Math Manipulatives

I enjoy using manipulatives during math lessons. The students are engaged and think it is fun. They do not realize how many connections they are making and that they are developing a deeper understanding of math. Unfortunately, the problem comes when there are not enough manipulatives in the classrom. When I taught elementary school, this was a problem for me. I had to use manipulatives in center activities, or I had to have students work with partners. That was fine; however, there are some students who will sit idle while the other partner does all of the work. When I use manipulatives in middle school, I have not encountered the problem of not having enough. We have large manipulative kits with 20-25 sets in each; however, most of the teachers do not touch these kits, so I have two in my classroom. So far this year, I have used fraction bars, unifix cubes, and base-10 blocks from the kit. I have upcoming units planned that use geoboards and tangrams. There is a set of algeblocks for each student in my kit, but I am not familiar enough with these to use them. I personally have a set of pattern blocks at home; I enjoy making designs on the coffee table with them.

As for the second abstract, I will be comparing Mac versus PC laptops. This should yeild much more information than software. It is also a topic that will be useful to all of us for school and home purposes.

My Math Technology Experience

I would have to say that I am not very tech savvy. I am one of those individuals who can do something technology related if shown how with step-by-step instructions; however, I am also the type of individual that believes turning off a computer will fix anything that may be wrong. And, if it doesn't fix it, it's time for a new computer. Being a grad student, I am proficient with Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, have some experience with Excel, and am great at downloading music and uploading photos. I have a Starboard in my classroom, which is a very cheap version of a Smartboard. I do use the basics, but have not taken the time to explore all that it is capable of.

This is my seventh year teaching, all in Clark County. I taught 1st grade for one year, 3rd grade for five years, and now I am teaching 6th grade math at Creative Arts Magnet School. I have to say that this is my favorite year yet!

I am looking forward to this course because there are many aspects of technology that I am interested in. As I mentioned, I have an interactive white board that I enjoy using; however, I also have a slate and responders that I would like to try. I have not devoted any time to trying to figure out how to use it because I am sure it will lead to pure frustration. So, a training, or more information, would be of great benefit to my students and myself. Teaching middle school math, students have access to graphing calculators. I have not used graphing calculators since taking Calculus 10 years ago, so I need a refresher. I've set up a blog page, but would like to learn how to publish a webpage that my students may use. Math software is something I am unfamiliar with. I have had limited experience with Math Type, but would like more exposure to math games and graphing programs other than Excel. Although it doesn't have much to do with math, I would like to gain some knowledge of setting up and navigating through computer networks. So much of school communication revolves around networks, and I would like a deeper understanding of how it works.