A Few Things I've Created

24 Percent Tweets. This is project is now complete.  24 important things to know about percent. Click>>24 Percent Tweets . You will find Slideshare's with examples and Quizlet practice decks. Scroll down for more information and pages that can be printed. (Note: Unfortunately, the Learnist site is not longer working.)

Common Core Math Standards: Information, Links, and Resources

Properties Foldable (Word doc) - This foldable helps students understand properties (such as commutative property of addition, etc.) When you 2-sided print it, you may need to 'flip it on the short edge.'

Mental Math Worksheets DONE for Eighth Grade and for Algebra I - 30 worksheets each, teaching 30 strategies.  Free download.

PFD Boot Camp (Percents, Fractions, and Decimals)

       Online Math Games, Demonstration/Exploration Tools, & Puzzles, organized by grade, K through 12.

Navigating the Landscape of Fraction, Decimal, and Percent Problems - Documents, problems, and handouts from our presentations at the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting, October 22, 2011, the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, April 8, 2011, and the Western Illinois University Mathematics Teachers' Conference, March 23, 2012.

Quizlet Page - Quizlet is a great program (and app for iPad or other tablet) for making flash cards and review materials.

The Big Picture of Creating and Using Videos for Teaching & Learning - (Jan. 2010) how to create, prepare, and post videos -- pretty easy!

Standards Based Assessment (SBA) -  Various resources to support presentations I've done on Standards Based Assessment.

Online Mathematics Practice Worksheets/Quizzes and Review Resources - Most of the online practice is in the form of games which can be found at Online Math Games, Demonstration/Exploration Tools, and Puzzles (above). This page has links to worksheets and quizzes for practicing math skills. More quizzes can be found on this Teaching Resources page below. Also, there are links to Review Resources, which are tutorials to review mathematical topics from arithmetic through calculus.

RATES Project - Real-world Applications Teaching Everyday Solutions curriculum development project

Beauty of Three Dimensional Polyhedra and Spatial Visualization - B3D - numerous links to three-dimensional geometry.

Archimedean Solids - (mine) videos, links, and even a cool Prezi!

Geodesics Domes and Spheres Page - (mine) links, photos, and how to build one out of newspaper.

Math Education Research and a Plethora of Committee and Government Reports - Originally compiled on the occasion of the Common Core State Standards (the reports were the precursors for the CCSS). Updated periodically.

Brain-Based Learning and Learning Theories - much has been discovered and written lately -- and this helps us help our students learn.

Common Core Math Standards: Information, Links, and Resources

Teacher Facilitator Page - I prefer the term "Teacher Facilitator" over "Teacher Leader," but they are similar.

iPad For Novices and iPad For Schools: Information, Links, and Resources - Since I'm new at the iPad, I made these pages to help myself and other newbies. A Few More iPad Tips

Volume and Surface Area Webpage - Prisms, Pyramids, Cylinders, and Cones

Top Ten Lists for Using Technology to Help Elementary/MS Students Learn Mathematics
Top Ten Lists for Using Technology to Help HS Students Learn Mathematics

Games and PowerPoint Games for Math Practice - We've made a number of PowerPoint files that can be used in the classroom to review math topics and skills in a game environment. This files can be edited with your own questions.

TI Graphics Calculator Tips - Including TI Connect and TI Graph Link Cable and Software (with how-to videos) (just the TI Connect Basics, with videos) and Cabri Jr.

Analytic Scoring Scale for Scoring Student Work on Problem-solving Tasks (by Jim Olsen) This is a rubric I designed (with initial help in a class) and have used with teachers for a number of years. The primary purpose of this scale is to award credit to students for following the 4-step problem-solving process. A student can get the wrong answer and still score quite well using this rubric. Conversely, a student with the right answer (alone) may not get all the points. If you wish to actually evaluate student knowledge of a specific math topic, I'd recommend using a different scale. This is a generalizable, analytic rubric. It does break up the student's work into parts (gives three sub-scores), but it is generalizable, in that it can be used with about any problem-solving problem.

Systematic Guess and Check Problem-Solving Strategy - The basics of trouble-shooting.

Amounts From Rates Worksheet - Primarily a graph interpretation activity. One of a number of, what I call, "early calculus topics." Real-world applications. Rates vary over time and the student must find the total amount accumulated. Appropriate for Algebra II or Pre-Calculus.

Solids of Revolution - Students rotate a triangular or rectangular region about an axis to create a solid. Students identify the solid and find its volume. Second "early calculus topic." Appropriate for Algebra II or Pre-Calculus. First 5 are straightforward cones and cylinders. Second 5 are a bit more challenging. No calculus required. Basic volume formulas used.

List of Objectives Involving Change, Rates, and Rate of Change - School districts need to decide where (when) students will be introduced to these ideas, and when the ideas will be developed, mastered, and reviewed.

Graphing Rational Functions by Hand - While generally I highly favor use of graphing technology, and favor real-world application, here's an activity that is only in a math context, and we get the answers just using our heads. It is strong in building number sense and function sense.

• Overview
• How to with examples

My Mastery Quiz system:

Overview

ICTM Handout from the presentation titled, "Using Problem Solving to Teach the Illinois Standards." Sarah Dalpiaz gave this talk (as I was out of town for a wedding).  In MSWord format.

Teaching Mathematics via problem solving: Here are some example problems.

Function Handouts

Here is a series of handouts related to the function concept. Each is given as a Word document and as a rich text format document. These handouts assume that students have been exposed to the function concept minimally. That is, they know that "there in an input, some thing happens, and there is an output," and that "inputs and outputs can be put into ordered pairs."

The Definition(s) of a Function ~ Is Yours in Here? Different books use different definitions for function. It's all the same concept. This handout helps make connections between different-sounding definitions. function-defs.doc function-defs.rtf

The Representation and Synonym Games - The fact that functions have many representations and that there are many synonyms for terms (such as "y-value") make it tough for students. This handout can help. REPS_SYN.doc REPS_SYN.rtf

Basic Function Objectives - Some of these basic objectives can be learned in middle school. basic_objectives.doc basic_objectives.rtf (For more advanced objectives see the Misconceptions and Difficulties handout below and reword the "difficulties" into things the student can do.)

