So last week I talked about how I really struggled with the tangrams, and that I am not good at geometry. This week we got to play with Geometer's Sketch Pad. So I am still not good at geometry, but I had fun with it this week. I learned a lot about shapes and how to manipulate them to make objects. It also reminded me of the importance of seeing problems multiple ways. Many of us used different shapes to make the pieces needed for the face. So there are ways to make pieces of math that students' may dislike fun for them.
I love the technology piece, but I am struggling with how to get it into the classroom. In my main placement classroom, the teacher has a computer and there are two other computers that I have never seen used. Computer Lab time is a rarity and it is usually for praticing typing. How do I bring a cool program like Geometer's Sketchpad into the classroom for all the students? I don't think it would be beneficial unless they all could "drive" the mouse and have the hands on experience with it.
I see the implications for these tools in my future practice. Geometer's Sketchpad would work if we had a larger amount of computers in the class, or if we took turns on the computers while the other kids worked on a different aspect of math. I would like to use Fathom to make graphs and tables using students' own information so that it is relevant to them.
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