The Power of internet

Exploring … “The Power of internet in math education”
Internet has emerged as an ALLADIN KA CHIRAG for the teachers, educators and the students. I will share ONE OF my experiences of how it has helped me in taking out the best from my students in the learning of mathematics. My previous year students of class 10 were to work on a mathematics project in the summer holidays. I prepared general guidelines for the project and created an email ID for the students so that we can communicate during the holidays. This was purely done on experimental basis. In the beginning I was not 100% sure whether the students will be comfortable with working like this. And how the parents will react to this approach? But I must appreciate the fact that not even a single parent out of the whole class of 50 students turn up with any of the complaint, rather through email they appreciated the effort. In the first mail all the students informed me about their topic of investigation and a brief about the group members. Then I suggested them with number of websites from where they can get useful information related to their topic. Most of the students took the help from their family members to mail to me the content searched by them. Some of the students while working on the project suggested me new tools of learning and doing mathematics. This shows their keen interest and the enthusiasm of learning and sharing too. That was a wonderful experience working with students and sharing and learning too. It has not only raised the level of achievement of learning but has motivated me to do more and explore more for my students. In my teaching career I have been constantly thinking and working on new stuff so that I can keep motivating my students towards learning of mathematics. I feel that I have not yet fully tapped what I see to be the vast potentials of the Internet. Whatever I have experimented represent the sprouting of seeds of this endeavor. The best is yet to come.

Mathematics Anxiety

athematics is considered as one of the toughest subject by majority of students.There are very few students in the classroom who really love to learn and explore the mathematical concepts.I have found the students saying·...

I am afraid to ask questions in math class.
· I am always worried about being called on in math class.
· I fear math tests more than any other subject.
· I don't know how to study for math tests.
· I am afraid I won't be able to keep up with the rest of the class.
· I don’t know whether I will be able to write my mathematics paper.
· I am worried today is my mathematics exam.
· Math exams terrify me. My palms get sweaty, I breathe too fast, and often I can't even make my eyes focus on the paper.

f the students are saying such things, then they are having math anxiety, which is a feeling of intense frustration or helplessness about one's ability to do math. Anxiety is stress, tension and strain brought onto one’s body and mind.

ome Solutions .......
Given the fact that many students experience math anxiety in the traditional classroom, teachers should design classrooms that will make children feel more successful . Students must have a high level of success or a level of failure that they can tolerate.

The incorrect responses must be handled in a positive way to encourage student participation and enhance student confidence.

Everyone is capable of learning, but may learn in different ways. Therefore, lessons must be presented in a variety of ways. For example, different ways to teach a new concept can be through play acting, cooperative groups, visual aids, hands on activities and technology.

Students today have a need for practical math. Therefore, math needs to be relevant to their everyday lives. Students enjoy experimenting. To learn mathematics, students must be engaged in exploring, conjecturing, and thinking rather than, engaged only in rote learning of rules and procedures.

Math must be looked upon in a positive light to reduce anxiety. A person’s state of mind has a great influence on his/her success. Many games are based on math concepts. Some games that are beneficial to learners and are enjoyed are cards playing, Life, Yahtzee, Battleship and Tangrams.

With all the tension and anxiety, math humor is greatly needed. Young children enjoy cartoons and jokes. Cartoons may be used to introduce a concept or for class discussion. Most children will master mathematical concepts and skills more readily if they are presented first in concrete, pictorial and symbols.

Manipulatives are concrete objects used to teach a concept. By using manipulatives, pictures and symbols to model or represent abstract ideas, the stage is set for young learners to understand the abstractions they represent. Students enjoy the change from lecture and books and they are more inclined to explore with manipulatives and show greater interest in classwork.

Cooperative groups provide students a chance to exchange ideas, to ask questions freely, to explain to one another, to clarify ideas in meaningful ways and to express feelings about their learning. These skills acquired at an early age will be greatly beneficial throughout their adult working life.

n conclusion, math anxiety is very real and occurs among thousands of people. Much of this anxiety happens in the classroom due to the lack of consideration of different learning styles of students. Today, the needs of society require a greater need for mathematics. Math must be looked upon in a positive light to reduce math anxiety. Therefore, teachers must re-examine traditional teaching methods which often do not match students’ learning styles and skills needed in society. Lessons must be presented in a variety of ways. For instance, a new concept can be taught through play acting, cooperative groups, visual aids, hands on activities and technology. As a result once young children see math as fun, they will enjoy it, and, the joy of mathematics could remain with them throughout the rest of their lives.

Mathematics Laboratory

Sharing with you experience of mathematics laboratory and how it has helped the students in learning of the mathematical concepts.
· The idea behind introducing the concept of Mathematics laboratories is to try and make the curriculum transaction of the subject more meaningful.
· This has served as a platform to explain abstract concepts that are generally difficult to teach students in the classroom.
· The initiative of setting up the mathematics was laid on the foundation by noting that the current style of teaching of the subject lays "too much emphasis on symbols, formulae and their manipulations and relatively little attention to physical significance and interpretation''. By means of simple activities we are able to explain the abstract concepts.
· Surely, I have realized that it is an important initiative towards making learning a more enjoyable process.
· All the students are empowered to actively do meaningful mathematics. They have gained confidence in their ability to do mathematics, become mathematical problem solvers, reason mathematically, and communicate mathematically.
· Accordingly, my role has changed from that of a dispenser of knowledge to that of a facilitator of learning. Being a teacher I simply guide my students through experiences in which the students explore, verify, generalize, and apply results to other settings and realistic problems.
· Earlier the students use to hesitate in asking the question and now after exploring the concepts and visualizing them ,they are able to reason their queries while discussions in the classroom.
This change really makes me happy because being a teacher whatever we do, is to benefit our students.

Visit Planet Infinity

Some interesting mathematics models

Students are happy in doing something interesting and challenging. Here is an interesting model making for them.
A moving sculpture made from paper ...
As I turn this little paper sculpture inside-out, it changes colours.
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/mathematics/paper_ring.html
There is one more model making description on this URL which is called a Geodesic Dome.For more detail click on the above link.

Paper Folding and Mathematics

By paper folding
(i) To locate the mid point of a side of a triangle.
(ii) To locate the perpendicular bisector of a side of triangle.
(iii) To locate the median from a given vertex in a triangle.
Material Required
Coloured papers, sketch pen, Pair of scisors
Method
I. Mid point of a side of a triangle.
Take the side AB of triangle ABC. To locate the mid-point of AB place the vertex A on B or B on A and form a crease. The point obtained on AB is the mid-point of AB. Name the mid-point as M. II. Perpendicular Bisector of a side of a triangle.
Take the side AB of triangle ABC. To locate the mid-point of AB place the vertex A on B or B on A and form a crease. Draw a line on the crease. This line is the perpendicular bisector of side AB.
III. Median from a given vertex in a triangle.
Take the side AB of triangle ABC. To locate the mid-point of AB place the vertex A on B or B on A and form a crease. The point obtained on AB is the mid-point of AB. Name the mid-point as M. Now form a crease from the vertex C to the mid-point M of AB. Draw a line on the crease. CM is the median of the triangle from the vertex C to the side AB.