Function Notation ~ "OK, so f(x) doesn't mean f times x, what does it mean?" FUN_NOTATON.doc FUN_NOTATON.rtf

Levels of Graph Comprehension - Although literal reading of data presented in graphical form is an important component of graph-reading ability, the maximum potential of the graph is realized when the reader is capable of interpreting and generalizing from the data. Just like reading text, there is difference between reading the words and comprehending the ideas. graphcomprehension.doc graphcomprehension.rtf (rich text format may not have all the graphics in the example)

Misconceptions and Difficulties in the Understanding the Function Concept - The function concept is central and key to mathematics, but it is also complex, due to its many related concepts and multiple representations. Miscon_difficulties.doc Miscon_difficulties.rtf

My Top 10 Reasons for Using Computers and Calculators to Help Students Learn Mathematics - PowerPoint. (pdf format)

Why it is important for W.I.U. to make a commitment to the preparation of teachers - three documents

• The Illinois Board of Higher Education hereby adopted The Illinois Commitment: Partnerships, Opportunities, and Excellence as the goals for higher education for the first decade of the 21st century. Goal #2 states, "Higher education will join elementary and secondary education to improve teaching and
  learning at all levels."
• W.I.U. is a member institution in the Renaissance Group, a national consortium of colleges and universities with a major commitment to the preparation of educational professionals. The Group holds the principle that the importance of the education of teachers is an all-campus responsibility.
• W.I.U.'s Strategic Plan Higher Values in Higher Education. Our values state that we are committed to an academic environment that encourages lifelong development of our students as teachers and that we will serve as a resource for and stimulus to economic, educational, cultural, environmental, and community development in our region and well beyond it.
  

Problem Solving Databases

= Featured Links

I am highly interested is using problem solving to teach the standard school mathematics curriculum. (I think we can have our cake and eat it too - involve students in problem solving and have them learn the mathematics curriculum at the same time.) To this end I am interested in problem databases that are organized by the mathematical content. Below are a few.

The Art of Problem Solving - Wow this site has really grown! They have a huge team working on this site. Huge database of contest questions. AMC (8) (10) (12) questions. This is for gifted education and regular education. Richard Rusczyk is the founder.

Problem-Attic - Wow, this is great! 80,000 of the best questions from NY Regents, State Assessments, NAEP, TIMSS, Academic Competitions, and more. Select, Arrange, Format, Print. Generate worksheets and Problems of the Week (POW's) in no time at all! Easy to use.

Space Math @ NASA - introduces students to the use of mathematics in todays scientific discoveries. Real applied problems categorized by grade level from 3rd grade through calculus (e.g., Algebra I, Geometry, Calculus). Problems are in nice PDF format, with answers. Very nicely organized by topic. You can even search for problems by "moon" or "black holes," etc. Other features include multimedia. Active site with 396 problems as of 1/20/2010.

Math off the grid - Running a middle school math club. Has a huge list of Resources of Problem Sets, POWs, Videos, and Sites. (Some, but not all, are listed here.)

MPAAC K-12 Problem-Solving Database - Search for problems by Illinois Learning Standard.  These problem write-ups written by teachers in the MPAAC grant project at W.I.U.

Problems from Mathematics Teacher - Each month in the Mathematics Teacher journal there is a calendar of problems. If you serach for 'calendar problems,' you find 100's. (You do have to be an NCTM member.)

MATHmodels.org - Mathmodels is COMAP’s new modeling forum.

NRICH - Lots of problems for various levels (from the UK, "stages 4-5" are grades 9-12). See also Maths Finder ("Maths" in the UK = "Math" in the USA).

Mathschallenge.net - A web site dedicated to the puzzling world of mathematics.

Math "Coffins" - a collection of difficult math problems with elegant solutions that possess a unique history.

Excellent problems can be found from contests:

• AMC - AMC8, AMC10, AMC12, - first few problems each year are pretty easy, but then they get tougher and tougher. If you sign up for this there are excellent coaching materials provided.
• Punam - contest for college students.
• Math Olympiad

Secondary Mathematics Problems (I'm working on these now - I hope to add to these often).

1. Pythagorean Theorem Problems

Virtual Manipulatives

Polypad from Mathigon - this is quickly becoming a main go-to site for online manipulatives.

Toy Theater - has Math, Puzzles, Art, Reading, and Games.

New E-Labs site - This is one of the best sites on the Internet for grades 3-6. A few I really like are Division with Remainders, Equivalent Fractions, and Transformations. This is a new (shockwave based) version of the popular E-labs (java based) we've used for years. Part of the Learning Site, from Harcourt School Publishers. Math Jingles are new. (E-Labs is the older site is being phased out and being replaced by the New E-Labs site.)

Virtual Manipulatives from Glencoe - Grades Pre-K to 8. Lots of manipulatives (and Backgrounds/Workmats)

Project Interactivate - For me, right now, this is the Number One Free Math Site on the Internet for interactive applets! (Otherwise known as the "Shodor Applets.") The goals of this project are the creation, collection, evaluation, and dissemination of interactive Java-based courseware for exploration in science and mathematics. They have Tools, Activities, Student Page, a Newsletter, and more. The Function Flyer is one of the best applets on the web. A couple more I really like are Equivalent Fractions Pointer and forest fire simulation (Chaos Discussion), Arithmetic Practice Game that is Connect 4, and Fraction 4 - click a tree to start the burn! (Other ways to access this applets and activities is use us Curriculum Materials). From the Shodor Educational Foundation, Inc.

Huge Virtual Manipulatives Site(National Library of Virtual Manipulatives = NLVM)- Click in the body of the table for the standard and grade level band. I especially like Platonic Solids, Platonic Solid Duals, Space Blocks (like Multi-Link cubes), Algebra Balance Scales, Coin Problem (use logic to find the lighter coin!), Transformations-Reflection (dynamically interact with and see the result of a reflection transformation).

Virtual Manipulative Tool Box - nice list of virtual manipulatives. From Math Bridges.

Didax Virtual Manipulatives

Crickweb.co.uk - interactive resources for primary grades.

List of Math Manipulatives - Upper elementary.

CyberChase Games - From PBSKIDS. Click here for my descriptions and my evaluation of the games.

Connie Stoner's Interactive Web Resources - Here's her school page. Ms. Stoner teaches Jr. High Math. Lots of great games. Fun too! Some sites even allow the teacher to track student work.

Mangahigh.com - I'm quite impressed with this site. High quality math games that K-12 students like to play. Can set up games/problems for your students.

Math-Play.com - Lots of excellent math games.

More Virtual Manipulatives - From Archytech.org. The links below may be slightly different explore to find you favorites.
    Pattern Blocks on-line - You can play with Pattern Blocks on-line.  Activities available as well.
    Base 10 Blocks  on-line - Make sure to check out the hammer and glue options.

WolframAlpha - "Computational knowledge engine" - Solves math problems, gives world statistics, stock prices--you name it!

AustralianHelp.com/Online-Tools - Many calculators which use WolframAlpha as the engine.

