Online Assignment # 2 -- Juliana Kirmeyer

I have always loved using the Internet as a resource - I find really interesting ideas and applets (little online modules) that I use in the classroom.

One of my favorite haunts in the Math Forum - especially for Pi Day resources. An interesting section I never explored before was the Mathematics Education section.

http://mathforum.org/mathed/index.html

I found numerous articles about mathematics assessment, curriculum development, and collaborative learning. I just found it to be a wealth of information and most articles even provide a bibliography or resources! Very exciting, and I look forward to digging into this treasure chest further.

One other site that I found interesting was by Danica McKeller (of Winnie Cooper fame on the "Wonder Years"). I had picked up her book a year ago and was surprised to find a new Pre-Algebra book recently released entitled "Kiss My Math".

And she has a website: http://www.mathdoesntsuck.com/

The website provides additional content based on her books (including a link to her new "Kiss My Math" site). The books are WONDERFUL - very girly, but any male would also find her explanations about the basics of middle school math very clear and fun.

I have her books on my bibliography for strategy as she provides so many great ways to think about integers and equations as well as wonderful short cuts that are based on the ideas behind the math. She also has an online forum where students can talk about math together!

Who knew "Winnie Cooper" was a math genius? I cannot say enough good things about the books and her websites are amazing. Great math content and good strategies for empowering students.

I am constantly on the look out for resources for surface area - it is a very difficult concept for middle school. I was hoping to find videos or some sort of game where one could deconstruct a three-dimensional object.

And I found this website that would be great for meeting the diverse needs of students in science and math:

Adaptive Curriculum Website

I say 'would be' because it costs money. I was able to sign up for a free 30-day trial and it has been most interesting. While it would be really great to be able to purchase this for use, it has given me great ideas for how to adapt curriculum to provide more challenge or accommodations for students. Even if you do not sign up for the 30-day trial, you can browse the site for ideas on how to present content within a context.

There are also sites that I am familiar with but I want to explore more in depth. If you have not heard of these resources before, they are quite valuable -- especially with regard to multi-cultural education.

Teaching Tolerance - this is a great magazine that you can get for FREE and it has really great lessons and resources about, well, teaching tolerance in the classroom. It is not just for homeroom teachers - it has great lessons and instructions for teachers at all levels and subject areas.

Journeys in Film - this site has some free lesson plans, but more over, if you have ever wondered how to use a foreign film to teach across disciplines, this is your site. I did a few leadership lessons from an English lesson plan for Whale Rider and it was quite good. The students really enjoyed it. I want to pursue the few free lessons I received that pertained to math to find more ideas for putting math in a real-world context.


I look forward to looking at all the websites, books, and articles I have been accumulating over the past few weeks as well as years -- this is a wonderful learning opportunity!