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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

CONSTRUCTIVISM vs CONSTRUCTIONISM

We had came across an interesting article related to this topic. The link as follows:
http://learning.media.mit.edu/content/publications/EA.Piaget%20_%20Papert.pdf

Overall, Piaget's theory of CONSTRUCTIVISM offers a view for us to see what children are interested in, and able to achieve, at different stages of their development (sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, formal operational) .
The theory describes how children’s ways of doing and thinking evolve over time, and under
which circumstance children are more likely to let go of—or hold onto— their currently held
views.
Whereas, from Papert's theory of CONSTRUCTIONISM, focuses more on the art of learning, or ‘learning to learn’, and on the significance of making things in learning. Papert is interested in how learners engage in a conversation with [their own or other people’s] artifacts, and how these conversations boost self-directed learning, and ultimately facilitate the construction of new knowledge. He stresses the importance of tools, media, and context in human development.

SIMILARITIES:

  • Both are constructivists in a way that they view children as the
    builders of their own cognitive tools, as well as of their external realities.
  • Both are developmentalists as they share the view on knowledge construction.
    The common objective is to highlight the processes by which people outgrow their current views of the world, and construct deeper understandings about themselves and their environment.

DIFFERENCES:

  • Piaget's theory emphasizes on the stages of cognitive development whereby the children have to follow the periodical stages compared to papert .

Monday, September 15, 2008

LOGO

Turtle Geometry

here's the link to turtle geometry:

-->http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_178_g_2_t_3.html?open=activities

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Maths Interactive Game

Maths activity
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/gameshow.html

Powerpoint Presentation
http://www.4shared.com/file/62298110/9dbf2a38/maths_presentation.html

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

APPLETS..

Here is the link for more readings:

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/deployment/applet/security.html

http://www.roseindia.net/java/example/java/applet/applet.shtml

http://nrich.maths.org/public/viewer.php?obj_id=32

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

INTERACTIVE TELLING TIME ACTIVITIES

---->http://www.apples4theteacher.com/java/telling-time/index.html


---->http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/StopTheClock/sthec1.html


----->http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BangOnTime/clockwordres.html

-->http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/

USING MICROSOFT WORD and MICROSOFT EXCEL in TEACHING MATHEMATICS

These two microsoft offices are very helpful in teaching and learning of Mathematics in primary classrooms. Teacher can design simple and interactive activities using these microsoft offices such as 'copy and paste' activity and counting. For example, the teacher can teach counting by asking the pupils to count objects such as teddy bears from a picture that has many teddy bears. It makes teaching and learning more fun. It also helps teacher to design their teaching aids by only using 'copy and paste' in Microsoft Word to make the picture for counting. It is so easy!

Instead of learning Maths, pupils will develop soft skills such as keyboarding.

Honestly, we feel that using these Microsoft Offices is a good idea and very helpful for teachers especially in preparing teaching and learning lesson to pupils.

Monday, August 25, 2008

TRICK or TREAT??

Find you are genius enough?? Try to solve this tricky wicky questions:

1) There are 8 Apples on the table, you take 3. How many do you have?
2) 10 Birds in a field. 2 were shot, how many were left?
3) Take away the first letter, take away the last letter, then take away all the other letters.
What do you have left?
4) If you have 4 melons in one hand, and 7 apples in the other - What do you have?
5) A box has nine ears of corn in it. A Squirrel carries out three ears a day, and yet it takes him
nine days to carry out all the corn. Explain?
6) Why do white sheep eat more than black sheep?
7) A man wanted to plant 4 trees, but all 4 had to be equal distances from each other. How did he
do it?
8) I have 2 coins in my hand that add up to 60c. One of the coins isn't a 50c piece. What are the
coins?
9) A fisherman was asked how long was the fish he had caught. He said "it is 30cms plus half its
length" How long was the fish?
10) A Hammer and a Nail cost $31. If the Hammer cost $30 more than the Nail, what is the cost
of each?
11) It takes 7 men 2 hours to build a wall. How long does it take 3 men to build the same wall?
12) "I will bet you $1" said Fred, "that if you give me $2, I will give you $3 in return.""Done,"
replied Tom. Was he?
13) "How much will one cost?""25 cents""How much will fifteen cost?""50 cents""OK then, I'll
take one hundred and sixteen""Thank you, that will be 75 cents please"Explain.
14) What comes next in the following sequence ?1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11,...
15) In a scientific context, what could the following phrase mean?How I want a drink, alcoholic of
course, after the heavy chapters involving quantum mechanics