Wolfram (Mathematica) Demonstrations Project - This is a web collection of freely available, interactive demonstrations in math, science, and many other areas, at all levels from elementary education to front-line research. You do have to download the Mathematica Player, which is free, and runs all demonstrations. A few of my early favorites are Piecewise functions, Splitting a Cube, Buckyball in Icosahedron, Color (Rubic's) Cube, 3D Dissection Puzzle, Polygonal Numbers, and Fractal Tetrahedron. Fifteen Great Circles on a Sphere is awesome.

Protractor applet - Very nice. Has an intro (which can be skipped). Various interactive activities with and without a virtual protractor.

Lathe (creating 3D objects) applet - fun, get creative!

Free math games - Nice games for practicing facts (such as Targeting the Answer or Percents Fractions & Decimals or Matching Fraction Game - Equivalent Fractions). Can control what facts to practice. From helpingwithmath.com.

Math Open Reference - mainly geometry. Nice interactive demos. Common Core aligned.

Interactive Math Dictionary for Kids - Interactive and visual ("maths" is the short form of mathematics in much of the english-speaking world, outside of the US - this comes from Austrailia).

Math Playground - educational site for elementary and middle school students. Math Games, Word Problems, and Logic Games.

Journal of Online Mathematics and its Applications (JOMA) - New from the Mathematical Association of America. Includes higher mathematical thinking. See the Mathlets in each issue (these are Java applets).

Funbrain.com - Games (see MathBrain) for practicing math. Grades 1 to 8. See also the Quiz Lab.  Teachers can post quizzes for their students to do online.

iKnowthat.com - K-6 Games. Bucky's Blueprints and MathBlox practice. Might be fun for indoor recess on rainy days. Decipher Word Problems ("pick-an-operation" word problems).

Academic Skill Builders - Meteor Multiplication, Alien Addition, and Minus Mission. Gives very nice diagnostic reports.

Hoodamath.com - lots a great thinking games. I recommend: Coffee Shop and Bloxorz.

Multiplication.com - Comprehesive site with lots of free resources, games, and self-checking worksheets. Resources (games and worksheets); Test your progress (online worksheets); Teaching process.

Arithmetic Practice Games - Interactive games to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Online worksheets too that correct themselves. Part of APlusMath.com.

Math Continuum - Games and practice for number, geometry, algebra, and probability/statistics.

Virtual Algebra Tiles - A good exercise.  Not a lot of variety.  Does not show all you can do with Algebra Tiles, but a good activity none the less.

Explorelearning - (formerly ExploreMath.com) This is probably the best site on the web for interactive math applets--however it is no longer free. These applets (they call them "Gizmos") are excellent! I believe you do get to use one applet free per day. There is a 30-day demo as well. Many of the Gizmos also have an online assessment built in.

VisualFractions.com - That's it.  Learn about fractions visually.  Includes equivalent fractions, mixed fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions.  Learning games included.

Math Reasoning Inventory - "Find out what your students really know about mathematics." Led by Marilyn Burns. Whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.

Building Houses - Applet for building a building and seeing the three (top, front, and right) views. Helps students with spatial visualization.

Contig for Windows - I'm not sure if this is still around. This is free software that you will load (and run) to (from) your hard drive. Contig is a very good strategy game (and you practice arithmetic and order of operations at the same time!). The site has the rules. I would play Contig first on a physical game board (with markers), to learn the game. Then learn how to do it on the computer (vs. the computer). There are different levels of difficulty and "computer strategy." This is timed (which can be adjusted). I believe the default settings are challenging and fast, so you probably want to change these the first time, or it will be frustrating.

Online - Interactive Mathematics - Online Practice (computer graded). Multiple levels.

Tangents Applet - This applet draws the graph of a function and its derivative. A tangent line is drawn on the function, and a crosshair marks the corresponding point on the graph of the tangent. You can move the tangent line by clicking-and-dragging on either graph.

Make Your Own Kaleidoscope! - Use your own graphic (from the Internet) to make an interactive kaleidoscope.

Tangrams - Online. Part of fwend.com.
Cyberchase Tangrams - PBS.

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles - Lots of puzzles with Java applets.  The site has won many awards.  Try Flipping Pancakes or Farmer and Wife To Catch Rooster and Hen or the Three Glass (water pouring) problem (or the water pouring variation).  Then move on to the more advanced.  Lots of explanations and theory provided. See cut-the-knot.com.

Puzzles - Such as Tower of Hanoi.  Part of math.com.  Hex-7. The Hex-7 page is very interesting and includes a great example of a "non-constructive" proof of a winning strategy for player one. 

Online Interactive Puzzle Hall of Fame - Fun online and you have to think. See also Clickmazes.

Tower of Hanoi on the Web - more Tower of Hanoi information, history, and variations.

§» Problem Solving (Including Puzzles & Games)

Freepuzzles.com - Good problem of the week possibilities. Rated by difficulty.

Sudoku - This is the hot puzzle game. Can play online at this site. (You can google for more Sudoku sites, as you wish.)

Mental-Workout - I have not checked this sit out much. May have some potential.

The Problem Site - Educational Games, Puzzles, and Problem Solving. Math games, math problems, word games, word puzzles, mystery quests.

PROBLEMS for Math Problem Solving - from Nine Quick Learning Strategies for Success. PROBLEMS is an eight step process for solving math word problems.

Braingle - Brain teasers, riddles, puzzles and games. Created by Jake Olefsky (who wrote the book The Everything Brain Strain Book.

Mathematische Basteleien - (from Germany) Interesting things on paper folding, tetrahedrons, soma cube, Rubic's cube, and more.

 Problems of the Week -- Students can submit their solutions. (Not all of these are continually active, but most have a nice archive of problems available.)

• AIMS Puzzle Corner
• WIU Problems of the Week
• Education Place Brain Teasers weekly problems for grades 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
• Discrete Math Problem of the Week
• Problem-Attic
• Geometry Problem of the Week
• Algebra Problem of the Week
• Trig/Calculus Problem of the Week (from the Math Forum)
• NRICH - from the UK, "stages 4-5" are grades 9-12.
• Calculus Problem of the Week
• Problem of the Week - 4 grade level bands. From www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/.
• College Problem of the Week
• LIST of Challenging Prolem pages

Math Contests and Competitions (for K-12)

• Online Math League - Grades 3-12.
• Math Olympiads - Grades 4-6 and 7-8.
• Mathcounts - Grades 6-8.
• American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) - Grades 6-12. AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12, AIME, USAMO, andIMO. Mathematical Association of America. There is a Teachers' Manual.
• Math League - Lots of quickie problems and exercises. "The Math League is dedicated to bringing challenging mathematics materials to students. The Math League specializes in math contests, books, and computer software designed to stimulate interest and confidence in mathematics for students from the 4th grade through high school." There are (printable) free samples and to order problem books.
• USA Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS) - Has a great Proofs Without Words page. From NSA.
• Noetic Learning Math Contest - Grades 2, 3, 4, 5.
• American Regions Math League - "the World Series of mathematics competitions."
• Mu Alpha Theta - Mu Alpha Theta is a National Mathematics Honor Society (HS and 2-year college students).
• National Assessment & Testing - Seattle, WA. Administers high quality, affordable mathematics competitions for high school math teams and honor societies.
• Mandelbrot - high school.
• See also this list.

