Technology has been used in my classroom in a variety of ways; as a teaching tool, as a research tool, and as a learning tool. Each year
technology uses expand and I have been afforded the opportunity to implement many of them in my classroom. Technology has become an integral part of my teaching style. The amount and type of technology I use has varied from year to year depending upon the courses I have taught. Technology as a teaching tool has taken on the broadest range of uses.
In years when our middle school has advanced mathematics students, I have used distance learning technology to include middle school students in my Honors Geometry classroom at the high school. This technology has made it possible for students to gain the benefits of being part of a live classroom experience instead of an independent study situation. With the technology already in my room, I have taken advantage of using it with other classes. One example is a virtual field trip to the Aquatic Research Institute to experience real-life opportunities to use perimeter, area, and volume. The students were actively engaged in a real-live dive to take various types of measurements. A second way I have used technology as a teaching tool has been to teach an on-line course in introductory statistics. Teaching in an on-line setting has given me the opportunity to use both Blackboard and E-school Builder supports. The students have been able to add an additional class to their course load that would not have been possible in their regular eight-period day. In addition to these more unique teaching tools, I have used United Streaming and Power Point as part of my presentations. These technology tools have added another dimension and variety to my presentations. My teaching has also been enhanced by using the technology available as an aid in the research I do for my lessons.
Because of my association with organizations such as The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and The Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and my training in Reading Apprenticeship (RA) and calculator use through Texas Instruments, I have access to many on-line resources. The data bases that NCTM and ASCD maintain have allowed me to locate articles, lessons, and activities from years of journals. Texas Instruments has lessons and real life data that can be downloaded into the computer or graphing calculator. My association with the RA institute allows me to collaborate with other teachers who have been trained in RA in addition to having access to journals and lesson plan aids. The previous mentioned teaching and researching tools have made student learning through technology possible.
Many of the students I teach have not been successful in a traditional learning environment. I have been able to use technology to provide them with a new way to learn. My students have used explorations that I have created in Geometer’s Sketchpad to discover concepts and theorems on their own. I have given students meaningful activities and projects that use real-life and real-time data that they have downloaded from the internet. My students have been able to use applets on the web to dynamically explore graphing techniques. By working with the technology, students have been able to take a different approach to the learning of mathematics. Technology opportunities have continued to grow and expand.
The latest uses of technology that I have been experimenting with are blogging and digital storytelling. I have combined them into a unit on non-Euclidean geometry with the help of our Library Media Specialist. This unit has given the students the opportunity to dynamically explore familiar concepts in Euclidean geometry in a new way, work collaboratively with a partner, and communicate thoughts and ideas with other members of the class. As I have become acquainted with new areas of technology, I have incorporated them into my teaching, researching, and student learning opportunities.
