Tool 9

1. By tying technology to the objective, students are able to see the objective in their real world more easily. When you have created an interest point for the students, they are more likely to pay attention and therefore soak in the material being presented. When students are in the real world, they will have a better understanding of how to interact with the world because we have been practicing through technology which is 'the way of the 21st century.'

2. As I mentioned earlier, I make the students responsible for plugging in the iPads. I like the idea of having a  manager of the tools rather than myself so that students are taking even more personal responsibility in the matter. I can also do this for the calculators. On a practical level, I cannot micromanage these elements of the classroom. By having students be responsible, I free some of my time to address math questions, etc. I can also help student teach themselves how to take responsibility for something small, such as the iPads and this will build healthy habits of being responsible in other aspects of their own lives.

3. I really enjoyed the NCTM link, http://illuminations.nctm.org/, which is great because it focuses on math concepts and I know it is from an accredited source. I could have students solve a ken-ken puzzle one a week for a warm-up or homework activity or something to complete after tests and quizzes. To make sure the students are completing the assignments, I would give them each a completion sheet that they would have to carry around that would say which activities I wanted them to do. When students show me evidence that they have completed the assignments, I can use a stamp or signature as an easy way for myself to make sure students are completing tasks without having to turn in several pieces of paper.
With TenMarks, I can monitor student completion which is recorded instantly. I like this program because it is easy to sign up for and the students have responsibility for accessing material. There are also more opportunities to improve but you can create assignments this way as well.

4. On the spot has lessons from the textbook from Professor Edward Burger which makes these accessible to students. Students can also view these lessons through the online textbook. The Khan Academy also has an app which lets students have quick access to Khan Academy videos. Students can be assigned certain videos to watch. As a group, students will then be given a word problem similar to the one in the video. Each student will write down the steps to solving the problem and can create a presentation using the iPad.

5. The students could use the camera or video tools to capture math in real life related to the topic of the day. For example, students could act out a situation that involves percents. This would be a fun way to share learning with others. Students will be encouraged to participate because of the new medium to present information.