Reply by Web 2.0 Class on
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Hello, We are two students from a classroom 2.0 class at Millis High School. We have been looking for a teacher with some ideas to help us create a 2.0 calculus class. If you have any idea it would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
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I have been using blogs and wikis to enhance my Algebra 3 class. I have students create a page on our wiki to review concepts that have been taught in class. They also search for tutorial links or practice websites that can help them with the material. I have been trying to get them to use things like voicethread and sketchcast to explain their solutions but it has been a struggle. They don't have the equipment (microphones) to use those tools at home and we don't always have time at school. Feel free to check out what we have done on our wiki. Let me know what you come up with. I would like to see it. I could put you in touch with our calculus teacher and maybe your class and hers could collaborate on something.
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