Instructional Technology Blog » Math http://it.seattleschools.org/blog Resources for using technology in the classroom Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:35:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Learning Math Facts http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/04/learning-math-facts/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/04/learning-math-facts/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:29:20 +0000 Abbey http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/04/09/learning-math-facts/ Are you looking for an alternative to flash cards for your students to practice their math facts? There are many free online resources now available to help student with this task and at the same time cultivate some excitement around mathematics. Here are some links which come highly recommended by teachers, not just for learning the facts in the classroom, but also as a suggestion to parents as possible homework practice.

  1. National Math Bee’s Batter-up 2
  2. XP Math
  3. Virtual Manipulatives
  4. AAA Math
  5. Math Games
  6. The ArithmAttack

A special thanks to Cassy Turner, Singapore Math Teacher Advisor, who introduced me to some of the links highlighted in this post. If you have other similar websites you have tried and approved for your students to learn their math facts, be sure to send me a comment below.

]]> http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/04/learning-math-facts/feed/ 0 Every Day Math Account Set Up http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/02/every-day-math-account-set-up/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/02/every-day-math-account-set-up/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:09:56 +0000 Janice http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/02/12/every-day-math-account-set-up/ edmAdam Dysart gave us these directions to help elementary teachers set up the Every Day Math accounts for their classes.

Follow the simple 12 steps in the attached Word document to set yourself up as a teacher/administrator in everydaymathonline. Once you have established your login, you may set up a class in the system so kids can access the games and interactive reference guides. You can edit or revise your class list and even view students’ performance on the everyday games. Be sure to print student login cards by going to STUDENT PASSWORDS on the main menu page in order to give each student in your class the access he/she needs in or out of school.

everyday-math-online-directions.doc

]]> http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2008/02/every-day-math-account-set-up/feed/ 0 Using Video From the Internet http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/11/video/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/11/video/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:13:29 +0000 Eric C. http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/11/28/video/ movieMore and more teachers are looking to the Internet as a source for videos to use in their classrooms. But before getting carried away there are a couple of major considerations to think about. First, is access to the videos you want blocked? Second, is your school’s Internet connection robust enough to handle watching video?

Access to Video

Schools must comply with federal CIPA rules in order to keep students safe and get network infrastructure funding. For almost all school districts this has meant Internet filters. As video content has exploded on the Internet so have the restrictions for student access which often means that student access to video sharing sites like YouTube are blocked. You have two options to solve this problem.

  1. Use sites that are not blocked like TeacherTube.
  2. Transfer YouTube or other video from computers that have access to the site, teacher workstations for example, onto presentation stations so they can be shared with students. (full directions here)

Bandwidth Issues

The District’s access to the Internet is limited by the amount of service we buy from the Washington State k-20 Network. Schools are further limited by the network infrastructure that connects them to the network operations center at the JSCEE. Schools connected by fiber have better bandwidth than schools that are not. Within the next 3 years we should have almost all school sites connected by fiber, but until then many elementary sites that are not connected will have less access. Keeping all this in mind, it is important to treat Internet access as a scarce resource. Your options:

  1. Download video in off peak usage times and then show during class. A great way to do this is to use video podcasts. see Podcasts for the Classroom
  2. Use streaming video if you have a fiber connection, but be aware of possible network slowdowns if several classrooms are using Internet intensive applications at the same time. (You may also want to check with your librarian to make sure that their book checkout times are not severely effected). Links to great video sites for education.
]]> http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/11/video/feed/ 3 Social Bookmarking – Made Easy http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/social-bookmarking-made-easy/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/social-bookmarking-made-easy/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:51:53 +0000 Gary http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/31/social-bookmarking-made-easy/ delicious-logoDel.icio.us is a practical social bookmarking tool teachers can utilize to make classroom use of the Internet more efficient. By using a Delicious account teachers can easily and simply share internet sites with students at multiple computers. Watch the video below (created by Commoncraft) to learn about Social Bookmarking with Delicious. If you have more questions or want to investigate and think about using a Delicious account contact the Instructional Technology Specialist assigned to your building.

More information about Social Bookmarking on the IT Blog

Delicious Classroom Example

Note: Teachers can create a Delicious account, install the Delicious buttons, and make changes using a teacher login. Student logins can view a Delicious site but not make changes.

To Create a Delicious account

  1. Go to Del.icio.us or delicious.com
  2. Click on the Register button.
  3. Complete the registration form.
  4. When the account registration is completed a new window will appear. In this window, click the Install Button Now link. This program will install the buttons that make using your Delicious account easy.

]]> http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/social-bookmarking-made-easy/feed/ 1 eScrapbooking http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/escrapping/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/escrapping/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:50:49 +0000 Abbey http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/15/escrapping/ picture1Scrapbooking is more than organizing a collection of pictures, words to document important memories. It is a selection process to capture details where powerful personal insights are revealed. eScrapbooking is the digital version of that process which can aid students in sorting through all the scraps of information they are bombarded with and in capturing snapshots of their own learning. It is also a useful tool for teachers to reflect on their practice.

