Technology in Math Class

Pairs of Students shared an iPad and played games together

In my Teaching Elementary Math class, we spent a class period learning about and playing with technology. We played games on iPads, explored CoolMath4Kids.com and MathPlayground.com, watched this video and discussed using video games in Math Class.

If we found a game we liked, we shared it with the whole
class, using the ELMO - dual technology!

The apps we played with on the iPads were:

• Bugs and Numbers
• Motion Math: Fractions!
• Splash Math
• Toca Builders
• Sushi Monster
• Math Doodles
• and more that I didn't write down!

Not your typical PowerPoint

I promised that I would share my PowerPoint Presentation. So here are the slides:

Here is the Video that is embedded into the PowerPoint (the green square)

Click this Slide to follow the Hyperlink from the Presentation.

We had to say what grade we'd like to teach
and the subject we'd like to base our big project on.

Also, I learned about Prezi during class today. Here is the Prezi I made just for this blog!

Post-First Day of School!

Yesterday was my first day of my real Senior year of University!!! (Next fall I should be student teaching!!!!!!!!!!!!) Yes, it deserves that many exclamation points.

My first class is Economic Development, it doesn't seem like it will be as painful and Intro to Econ. The coolest part about the class is that there is no textbook or coursepack to buy and the articles are short and he won't assign us more than 4 articles (for a total of 20 pages or less) ever! 

When I came out of the building after class, I found Dr. J eating her lunch! 

I will most likely be updating the blog more frequently this semester because my second class is Educational Media and Technology. So far, my Prof is really awesome. (Yes, I've only been to one class, but I just have a gut feeling that this class is going to Rock!)

Like many classes, we had to go around the room and say our name and Major, but he also had us rate our comfort/knowledge level with media and technology (on a scale of 1-10 with ten being not comfortable at all and 10 being Bill Gates is on your Speed Dial). I didn't want to come off too cocky, and I know that their is still quite a lot that I don't know (and in some cases don't want to know) about computers, technology, and social media, so I said 9 3/4. (HP reference FTW!)

Our first assignment was to check out this list of useful tools and apps educators should be aware of and list 5 that we were familiar with and if/why we would recommend them to our colleagues, and list 5 we were interested in learning more about.  Being the Geek that I am, I also included a list of my 5 favorite apps/tools that were not on the list.

I am quite familiar with these 5 Tools

1. Skype - I have mostly used it to visit with my sister, bro-in-law, and nephews who live very far away. However, I have also participated in Author Interviews with YA authors in an EMU class, and a few nerdy Q&A Sessions. I would definitely use it Skype for similar applications in the classroom.
2. Pinterest - I love using Pinterest to create Lesson Toolkits. I start a board on a specific topic and use it to collect resources, lesson ideas, books, and manipulative ideas on that topic. It is also a great place to find clever craft projects, icebreaker activities, and brain breaks in a pinch.
3. Wordle - Wordle is fun, but it is a Java-based toy and doesn't work in Chrome, which is my preferred Browser. It currently works in Firefox, but I wonder how long it will still be a viable tool. 
4. QR Codes - I love using QR Codes to take people exactly where you want them to go online. It is really helpful with people who aren't overly tech-savvy, or who have a hard time typing in a long url - they do have to use a smartphone or tablet with a QR Reader installed. Last February, I substitute taught in a Kindergarten classroom where the students had a Tablet Center, in a pocket of the Tablet cases each kid pulled out a ring with a bunch of cards on it. Each card had a picture and a QR Code on it, the kids picked one out, scanned the QR Code and were taken to an activity that correlated to the picture on the card.
5. YouTube - Many schools don't allow YouTube anymore, but, YouTube has a fairly new App out called YouTube Kids which eliminates many of the reasons YouTube isn't allowed in schools - foul language, inappropriate advertisements, age-inappropriate material, etc. The YouTube Kids Reading Rainbow Channel is AMAZING and features some really awesome STEM videos in addition to READING-focused media.