MATHCOUNTS - A coaching and competition program for middle school students nationwide. Even if you don't participate, the handbook (available online) they provide are a great source of math problems. Comprehensive discussion of problem solving strategies is included.

Shack's Math Problems - Great problems (mathproblems.info).

Interactive NIM sites:

• NIM Skulls - Remove from one group. Remove 1, 2, or 3 (then REST). Make him take the last.
• Fruit Game - Remove fruit from rows. Goal is to try to eat the last. (Take/eat those to the right of your click.)

Burr Puzzles

Boredom Buster Sites (sites with games and puzzles for kids):

• Counton.org - Games, poems, Virtual Mathematics Museum, and more. From the U.K.
• Funology.com - Not just math. Jokes, tricks, Brain Drains, and more. "For ages 1 to 10."
• Abra-Kid-Abra - Math tricks.
• Funbrain.com - Games, including Math Baseball. Not just math.
• Mathcats.com - Math explorations, math crafts, MicroWorlds, and more.
• EnchantedMind.com - Not just math. I especially like the creative java puzzles (including Tangrams and Knights's Tour). Also, Mensa puzzles, creativity, science. Upper grades and adults.

Nick's Mathematical Puzzles - just that, mathematical puzzles of varying difficulty.

Java Games - Some pretty good drill and practice (which generally I like to do using paper-and-pencil) games. On the basic operations and geometry terms. Part of APlusMath.com.

§» Topic Sites

Great books by the TV-star and UCLA mathematics major, Danica McKellar.

• Math Doesn't Suck: how to survive middle school math without losing your mind or breaking a nail. (first book)
• Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss. (second book)
• Hot X: Algebra Exposed - (third book)
• Videos here.
• Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape - (fourth book)

MATHmodels.org - Mathmodels is COMAP’s new modeling forum. On this site, students and faculty will find a wide range of interesting contemporary modeling problems. Teachers can assign problems. Students can choose to work on problems based on math topic and application area. There are contests.

RealWorldMath.org - Real World Math is a collection of free math activities for Google Earth designed for students and educators.

Mathematics News: Snapshots for high school. Slide shows. #History The Mathematics News Snapshots for High School (MNS) project aims to provide high school students with a glimpse into the exciting and dynamic world of contemporary mathematics. This shows the ever-growing nature of mathematics.

High School Operations Research - "Since 1996, we have been developing instructional materials for use in high school mathematics classrooms." Operations Research is all about applied mathematics to real-world problems (click here to find out what "Operations Research" is). Uses Case Studies from companies such as McDonalds and L.L.Bean. Sponsored by INFORMS - Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.

Geodesics Domes and Spheres Page - page of links to information, lesson ideas, buildings, and videos.

Math Mistakes - This site is about compiling, analyzing and discussing the mathematical errors that students make.

Math and the Art of M. C. Escher - Huge site on the artist/mathematician M C Escher.

STEM Transitions - By the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD). At its core are six Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career clusters that have provided the context for instructional materials. Sixty-one Curriculum Projects Ready for Classroom Use.

Trig Cheat Sheet - Definitions, formulas, unit circle, and more. From cheat-sheets.org.

Brain Breaks - blog and book by a HS math teacher from Naperville, Illinois.

Next Generation Science Standards - released April 2013. This is the science version of the Common Core State Standards (which are for English and Math).

Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics - [PDF] released 2020. From AMTE.

PUMAS - PUMAS = "Practical Uses of Math And Science" (poo' · mas) -- a collection of one-page examples of how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including everyday life.

David Bailey's World of Escher-like Tessellations - yep, Escher-like tessellations.

Puzzle World - about many of the finest handcrafted mechanical puzzles in the world. Including Puzzle Design Competition, Slider Puzzles, The 15 Puzzle, and more. By John Rausch. Includes The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections - This is an internet version of Stewart Coffin's book of the same title. Huge site with everything from polycubes to the platonic solids and tons more. (Unfortunately it is "print" and not interactive.)

Thinking Blocks - an interactive math tool developed by classroom teachers to help students learn how to solve multistep word problems.

Pascal's Triangle websites - A list a websites I put together which provide information and applets on Pascal's Triangle, Triangular Numbers, and Tetrahedral Numbers. powerpoint

Fibonacci Numbers Websites

• Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section - Wow, real cool! Puzzles and more. By Ron Knott.
• Fibonacci Numbers and Nature - 25 pages! Also by Ron Knott.
• Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci - biography.
• Fibonacci as Part of the Renaissance - An Annenberg/CPB Exhibit.

GoldenNumber.net - Very comprehensive web site on the golden ratio. Self-proclaimed "Phi Source."

The Golden Ratio - by David L. Narain. Drawback is that it is primarily text based.

How do you find exact values for the sine of all angles - Trigonometry. Even down to sin 1°.

cos 36° - Very nice article on the exact value of cos 36° and how it relates to the Golden Ratio!

Connect Palindromes - This is a two-player game (or play the computer) like Connect 4, but you are trying to get palindromes!

Ag in the Classroom - Agriculture across the curriculum. Tons of resources for teachers (including math connections). Lots of free resources and even grant money.

Graphics For The Calculus Classroom - lots of graphics and a few animations. A bit old now, but still some good stuff.

AP Calculus questions online. The free-response questions for multiple years are available here. From apcentral.collegeboard.com.

Calculus-Help.com - Has nice video tutorials (to find these click Tutorials and Fund Stuff|Tutorials for the Calculus Phobe). Also has Problems of the Week.

Calculus.org - Resources for students and teachers.

Calculus Applets - interactive Java applets for teaching and learning single variable calculus. They use graphs and tables to illustrate concepts.

DIG Stats - Delve into Descriptive and Inferential statistics, and then proceed to Graphical analysis. Activities contain data sets. It seems that this site has discontinued operations.

More Data Sets for Statistical Analysis - found on my My Students page.

