Math 371 Technology for STEM Educators

As someone who has grown up having a very strong passion for many different subjects in school and having many different hobbies and interests outside of the classroom, I understand the importance of branching out into other fields of study.  My interests include but are not limited to mathematics (obviously), most sciences, history and social sciences, analytical writing, visual arts, and performing arts, such as band and theater.  Don't get me wrong, I was no valedictorian or prodigy who could do almost anything with great ease, but I always felt as though my strengths were very diverse.  At that time, and honestly only until just recently, I had always wanted my strengths to be less diverse and more singular.  In other words, I would rather have been very strong at one discipline rather than average/mediocre at many.  Though at the time this idea sounded logical, nowadays, I couldn't feel more different.  The reason is that now I realize how much each st...

Throughout the time I’ve been in the education system, especially high school, there have been many classes in which we “warmed-up” before our class lecture or activities began. In elementary school, this idea was usually limited to vocal music, band, and physical education, or a class at the beginning of the day. All of these were quite valid classes to warm-up for. Once I got to middle school, there was one more class that added to this idea, and I’m starting to realize why. Once I got to middle school, both math teachers started each and every class period with a set of problems on the board, called our “Problems of the Day,” or POD for short. These problems were usually recall from previous sections or even previous courses we had taken. The POD’s became a staple in their classrooms until I graduated, as I had both teachers for all of my math classes. At the the time, my student mind viewed these problems as tedious and pointless, as it just took time out of our time to lecture a...

From the teachers that brought you, "Stand in front and lecture," and "Here's the answer now figure it out," comes "Everyone quiet whilst you work, I don't wanna hear any talking." Starring Generic Math Teacher, and a special guest by the Social Studies Department. One of the largest perceived problems of math classes in high school, and, frankly, in college is that the lecture lifestyle is the life for the common teacher or professor. The variability in day to day teaching life is somewhat limited and the lifestyle becomes a staple in the everyday life of both students and teachers. Most movies purvey math classes as boring, and there's a large social stigma behind math because of the fact that it doesn't hold the interest in people who don't receive structure well.  Something that I love to emphasize is a combination of fun activities, gamification, and lecture-style teaching in a course to help progress the students not just ...