websites to help with math.

just found http://www.webmath.com/ which allows students to input a problem in and the website shows how to solve the problem step by step. This site, although in the UK has some nice little instructional sections for tutorial work. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/11_16/site/maths.shtml Doing research for my next class. I'll keep posting things here.

Teaching physics in the fal

found three websites with links for physics that i plan to investigate and use in class.
http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/Science/Physics/ is a website with links for places that have virtual things which I can use for the classes.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/physics.htm is another list of links for physics.
http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~phy-demo/resources/phys_applets.html

The next few sites have free info for thngs like using an amusement park to teach physics
http://www.docnmail.com/learnmore/physics.htm

http://www.ddart.net/science/physics/physics_tutorial/default.htm offers tutorials for a variety of topics and looks like I can use it while taking physics this summer.

This is enough. Over the next year I will be taking 14 credits of physics so i'll be highly qualified to teach it during the 2009-2010 year.

While looking for information on using Comic Life to teach mathematics, I stumbled across this website which talks about using newspapers in science, math, social studies and other core classes. This is really awesome. I think i can get some newspapers sent out for free from Anchorage and then I could integrate it into my math classes. That would be awesome. The kids need to see the more practical applications of mathematics.

http://www.tdn.com/nie/curriculum.php

Hippocampus

I've decided to continue with my blog even though the class is finished. This way I can record websites so I have a record of things I find and its accessible to all. I found Hippocampus which has some core topics. For Mathematics, this site has a lovely interactive video that contains the lecture while having an interactive activity during the lecture. It covers algebra I A, B and elementary algebra. This will be awesome to integrate into my classes because it will help reinforce student learning next year. The lecture has audio, visual and kinesthetic activities.
The URL is www.hippocampus.org

iPods as educational tools

While researching various issues for my final, I discovered that you can use an iPod for studying with. The only things I’ve ever seen it used for is music and games. I’m also sharing the information with our credit recovery teacher because her kids love using the iPods. Ken Fuson, in an interview with professors at duke university, noted “They become study aids for students, allowing them to fast-forward to a part of a lecture they may not have understood the first time or review complicated themes before exams (Fuson, 2006). Furthermore, “Students across the USA can download everything from instructions on how to perform an emergency medical procedure to a virtual architectural tour of campus. They also can be assigned to produce a "podcast" — audio and visual programming downloaded from the Internet — instead of writing a research paper” (Fuson, 2006). These are ways of using the iPod I never knew about. In addition, “other professors say using iPods and MP3 players actually increases class attendance, because students are excited to discuss what they have been listening to or watching”. Although this is antidotal information, perhaps iPods could be incorporated into the classroom in an educational manner so we increase student learning. John Parrot agrees with this in his article when he states “Not only is using iPods in education an opportunity to look cool, it fuels the learning process by catering to some students' passion for electronics and gadgets. Beyond cool and fun, they are interactive”(Parrot, 2007).
Duke University even did a study to see how well iPods work as educational tools which can be found at cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf. The report is an evaluation which lists the pros and cons of using iPods and is quite through.
This website lists 100 places to go for educational material that can be downloaded to the iPod. http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/100-ways-to-use-your-ipod-to-learn-and-study-better

Fuson, K (2006, March 14). iPods now double as study aids. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from USATODAY.com Web site: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2006-03-14-ipod-university_x.htm.

Parrot, J. (2007, May 7). Using iPods in the classroom promotes interactive learning and more effective studying. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from Associated Content: The People's Media Web site: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/230656/using_ipods_in_the_classroom_promotes.html.

Math journaling

Since I hope to incorporate the use of journaling into my math classes, I needed to do a bit of research into using journals. In an article by Deb Russell, she states “Journal writing can be a valuable technique to further develop and enhance your mathematical thinking and communication skills in mathematics. Journal entries in mathematics provide opportunities for individuals to self-assess what they've learned” (Russell, 2005). It provides the part of education where students learn how to discuss what they did, how they did it and perhaps it helps them learn the material better. In addition, she says “The individual has to think about what he/she did in order to communicate it in writing; in so doing, one gains some valuable insight and feedback about the mathematical problem solving process. The math no longer becomes a task where by the individual simply follows the steps or rules of thumb. When a math journal entry is required as a follow up to the specific learning goal, one actually has to think about what was done and what was required to solve the specific math activity or problem”(Russell, 2005). I’ve tried journaling a bit but its not been really successful because I haven’t known the type of questions to ask Deb Russell lists some suggestions at the end. In the process of researching mathematical journaling, I found this site which has examples of several different types of mathematical journals. http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/sjournal.htm
This is quite a help. Finally Deb Russell states “Math journals should not be done daily, it's more important to do math journals with new concepts in areas specifically related to growth in mathematical problem solving” (Russell, 2005).
Furthermore, the article from the What’s it all about web site helps teacher introduce writing into mathematics. It states “Writing about thinking is challenging. For this reason, it's best not to start out having students write about unfamiliar mathematical ideas. First get them used to writing in a math class” (Editor, 2004). It suggests “Begin with affective, open-ended questions about students' feelings (Editor, 2004). This may be why my previous attempts didn’t work well. I tried to get them to write about Mathmatics without getting them comfortable with the concept of journaling. I like this website because it has lots of information on journaling and I’m going to follow many of these suggestions. Perhaps I can get students past the “This is math, not English, why do I have to write” attitude.

Editor, (2004). Using writing in mathematics. Retrieved April 12, 2008, from What’s it all about? Web site: http://www2.ups.edu/community/tofu/lev2/journaling/writemath.htm

Russell, D. (2005). Math journals for all ages. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from About.com about mathematics Web site: http://math.about.com/library/weekly/aa123001a.htm

Numb3rs - the TV show

Due to it being between testing and cultural activities, I found Numb3rs, the tv show, to use in my classroom. It is mathematically based and seems to have alot of good activities associated with it. I did a search on it and found a blog that actually looks at the mathematics and physics. It can be found at http://nuweb.neu.edu/math/cp/blog/ and has a large number of topics. There are all sorts of interesting comments about the series including further explanations, etc.
This website - http://www.weallusematheveryday.com/tools/waumed/activities_season3.htm has activities to accompany each episode for season three. There are other pages with activities for seasons one and two.
I showed the episode called Traffic from season 3 and then did the accompaning activities for the probability of licences plate numbers or birthday months and two activities dealing with the Pythagorean theorem. Although the activities said 15 to 20 mins, the activities took closer to 55 mins to do the basic part. I did like the lessons because they also contained the mathematical explanations and prep work in the teachers copy. What is nice is that TI and the NCTM are both supportive of this and have helped prepare the lesson plans to accompany this.