Plotly - a cool new (online) way to graph data. Beta.

National Center for Education Statistics - Very good site. Has both resources for teachers to use in the classroom and statistical information on the state of education. Has:

• Games and Activities
  • Explore Your Knowledge online quiz for 4th or 8th graders.
  • Create a Graph Tool - for students (others) to make statistical graphs.

Prime Mathematics Enrichment - Good problem library with problems organized by topic. (This site is not just about prime numbers.) Could use for problems of the week. Also has online Tangram puzzles. Monthly magazine.

The Prime Pages - This is about prime numbers. Prime number research, records, and resources. Has a nice list of Prime Conjectures and Open Questions. Interesting facts, curiosities, and problems. Can check a number's primality (but it can't be too big :-).

Geometry Center - At Science U. Good stuff on tilings, symmetry, and more. Check out Kali, where you can interact with the frieze and wallpaper patterns.

TilingSearch.org- Awesome (searchable) database of beatiful tilings. Couple examples.

Exploratorium - The Museum of Science, Art, and Human Perception. There is some math in here - check out the The Math Explorer.

Archimedes' Laboratory - Puzzling and Mental Activities Since 1997.

Powers of Ten - View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move closer all the way to the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.
A Question of Scale is a similar site but zooms in on a honey bee in San Francisco.

Pi Day Ideas (I know very little about these sites for Pi Day. You'll have to verify the validity yourself.)

• The Exploratorium - Pi
• Joy of Pi (.com) - Pi links
• Celebrate Pi Day (edutopia) - Classroom resources
• Pi Trivia Game - game
• World of Pi - Pi
• 300th Anniversary of Pi - from MEG-SL
• Montrose Mathematics - Pi Day
• Goudreau Museum of Mathematics - Pi Day Contest
• Scientific American article
• The Digits of Pi
• Songs
  • LoseYourself_(InTheDigits).mp3 - audio file
  • YouTube Song.
  • Sing the digits with green pi

Exactly How Is Math Used In Technology? - Examples of how various areas of mathematics are applied to various areas of technology. High School Algebra to Differential Equations and Numerical Analysis, and Food Technology to Prosthetics.

Girl's Plus Math Camp - This is a summer mathematics program for girls ages 12 and 13 to develop an appreciation for mathematics. It is held on the Western Illinois University campus.

Color Math Pink - designed specifically to help middle school and high school girls excel at math.

Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) - to encourage women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and
to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in the mathematical sciences. Has a new Teacher Partnership Program.

The KnotPlot Site - A collection of knots and links, viewed from a mathematical perspective, created with KnotPlot, a computer program to visualize and manipulate mathematical knots.

IMAGES - Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools. Has nice sections on Visualization and Spatial Reasoning, Cognitive & Developmental Issues, Instructional Activities and Lesson Plans, and more. Also, they get the best acronym award!

Investigating Patterns: Symmetry and Tessellations - This is a page of links to various activities on symmetry and tessellation. I recommend Teach-Learn inversion from Scott Kim's Inversions Gallary.

GuideMe NACME - From the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.

Graphics Calculator Help - Select from ten different calculators. Then click a topic for specific instructions.

§» Learning Activities and Lesson Plans

»» Assessment

Rubrics, Rubrics, and More Rubrics - Yikes, everybody's making them. Be careful, everything on the web is not of high quality.

• Rubistar - Create Rubrics for your problem solving, project, writing, and assessment activities.
• Rubrics4teachers.com - many rubrics (does not seem to have an online tool for making your own).
• Rubrics from teach-nology.com - fill in a form. Has a math rubric and a general rubric generator (very flexible, but requires a lot of writing). Note that in the browser you can save the page (rubric) and then edit it with another piece of software (e.g., Word web page editor).

Balanced Assessment in Mathematics - at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (website now housed at The Concord Consortium). Contains a library of 300 assessment tasks for grades K to 12, AMUSE (Assessing Mathematical Understanding and Skills Effectively), a very comprehensive paper on assessment, and the MCAPS Scoring Tool (Mathematics Content and Process Scoring System).

Diagnostic Mathematics Assessments for Middle School Teachers - measures mathematics knowledge in four content domains: Number/Computation, Geometry/Measurement, Probability/Statistics, Algebraic Ideas. Middle School Mathematics Content Summary Chart. From the University of Louisville.

Quizlet.com - Nice site for online flashcards/quizzes. There is an iPad App for this! You/Students can create your/their own. My quizzes at quizlet.com/dro314.

ThatQuiz.com - Nice site for online quizzes. You can create your own.

MyMathTest.com - You can do an online quiz on Basic Math through Introductory Algebra. Automatically scored with quick feedback. (The required plug-in download is quick and painless.)

Authentic Education - Grant Wiggins' website. Understanding by Design (UbD). "backward design" twitter A Brief Introduction Big Ideas (Wiggins' blog).

The Danielson Group - Services, The Framework, Resources

Danielson 2013 Rubric - from New York

»» More Math Education Sites

Number Time - Pre-K - 2. Fun animations, games, songs, and movies.

SoftChalk - This is software (it does cost, but it's real good--I use it). It makes learning modules (actually web pages) for use online and in online courses ("SCORM" modules). You can easily create matching, labeling, multiple choice, ordering, etc. quizzes and activities.

Rounding Game - practice rounding properly.

Study Guides and Strategies - Very comprehensive. Does have a math section.

Test Prep Review - Free Practice Tests for over 60 tests from the ACT to, CLEP, Praxis, to GRE, and many more.

Varsity Tutors Practice Tests - Short practice tests, flashcards, and Question-of-the-Day, for ACT, COMPASS, CLEP, and more. Part of http://www.varsitytutors.com/.

Online Math Tests - includes algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and more.

AAA Math - K-8 arithmetic lessons with online practice (with immediate feedback). Pick a topic, then go down to the PLAY area and click your game. (AAAMath is equivalent to www.321know.com,)

Isometric Dot Paper and Geoboard Dot Paper and Geoboard Dot Papers

Geometry Labs Book - free online. Over 100 pages of grade 8-11 geoboard activities. Mostly circular geoboards. Includes Trigonometry.

Print Free Graph Paper - Cartesian, polar, isometric, and logarithmic (pdf files).

Number Line Generator - great tool for making custom number lines (for use on worksheets, SmartBoard, web, assessments, etc.).

PDF Generator - Create and print pages of number lines, graph paper, dot paper, and much more -- even fretboard diagrams for guitar. This site also has calendar generators, free music, and more for most curriculum areas. Incompetech.com labels themselves "Ugly website, brilliant content."

