04Aug 2017 by Jennifer Wilson
Blending Technology with Paper and Pencil

Blending Technology with Paper and Pencil

Classroom Practices, Geometry, Technology
My geometry class is 1:1 this year; each student has her own MacBook Air. Students share responses to questions digitally in class using TI-Nspire Navigator for Networked Computers. Students explore mathematics using TI-Nspire dynamic graphs and geometry software. We use Canvas, an online learning management system, for assignments. We use Google Drive for sharing electronic documents with each other, and we use MathXL, online homework with built-in learning help, to practice mathematics.   What place does pencil and paper have in my students’ learning and understanding of mathematics?   Even though many of the tasks that my students do for geometry take place digitally, I am convinced that pencil and paper plays an important role in how much mathematics my students not only learn but also remember.   In a Wall…
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04Mar 2015 by Jennifer Wilson
Trig Ratios

Trig Ratios

Lesson Design
How do your students experience learning right triangle trigonometry? How do you introduce sine, cosine, and tangent ratios to them? NCTM’s Principles to Actions includes build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding as one of the Mathematics Teaching Practices. In what ways can technology help us help our students build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding? Until I started using TI-Nspire Technology several years ago, right triangle trigonometry is one topic where I felt like I started and ended at procedural fluency. How do you get students to experience trig ratios? I’ve been using the Geometry Nspired activity Trig Ratios ever since it was published. Over the last year, I also read posts from Mary Bourassa: Calculating Ratios and Jessica Murk: Building Trig Tables about learning experiences for making trigonometric ratios more meaningful…
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