When I started PSG back in 2003, mathematics projects were a small part of my business, but that statistic has changed dramatically in the last five years. Now, we have multiple math projects in-house year-round. My staff and I tell some pretty funny math jokes, we come up with assessment questions for all kinds of situations in our daily lives and I’ve been keeping lists and lists of some pretty cool (and free!) resources. Here are a few noteworthy links and one of my favorite math puns:
“Dear Algebra,
Stop asking us to find your X. She’s not coming back”
1. YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/education
This is a great resource for science and math videos. YouTube EDU functions like the regular YouTube site, but it only provides educational content. One big difference between the two sites is that, in order to protect students, the Education side does not allow user comments. Currently, there are more higher-ed videos available but in coming months, YouTube EDU is going to dramatically increase its K-12 material.
2. PBS: LearningMedia and PBS Teachers
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ and http://www.pbs.org/teachers/connect/resources
There are two great sites developed by PBS. The first, PBS LearningMedia, offers instant access to thousands of classroom-ready digital resources including videos and interactive modules (many are Whiteboard ready!), audio and photos, and in-depth lesson plans. The site also hosts a forum for teachers to share ideas with each other.
The second, PBS Teachers, is a free service for teachers and provides PreK-12 television and online resources, interactive activities and lesson plans along with professional development that can be used by teachers to earn graduate credits.
3. Mathwire
http://www.mathwire.com
Creative seasonal math activities! These activities are all standards-aligned, and there is a blog that includes suggestions for implementation as well as a place for teachers to share their ideas. Some favorites include Cereal Toy Investigation and Seussical Patterns.
4. The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE)
http://www.ciese.org/currichome.html
This resource sponsors and designs interdisciplinary K-12 projects for teachers. It focuses on projects that use real-time data and collaborative efforts from all over the world, and it supports National Science Education Standards and NCTM math standards. There are also links to Ask an Expert sites where students and teachers can ask questions of mathematicians and scientists who are experts in their respective fields.
5. Geogebra
http://www.geogebra.org
This site offers free software for all grades of mathematics, and it can be a great tool for teachers too. It also has a way for users to share lessons developed using Geogebra. There is a teacher-training component, and it has online forums in more than 20 languages to help answer questions from users around the globe.
Do you have a new or favorite resource that you’d like to share? Let me know! I would love to hear about it and add it to my expanding list.
