• Describe your blogging experience in this course. Do you think you will continue using your blog? Why or why not?

I hope to continue using my blog. At first I wanted to continue using it to keep in touch with out of town friends and relatives, but now I think it may be a useful tool for the classroom. So many kids are into technology. That is how they communicate. Instead of journals, blogging would be a great way for students to write in math class.

• What did you learn about yourself and your abilities or interests in Math or Algebra?

I don’t know if I learned anything about my abilities in math or algebra, but I did find other useful ways to present lessons and many useful real-world activites and lessons to help relate math to something that my students may eventually come across. Relating math to real life is vital for understanding.

• Did you learn or discover anything you found particularly interesting through your course actives or your own internet research? Describe one interesting discovery and why you found it fascinating.

I found many terrific websites that have manipulatives that I can use in my classroom. One website in particular was the national library of virtual manipulatives. (http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vLibrary.html) This site is great because of my new smartboard. There are many different things I can pull up on the board and have the students manipulate.

• Do you think you will use journals with your students? Do you think you will use blogs? Why or why not?

I have tossed around the idea of using journals with my students, but now that I have been introduced to blogging, I think that may be the way to go. It saves on paperwork and I can check their blog entries from home without having to carry home 70 journals.