Did someone say they needed online protractor practice?

Well, look no further. Online protractor practice is just a click away. With online state testing approaching, many teachers are looking for ways to familiarize their students with using online tools for math. While taking the practice test is fine and appropriate, there are only so many times one can take the practice test and still maintain interest. Knowing this I did a search for the teachers in my buildings and came up with the following great tools to help their students gain needed online skills.

The top of my list is from Visnos Mathematics. They have developed a suite of online math tools that work on nearly every platform and device. They also have some great free Chrome apps as well. You can find some of those along with other apps in an earlier post. But the beauty of Visnos is that you don't really need the apps to use them; they just work. Some of the math tools include a fraction wall, interactive protractor, and times tables. Check it out to see much more.

Another one I like for protractor practice is found at MathIsFun.com The site is more like a self-guided tutorial on how protractors and how to use them. It has short videos along with interactive reviews where students need to move the protractor and lines to answer questions.

Want even more protractor practice (along with  ruler and compass tools)? Check out the Geometry Toolbox from Emaths.co.uk. It allows students to draw their own lines. While I was checking it out, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to erase the entire page with the exception of refreshing the page. If you figure out a different way, please let me know. It is also useful to know that it won't work on iPads due to Flash but Chromebooks worked just fine. It's worth a look.

What is your favorite tool to use? Let others know by adding your comment below.

Haters and Trolls on the Web, Oh My!

While sharing our newest literacy collaboration tool, Biblionasium, with students the issue of internet trolls came up and I wondered how many of us know what is an internet troll. An internet troll is a person who says things on internet discussion sites with the intention of making people upset. They seem to exist to only bring attention to themselves and get others to follow their lead. Taken seriously, they can really cause hard feelings and cause quite a stir in what otherwise might be productive discussions. Common Sense Media has a good, less than a minute, explanation  video among their parent resources dedicated to combatting Cyberbullying.
Interested in knowing more? Common Sense media has some really great resources for parents, students and teachers trying to navigate the internet in a safe way.

Going to Pieces over Math Pieces Chrome App

With tax time around the corner perhaps money is on your mind. This app can help you count it! Actually, it can help you teach your students how to count money in a very interactive fashion. Users of SmartNotebook know that there are many kinds of interactive activities for math instruction but this app is made specifically for counting and using coins. Sometimes you want something quick and you want it now, Math Pieces, by the Math Learning Center, might do just that. Did I mention that it is free? Here is a site to help you find the Math Pieces Chrome along with other good Chrome Apps for math made just for you.

Math Apps

EdPuzzle and Google Classroom

I wanted to share with you an exciting discovery of mine regarding EdPuzzle and Google Classroom.

EdPuzzle is a tool that lets you assign videos to your students. Not just any videos but videos that you can trim and add your own questions and comments to. If you are not yet using it, it's worth a look.

Google Drive is part of Google Apps for Education that allows for smooth communication between teacher and student as well as streamlining the distribution of assignments and activities.

Recently I found that EdPuzzle makes creating a classroom a snap if you already have students in Google Classroom. That magic happens with the "Import from Google Classroom" button. Select an existing class or Add class and then "Import". Sweet.

Plan B

Do you have a "Plan B"?

Last week's web page outage made me think out the importance of  Plan B. I would like to preface the following statements by stating that web page outages like the one my district experienced last week are rare. Our IT department works incredibly hard to keep everything running smoothly however not everything is within their control. Last week's hack was a great example. That being said, there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a little piece of mind with a Plan B.

You'll find my Plan B below. It is a very small Symbaloo with links to my most basic and frequently used websites. Making and sharing your own Symbaloo is pretty easy; if you can cut and paste links you have all the skills to make your own. They even have their own free version called EduSymbaloo that includes a network of great link collections that you can add to your own.

Visit EduSymbaloo and see if it would help you with your Plan B. Meanwhile, if you are from my district you could open the symbaloo below and bookmark it for easy reference.

http://flowers-pictures.pixmine.ru/en/view/7529216