Checkout my handouts wikispace

I've been migrating my handouts and links to a wikispace. Check it out at: http://jdornberghandouts.wikispaces.com/

SAT math practice site

SAT Math Pro was developed by Colleen King, a math teacher, SAT instructor and co-director of Math Advantage, a test prep and math tutoring center located in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

This free website features practice sets of 5 problems of medium difficulty in the areas of: number properties, ratio and proportion, percent, probability, data analysis, algebra, word problems, circles, lines and angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, solids, coordinate geometry, multiple figures, roman numerals, counting problems, and unusual symbols.

There is a step by step video solution for each question, and a follow up “Zap It!” problem that is very similar to the original problem.

Students can take three different 12 question quizzes and receive a list of math topics that need further study. You will also find an area that discusses SAT problem solving strategies and a downloadable list of the top ten “traps” to avoid.

Although SAT Math Pro is supported by Google Ads, I observed only links to other math related or tutoring websites. You’ll find SAT Math Pro at: www.satmathpro.com/

Teachers union warns against using social networking sites

I just read an interesting article in the eSchool News about the Ohio Education Association (OEA) recommending that teachers not use social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook.

“OEA advises members not to join [these sites], and for existing users to complete the steps involved in removing their profiles. While this advice might seem extreme, the dangers of participating in these two sites outweigh the benefits.”

What's even more interesting is what the Columbus Dispatch found in their investigation into the profiles of at least 3 teachers. It's obvious that these (and probably other) teachers are using the social networking sites inappropriately. The OEA sent it's memo to teachers just 2 days after the Columbus Dispatch started its investigation. You can read the social networking article, "Teachers' saucy Web profiles risk jobs," here.

As James Miller, director of the Office of Professional Conduct at the Ohio Department of Education, says about the teacher profiles, “It’s their right to have it up. But I’d make sure it’s appropriate for my students to look at.”

I have spoken out many times on this blog for the need to educate students on Internet safety, including the do's and don'ts of social networking. Apparently, many teachers could use a little training themselves! I just don't get it. What are they thinking?

Feed the hungry while practicing your vocabulary???

Yep. It's possible at FreeRice.com, a website that's been around for just over a month now.
Here's a description of how to play from the website:

• Click on the answer that best defines the word.
• If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word.
• For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.
• WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance...

There are 50 difficulty levels in all, although the website admits it's difficult to get above a 48. I played for a few minutes and got up to level 37 while earning 200 grains of rice.

The rice is paid for by advertisers whose logos appear at the bottom of the game screen. The site was launched on October 7 and only 830 grains of rice were donated. On November 12 this number had grown to 188,987,290 for a grand total of 1.5 billion grains of rice. I wonder what that translates to in pounds???

What a great way for students to build their vocabulary and feed the world at the same time! Who knows, maybe you can even have a class discussion about world hunger?

David Warlick interview

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And speaking of textbooks...

Another interesting article from the Webware blog talks about the high cost of textbooks, and how Sony's eBook reader might help.

According to the author, Rafe Needleman, textbooks are in a death spiral of cost: textbooks cost so much, at least at the university level, because students sell their books back to the bookstore, depriving the textbook publisher of additional profits on multiple students. But the more expensive the books become, the more likely students are to resell them.

By publishing textbooks electronically, students can't resell the books. There is no secondary market, and publishers could reduce the price of their books because they have more customers to make a profit from. Furthermore, there are no printing costs. The content is delivered electronically.

Rather than downloading and reading the textbook on a laptop computer with limited battery life, or worse yet, lugging around a 40 pound book bag, students will be able to carry around and read their books on the Sony electronic book.

But Needleman shares this warning:

"Now, there are dozens of ways publishers could screw this up, mostly by overpricing their content, which would encourage hacking of the DRM, which would in response lead to onerous copy protection that could make e-books unworkable. But if--and it's a big if--publishers get on board and start selling licenses to their texts instead of the books themselves, everyone (except bookstores) could benefit."

Open source curriculum

An article in USA Today entitled "Free online materials could save schools billions" lists a few interesting opportunities for schools.

Free-Reading.net offers "an open resource center and community for early literacy teachers." This very colorful wiki site has 326 activities to date, and offers members an opportunity to create and upload their own. A Florida textbook adoption committee approved Free-Reading for K-12 public schools. The site is designed by Wireless Generation who's CEO, Larry Berger, turned the free DIBELS reading test into a for-profit venture by developing software that allowed the test to be scored by teachers on a handheld computer. He hopes to make a profit on Free-Reading by providing tech support and teacher training.

HippoCampus offers multimedia course materials for Algebra, American Government, Biology, Calculus, Environmental Science, Physics, Religion, and US History. Algebra, for example, has dozens of online activities related to six Algebra textbooks. HippoCampus is a project of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE).

These sites look very promising! Let's hope schools take advantage of these free resources.