So, I've made it my goal this year to stop after every two chapters in Algebra II and review. I have decided that I want that review to be completely technology driven. So, my first attempt, after Chapter 2, was Glogster. Turned out not all the proper URLs were unblocked, so that didn't work out. Instead, I had them edit the wiki pages with information and it went OK.
After Chapter 4, I had decided to use ToonDoo. I was all a go for ToonDoo and then I heard about the educational side of ToonDoo, called ToonDooSpaces. While this side costs money, it's completely safe and private ... it reminds me of a mini Facebook. You can get a 15 day trial for free to test it. And, if you do decide you want to keep using it, the price is VERY reasonable. You pick how many users and how many months, it doesn't have to be a year subscription. 50 users for 1 month was $14. Not bad! Plus, think, divide the students into 5 groups, that's 5 users, not 30.
Okay @msgregson, how in the world did you use ToonDoo for math when you can't type math into it?
Okay, you got me. You're right. No math can be typed except what you can type via the keyboard. So, I picked these two chapters because they dealt with processes. I gave them directions via google docs (see earlier post about my love of google docs) and set them to run. They had to describe the process without actually solving a problem. They submitted their embed code here (a google form) and I put them into our class wiki. And, look at what transpired!
1st Period - Chapter 3 (Systems)
3rd Period - Chapter 3 (Systems)
1st Period - Chapter 4 (Matrices)
3rd Period - Chapter 4 (Matrices)
While they did have a blast using Obama, Bush and MJ in their comics, they GOT it. They talked their way through a PROCESS. It wasn't memorizing how to do something, they talked their way through the math.
Amazing.
