When it comes to math modeling there is always a need to establish the variables that will be explored and the constants that bring constraints. When it comes to exploring all the possibilities available to math education through the use of media and technology, it is important to have those constants of other math teachers and educators to keep you grounded. So that is why my Google Reader highlights four math blogs that I subscribe to. This is so I keep in touch with my colleagues' insight and activities so as to sharpen my own endeavors. The four I picked are as follows:- Concrete Classroom - Picked this one because of the out of the box ideas he uses to teach.
- Is all about math Weblog - They have solid videos explaining difficult math concepts.
- Rational Mathematics Education - Picked for a more traditional intellectual approach.
- Teach Science and Math - Always good to have a cross curricular approach to education.
Now to keep it more on the cutting edge and to add variability in the mix of modeling good math education, I chose three other feeds that are presenting technology that needs to be explored to it's fullest so keeping a finger on the pulse of what is happening at these companies is very important. They are:
- Livescribe Blog - the pen and software are great to work with and I need to see how others are using them and what is the latest developments.
- Teachers Love SMART Boards - Shows the many ways this technology can be used and they are adding more gadgets to the mix.
- TI cares - Is a collection of teacher added lesson plans complete with supporting calculator files that can be downloaded for use by any one that has the TI calculators.
The final blog is for great communication skills and humor. One of my favorites for a long time. Ken Davis Productions mixes humor, faith, life and the ability to tell a story well. I always learn from him.
Bruce_ I wish you were my math teacher!!! I love that you want to teach math using technology!!! Drill and Skill is out!!! I just read an article about the world's greatest mathematician ( Mathsputin is his nickname) from Russia ( His name escapes me right now but I read it this week). He solved a problem dealing with a tesseract. But he declined the million dollar prize. I was mesmerized by this. Although I took Geometry, I learned most about when I played pool hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI use pool and mini golf in teaching geometry. It is helpful for teaching angles in reflections. Tesseract, isn't that a worm hole in time and space that is in the book "A wrinkle in Time"?
ReplyDeleteYes, Bruce. A tesseract is a 4 dimensional shape or figure. And I love that book- I read that whole series when I was a kid- a lot of science and math included in L'Engles writing. My son is learning a lot about math and science in baseball. I also read an article recently about a new group of young poker players who are playing high stakes poker based on mathematical analysis instead of strategy. It was Time or Newsweek. Very compelling. Math does not have to be boring......If you have a chance, check out Gregg Eilers blog- he teaches math too.
ReplyDelete