High school Hub Mathematics - A good portal for HS students and teachers. A lot of the same links you see on this page. Part of the High School Hub.

COMETS - Clearinghouse On Mathematics, Engineering, Technology and Science. Created specifically to address the unique educational needs of hearing-impaired students, this site hosts a wide variety of lessons, resources, and workshops for education professionals in math, science, engineering and technology.

Teach Engineering - The TeachEngineering digital library provides teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content for K-12 teachers to use in science and math classrooms.

Logical Fallacies - (This website has changed so the link now goes to a PDF. Nicely organized examples and instruction on logical fallacies by Stephen Downes.(another place I found) Another place to find information on logical fallacies is logical fallacy from Wikipedia.

thou shalt not commit logical fallacies - another good site describing logical fallacies. They have a free Poster.

Math Dance - Classroom activities for teaching mathematics and performing arts through whole-body movement.  For grades 4-12.  For example, check out The Four Basic Symmetries.

PBS TeacherSource - Math - Mathline. Activities, videos, and lesson plans.  Part of  PBS TeacherSource.  Part of  PBS Online.

The Futures Channel - Activities and links for interesting math and science lessons.  Includes a nice section on careers.  Updated frequently.

Investigation/Exploration in Geometry to Discover Properties Using a Dynamic Geometry Program

Here's the process:

• (Prerequisite is that students know how to make a dynamic (e.g., Geogebra) computer sketch.)
• Describe the setup. E.g. Prop. 13: "If a diameter AB of a circle meet any chord CD, not a diameter, in E, and if AF, BG be drawn perpendicular to CD." (The setup is the if-part of the proposition.) One might also give a hand diagram.
• Tell the students what to investigate, and to make a conjecture. E.g. Prop 13: "Find the relationship between lengths CG and DF."
• Ask the students to prove (or disprove) their conjecture.

Here are some sources for investigation ideas (These are from Antonio Gutierrez's Geometry Step-by-Step From the Land of the Incas site, which includes inspirational poems and more.):

• Triangle and Squares - Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry.
• Proposed Problems - Level: High School, SAT Prep, College geometry.
• Archimedes' Book of Lemmas - Many at a higher level, challenging for HS and college.
• More theorems and lemmas - nice list of interesting theorems.
• Professional Development Workshop Guide - 55 page detailed (step-by-step) guide for GSP (Geometer's Sketchpad).

LEGO Links:

• LEGO Education - from the LEGO Company. http://www.legoeducation.com/
  • Notes: Steffanie Forbes is the LEGO Education Consultant for Illinois (and IA, KY, MO, & IN). A good starter kit (with software) is W979917. A good starter book of activities is 991455. My 1-page Intro to LEGO MINDSTORMS. (User Guide)
• NASA Robotics Alliance Project - many (but not all) robots are built out of LEGO. Includes an Educational Matrix, educator links, and more. NASA is a big supporter of LEGO Robotics.
• First LEGO League has multiple robotics coompetitions for various age-levels.  This is BIG.
• John Deere FIRST Grants - John Deer Inspire - money to start a FIRST Lego League (or Challenge, etc.) team!
• The NXT Step Blog - Info on LEGO Mindstorms NXT system.
• Kansas Robotics League - students build and program real, autonomous robots to accomplish specific tasks. Focuses on local competitions.

ThinkQuest - "ThinkQuest Inc. is a non profit organization which offers programs designed to advance education through the use of technology." Have won many awards. A large website covering all curriculum areas. They do have a site tour and information page.

Math in Daily Life - Examples of math in daily life.  Includes a nice annotated list of Math Web sites.  This is part of Annenberg/CPB Exhibits.

When Am I Going to Use This? - On-the-Job Applications of Mathematics. Infographic on uses of HS math.

Make It Real Learning - 'Through our online library of engaging real-world mathematics activities, we answer the question, "When am I ever going to use this?"' Quite a few free, sample activities available.

Math Trails - You've heard of nature trails, well there is mathematics around us as well. Math trails from across the country. See also Math Trails from Canada.

§» Mega Sites

N.C.T.M. - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

• NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000) (in book form and electronically).
• History of Math Ed (supplied by a third party) - 1989 Standards, 1991 Professional Teaching Standards, 1995 Assessment Standards, 2000 Principles and Standards, and more.
• Curriculum Focal Points - The Curriculum Focal Points are the most important mathematical topics for each grade level.
• CAEP/NCTM Program Standards - Standards for Programs for Initial Preparation of Mathematics Teachers.
  • Note: NCATE and TEAC have consolidated to form CAEP which will serve as a single accreditor for reform, innovation, and research in educator preparation.
• NCTM's Research Clips and Briefs - research-based responses to questions of practice. Clips are short and provide only the findings. Briefs include more information and list related research.
• Linking Research and Practice - Summaries of research findings and how they can be applied to classroom teaching.
• Figure This - Mathematics Challenges for Families provides interesting math challenges that middle-school students can do at home with their families.  Good problems for school use too!
• Illuminations Page for Java applets and videos. See the e-examples, especially Understanding Distance, Speed, and Time Relationships.
• 2012 Annual Meeting (Philadelphia) program - has links to many of the handouts.
• Manuscript access for MT authors and referees

I.C.T.M. - Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics - student memberships cheap.

ICTM Parent Handbook - Click here to download the handbook in PDF format. To view it you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available from this site.

Open Source Textbook Sites

CK12 Flexbooks - Free textbooks online! This foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market.

Heritage High School Geometry Textbook (provided online)

Big Ideas Math Learning or Easy Access Student Edition - Student materials (textbooks) available. 100's of pages. Videos available. Includes a Basic Skills handbook. Very good. From Ron Larson.

More OER textbooks:

• Open Textbook Library - Supplied by UMN (University of Minnesota). Use the search box.)
• OER Commons - Open Educational Resources.
• openstax - from OpenStax CNX.
• The Orange Grove - from Florida.

Khan Academy - Huge library of videos covering K-12 math and other topics. Practice activities included.

The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) - aims to increase enjoyment, confidence and ability in mathematics and computer science among students and teachers. Celebrating 50 years in 2013!  Has POW's. From University of Waterloo (Canada).

Yummy Math - Mathematics relevant ot our world today.

Steve Leinwand - "The fact that, for the first time, the U.S. has what is essentially a national curriculum, equivalent in quality to what is found in the highest scoring countries in the world, means that the focus of leadership can finally shift from arguing about what math to teach, to how best to teach the agreed upon content to all students." See also his page with "Great Online Math Resources."

eMathHelp - free online resource for HS and colelge math students.

SpringBoard - English Language Arts and Mathematics curriculum for students in grades 6 – 12. From the CollegeBoard.

