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I am a retired teacher. I have taught math and computers on the elementary and middle school levels for over 25 years. When I started there were very few computers in the schools. In fact, I designed and opened the first elementary computer lab in the LBUSD that focused in mathematics. There were no classrooms available and so I used a long building hallway for my classroom. Today, there are many computers in labs and classroom pods across the country. Math teachers are hungry for new ways to support their curriculum and computers provide tools that can be used to make their instruction stronger.

Let’s get down to today’s business. I want to begin by telling you a little about what I intend to do. Each future article will cover information for both the elementary and middle school levels of math instruction and how to incorporate computers and other education technology into it, thus making math more relevant and exciting for these young learners. However, some of my future postings will focus more specifically on the new and upcoming movement of providing netbooks for the classrooms, and how this is changing the way math is taught in once-traditional classrooms.

There are a few points of interest I will be touching on in my upcoming pieces. They are:

• creating and using math projects in an elementary classroom
• utilizing websites that contain math drills, games and links to supporting activities that show math in the real world
• reading books that will support the math curriculum
• incorporating tricks and tips I have learned about creating interactive math lessons
• finding and using math flipcharts on Planet that would be helpful to you in your instructional program.

I encourage you to join in and leave posts of your favorite activities and resources you have discovered so that others may use them as well. If we all share what we know, we can get a lot of benefit from the Teachers’ Lounge.

To get you better acquainted with me and what you can anticipate, my articles will typically follow the following format. There will be the main content focusing on teaching elementary and middle school mathematics, followed by a couple of regular features. The “Did You Know?” section will normally include a couple of tips or tricks I have either learned myself or from other teachers for creating more interactive lessons. However, just to get things going, we will start off with one ActivInspire Tip today for making a simple fraction maker.

In addition to the “Did You Know?” section, I will try to share several math websites you can explore to get ideas and activities that you can begin using in your class. These ideas and activities can be used without a computer or modified to include the computer. Here are a few activities and idea starters to get you going in your classroom.

Lessons and Project Ideas

• The Public Schools of Northern California website publishes Math Stars Newsletters, which are in sets for Grades 1–8. They include descriptions and directions for teachers in a PDF format. Each one offers a strategy for the month, hints and goals. There are problems from a variety of math topics in each newsletter.

Websites

• Math 5 Alive: this is an excellent site for elementary online lessons in mathematics. It includes the menu (18 topics), glossary, teacher notes, parent notes, and assessment sections. It comes to us from Alberta, Canada. It is aimed at elementary students, but can be used for older students who need extra help.
• Scholastic Study Jams – Fractions: this 3-minute video is excellent and helps the student understand the meaning of fractions (Grades 3–5). It also includes a quiz and vocabulary section, a lesson plan and a teacher guide. It is an introduction to fractions. A book called Eating Fractions by Bruce McMillan (1991), published by Scholastic, Inc., would go well with the video.
• AddEmUp is a game for students working with addition, or those wanting to practice addition. The goal is to remove all number tiles from the board. After you place a new number all the surrounding tiles will be eliminated if they add up to the value of the placed tile.

I hope you enjoyed my Teachers’ Lounge debut, and I look forward to sharing much more with you over time. Please be sure to leave a message describing any activities, sites, or tips you have discovered work best in your math classroom. Feel free to ask any questions, and I will do my best to answer.

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