Project #10: Finding the Right Tool

"It's Everybody's Job to Give the World a reason to Dance: We were made to be Awesome!"

I would like to start off by saying that I have always loved math and always learned it with no problem. My learning style was exactly how teachers taught: the  teacher would lecture and provide a couple of examples, then The End. I always assumed that my learning style would also become my teaching style. Since I entered college though, I have realized that there are other teaching styles out there, and although I may not learn best from them, other students seem to respond better. This has taught me to be open about where other teachers' styles and my students learning styles can take my teaching style.

With that being said, I took it upon myself to search for websites that will help me in the future to form the atmosphere of my classroom and it's learning/teaching style. Then this assignment asked us to find some and share them with the class. Done! I have found many websites that are connectors. They provide links for me to explore to find what suits my class and students. The first one is EduBlogs. This website provides all the latest "best" educational teacher/student/class blogs, podcasts, twitter posts, apps, websites, etc. By "best", I mean that the creators of Edublogs do all the searching for you, and then provide you with the links in order to save you time from reading stuff that will just waste your time. Another great website to keep you up to date and connected is Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. This site has tutorials to help teachers incorporate technology into their existing classroom using social media that their students are already familiar with: blogging, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Skype, Twitter, and Youtube.  In addition to all this, it provides links to some of the most educational based journals in the world for you to learn from the best. Still another that is basically the same, but individually run and operated, is Free Technology for Teachers. Lastly, is a website that my first C4T was assigned for is TED (this specific link is to Dan Meyer's "Math class needs a makeover.") This site is full of speakers and educators who have "Ideas Worth Spreading" about Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The videos are no more than 10 minutes a piece and really get you thinking about how to change your classroom for the better. Most of them are funny and enjoyable to watch. Here is one for example:Kid President: Pep Talk. A must watch: ENJOY!