IXL - Covers a huge number of topics from K to Algebra.  Online questions (which are scored electronically).

Math Goodies - Math Goodies is a free educational web site featuring interactive math lessons, homework help, worksheets, puzzles, message boards, and more!

Mathway.com - This site has worksheets and will solve problems for you.  To see the steps you have to pay. Basic math through calculus and stats.

India Bix - Online quizzes and tests to test many things from logical reasoning to arithmetic, to science, and more.

The 50 State Quarters® Program Lesson Plans - from the U.S.Mint. Games and more.

Best Practices for Mathematics Instruction - From It's About Time, Herff Jones Education Division.

Helping Your Child Learn Math - Ideas for parents of PreK-7 grade children. From the U.S. Department of Education.

Helping Your Child Learn Math – A Parent's Guide - For parents of PreK-3 grade children. From Ontario, Canada.

Math and Children's Literature <<click here or the links below.

• Math and Reading Do Mix
• SMaRT Books

Math Night - Math Night is an event that allows kids and their parents to explore and enjoy areas of mathematics they wouldn't encounter in everyday schoolwork. Includes a Guide, Activities, and Pencil and Paper Games. Contains many activities on topology.

Indiana High-Quality Tasks for Improving Instruction - tasks.

Intel Education - Technology, science, and math classroom ideas from the chip maker Intel Corporation.

Blue Web'n - A library of Blue Ribbon learning sites on the web.  They make a distinction between lesson plans on the web (which could as well been in a book) and web based learning activities that require the student to use the web, in some way, to get information.

AIMS Education Foundation - Activities Integrating Math and Science . Has a Puzzle Corner.

AIMS Association of Illinois Middle-Level Schools - "Making the middle matter!"

Twenty Questions about Mathematical Reasoning - by Lynn Arthur Steen, St. Olaf College.

TI Calculators - Lots of resources (about uses of Texas Instruments calculators), including software downloads (some free), lesson plans, support, and contact information (800-TI-CARES, 800-842-2737).

TI-Nspire CX Handheld* Resource Page - links to resources.

America Counts - a multifaceted Federal initiative designed to help teachers' professional development (pre- and in-service). (This is different from MathCounts.)

Homework Hints
    Helping Your Students With Homework: A Guide for Teachers
   Staying on top of Your Studies: A Guide for Students, Parents and Teachers

NUMB3RS is a drama about an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles.

Escape from Knab - THE Adventure - Escape from Knab is an educational simulation which takes participants through a series of financial decision- making experiences in the fun and entertaining setting of the fictitious planet, Knab where visitors discover the results of their actions and decisions.  Students learn mathematics, economics, life skills (and use the Internet technology).

The K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Center - This site will help you build an effective mathematics education program and consider the new standards-based mathematics curricula (sponsored by the NSF). Located at the Education Development Center (EDC). Or see any of the following:

• ARC Center - for elementary curricula.
• Show-Me Center - for middle grades curricula.
  • Modeling Middle School Mathematics - video lessons and Web-based Internet materials to examine each of the five NSF- funded middle school math initiatives.
• COMPASS - for high school curricula.
• Chicago IMP - on the Interactive Mathematics Program implementation in Chicago.

Fun Facts - This large (searchable by topic and level) archive is designed as a resource for enriching your courses with mathematical Fun Facts!

Math Is Fun - Games, Puzzles, platonic solids, Mathionaire Multiplication Quiz. Has a very nice place for students to practice arithmetic facts called Math Trainer. Also has area with math explanations.

Millennium Mathematics Project - Large project from the UK. Has NRICH problems; Plus Magazine (targeted for secondary students) which opens a window to the world of maths, with all its beauty and applications, by providing articles from the top mathematicians and science writers on topics as diverse as art, medicine, cosmology and sport.

Teacher Resources on Line (trol) - Lots of stuff for math teachers from a PDF file of the first 100 digits of pi (for your wall), to missing digit puzzles, to counting problems and more. (Actually, it's for maths teachers--it's from the UK.)

Coolmath.com and Coolmath4kids.com- On-line Thinking games, Brain Benders, Way Cool Math Things, Graphing calculator, 3-D Mazes, Graph game, and more. Has a big practice area, including Algebra Crunchers. This site has a lot of ads, but it is a good site and the lady running it seems to be well qualified.

Jim Loy's Mathematics Page - Huge website covering many math topics from Algebra to Fractals and Chaos to Zeno's Paradoxes.

John Handley High School Math Page - Lots of Math Humor, Puzzles, Poems, Quotes, and more.

Mathematics 101 - 'Leading Sites for Math Teachers.' Comprehensive list of annotated resources.

PurpleMath - "Your Algebra Resource." Seemed quite symbolic (not a lot of interactive applets or applications) on my first visit. Very complete. Offers a lot of explanations of topics such as factoring and intercepts. Has a good list of math links. Also has and explanation and example of the classic word problems-scroll down to the bottom (such as age, coin, and mixture problems).

WWW Interactive Mathematics Server ("WIMS") - Search engine, puzzles, online plotters and calculators, more. This site has some excellent activities. This site is rather hard to navigate, (and for me to provide reliable links) so apply some problem solving. I really like Correspondence (for learning about 1-to-1 and onto functions for advanced math students) and Magic Rectangle (for middle school students to practice addition and problem solving simultaneously).

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics (aka Wolfram MathWorld) - Math World from Wolfram Research. Lot's of interesting topics - many advanced topics. Very interactive and dynamic. See also:

• Demonstrations.wolfram.com
• Functions.wolfram.com
• Integrals.wolfram.com
• WolframAlpha - 'computational knowledge engine'
• The Mathematical Explorer.
• Wolframscience.com - (huge) book. Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science, available online.

Maths Online - This page contains prepared links to more than sixty online tools for every day purposes, and some hints where you find more. Function plotters, calculators, and symbolic processors. "Maths Online" comes from oversees. Also has The Gallery which consists of interactive multimedia learning units an many topics including derivatives.

Mathematical Moments - This program promotes appreciation and understanding of the role mathematics plays in science, nature, technology, and human culture. Download this series of pdf files. It's from the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Math Awareness Month (need link) - Each year there is a theme intended to, you guessed it, promote math awareness. Lots of interesting activities, ideas, and archives from the Mathematical Association of American (MAA).

I.S.B.E. - Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). See also the list of ROE's (my ROE page). or the IARSS Site (which includes the "ROE Minimum Requirement Document," updated December 28, 2006) or a map showing the ROE's.

