Figure this is website that gives many unique challenges for students to work on and think about. Many of the challenges require more critical thinking and problem solving skills rather than just math computation. Also, the challenges relate to real life, such as one where there are two cookies with chocolate on top. The student must figure out which cookie would be better to eat if he is a chocolate lover. The odd shaped cookies make it difficult to find the exact area, so they my think about a good estimation. There are many ways to figure the answer out, which really promotes the higher level thinking that the state is looking for.
There are many ways that I might use this website. For example, it would be a great warm-up/motivational activity to get students thinking. The problems are classified by subject area, so when there is a unit on patterns, I would choose a pattern question. Another way that students might use the site is for a problem of the week. I would give them the website and have them choose a question to work out and explain how they got there answer. The students could even work on the problems together with their families.
Paul's online math notes is a great website for getting notes and cheat sheets for the Subjects of Algebra through Calculus. The site is geared more toward a college level course, but it will help students transition from their upper level high school math to college. His "cheat sheets" rules in different math categories that are organized so they are easy to read. I especially love the trigonometry sheet because it is a quick way to see all of the important rules in trigonometry in about two sheets. There are also class notes and examples for the different subjects if a student wanted a more in depth look at a specific area.
I would recommend this site to the students if they needed to look at another type of explanation or see more examples. I would also recommend printing out the cheat sheets so they can refer to them quickly. There is also a place to look at common errors in math. My favorite would have to be the section about errors that students make when determining what a number divided by 0 would be. This is undefined, and there is a proof that 2=1. This proof would be a great motivator in having students determine why it is invalid (because he eventually divides by 0). I have used this site when I took calculus and differential equations and I highly recommend it for student use.
Ashley, I'm literally about to use Paul's online math notes in my Introduction to Algebra CC class at my internship. Although I only have two weeks left at that placement, I do genuinely feel like the "cheat sheets" on display in the classroom would be a great asset. So many students in Math classes have trouble grasping the strict rule-based structure of these classes, but simplifying the rules into languages such as "cheat sheets" is a great idea that allows students to essentially chunk their own learning. Thanks!
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