NETS- T2

According to the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, educators should design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to reinforce the National Education Technology Standards for Students. The first indicator under this standard states that teachers should design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. This is my third year as a math teacher, and reflecting on my teaching the past few years, I think that I really try to create meaningful experiences for students. One of the things that I think I do best as a math teacher is to make the content relate to students' lives. I often create real-world activities or even just explain to the students how what we are learning is actually used in real life.

I do think, though, that I often struggle with incorporating technology into these experiences. I have attended many technology workshops about how to incorporate technology in the classroom, but they are often aimed at every subject EXCEPT math. My goal is to find as many tools that I can use in my MATH classroom. One tool that I have become very interested in is Smart Notebook. There are so so so many things that educators can create to make an ordinary lesson become more interactive and interesting for students.

Last trimester, I had my students make game boards as a culminating activity. I gave them guidlines as to what kinds of questions they had to include and they worked in collaborative groups. The students really enjoyed the project, and I required them to create their OWN questions and answers, not just copy them from the textbook. I think I would like to extend this project using Smart Notebook as a review for the OAT and a review of the skills the students have learned this year. I found a great video on how to make gameboards on Smart Notebook that I could show my students before beginning the project:



There are soooooo many manipulatives in this program that I am going to need to devote a lot of time to exploring it. Check it out! This is something that can be used in any subject!