OK, so I love the idea of blogging in the classroom, but I have always been asking myself, how can I use blogs in a math classroom? We do not write papers, or write down our thoughts in math class, but after some searching of other math classroom blogs, I think I have found some really good ideas. Looking at the other blogs, a lot of them were to share classroom ideas with other teachers. I got so many new ideas. Also, another blog is used to communicate with students. The teacher posts assignments and videos. Just recently the teacher posted an assignment, pay it forward. Students are required to post their act of kindness with pictures or photos and then fill out a questionnaire about their pay it forward experience. Students then comment on other experiences. This has nothing to do with math, but it can be done easily through a blog. It is probably more meaningful than any math problem.
Blogs are a great way to share students projects. On one of the blog, students shared their comic strips showing how to graph an equation. This is extremely creative! I know students will love this.
Another idea that I really liked, was a review slide show using google presentation. Each set of partners chose a standard/bench mark and made a math problem relating to it using google presentation. The teacher posted the final product to the blog. It was so neat!
Seeing the other math blogs, make me feel hopeful, I guess. I can go the extra mile and bring out the creativity in my students in their math class.
Here are the other blogs:
http://sargentparkmathzone.blogspot.com/
http://croitz.blogspot.com/
Sounds as though you found a lot of great ideas! I hope that you are able to find one and implement it successfully:)
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of using comic strips to have students explain their thinking!
ReplyDeleteMy first thought of using blogs in math was how would someone do that. You have done some great research and found ways that would be great to tie into your class. :)
ReplyDelete-Arianna
I am going to try the comic strip activity tomorrow! The more I look at other blogs, the more I like them. I started a facebook page for my Algebra class where I can communicate with students and I can post videos and I hope to post their work as well. I can do all of this with a blog and not have to see all the facebook fuss on my students' pages.
ReplyDeleteBlogs and math would be hard...but you can have your students review the assignment for the day by telling you what they thought they did well, what they are struggling with and what they need help on. This would be a good reflective activity. You could also use a blog as a means of teaching them how to write out the steps to a problem, since most of them HATE writing out the steps to a problem and just want to get immediately to the answer.
ReplyDeleteOne of the math teachers in my school has been regularly updating his blog with a series of videos and podcasts that details each lesson that he teaches. His long-term goal is to get that blog completed entirely for the year so that students can go back to the previous lesson videos if they are struggling with a particular topic.
ReplyDeleteI really like the reflection idea! Also, writing out a step by step process is an excellent idea to see if they are really understanding the concepts. I think videos and podcasts of lessons on a blog are so helpful. As we get into more complicated material, parents can't help as often. Thanks for all the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThank you for supplying the links to some of the ideas you are gathering for a math blog. I didn't do that on my site and realize now that it gives credit to the creators of the content you used but also allows your blog readers to have direct access. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI would also like to use it as a way to share projects, I think that is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI also teach math and wonder how I can include more writing into it. One thing that could work with blogging would be to write a daily problem on a blog and have the students write in words how they would solve it step by step, it also would be a good way to see all of the different ways the students can solve the problem.
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