Recent Changes

Most teachers and preservice teachers are very familiar with smart boards. Smart boards are interactive whiteboards that are beginning to push the common white board out of the everyday classroom. Smart boards use touch detection from the user which makes using them very fun and extremely interactive. The equipment consists of a projector that hangs from the ceiling and projects onto the actual smart board that hangs on the wall. The smart board can be touched using the hand and can be written on with interactive pens that are located in a tray below the board. The pens or the hand can be used much like the mouse of a computer to navigate the web, complete problems, or play interactive games just like you would on a regular computer.
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Download Notebook Lessons for free at: http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0
Web applets
Web applets consist of interactive websites that provide students with manipulatives to see the geometry in a virtual, 3-dimensional state instead of 2-dimensions as on paper and pencil.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
"If we teach today as we taught yesterday,
we rob our children of tomorrow"
-John Dewey

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

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There are so many different great activities online which can help reinforce different topics used. NCTM’s Illumination website is designed in way where you can search for activities, lessons, standards, and web links. This allows you to find based on certain topics or standards. It allows you to search by grade and whether you want to include interactive activities, or just worksheets to go along with the lesson.
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The website then gives you multiple different lessons, telling you what grade level, and subjects they will cover. The computer on the left side tells you if it is an interactive lesson.
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I chose an activity that allows students to explore different quadrilaterals, and the amount of sides, triangles, and total degrees each shape contains. This activity explores the Angle Sum Theorem.
The first part of the website lists the main objects and instructions for the activity.
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The first part of the website lists step by steps instructions you can use as a base for your lesson. These also correspond with the activityworksheet that can be downloaded and the beginning instructionsprinted to give to students.
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The next part lists the things students should know before this lesson begins. Doing an introductive activity with these definitions could be a great way to start the lesson. Make sure students understand and can visualize these definitions before beginning the activity
a formula on their own for the number of sides or vertices a shape containssides, triangles, and the sum of the interior angles.
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This website is very organized and give step-by-step instructions for the activity. Students are to draw polygons and notice that the can be broken up into non-overlapping triangles "triangulation."
Triangles then help us determine the sum of the interior angles of any polygon.
After doing this activity, students should develop a formula for the interior angle sum that applies to all polygons.
Students can then use the angle sum interactive activity for students to create triangles in the different polygons provided.
Students can easily access this activity by clicking the link provided on the website. Nothing needs to be downloaded or uploaded in order for it to work. This makes it simple and easy to access
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Students are able to drag the sides, which changes the degree of each angle, but the should begin to notice that a triangle’s three sides always totals to be 180 degrees.
and octagons. Each shape has a set sum, not matter what way you move the corners.
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angles never changes, no matter how different you makechanges.
Extra questions and a student activity is included to help the shape look.topic develop in students minds.
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The worksheet's questions coincide with the student's actions and get them to think further. {Picture_9.png}
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An Answer sheet is also included for the students worksheet.
Why This Website Is So Helpful for Students and Teachers:
The program allows studentsThis would be a great resource especially for new teachers. It is very organized and gives almost step-by-step instructions of what to usesay and do with the students. It includes a pre-made shapes,handout which angles sums to do not change. Ifcoincides with the activities. The technology helps students were to drawget involved with the object,activity and makes it leaves a lot more roomeasy for error.
This program also allows for studentsthem to quickly access all different shapes, without having to draw each one separately. Teachers have an easier time monitoring the students work,experiment and not having to individually help each student drawprove their shape correctly.
This programhypothesis. It is simple to use, easy to access, and also very interactive.leaves room for less error. Teachers can easily monitor what the students are working on.
This website also includes the following links:
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lesson extensions. Most of the activities on this website also include these links.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=9
Link To Activity:
http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L765
http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activities.aspx?grade=3