My student teaching classroom has a computer lab attached. I hope when I begin my own teaching I will have good access to computers also. Websites provide an excellent resource to help students understand new math concepts, whether they need help with a specific problem, or just a general grasp of bigger ideas.
I have found two web sites I will be using- one to address each of those uses.
Dr. Math is a question-and-answer site designed to help students solve math problems (Drexel University, 2009). It is sorted by grade, subject and topic. Each problem is worked out in detail, and the explanations are written in plain English, very easy to understand. I may use it myself to find alternative ways to explain a new concept I will introduce in class!
Another site I am very interested in is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Utah State University, 1994-2010). I like to use manipulatives to demonstrate mathematical concepts. Sometimes it is hard to find the objects that are applicable to the idea, or they are not practical to work with in real objects (too large, expensive etc). This site allows us to use them interactively online, providing a visual imagery which can help students understand more abstract concepts.
There are many good sites and more are appearing all the time. I am sure I will find new ones to use, as I search the web for interesting ideas.
References:
Drexel University (1994-2009). Ask dr. math.
retrieved from http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Utah State University (1999-2010). National library of virtual manipulatives.
Retrieved from http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
Great site choices!! The Virtual Manipulatives site would be great for use with a SMART Board if you have access to one! Thanks for including the URL to the sites - my recommendation would be to make an actual link to the site. For example, when you state, "Dr. Math is a question..." you could highlight the text "Dr. Math" and then select the link button and turn that into an actual link to the web site. This is much neater and more accessible than including the URL directly on the post.
ReplyDeleteYour references are almost done.. you just need to put them in APA formatting. Refer to that APA handout/google doc I posted on the syllabus for how to cite an Internet site. Plus, you still need to include a citation directly in the text... for example, in the first sentnence when you mention Dr.Math you would have (Drexel University, 2009) at the end.
Good work!
Thanks, Vanessa, for the comments. I took your advise and changed the blog post to include links in the paragraph itself, and I removed the URLs afterward (They are noted in the references at the end if anyone wants the exact URL info anyway).
ReplyDeleteI also corrected the APA format of the references at the end. I had to put ranges of years as that was how both websites listed them
They now read:
Drexel University (1994-2009). Ask dr. math.
retrieved from http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Utah State University (1999-2010). National library of virtual manipulatives.
Retrieved from http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html