MATH TEACHERS NEEDED! Collaborative Web Resource Project

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Permalink Reply by Bridget Perry-Gore on January 2, 2010 at 6:07am

Hi Kevin,
This sounds very interesting. I find that there are so many resources that keeping track of them is not so easy. I teach grade 7 and 8 math in a laptop school and this year decided to put the sites together in topics. I find that my students are not used to using the internet to learn (eg. tutorials) and they are not great and sieving through the information to see if it applies to them. Here is my site in its early stages.
http://sites.google.com/site/cyclingthroughmath/home.
My students have a fair bit of input as far as layout etc. goes and I am just learning to use Googlesites so its a little barebones.
Good luck in your endeavour.
Bridget

Permalink Reply by Robin Zaruba on January 13, 2010 at 7:36am

I'm interested in sharing ideas. Please let me know how I can help. I am currently using a fun online middle school math game with my 7th graders called Lure of the Labyrinth http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/ - check it out if you have a chance!

Permalink Reply by Bridget Perry-Gore on January 13, 2010 at 12:45pm

Hi Robin,
I used this last year and am about to launch into it again. How are you finding it?
Bridget

Permalink Reply by Robin Zaruba on January 13, 2010 at 1:50pm

Lure of the Labyrinth? Great! Sometimes kids get locked out, but it's a quick sign in to get back in the game.

Permalink Reply by Bridget Perry-Gore on January 13, 2010 at 4:14pm

Do you find that they can follow the game? I noticed that the directions for finding rooms is more clear than it was last year...or maybe I "get" it this year. I will be getting my kids on it next week. Do you have them go directly to the puzzles?
Bridget

Permalink Reply by Robin Zaruba on January 13, 2010 at 4:22pm

I sometimes go thru a puzzle in class before we go to the lab. In the lab, they only play the game & solve the puzzles for coins. I played the game myself until I had to blow up the underground tunnels - it is very addicting! And it helped when they got stuck. I really love the Shipping Room, The Employee Cafeteria, The Warehouse, & The West Garden. I am not a fan of Mixing Vats at all.

Permalink Reply by Bridget Perry-Gore on January 13, 2010 at 7:03pm

The Cafeteria and the place where they mix the potions was my favourite....feel the same way about the vats. I haven't looked at it for a little while but I like your approach. I'll get going and maybe we can compare notes.

Permalink Reply by Bridget Perry-Gore on January 17, 2010 at 12:22pm

Hi Kevin,

1. Do you or your students ever create videos or tutorials?

Funny you should ask...I am planning to do have them make turorial videos in the next 2 weeks. We have 2 fairly inactive class blogs http://mathblog8abc.blogspot.com/ and http://mathblog8de.blogspot.com/ where I will have them post and then plan to put some of the better tutorials on the website. I am using Camstudio as it easily records in avi. which is accepted well by Blogger. I like Jing too and would prefer it but it's the posting to the blog which was not easy as I had to convert the format.

2. How do you teach and model appropriate use of copyright and citation with digital resources?

If they present I have them attache the site. I teach math so it's not usually an issue. They use www.tinyurl.com so links are small.


3. What software or tech applications do you use on a regular basis to enhance learning, research, or collaboration?

We use Smartboards daily...with a whiteboard on either side. They enjoy the practice sites which you saw. I am not a real fan of online tests. They tend to be multiple choice.

4. Do you spend time modeling research skills or have projects to help with their ability to sieve through information?

Yes, always on an informal, "by the way" basis. They usually go for the first link.

5. Have you ever tried www.weebly.com for website development? It's much more powerful than Blogger and user-friendly enough that students could use it easily too. They just opened up some options for educators as well if you want to create a student site network that you can monitor and interact with.

No. but opened an account and already it looks way more fun to use than Google Sites. I think i will set one up and launch it later. Thanks for that.

6. What types of laptops do you have? Do you have Smart boards or other Smart tech?

I am spoiled. Grade 9-11 have laptop Pros and 7-8 have Dells-changing to Mac next year.
Smartboards...i think there is 1 chalkborad left in the school...in the math office. Two green screens and video equipment at a crazy level. Basically, we have anything we want within reason.

I also use delicious.

Do you mind sharing yours? For my current courses (7/8 math) I tag lccmath7 and lccmath8.


What is your teaching situation?

Bridget