5 Tools I Would Like to Explore

1. Prezi - I tried to figure out Prezi on my own after seeing someone use it in a class presentation, but I found it bulky, weird, and not overly user-friendly (it was super-new at the time) I would love to know how to really use it!
2. TED-Ed - I <3 TEDtalks. Especially the education-relevant ones. I have found some great resources through TED programming, and I look forward to exploring TED-Ed!
3. LiveBinders - This tool looks like a handy object for my toolbox.
4. SocialStudy - Maybe the name of this just appeals to the Social Studies Major in me, but I'm intrigued by this site I've never heard of before!  OOPS! So, I apparently typo-ed the name of this site, and I based my comment on the name. I think it was wishful thinking. The real Site is: OpenStudy. Which does look interesting, but not in the same way!
5. KhanAcademy - I've heard a lot about this, and while it brings a certain Star Trek baddie to mind, I am curious as to whether this site lives up to the hype.

My 5 Favorite Digital Tools Not On This List

1. SMILE - Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Learning Environment (SMILE) is basically an assessment/inquiry maker which allows students to quickly create own inquiries or homework items based on their own learning for the day. It is a really awesome and quite simple tool that helps engage students in their education and develop critical-thinking skills. It is also an awesome tool for gauging what students have learned from a lesson, or what prior knowledge they have on a new subject. (More info) (Links to an external site.)
2. GoNoodle This site is filled to the brim with digital tools specifically aimed at getting kids physically active! You can use much of the site for free, or you can get a paid membership as an individual or as a school. It is lovely for silly brain breaks!
3. Project Gutenburg Children's Bookshelf - Free digital downloads of Children's Literature - most of it is fairly old, but it provides some great primary sources for exploration!
4. Vimeo - A video publishing and viewing site not unlike YouTube, however, Vimeo is less likely to yank your video as "suspected copyright infringement" and allows for more educational purposes. (It is usually not blocked by schools!)  It also features a huge Creative Commons library of music and media for use in your videos, much of the music is free to download! You do need an account, but the Basic account is free.
5. Album Meme - Okay, blatant self-promotion here. While this isn't a fancy tool, it is an "exploring the internet" activity that can lead to as much creative writing as you wish to assign. 

My Next assignment will most likely show up here in some format - I have to make a Power Point Presentation. :( Blech! I hate PPP!

Next up is Teaching Math for Elementary Teachers.  I failed this class last semester. (Long story that you don't want to hear.) Anyway, I'm taking it with a different Prof and she seems pretty nice, and her assignments look less complicated. She started us off with a fun worksheet. Yes, I said "fun" and "worksheet" in reference to Math!!! Crazy! I have recreated it for you since I wrote all over my copy.

My final class of the day is Life Science for Elementary Teachers.  We will cover some of my favorite science topics in this class!!! And I have friends in this class! My prof seems about my age, maybe a few years older than me, which is usually not a problem for me. We started out collecting specimens yesterday - and discussed the characteristics of something that is alive! There are lots of stuffed animals and beanie babies in the classroom though. 

I'm really looking forward to this semester! I think it will be a good one! 

Connecting Social Studies and Math

I had to find an activity that involves mathematical ideals from a non-Western culture. I used Tangrams for my report, but, I decided that I would LOVE to have kids "travel around the world" during Math class (maybe all the other subjects too.)

A Trip to China during Math

Adaptable to any grade level - 

I would setup each activity as a center, quads of students rotating through, at least a week long
I have included a photo and a very brief description. (Each has thousands of resources online)

Tangrams (1 square, 1 parallelogram, 5 triangles in various sizes that form a square, and are used to make pictures)



Congkak (a version of Mancala with 7 pits to a side - and 7 seeds/shells in each pit)





Abacus (Ancient Calculator)



Mahjong (I might do this as a computer station and let kids play the solitaire version, as a Mahjong set is quite expensive and the game can take a long time.)
 

