math world

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/

Math world is an website that I found. It is full of resources that can be used to teach math. It is definitely meant for a higher level, but I still like how much the website has to offer. Each tab on the left side of the page covers a different aspect of math: number theory, calculus, algebra etc. I think that the material found on the page will be great for teachers to use to learn math and to challenge students who may need it.

googlemaps.com

Google maps is a resource that is used for directions to various locations around the world. Google maps is frequently used on smart phones and GPS systems. I think that Google maps could also be used for math in the classroom. It would be a great way to teach students about distance. Students could calculate the distance from their home to school and then graph the results as a class to see who lives the furthest. They could also calculate the average distance traveled among their class mates.

Blendspace.com

Blendspace is a great resource for teachers. The website allows teachers to come up with lesson plans from, videos, clips, and other tools found on the internet. The website also allows users to create quizzes to check for understanding. I thought this website would be great to use for math because there a re so many resources that can help students how to solve math problems. I also thing that Have a lesson based on videos could be fairly engaging for students.

ABCya!

ABCya.com is a website full of interactive tools that can be used for math. The tool that I took a close look at was the 100 number chart. The chart can be highlighted with 20 different colors. One way to use this in math would be to have students highlight all the even numbers in pink and all of the odd numbers in green. Also, higher elementary grades could use the chart to highlight all of the factors of a given number. 

link to the chart: http://www.abcya.com/interactive_100_number_chart.htm

Visual Ranking Tool

The visual ranking tool is a resource that allows users to rank items, concepts, ideas etc. in order of importance. The example that was provided on the website asks students to rank a list of inventions and "evaluate the impact of these inventions." I like this tool because it encourages students to analyze information and share their opinions and understanding. The other great feature about this too is that students can be placed into teams to work on ranking items. I think that this is an engaging way to start a conversation among students. After teams rank items, they can then look at another team's rankings and compare them. I would use this with math by having groups of teams analyze math concepts that they have learned in school. They should rank the concepts that the they think would be most valuable in the real world. Hopefully the groups would come up with a variety of responses. After comparing results this would be a great way to start a discussion about how much math is connected to the world outside of the classroom.

The Intel visual ranking tool can be found at: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/k12/thinking-tools/visual-ranking/try-the-tool.html

Doodle

Doodle is a website that is perfect for those who have trouble finding a time to schedule a meeting or appointment. Doodle can also be used in conjunction with virtual calendars such as Google Calendar. This makes it very convenient to organizes other commitments that you may have. Additionally, Doodle has a feature that is special from other websites. Users can set a poll that can help determine the best time for two or more people to meet. Typically, one of the biggest worries that I have with group projects is finding an appropriate time to meet with the members in my group. I think that as a student this would be perfect for group projects and could ease some anxiety. This could be used with math to teach students how to plan and budget time effectively.

Linoit

I really liked Linoit.com. Lino it allows for users to share/upload files, images, and videos.  I think that this website has many possibilities and is perfect for math. Students could use this website to upload their assignments for class. It is more colorful an engaging than websites like turnitin.com. So assignments such as a personal math history could be shared for others to see. This also allows for users to make their page personal. They get to choose the organization of the sticky notes, and what content is included on the page. I think this would be a great way to check students' understanding on math concepts.  Students could possibly create a project on Lino it that includes the students' notes, ideas, and homework assignments. This would make easier for the teacher to check on the student's understanding of the material. Finally, Lino it is also a great organizational tool. Users can set due dates on their sticky notes for math assignments and projects.

Scribblar

Scribblar allows users to create a room for learning and collaboration.  I thought that this tool would be very useful to math instructors. As an instructor you can draw and insert text as you see needed to fit a lesson. The live page is similar to a virtual whiteboard so students and teachers can alter, add, and delete content in real time. This feature encourages students to be actively engaged in the online lesson. Teachers can model math concepts and students can see it. Other interactive features allow students and the teacher to communicate in the chat box or orally though the audio feature. For added support to a lesson, Teachers and students can drag and drop files as well. This includes files such as pictures, PowerPoint presentations, and practice math problems. At the end of the lesson teachers can take a snapshot of the page to save what students learned. There a many possibilities with Scribblar and I think it is very useful for students and teachers.

Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is form of technology where users can send information via text. The information can be viewed as a poll online. I personally liked the idea of using poll everywhere. I was an easy and interesting way to start the class. I am not sure how well I could apply this to an elementary classroom though because there are quite a few of young children that do not have their own cell phones. If students did have access to cell phones, I think that Poll Everywhere would be best for test review and introducing new material by asking what students may already know about a subject.