amandaneibert1990
These are the top ten technological education tools I have found useful for a middle grades math classroom.
This free website allows teachers to create a game like knowledge check. Students login with their own devices and teachers project multiple choice questions onto the white board. Students answer independently and anonymously (at least to the other students). The kids love it, and it is a great tool to use at the beginning or end of class to check students understanding of the material.
This is also a free website that allows users to create graphs and plot data points, while at the same time having fun! Students would much rather create a graph on a computer than on paper. This site also allows them to customize their graphs with different layouts and designs. Now they can let their creative sides out in math class!
Prezi is a good website to use for presentations. In math, you could have students make individual presentations each with particular math problems; having them show a step by step process of how to solve it using proper math terms. Prezi is somewhat like powerpoint, but it more kid friendly and fun.
Aleks is an online tool specifically for math. Each student works at his/her own pace on their devices, and the program changes according to their needs. If they are getting everything right, it will move them up to harder questions and vise versa. The website also lets the teacher see where each students understanding level is.
Piktochart is a website for creating many things. For math, I really find it useful for bar graphs. It lets students design the graph, and collect data in order to make it.
Plickers is another good starter activity. The teacher projects multiple choice questions onto the white board and students hold up cards a certain way to pick an answer. It gives the teacher individual feedback to see what areas certain students are lacking in.
http://products.wolframalpha.com/courseassistants/algebra.html
This app does cost about 2 dollars, but it is worth it for the struggling math student. The app is a personal math tutor. It shows step by step directions and explains how to solve any problem the student is having trouble with. It also has a detailed explanation of everything algebra related, from terms to formulas.
Quiver makes drawings come to life. This app is excellent for a math teacher looking for a way for students to understand the concepts of volume, perimeter, area, etc. Students can touch the 3D shapes and twist them all around on their devices.
Another website for students to play around with data and different types of graphs.
Dropbox is a great app for all students and teachers to have. Teachers can upload anything, from assignments to reminders to helpful documents, and all students will instantly have access to it. Students could also use this app to turn in certain assignments if they are out of school.
