In response to my post on IWBs, Joy Wolfe writes:Thanks for blogging a response to Mr. Ferriter's seemingly ignorant bashingof the use of IWBs. Amen to what you wrote! When I first read the article,I was extremely frustrated. It saddened me that Mr. Ferriter seemed to havehad little training in the use of his interactive… Continue reading Interactive White Boards (continued)
Tag: Manipulatives
Interactive White Boards
An expanded and illustrated version of this post was published in The Mathematics Teacher, November 2010. Read it here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------Teacher Magazine published "Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards", a passionate article by one Bill Ferriter. Hatred seems like a strong reaction to an inanimate object -- but as it turns out it is tied to frustration… Continue reading Interactive White Boards
Kinesthetic intro to Pascal’s Triangle
Question in an online discussion:I'm trying to figure out how to kinesthetically demonstrate Pascal's triangle with my precalculus kidsMy response: I do a lot of kinesthetic activities in geometry and algebra, but haven't yet thought about this particular topic that way.Here's a possibility:- Have students stand in a triangular number arrangement- Give the top student… Continue reading Kinesthetic intro to Pascal’s Triangle
Lab Gear assessment
A correspondent asks:Do you have an assessment piece to the algebra lab for middle school?Not exactly. You might look in The Algebra Lab High School, and especially Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts and all its supporting material. (All free downloads on my Web site.) You will probably be able to find material there that you could… Continue reading Lab Gear assessment
Slide Rules
A correspondent writes:I have no idea how a slide rule works, but I'd like to learn. I mean that's wrong. I obviously have an idea, but I've never used one, and I think it'd be good to show students how they work. I learned how to use a slide rule in high school. I still have… Continue reading Slide Rules
Tools
I added a new page: For a Tool-Rich Pedagogy. At the bottom, there are links organized by tool, so that you can quickly find, say, all Fathom files on the site, or all pages involving pattern blocks. (Well, "all" may be an exaggeration, but I did try to make the links as comprehensive as I… Continue reading Tools
Research
Correspondents often ask whether there is research that establishes that my curricular materials are effective. The question is usually about the Lab Gear, but recently someone asked it about my pentomino materials.Unfortunately, I don't know the answer. If someone did this kind of research, they didn't tell me about it.What I do know is that… Continue reading Research
Algebra and Art
Teachers Joanne C. da Luz and Justin Warren came up with a fun twist on Lab Gear multiplication. They work at the Life Learning Academy, a San Francisco Unified charter school on Treasure Island. They describe their project in a PDF entitled "Algebra and Art". The idea is to combine the idea of the area… Continue reading Algebra and Art
Ordering Lab Gear
I've been receiving more e-mail from teachers who have trouble finding a way to order Lab Gear... It is actually not surprising: I just tried Google, and it really didn't work to get me to the Creative Publications page.I'm sorry this is not more straightforward. Creative Publications is a shadow of its former self, and… Continue reading Ordering Lab Gear
More Small Changes
I added the "function diagram dance" activity to the Function Diagrams main page. I also added to that same page a list of the function diagram lessons in Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts (ATTC). Those sometimes duplicate, sometimes complement the other function diagram material on the Web site.I added an "index of selected topics and tools"… Continue reading More Small Changes
Henri's Math Education Blog 