Blogosphere ... Good Ideas Round 3

As I have been reading around the blogosphere, I am in awe of the many excellent ideas shared among educators!

Here are 3 ideas that caught my eye!

Our school is fortunate to have a 1:1 initiative for 9th and 10th grades.  (Last year only freshmen were issued laptops).  I am always on the lookout for meaningful ways to embed technology in my algebra classes.  I ran across Education Rethink: Fifteen Paperless Math Strategies.  I notice that several of the strategies involve a blog and/or a shared document.  I've already committed to learning how to use Google products more effectively - thinking the shared document will work.  One more note at this blog ... this team of two offer their visuals for free ... which may be helpful as I create materials for class!

Mary Dooms writes a poignant post about students and curiosity in response to Dan Meyer's post on The Unengageables. She says, "Students are curious. We just have to give ourselves permission to allow them to pose questions and wonder."  Mary goes on to talk about how we use the summer to recalibrate; this resonated with me!  Mary mentions the Annenberg series and Fostering Algebraic Thinking.  My stack of books is growing and the time I'm spending reading them is shrinking!  Her post inspires me to keep at the work of developing good problems - worthy of students' curiosity!  Check out her 7th grade textbook revision problem!

To follow up on developing good problems, a third site I found interesting is Inquiry maths! As we discuss textbook revisions at #MakeOverMonday and read professional books, developing rich worthwhile mathematical discourse is essential! I'm looking at the inquiries suggested for algebra and considering how I might use these to stimulate creative and analytical thinking. The author at Inquiry Maths says "Inquiry is built on inquisitiveness and curiosity. And for those to be articulated, students need to learn how to ask questions. When students inquire into their own questions, levels of motivation, engagement and confidence rise. Students become self-starters who take responsibility for their own learning. Importantly, they lose the fear of giving the wrong answer because they control the question under consideration."

So much to think about ... so little time ... even in the summertime!   The math blogosphere is an amazing source for professional development!