Our students live in a fast paced, entertaining, ever-changing world filled with television, iPods, laptops, DVDs and Internet. Everything is at their fingertips and technology is at the forefront of their lives.
In my classroom I always aim to create a place where math learning is fun and engaging and students can be inspired to be creative. A wireless tablet and projector is a way of transforming my classroom into an environment resembling the stimulating world that our students are used to: a place where quizzes become quiz shows, where students are hosts and contestants; every new topic is a game or a puzzle that allows and engages students to have fun and enjoy their learning experience.
As a teacher of 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grade math classes I’m thrilled at the prospect of being able to use this technology with such a diverse range of students and mathematical topics. From integers to geometry, I can create interactive lessons to suit the diverse learning styles of my students. With the portability of these items (nothing needs to be mounted or secured).
This is a relatively inexpensive way (compared to mountable interactive whiteboards) of bringing technology into the classroom. This wireless, portable writing tablet allows the teacher to teach from anywhere in the classroom. This is a wonderful way of ensuring the focus is on the learning and the math content itself and not on the facilitator. Any surface is transformed into an interactive image that captures student interest and imagination. The pen and pad can passed around and used by students to demonstrate their own skills and even to present their own lessons and projects without even needing to leave their seats. With a little imagination and creativity, the possibilities of different lessons in my classroom are endless.
I am also looking forward to sharing and working with the other math teachers at my school on this project. Potentially this equipment can be used in every math class in our school from grades 5 to 12, a total of over 120 students.
In previous teaching posts I have been fortunate enough to see and use first hand interactive whiteboards to enhance student learning and understanding. I have already prepared numerous lesson plans and games in all stages of math from grades 6 -12 that could immediately be used in my classroom with this interactive tablet.
My overall project and goal is to develop games and lessons aligned to the NC Standards Courses of Study to be shared with colleagues so we can sign out and each use the tablet with a projector in our classrooms. I feel confident that I will be able to train others on using this equipment so we can bring our classrooms into the technology rich 21st century. We will save lessons that we create on the school network where they can easily be accessed by other teachers.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Hughes and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.