Thursday, July 28, 2011

Khan Academy

This was one of the best websites I have found yet. It deals mostly with math buthas history, biology, chemistry, and economics videos as well. It basically has a cache of videos that explain a multitude of concepts, mostly math. I think I could use this in a math class introducing a concept, such as multiplying integers, and the video explains it in simple terms. I found it very useful and the explanations are clear and also gives ample examples for the students to practice while they watch the video. I could see myself using this in the classroom for math.

LazyMATHS.COM

I went to the website LazyMaths.com to look for useful tools to use in a math class. I found this website to be helpful but not what I expected. They take a typical math problem and solve it in the traditional way and then, using Indian Vedic math and Russian Tracthenerg short cut techniques, solve the problem using one of these two methods. In almost all cases, the short cut techniques were quicker. It even gave an estimated time for each method, and the short cut technique was always quicker. However, as I did these problems I wondered if these methods might confuse the students even more. Would I have to teach these methods to them before they could put them into practice? If I had to do that I might be defeating the purpose. A couple of the presentations had video slideshows that showed how to solve the problem, which made it easier to view and understand. However, some of them just explained in words how to solve the problems, and based on my math teaching experience, wondered if seventh graders could follow along, grasp the concept, and see the difference. I'm not so sure. I guess I will have to try this out and see the students' reaction to this approach and see if it is worthwhile.
I really really like podcasts and ipadio. I am already familiar with iTunes and podcasts as I have subscribed to a number of podcasts before. It is really easy and the only problem I have is deciphering which podcast to subscribe to as there are so many. I found it easy to find ones for personal use. It was a little bit more difficult finding ones useful for school. There were many great podcasts on history but I think it would put kids to sleep listening to them. I haven't really found any video podcasts that might be useful but I am still searching. It is really difficult to find useful stuff for math. I think the ipadio would be great to use in a classroom. You could literally record a lesson or directions for kids if you weren't going to be there on a certain day for them and your sub to use. I could use a video cast and use it and literally have sub plans for the day. This was fun to use and play around with and I really enjoyed it.
This is my ipadio podcast:

Monday, June 13, 2011

username for delicious

My username for my delicious account is mkuhn17.

I struggled through the delicious activity. I found it hard to navigate and I never could get the tag to show up on my computer like the video showed. The websites are nice and are easily accessible which is nice. I am trying to get something up and running for my math classes next year and these websites are a good start. I guess I would be more into it if I was teaching history next year. I find it hard to get creative with math. I would like to find some good interactive websites for math.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon

video

I am having one heckuva time getting my video to post. When I go to the edit html section I'm confused as to what to do. Any suggestions? Showing how stupid I am I guess.

Introduction to kuhndawgblog

Hi!  My name is Marc Kuhn.  I am a teacher in the Ball-Chatham school district.  I teach 7th grade math at Glenwood Middle School in Chatham, Il.  I just completed my 27th year of teaching.  I enjoy reading, playing golf, and watching sports.  I am a huge Cubs, Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks fan.  I am married to Tammi Kuhn and have three children- Steven 21, who is a junior at Illinois State; Ellen, who will be attending the University of Texas at Arlington in the fall; and Emma, who will be an eighth grader at Glenwood Middle School.