TRY THEM FIRST..and of course AFTER you have tried, find out the answers at link follows:
http://www.curiousmath.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=48

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Today, we had presented our blog to the class. Unfortunately, we couldn't open the link from the computer. We felt disappointed that we couldn't show it to our classmates because the link was very interesting and interactive. We had explored the web and we found that there are loads of games that teachers can use in teaching Mathematics to children. The bonus point about this link is that it does not only focus on Maths but also other field such as Science, general knowledge, games, quizzes and others.

Monday, August 11, 2008

-LinKS-

Here is the link to maths quiz for children:



http://www.quiz-tree.com/

http://funschool.kaboose.com/?g=pss_ds1&t=j&w=620&h=360

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Interesting Links for Interactive and Fun Activities

It was a big relief that we had presented our topic successfully today. The topic of our presentation was 'Designing activities using geometry software'. Our friends found that the activiy that we presented was fun and gave them ideas about the relevance of using the software to teach certain topics of Mathematics.

Today, our lecturer introduced us with interactive activities that can be carried out in classrooms.

Here are some interesting links that we find very resourceful for Mathemmatics teachers. The websites contain interactive activities that are definitely fun and can attract pupils' interest:

-->http://www.cut-the-knot.org/Curriculum/index.shtml#mem

-->http://www.ct4me.net/math_projects.htm#AboutPBL

Monday, August 4, 2008

DESIGNING THE TASK..

In primary school context, this activity is applicable to be done in groups. For example, by exploring the Geometer SketchPad (GSP), the students can create any object (or maybe more) by using shapes (rectangles, squares, triangle, circle, etc.). Then, after they finished, the group will present and describe what are the shapes that they have used to create the objects. Therefore, through this GSP, the students are able to enhance deep understanding on the topic and expand their vocabulary on shapes. Besides, instead of listening to the instructions given by the teacher, this hands-on activity is more effective as the students can try by themselves and they will engage actively during teaching and learning process.

INSTRUCTIONS..

Step 1:
Run Geometer SketchPad (GSP).

Step 2:
Click 'Compass Tool' or 'Straightedge Tool' on your left to start creating objects.
E.g--> house, car, etc.

Step 3:
Once you have finished, you can change the colour and the width of the objects.

Step 4:
Click any line that you want to change the colour and the width.

Step 5:
Go to 'Display' and select your favourite colour and the type of the width you wish.

Step 6:
If you want to make the objects move, just click to the line that you want to move.

Step 7:
To do this, go to 'Selection Arrow Tool', then click 'Display' and select 'Animate'.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Designing task for geometry exploration using dynamic geometry software..

To get free demo download of Geometer Sketchpad (GSP), just click the link below:
1. http://www.chartwellyorke.com/sketchpad/gspdemos.html.

To explore more about GSP, kindly click the link
1.http://www.dynamicgeometry.com/General_Resources/Links.html
2.http://www.teacherlink.org/content/math/activities/sketchpadv4.html

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

interesting links related to GSP

1) To know more on "The Effects of Geometer’s Sketchpad and Graphic Calculator in the Malaysian Mathematics Classroom ", visit this link ---->

http://pppjj.usm.my/mojit/articles/pdf/August05/08-Fong-USM.pdf

2) To get the assess of various activities using GSP:

http://www.dynamicgeometry.com/General_Resources/Classroom_Activities.html

Monday, July 28, 2008

Feedback on the Article:Quick Takes: Calculators in the Classroom


Honestly, we do not agree with the use of calculators in the classroom because we think that the students might be lazy and tend to forget mental calculation. But after reading the article,our opinion changed.
Calculator is actually very beneficial to be used in the classroom. This is because the children need to know the basic skills in using calculator as the use of calculator is also applied in the real life situation. Apart from that, calculator also can be used as a tool to enhance the teaching & learning activities in the classroom. As for example, using calculator in teaching pattern.
Besides, by using calculator, it will also helps the students to develop their understanding of algebra and other advanced Mathematics stuffs. In this situation, the teacher's role is to help the students to see the patterns, to check the estimations against reality, plus, to assist them in solving the complex problems which encountered in their daily life.
There are also ways to use the calculator effectively in the classroom. For example, let the studdents decide on reasonableness of calculator's answers by estimating before they do the calculation. Or, teacher too can apply questions or have discussions to help the students to think actively about the processes used to arrive at answers.
We guess many of us maybe do not finish yet in reading the article. So, to be fair, we have provided you this:

