Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness
//A general note:// I've been reading a lot of math teachers blogs, and reading and reflecting upon the discussion that happens between experienced math teachers who really want to change things. It has been as influential (if not more) on my teaching philosophy as the first semester as UOIT. I think some of this is evident in my reflection posts, and some in Really Interesting Ideas to Consider (at the bottom of my Pedagogy section). In particular, shifting through [|Dan Meyer's blog] has been really fruitful in terms of expanding my ideas about teaching and assessment. This is resourcefulness. ;)


 * //Here is a list of things I found on my own://**


 * ** Not something I found, but something I created as a resource for other students: The UOIT Due Date Wiki! **


 * **Course Organization (Content)**
 * [|Fresh take] on how to organize a math course in terms of content. In general, [|Without Geometry, Life Would Be Pointless] is a great blog for ideas about teaching Math (and it has a great name!)


 * **Mini Clips (Content**)
 * [|Math Mastery] is a similar site to The Khan Academy, however it requires you to sign up. Vids range from all topics, though.


 * **Applets (Content)**
 * **Prime and Composite Factoring**
 * Alec McEachran, a retired UK high school Math teacher has created an applet which is an amazing way for students, and teacher, to [|visualize Prime and Composite Factoring]. He's also quite friendly to email, and will consider new ideas and project directions.
 * **Math Games!**
 * [|Here's a site] that has a whole bunch of math games!


 * **Topic Specific (Content)**
 * **Fractions, Decimals and Percentages**
 * Like [|40 different lesson ideas and resources] for teaching Fractions, Decimals and Percentages.


 * **Lesson Ideas (Content)**
 * Build a lesson around optical illusions. Can introduce topic by [|building seemingly impossible objects] or watching a [|similar themed video].
 * Here's a template for a Penrose Triangle: [[file:coolprinttriangle.pdf]]


 * **General Strategies (Pedagogy)**
 * [|PEEL strategies:] Wonderful deconstruction of many alternative conceptions that students have in all subjects. Research info and potential strategies to resolve the alternative conceptions.
 * [|What Can You Do With This?] blatantly taken from Dan Meyer is an amazing way to start a low-risk/high-reward conversation with anyone about math.
 * Extremely outstanding resource about what revolutionary teachers are thinking about right now, and how Web 2.0 comes into play. [|The Classroom 2.0 Live Archives!]
 * Avoid [|Pseudo-Context] at all costs. Don't try to force math onto a topic that doesn't inherently have any. This not only doesn't make any sense, it makes students think that math doesn't have anything to do with real life... which it does!! ([|Pseudo-Context Saturday])
 * Awesome [|What Makes a Good Math Problem] post on a [|great blog with a funny name]. Really great break down on how to give appropriate math problems.


 * **Chunking Strategies (Pedagogy)**
 * [|Progressive disclosure] to avoid cognitive overload. Definitely be aware of this when you teach!


 * **Assessment Strategies (Pedagogy)**
 * Dan Meyer posted a[| revolutionary way to assess] that I really want to try when I get my own classroom. Self-differentiates, allows for student mastery, gets around the issue of students who learn things after a test but are never given credit, etc...
 * More thought provoking ideas on [|how to assess] mathematics.

>> Please watch this video before you teach high school math. A very reasonable perspective that could help you >> make math far more interesting and valuable to students. Go to Dan's Blog for ideas - it does take a while >> to find them though. ** (I know I took this from the main blog, but I was the one who posted it first! :P) ** >> [|Interesting interview] on how schools don't like mistakes... and how that's destroying creativity. >> Introduces the idea of //unschooling// allowing kids the freedom to do what they want and learn things themselves, through intrinsic motivation. >> [|Great TED Talk] about how students spend most of their time computing math, not doing math. This is especially ironic, considering we live in an age where computers can compute thing so much faster than any human. Bring for some educational reform! >> [|Very cool presentation] about self-directed learning being an emergent phenomenon in groups of children. Study shows how fluid groups of four students or so, with the 'grandmother effect' in the background self-learn the best! >> [|A Very Long, but Engaging Lecture] about mostly political issues and how they intersect with education, but many great points about self-questioning and reflection. Recommended watch wen you have an hours or so to spare!
 * **Videos (Pedagogy)**
 * **Dan Meyer - Why We Need a Math Makeover (11:39) **
 * ** Mark Frauenfelder - Making Mistakes and Creativity (8:36) **
 * ** Conrad Wolfram - Teaching Kids Real Math with Computers (17:19) **
 * ** Sugata Mitra - New Experiments in Self-Teaching (17:26) **
 * **Cornel West - Democrary Matters @ CSU (1:11:24) **


 * **Topic Specific (Pedagogy)**
 * Multiplication
 * [|Lattice Multiplication] video. Awesome different way to teach multiplication!
 * Linear Regression
 * [|The Toaster Video,] by David Cox. How can a student not be interested!?


 * **Collaborative Organization (Technology)**
 * [|Dropbox] is a necessary tool to use in my digital life. I can sync across multiple platforms (i.e. my laptop and my desktop) seamlessly. As I teach, I will also be able to give public links to direct hosting. e.g. [|Offline Copy of Online-Stopwatch]
 * I've also been tinkering with [|MobileMe] which is similar to Dropbox. The advantage is i have an email address which is mrchow@me.com! I'll be looking into this more in the future


 * **Student Engagement (Technology)**
 * [|Virtual Manipulatives!] Nothing else need be said!
 * Virtual sketchpad, courtesy [|DeviantArt].
 * For the record, I've also setup mr.n.chow@gmail.com in addition to a twitter [|@mrnchow] account, and the [|MobileMe] mrchow@me.com account.


 * **Presentations + A/V Editing (Technology)**
 * Sweet [|PowerPoint Templates]. Seriously nice backgrounds that will give a presentation some pizazz.
 * [|Zamzar]: easiest way to convert videos online, then get them to email them to you. (e.g. YouTube videos)
 * [|How To Create] awesome images to spark math curiosity. e.g. [|Parabolas].
 * [|Wordle] is an awesome way to create cool word pictures. Also it represents frequency in terms of size, which is super math related! (Maybe I can create a lesson plan around this!)