Counting Rods (red is positive numbers and black is negative)



Do you have any other ideas?

Long time no post!

It feels like it has been ages since I posted! 

It probably has, and I should be studying right now anyway. 

School, SCA stuff, Kappa Delta Pi, and Life in general have been keeping me pretty busy.

Last semester I took a Curriculum/Practicum class.

I learned a ton and I had a really awesome Professor.  She had us design a Superhero, we were supposed to wear our costume to class, but, she had to cancel class that day, so we never wore our costumes. However, my mom took photos of me ready to fight bad grammar! My youngest sister designed my logo - which is a G and an Interrobang, my favorite punctuation mark! She also drew a really awesome Comic book cover of Grammatica and included a few panels in the comic book. :) 

In my high school drama class, my group wrote and performed a skit based on a meeting of
The National Organization for Women Super Heroes (NOWSH). We made Grammatica a member too!
(I was Key Girl - the Keynote speaker who held the Key to the City, etc,)

We spent half our time in the classroom learning how to create lesson plans and how to teach a direct lesson, and half our time working with real students!!!  I was in a third grade classroom!  I was there mostly for Lunchtime/recess (they get 20 minutes of recess per day - total :( ) and Math.

We got really good at writing Essential Questions.
One that is important to my developing pedagogy:

What does it mean to be a community member?

One of my assignments was to respond to a chapter in our book any way I wished.  I decided to go the artistic route (Anyone surprised?)

I also had to design my own Learning Hierarchy, 

it is inspired by William Glasser's Choice Theory.

My final project was to teach a lesson to my third graders. 

I had to wear a costume and make the lesson different than what they would normally do. (I don't have any photos of my outfit (Maybe when there is no longer any snow on the ground I will have my mom take some and I'll add them to this post.) As luck would have it my lead teacher was subbing for the principal so she had a sub in her classroom, it was a really weird dynamic in the classroom that day. (She was an ineffective teacher for many reasons I am not getting into now!)

 I became Grammatica's twin sister - Mathematica! 

Mathematica's Magic Words (for this Lesson): Qi Sept Septum! (The number 7 in Chinese, French, and Latin)

Wand swishes in a giant invisible 7.

Rabbit's Name - Epta (Greek for Rabbit)

I had the kids play a gross motor game that makes them sort themselves into groups of a certain number and use their bodies to form a specific thing (like a dragon or a car). Then they sat down and I turned my students into Mathemagicians. They each got a special magic want (I found black pre-sharpened pencils with white erasers!) to use for the lesson. 

I had them help me with a magic trick (that ended up being way above most of their abilities - although it should have been review.) 

Magic Trick:

1. Pick a number between 2-9
2. Multiply your number by 3
3. Multiply your new number by 3.
4. Your new number should be two digits, take those two digits and add them together,
5. Subtract 2 from that number and you have the Magical Number we are working with today!

I pulled a rabbit out of my hat holding a number 7 in its paws (the rabbit was made of craft foam - I will try to remember to take a photo of that too.)

Next, I shared with them a magic way "do math without really doing any math," I called it The Magic Square.  I had them fill in this chart with their magic wands. 

I asked them if they noticed any patterns in the magic squares. (They found some really interesting ones - I love how kids think!) Then we used them to find the multiples of 7. 

I gave them a new sheet and asked them to fill in the Multiplication Wheel (we did the first one together,) 

This part was interesting - I didn't tell them how to come up with the answers for the wheel, it was amazing to me how many of them did not use the magic square, but counted on their fingers instead! When they were finished I also had them color all the odd numbers red - which made it easy to determine if 7 is odd or even. When they were totally finished they were allowed to check their answers by peeking inside my magic hat (where the answer key is located! - again I will add a photo when I remember!)

The very last thing I did was give them a reinforcement activity that was optional.