Flashing back on Friday I’m reminded that we didn’t have calculators in school or home when I was in school (similar to the we walked two miles uphill both ways to get to school)! When calculators did make it to school they were nothing more than simple adding machines. Now students have access to not only adding machine type calculators on their phones but also graphing calculators (check out the Desmos web site), and phone apps like Photomath.

We all know that 2+2 can be pretty tough, just look at the math equation that made the rounds the other day on Twitter that stumped a lot of people. Just so you know I think it should be written PE(M/D)(A/S)…. Arguing I think is still going on about whether it’s 16 or 1 (definitely 16) though it would have been better if the problem had included more parenthesis. Personally though I try to avoid adding a long list of numbers in my head (calculator to the rescue).

Graphing calculators become required by the time you reach Algebra II – some students don’t get there and that’s ok… but I think it’s fun and definitely explains everything little clearer if you can see it on a graph. For that use Desmos.com to graph your equations -even on the same graph paper and compare the equations. Sometimes it’s good to even just see if that slope is correct.

On the graph below I have three different lines graphed. I can turn off one at a time and see what effect any changes have to the graph of my original line.

The final tool though is Photomath. I have to say that this one I think can be used for good or evil and I’ll review it more later. It’s an app that can be used to help find a solution and get you on the right track when you are totally stumped or to cheat on homework and solve all the problems. The makers of the app also built in a feature to show the steps when it solves your homework problem for you, so for students that have to show their work, expanding and copying works great until they have to complete the same program on a test in class with no phone. Yikes.

The really cool thing with these are that if kids love math, they can now have all sorts of amazing fun tools that they can use to their advantage. I think my kids spent one whole afternoon asking Alexa math problems that included infinity for fun. (Try infinity divided by 0 and see if you get the right answer? We weren’t the other day) ;0)

Our paper just ran an article that included a challenge to take a tech break each day – which is great, but I’d like to challenge everyone to take an hour using tech each day and learn something.

There are so many great sites available online for everyone from kids to adults to learn something online. For my school we have been using Outschool a lot lately. It lets him take a live class online using conferencing software. I also like Kahn academy. My son has been playing Prodigy a lot also and really enjoys it. Prodigy is free to teachers and students and only costs for extra features.

My favorite is also Craftsy (changed it’s name to mybluprint.com), lots of classes on cooking, baking, and crafts! YouTube also has tutorials on almost everything you could imagine. There are videos available throughout the web with tutorials for learners of all types.

Some groups, for example the Holderness Family, have started making videos showing them trying DIY activities from other tutorial videos showing how doable the activities really are. Right now though I’m looking through classes relating Star Wars to Reading and Writing, Taking things apart safely (engineering), and even building emotional intelligence. Fitness classes, STEM classes, art classes all are now available using tools such as Zoom allowing them to be interactive. Students giving presentations, asking questions, all in real time and saved for later to be viewed again for review or when a student misses a class.

Most parents and every teacher has heard of the summer slide, where students lose ground over the summer and have to spend the first quarter of the new year reviewing what they learned the year before to get back to where they were at the end of the previous school year. By staying active, and using some time each day, online tutorials can be used keep kids moving forward, and by choosing fun interactive topics, the kids can develop a love for learning. Check out Mentos in Coke! Summer is also a great time to make a volcano outside, make a rocket, do some learning with drones, explore water currents in a stream, learn some bug science, there are so many cool things that can be tied to the outdoors during the summer.

Learning doesn’t have to stop with kids! Modeling learning for life by checking out some classes yourself is a great way to teach kids to never stop learning. Ever wanted to learn painting, vinyl, baking, a language, the topics are endless! And there is no reason not to play outside too!

My son likes doing math and his school has used prodigy for several years. A couple different schools through the last couple years, but they both have used prodigy. The school has provided the basics for him, but we finally went ahead and got him the parent upgrade that includes some additional content.

Prodigy is free to schools and students – completely funded by the extras parents can add. So far my son is still loving it. He’s about maxed out the grade level content available to him – It includes K-8, so I’m looking at getting him excited about Kahn academy after he has completed everything there is to do in Prodigy. Most kids that play with Prodigy won’t reach that max until they are close to the end of 8th grade.

I can highly recommend Prodigy though. My son finds it challenging and interesting as well as having a fun component!