Websites

For our final, we were required to create a classroom website using Google Sites. My website, Ms. Burke's Math Classroom, contains various pages including a home page, about me, logic puzzles, technology projects, resources and a web 2.0 page.

I found this project to be rather helpful. It was interesting learning how to interact and create with another interface and I really liked it. I've found that most of Google's products are favorable to my needs and desires. I found it easy to create pages, link from one page to both another page and another website, add pictures, etc. My only complaint is that it took me a while to find the template designs. However, once I found them for the first time I found them rather easy to access subsequent times.

I think this is very useful in the classroom. Although it is not strictly math related, it will allow me to post homework assignments, in-class notes, calendar of events (both for the classroom and the school), link additional videos which students might find helpful, and various other things. I am excited to use these sites in my classroom and hope to maximize their potential.

Digital Storytelling

This week our project was to create a digital story using iMovie. iMovie is a default program installed into all Mac computer where you can create and edit videos. We had to create a storyboard, make the video, add transitions and captions, find free and copyright free music and finally publish the video to YouTube.

Overall, iMovie is a very easy program to use-that is, once you figure it out. Thanks to the instructions of our teacher, I was able to find where everything was relatively easy. However, I found that it was difficult trying to figure out how to edit the text of a caption after I had clicked away initially. I also found it hard trying to figure out how to change the duration of each slide (I finally figured out you had to take into account the time for the transition-aha!) Aside from that, I really liked the project.

I think that iMovie and digital storytelling can be very useful in the classroom. However, the use of this in a math classroom is a bit more tricky. If you are trying to create a digital story about solving a math problem then you can find one on YouTube already by Khan Academy. Otherwise, I believe it would be best to do something with more a history spin (such as the history of pi, biography of a mathematician, etc.). I believe that trying to explain mathematical concepts through a digital story is a very daunting task that can easily be overwhelming to the students.

You can check out the digital story I made below. On it you'll find a video encompassing this past year with the Boss Dance Company. Enjoy!

ActivInspire

ActivInspire is a software program that allows the user to create flipcharts (sort of like interactive PowerPoint presentations). Our assignment was to create a flipchart on a topic in our field. I chose to make a flipchart on FOILing for an 11th grade Algebra II classroom.

Overall, I really liked this program. After learning about the different interactive things you could do with it, I found the program to be very useful. In addition, the interactive parts that I used in my flipchart are just one of the many ways to add interaction. I believe that this program allows for so much creativity for educators so that it can be used in any type of classroom. I appreciated that because so often I feel as if stretching these technology programs to math is a bit much. However, this one even had an equation generator, something integral to all math teachers (hehe!)

One thing I would change about this program was that I found it difficult to do basic functions. I couldn't figure out how to delete the text for the longest time (turns out you just have to delete all of it). I also found it rather frustrating that the different text color options were slightly different depending on where you chose it from. For instance, the side toolbar had a different purple than if you went to the dropdown menu up top. They're close, yes, but different. Aside from that, all of my other complaints come from me assuming all of the tools would work the same in ActivInspire as in PowerPoint, which is my fault.

This can be used in the classroom in many ways. It can be used to teach a lesson with the pen and using the lock function you can lock down certain figures to use during the class (which would help mitigate the poor circles and shapes that so many geometry teachers can never draw). It can also be used to aid the students by having them work out problems or interact with the board. You could have different games where the students have to race to solve problems already on a slide or something. Finally, you can use the clicker quizzes to help assess the students knowledge of a learned topic. Overall, you can use ActivInspire in a myriad ways to enhance the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed this project and learning how to use the software.