1)http://www.publications.villanova.edu/Concept/2004/The%20Calculator%20in%20the%20Elementary%20Classroom.htm

2)http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Calculators_in_the_Classroom

3)http://people.uncw.edu/fischettij/jacqi.htm

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Integrating simple calculator in teaching and learning

there was a presentation about this topic conducted by Group 1. they had presented it well and we hope that we could that well too. actually, we are not really sure about our topic that we are supposed to present on 5th week which is designing task for geometry exploration using dynamic geometry sofware. we've tried to surf the internet to find ideas and info about it..but we're still lost in somewhere..

overall, talking about using calculator in classroom, we find it very useful and it is a good tool for teaching mathematics in a meaningful and enjoyable atmosphere.

we find that this website is very useful for readings on this topic:

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/tangram.html

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/maths/mathscontinuum/wmathly/w15ip.htm

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

FUN learning with c.a.l.c.u.l.a.t.o.r




well, we gained a lot today~just by using calculator.Calculator is not just a tool use to calculate..but, it can be a very useful and practical teaching aids too. Just name it; whole numbers, fractions, multiplication, division, money etc. All you can teach using calculator.Most importantly, through a fun way.We have discoverd a lot that many websites provide useful calculator games that can be used in the classroom. They are many advantages of using calculator in the classroom; it saves time definitely, checking can be done quickly, motivation to the young learners> learn math through fun way. Comes to the disadvantage; pupils may tend to be lazy doing mental calculation. However, this is not an excuse for teacher not to use calculator in the classroom.So, let's make a different!

F.u.n.t.a.s.t.i.c games..try it out!!!

1) http://www.dr-mikes-math-games-for-kids.com/magical-calculator-birthday-math-trick.html
2) http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/funmath.html
3)http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/robot/default.htm

Saturday, July 12, 2008

A Good Beginning


Today was our first day of attending PMEY 3101 Integration of Technology in Primary School Mathematics Teaching class. Our first thought about this course was that we might be basically learning on how to teach Mathematics in primary school and continue learning new Mathematics terms. However, for this time, we will learn how to teach Mathematics by integrating technology. It was something new for us since we have not been exposed with this idea of integrating technology in teaching Mathematics class before. Honestly, we are so excited to know more about this course. Our pleasant-looking lecturer, Mr. Shahul Kabir, is very friendly and continuously encourage us to appreciate the technology and make use of the technology gadgets effectively and wisely.

Secondly, he introduced the first Mathematics term that was ‘conjectures’. We wondered what it meant. We admired the way he introduced the term. He had used inquiry-discovery model by asking us to find the meaning from the internet on our own. We enjoyed his way of teaching because it benefits us most. We realized that learning is our own responsibility and it enhances motivation to us. Besides that, our learning became more meaningful as we acquire the information and knowledge independently.

As proverb goes, “Sharing is Caring”. This proverb refers to him as he generously shared with us some useful websites especially for us, as teachers-to-be. We were highly appreciated his sharing as it helped us later on. He always encourages us to share knowledge with everyone. When anyone of us gains new information related to teaching Mathematics, he advised us to post them in our blogs so that the others can gain the knowledge too. Here are some of the websites that we find practical and relevant for us as future Mathematics teachers:

http://mathforum.org/mathed/tech.mathed.html
http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointmathlessons/Teach_Basic_Math_Using_PowerPoint.htm


https://php.radford.edu/~ejmt/Content/Papers/eJMT_v1n1n2.pdf


All in all, we hope that we would be fully master concepts or skills especially in using technology skills and able to know the best way on how to integrate technology in teaching Mathematics in order to vividly sustain pupils’ concentration span and interest for a longer period of time.