Please comment on my exit stickers....

Here is a copy of an exit sticker that I am asking students to fill in at the end of a lesson. Please let me know if you think it could be improved in any way.

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Exit Stickers for Mrs Bate’s Maths Class  Date: App:   WWW(Write at least one thing the ipad has enabled you to learn today) EBI(write down something about the app that could be improved) Would you recommend the app? Why?

Apps I have trialled so far....

Here are some of the apps that I have found and used so far:-

a)Useful tools

·         Reflector

This is a great tool for showing what’s on my ipad on my laptop and hence the whiteboard

·         Calculator

·         Spreadsheet

·         Pencil case

·         Protractor

All of these are self explanatary and naturally a must have for any maths classroom!

·         Free Gra Calc

This is a superb app for graphing any equation including modulus graphs (used with my sixth formers). My Year 10 enjoyed using this app when they were working on quadratic equations. We were working out the value of the discriminant to indicate how many solutions a quadratic equation should have. Students were then able to quickly sketch the graph on the ipads to see if how many times the curve cut the x - axis to then check their answers. One student said ‘The value of my discriminant was negative but the curve definitely cuts the axis twice so I have made a mistake somewhere!’ and yes she had incorrectly substituted into b²-4ac.  Students wrote on their evaluations how useful the graphing tool was in this lesson.

·         Geoboard

This is a lovely tool to replace elastic bands and pin boards. Great for splitting a shape into two congruent halves.

b) Reinforcement of basic skills such as times tables, addition etc

·         Kakooma Addition, Kakooma Negative, Kakooma Times

·         Maths LG

·         Math 7

c) General Revision

·         Puffin Academy to access mymaths

·         MDT

A diagnostic tool for Higher and Foundation maths

·         Mathletics (NOT FREE)

·         Edexcel Mechanics 1 Exam solutions

Specific topics

·         Transformations (NOT FREE)

To be used with my year 8 over the next few weeks – keep watching my blog for an update!

What’s my blog about?

I am a Maths teacher at a school in Birmingham.  I have been teaching for  XX (too many!) years and have seen many changes take place in the world of teaching.  When my school advertised a ‘Digital Innovators’ research project, I was very excited at the prospect of using ipads in my classrooms and applied for the role. I fully believe that we need to use the ever emerging technology in our teaching and learning to keep students engaged, to be successful in their education and equipped for life beyond school.

Along with 6 other teachers in my school, across all subject areas, I have been given a set of 8 ipads to use with my classes and a teacher ipad. Over the next year we shall trial the pros and cons of using them and their impact on students learning. We shall share our findings with our departments and other colleagues in our school.

Having used ipads at home with my own children I know that there are numerous educational apps available. I now need to ensure I choose the best apps for teaching and learning and can demonstrate how to make best use of them in a classroom.