Something to think about

This one will make you shiver!

Fifth Week of Class

This week of class we were introduced to a great site called Doc Zone which is a CBC Documentary site.  After visiting this site I found there are a large number of excellent documentaries that would complement a wide range of topics relevant to the classroom, even the mathematics classroom.  Here are a few recommended documentaries:


CBC - Doc Zone - Episode - Meltdown: The Men Who Crashed the World Meltdown: The Secret 

CBC - Doc Zone - Episode - Sext Up Kids

Hyper Parents & Coddled Kids - Doc Zone | CBC-TV

I am still searching for the one that really sparked my interest called, "Plastic Island".  So far I am unable to find it.

The Sapphire 7

Finally, I want to post an image of a truly incredible example of how rapidly the cost of technology is coming down.  Here is a tablet that sells for only $70.

 

Product Specifications:

Operation system	Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Processor	Rockchip RK2926 Cortex A9 running at 1.0GHz
GPU	Multicore Mali-400 MP support OpenVG 1.1, OpenGL ES 2.0
RAM	512MB DDR III
Internal Storage	4GB/8GB * NAND Flash ( * Sapphire 7 II only )
Removable Storage	MicroSD card up to 32GB
Display	7 inch LED-backlit screen with 800*480 resolution
Touch Panel	Multi-touch capacitive touch screen
Camera	Front 0.3M pixel, back 2.0M # pixel ( # Sapphire 7 II only )

 I was so impressed I have purchased one for my 6 year old daughter's birthday.

Inserting a Math Tool onto My Blog

Students are not permitted at my school to sign-out Graphing Calculators and so we tell them to go online and use one of the many online graphing websites.  However, they often say they find it difficult to find a good one.  A classroom blog would be a great opportunity for students to access a good online graphing software tool chosen by the teacher.  Here is one of the better ones, called Desmos.

I was hoping students could use this embedded code as the actual graphing tool right in the blog itself.  Unfortunately you only get to see a graph I created.  I guess the students could then click on this graph and this would link them to the actual Desmos website, where they could use the graphing software. 

BITSTRIPS - My Avatar

Here is the avatar I created for myself. 




This site is so addictive.  I could play with this for hours.  I can only imagine how much the students would be in to something like this.  A great technology assisted learning experience.  I can think of many math related activities that could incorporate Bitstrips, for example the students could visually explaining how to measure the height of a flag pole, or tree etc., using a clinometer. 

Fourth Week of Class

QR Codes

QR Codes are a two dimensional barcode that is optically readable by a smartphone camera with the appropriate app.  The barcode optically links the user to a web site.  Here are some QR Codes to some of my favourite websites:


                1)    I enjoy following this blog to keep up to date
                       on the global economic situation from various
                       "experts".












                 2)     This is a must for any math teacher.











                  3)     This QR code will reveal my passion.











                  4)     I love to learn new things and I am a visual
                          learner, and so this website, as you know, is
                          great for any topic you like.









                  5)      No list of favourite sites is complete without
                           the most important website on the internet.
                           Some people might even recognize it from
                           it's  QR code. Wow you're good!










I'm not going to tell you what websites are in this list.  That would take all the fun out of it.  If you are curious you can go and check them out.  You'll need an App for that.