Reflecting on your professional development experience is vital because it helps transfer new skills and knowledge into practice. It also reinforces your learning. It’s my belief there is an equally essential need for students to be more involved in reflecting on their own learning.

To focus on this belief, I have put together this training module to simulate an experience where teachers create an eScrapbook using their own learnings as content. I have been told by Teacher participants that this simulation can be easily adapted for students in the classroom. The idea is to help students synthesize and analyze in a technology rich learning environment.

Resources are listed below. I would love to hear how you have expanded on this idea and how you have adapted these templates to make them better.
Storyboard for Scrapbooking
Teacher Example:Targeting Process
Scrapbook of Reflections Handout

To read more information on this topic from author Annette Lamb click on this Link.

]]> http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/10/escrapping/feed/ 2 WebQuests for technology Integration http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/05/webquest-for-technology-integration/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/05/webquest-for-technology-integration/#comments Mon, 07 May 2007 17:43:57 +0000 Janice http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/05/07/webquest-for-technology-integration/ As we all think about how to integrate technology into our curricula in a well thought out manner, many teachers have asked about WebQuests. Some of us have taken classes from Bernie Dodge or Tom March on how to develop them. I have been asked often for resources that contain good WebQuests that are already designed for classroom use. Here are some sites for you to look at and use if you care to. When looking at these WebQuests, remember that you often have to check the links to see if they are still active, and you may have to change some of the requirements, etc. to fit your own classroom needs. When you are ready, the link from San Diego State University will help you develop your own Quest.

Here is a definition of what a WebQuest is from http://webquest.sdsu.edu/:

A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners’ time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners’ thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

What a valuable way for students to learn!

  • The WebQuest page from San Diego State University from Bernie Dodge one of the creators of WebQuest is a great place to start. Click on Overview, Portal, Training Materials, QuestGarden and Examples to get yourself oriented. The Portal area is a blog in which you can get information and insight into the world of WebQuest. A WebQuest should not be another country report!
    http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
  • The Best WebQuests from Tom March (Tom March is the other creator of WebQuests)
    http://bestwebquests.com/
    These WebQuests have been rated by educators.
  • WebQuests by topic and grade level presented by Dr. Alice Christie
    http://alicechristie.org/edtech/wq/matrix/
    Look at Dr. Christie’s homepage for more information for educators.
  • Here is a site recommended by IT, Gary Cranston, that is easy to use for WebQuest creation
    http://questgarden.com/

    • Site maintained by a school district that uses WebQuests as part of their technology integration.
    http://www.milforded.org/teachers_rooms/wq.asp
    From the Milford, Connecticut school district – WebQuests are written by teachers for teachers.

    ]]>     http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/05/webquest-for-technology-integration/feed/ 1     Graphing With Excel http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/01/graphing-with-excel/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/01/graphing-with-excel/#comments Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:30:23 +0000 LeAnn http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2006/10/22/graphing-with-excel/ Excel Graph ExampleNow that you have a presentation station, it is much easier to create graphs as a class. Learn how to create a graph in Excel that you can take back to your classroom and manipulate depending on what you are graphing.

    • Blank Excel Template (.xlt)
    • About Graphing in Excel (.pdf)
    • Getting to School Example(.xls) – For the primary grades this is great teacher-led graph to introduce Excel at the beginning of the year. The comment boxes also allow for writing predictions and observations or you can merge cells together and type responses.
    • Finding Shapes Example (.xls) – If you ever have your students go on a search for shapes, here is a graph where you can ask the class to make predictions (record in comment boxes), collate data and then make observations about the data. You can also use this reinforce the number of sides of a shape when just seeing the name. You could also present this graph to individual students for them to collate their own data.

    Resources
    Almost Everything You Need for Using Spreadsheets in the Classroom
    Lesson plans and activities to understand the different parts of spreadsheet.
    Create a Graph
    Easy way for students to create graphs.
    Dr. Christie’s Using Spreadsheets in K-12 Classrooms
    More lesson plan ideas.
    Florida Gulf  Coast University- Excel Tutorials

    Quick Ideas
    Spinning Coins Activity
    Groups Graphing
    Lemonade Stand

    ]]>     http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2007/01/graphing-with-excel/feed/ 0     3 Dimensional Modeling with SketchUp http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2006/12/3-dimensional-modeling-with-sketchup/ http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2006/12/3-dimensional-modeling-with-sketchup/#comments Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:48:12 +0000 Eric C. http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/2006/12/04/3-dimensional-modeling-with-sketchup/ SketchUp LogoCreating and manipulating 3 dimensional models is a great way for students to understand key concepts in geometry. Google has a free and easily used program called SketchUp that allows students to create, measure and manipulte 3D objects. You can even geolocate these objects so they can be placed in Google’s virtual representation of the world, Google Earth.

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