Final Reflection

The semester has flown by and I am amazed at all the new technological tools I have learned about and used.  I was hoping to learn a lot during the semester and this course definitely met my expectations!  I have gained many new resources and skills that I can put into use in my future classroom.  I really was shocked at the amount of technology available for math teachers--it doesn't just have to be a graphing calculator!  Working through all of the projects with less guidance has really helped me gain confidence in my abilities rather than just following explicit directions for a finished product. (Having a great instructor really helps, too!)  Overall, I am very pleased I took this course and have the resources to look back at for my future use.

Digital Story

I always knew I had iMovie on my Mac, but I had never used the program. I realized how simple and fun this program can be and will definitely see myself using it more in the future. I don't know how much I would implement it in my Math classroom, but it could be used as an "About Me" presentation or to create a video of a class field trip. I found this activity helpful and can't wait to use iMovie again.

My Spreadsheet Quiz

Below is a picture of the interactive spreadsheet I made in Excel to use as a geometry quiz.  I had used Excel in the past to create spreadsheets involving equations, etc. but I learned a lot from this activity that I didn't know before.  I think this was incredibly simple and a great idea for the classroom.  It definitely could be a great activity for review before a quiz or test.

Web 2.0 Tools

Lately, we have used many new web 2.0 tools in class including Inspiration, Picasa, Picnik, Animoto, Prezi, Smilebox, Google Forms, and Voice Thread. I found the one I will most likely use in my classroom is Google Forms, because it is very organized and quick, and has many uses in the Math classroom such as a Math quiz, a survey about the students' interests, or surveys to gather raw data when teaching probability. I liked the tools Picasa, Picnik, and Animoto, but I can't think of many instances when I would use these in my high school classroom. I would use these tools personally, however, even if I cannot use them in my classroom. I thought the Voice Thread tool was interesting, especially the math example we were shown in class. However, I feel this is more of a tool I could introduce to my students and have them use at home with one another to help each other on math problems, but not something I would use with them. Smilebox had many creative ways to display information, but I felt it was too artsy for my liking and more geared towards younger students. I did not like the Prezi tool, particularly that it was an infinite presentation board. I wouldn't know where to start and where to go without boundaries! The latest tool we used is Inspiration. The tool is great because allows you to create many creative graphic organizers, which present the material to students in a new way. The down side to this tool for Math teachers is that it is not formula friendly! It would be easier to use for topics in Math that don't include any formulas or math notation, such as some geometry lessons.
Using these tools in class has helped me understand them better than just talking about them and allowed me to figure out how these can tools can enhance my teaching.

My Inspiration Map

Scavenger Hunt

In class this week, we completed a scavenger hunt.  We were given a list of shapes and a digital camera and sent out on campus to take pictures that captured these shapes.  Our group then uploaded the photos to Picasa, edited them using Picnik, and each created a slideshow using Google presentation.  Below is the finished presentation, "Shapes at UT."
This gave me an opportunity to use three new tools.  I liked Google presentation, as it was very similar to something like powerpoint and easy to use.  It also has the advantage that it saves all your work online.  Picnik was an easy tool to edit photos, although many of the editing tools were not available for free.  Picasa is a great way to organize and share photos without having to attach each photo individually to an e-mail or upload photos so everyone can see them.  I think I would probably use these tools again.