Math Resources - Making Videos

After posting the update about web cams, I started looking for other new ideas out there for math videos.  Here are a few resources I found:

Infomercial:

Why do we need to know this?  I'll never use this in the real world.  The answer to these questions can be found in this math infomercial.  As you watch think about how the kids could create their own infomercial about your subject and discover for themselves how it really can be used in the real world!

Math Video Resources

If you want to get started in making math videos, or just learn more about what is possible, check out this wiki:    http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com/Effective+Math+Videos

This site contains math videos organized by category and are created and sent in by students: http://www.mathplayground.com/howto_gcflcm.html

This is a YouTube Channel dedicated to gathering math instructional videos - http://www.youtube.com/group/MathTutor

This wiki is created by a math teacher and contains "collaboratively-constructed, student-designed review materials for building math skills!" - http://lovettmathcasts.wikispaces.com/

Just for fun.

You gotta love a music video produced by Mu Alpha Theta:



I've shared this before, but it is worth seeing again:

Google Forms

This form was made in Google Docs. Can you imagine having students gather info from at home, or anywhere and then be able to compile that data by opening a spreadsheet in class and talking about the results?

Check out this link to a lesson on Walmart and the products country of origin.

Click here to see the answers - Google Spreadsheet.

What kind of data can you see collecting from students? Could they take a quiz online this way? (The link to the spreadsheet does NOT have to be visible, the answers the questions can remain private.) More ideas to come...

Awareness Test - Just for Fun

So how good are your powers of observation?



Sometimes we only see what we are looking for and miss out on so much more.  Take time to step back and take it all in!

Pic-Lits

Recently this web site was sent out through my PLN (personal learning network).  It was given as a suggestion for using technology to teach poetry.

http://www.piclits.com/

Basically the website has photos and users can drag and drop words from their gallery onto the picture, or they can write free style.  Here is my first attempt:



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

I then started digging around and found it also offer lessons plans on how teachers can use this site to teach grammar, figurative language and poetry.  Those resources caught my eye and made me want to share this sight with the teachers on campus.

• Lesson Plan Links


• Example of Lesson Plan: Poetry

Other ideas? I asked around and got some responses from our Literacy Coach and started this list:

• poetry


• Bernabei's Truisms


• character traits


• motivation resources


• Anything!

Here are some recent blogs written about using Pic-Lits in the classroom:

• http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=1958


• Instructify


• School Library Journal

So how could you use this resource in your classroom?  Please share anything you create or have your kids create so we can learn together!

Webcams - An Update

Back in the fall I spent the morning with the 7th grade math teachers on campus.  The focus of our training was how to use webcams in the math classrooms.  Mainly with the idea that a webcam costs under $100 and a document camera costs well over $700.  Our tech ed teacher built stands for the cameras and the teachers were sent back to their rooms to see what they could do with them. (See Original post: http://www.robinstechtips.com/?tag=webcam)

So what ever happened with those web cams?  The teachers are using them as  document cameras to show how to work problems and as a clear way to model the use of manipulatives.  They have also taken advantage of the video capabilities.  Natalie Ortega has led the way with establishing her own YouTube channel to organize the videos for quick reference:

http://www.youtube.com/user/nsvolley28

Here is one of the latest videos to be posted:

These videos are being created as she teaches the class.  What a great resource for those who are absent, or need to see it again once they get home!  Parents who are trying to help their students can see how they were taught to tackle the problems.

Blogs - A Campus Update

I watch the news and they refer to their blogs and read reader's comments on the air.  I listen to the radio and hear about the blogs available there and what listeners have to say about the goings on with the music.  The Entertainment industry is full of blogs, I was tracking down past American Idol participants and found many have blogs now to keep their fans informed.   Blogs have infiltrated our everyday lives, but still research suggests many people still don't understand what blogs are.

So how are we reaching our students to get them informed?  I started thinking about all the teachers who are introducing blogging this year (or have been blogging for several years) on campus now.  I wanted to share those examples so maybe other people will get ideas on how blogs can be used in their classrooms.

Blogs at Ridgeview:

1. Mrs. Hazen, 6th grade math, is using a blog as a web page to communicate with parents and students about class happenings as well as providing reteaching and more information about class topics.  http://ridgeviewms.org/hazen/


2. Mrs. McLinden, TAG Math has been using blogs for several years to get her students talking about math.  She has 3 blogs, one for each subject.  At the end of the year she asks students to leave advice for the incoming group.  This is a great example of building relationships with students:
   
   
   
   • http://geometry8th.blogspot.com/
   
   
   • http://algebra7th.blogspot.com/
   
   
   • http://tagmath6th.blogspot.com/
   
   
   
   


3. 7th Grade Science teachers, Mrs. Dausses, Mrs. Stegall, Mrs. Mayen and Mrs. Prescott are using blogs to ask students to think about the science topics they are learning about in class as well as to give more information to extend learning.
   
   
   
   • http://sciencethoughts.edublogs.org/
   
   
   • http://mrsdausses.edublogs.org/
   
   
   • http://mrsstegall.edublogs.org/
   
   
   • http://mrsprescott.edublogs.org/
   
   
   
   

What do the students get out of this?  They are learning how to interact in our ever changing world.  They are learning how to respond appropraitely on blogs and how to stay safe online by not sharing too much about themselves.  They are learning how to become part of the global conversation.

Want to learn more about blogging?

Check out these previous posts:

• What is a Blog?


• Students Who blog


• Blogging in History

Blogs in Plain English:

Cartoons - Make Your Own

I ran across http://www.befunky.com/ through my PLN (Personal Learning Network) and have been playing with the possibilities.   It requires no fees and no sign in or account to be created.  Of course the first place I start when playing with photos is my kids.

The process of uploading pictures is very simple:

1. Navigate to the picture and upload it.


2. Crop or rotate the image as needed.


3. Choose the effect you want (effects can be changed and modified with the onscreen menu).


4. Save the new image to your computer.

But then I started thinking what else could be done?  How about cartoons?

Cartoons and Cartoon Strips

The students could take pictures of themselves in various expressions, poses, run the picture through the web page and turn the digital photo into a cartoon version.  Those pictures could then be inserted into a PowerPoint and captions added to make your own cartoon strips.  This would be a great activity to summarize an event being studies, or a book they are reading.  Maybe give them the pictures and have them write in their own captions.  Students could also take historical images and make them "cartoonized" to tell the story of the event.

When Printing - Choose to print the handout page with 6 slides per page.


(Sorry the text is very small in this image- but the story line is lacking a bit.  :) )

Cartoon Movies

I then took it another step by pulling the images into Photo Story 3.  Instead of a paper cartoon, why not a video?  Students would process their pictures and then bring them into PhotoStory 3 where they can add text, narration and music.  The images could be zoomed in or out in the movie and the still photographs have come to life.



Any other ideas for using http://www.befunky.com/ in the classroom?