• Illinois Licensure Testing System - click for exam dates, frameworks, and study guides, including the Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT test). Note: June 30, 2013, Illinois (ISBE) is moving from a the Teaching Certificate to the Professional Educator License (PEL).
  • Elementary Education (Grades 1-6) Test Framework (Test #305) - Objectives for the content test for Elementary Education majors. At WIU, the content test is taken prior to student teaching. This information is from the ILTS (Illinois Licensure Testing System) page. MathHelp.com provides review materials.
  • Mathematics Content Test - (Test 208) This is the content test for Mathematics majors who want to teach in Illinois. Framework At WIU, the content test is taken prior to student teaching. Click here for suggestions on preparing for the content test. This information is from the ILTS (Illinois Licensure Testing System) page.
  • Math Content Standards for Teachers - Illinois Part 27. See 27.130 (See also the NCTM section for the NCATE/NCTM Program Standards.)
• Teacher Evaluation Page - this is page has information, links, and resources regarding teacher evaluation. Includes information on PEAC and PERA. This is mainly for practicing (in-service) teachers.
• Part 20: Standards for Endorsement in Elementary Education (including math).
• Part 21: Standards for Endorsement in the Middle Grades (including math).
• Middle Grades (5-8) Mathematics Test (202) - first test date was 2/20/2017. See also, the next item.
• Middle School Programs - After Feb. 1, 2018 new rules will be in place for candidates wishing to get endorsed to teach middle school. The following document (from ISBE), titled The Future of Illinois Middle Grades, is very useful.
• Illinois Learning Standards - click to see (or download) the Illinois Learning Standards (ILS).
  • Livebinder of Model Math Curriculum
• Past (old) information: PSAE - Prarie State Achievement Exam
  • PSAE-ACT: Math
  • PSAE-Workkeys: Applied Math (has been removed).
• Illinois Education Job Bank - lists of job openings for teachers.  See also Employment Opportunities.
• Early Childhood Learning Standards - Standards for Pre-K (similar to ILS) students.
• My page titled "Miscellaneous Notes on Licensure" - just a place I write down technical information on teacher licensure (formerly 'certification') requirements.
• Assessment of K-12 Students - The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. IAR assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English language arts and mathematics to all students in grades 3-8.; SAT, PSAT 10, PSAT 8/9  Beginning in spring 2017, ISBE began requiring all public-school students in grade 11 to take the SAT with Essay.

SAT and ACT Test Prep

• SAT Test Prep page from Khan Academy
• ACT Test Prep page
• SAT and ACT. What’s the Difference & How to Prepare for Both Exams [GUIDE 2022]

Universal Design for Learning - Nicely organized theory and website (by CAST). The UDL Guidelines are based on three principles.

National Mathematics Advisory Panel Final Report - On March 13, 2008, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel presented its Final Report to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education.

Math Reference Sheets

Reference Sheets - Has math reference sheets for algebra through calculus.

Paul Dawkins Trig Cheat Sheet - one of my faves. Trigonometry.

Geometry Reference and Formula Sheet - from AIMS. Posted by the Arizona Department of Education.

College Algebra Quick Reference Sheet - no graphs, but lots of symbolic algebra.

Regents Exam Prep Center- for the NewYork Regents exam. Practice problems.

NutritionData.com - good source for data on food. If you want to write problems using real-world data and rates, this is a good site. Actually shows the food label for virtually every food.

Top 50 Teacher Websites for Seriously Dedicated Educators - mainly blog for a wide variety of topics from Assistive Technology, to Creativity, to edTech, and much more.

Hotmath.org - Hotmath provides free solutions for actual math homework problems in many popular textbooks, Algebra I & II, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus (High school). The problems are worked step-by-step.

Multimedia Math Glossary - For grades 1 to 8.

Google Drive - I'm impressed with this.  Google drive is a form of cloud storage (always available via the Internet). You can create (google) forms which send information to (google) spreadsheets.  The forms can be used to assign homework or quizzes (see Flubaroo-next item).

Flubaroo - Grading Made Easy - This guy (a teacher, Kurt Wismer) has created a script which runs in google spreadsheets to grade a quiz or assignment. It is real slick and it give a nice report. The site explains the steps well.

IHMC Concept Mapping Software - Free! download.  Concept maps are great!  Here's software for creating, saving, updating, and sharing concept maps (you can also print, publish to the web, and more)! 

Probability Explorer - excellent! Probability Explorer is a research-based software application designed with tools that enable students and teachers to design, simulate, and analyze a variety of probabilistic situations. It costs, but there is a free demo.

SimCalc MathWorlds - Software. Research and development in technology and curriculum
dedicated to helping all students understand the Mathematics of Change and Variation (including ideas underlying Calculus). This Kaput Center for Research and Innovation in STEM Education (at UMass Dartmouth) was lead by, the late, Dr. James J Kaput.

Poly - a shareware program for exploring and constructing polyhedra. Manipulate solids and their nets. Fold and unfold nets. Pedagoguery Software Inc. in Canada

Graph Paper Printer - Free program (software) for printing your own graph paper. To download it is probably best to search for "graph paper printer" at download.com. This software has been around for a while. I still use it. Very customizable.

Peanut Software - This is great software and it's free!  "Wingeom" does many of the same things as Geometer's Sketchpad (and some new things too).  There are other titles.  Downloads are fast.  Click here for a 1-page handout on Wingeom (Word doc).

Cabri 3D - Another dynamic geometry software package. Specializes in three dimensional geometry. Has a 30-Day free trial.

GeoGebra - "dynamic mathematics software for schools that joins geometry, algebra and calculus." Open source and free!! My Geogebra Page (geogebraatwiu.pbworks.com).

NonEuclid - NonEuclid is Interactive Java Software for Creating Ruler and Compass Constructions in both the Poincaré Disk and the Upper Half-Plane Models of Hyperbolic Geometry (non-euclidean geometry).

StatGames - consists of 20 games—or challenges—that will help you test and refine your statistical thinking

Mathgv Function Plotting Software - free I haven't used it, but it has been recommended by others.

SpeQ Math Software - This is a small, extensive mathematics program with a simple, intuitive interface. Easy and USB-portable (I think) CAS program.

Topology and Geometry Software - by Jeff Weeks. KaleidoTile was updated November 2005. See Torus and Klein Bottle Games. This is another place to interact with the frieze and wallpaper patterns (Kali - slightly different from Kali at the Geometry Center).

Mathematical Visualization Toolkit - Excellent (easy to use) 3-D (and 2-D) plotter, by the Department of Applied Mathematics at CU-Boulder.

QuickMath - Automatic Math Solutions. This is a free online CAS (computer algebra system). This will factor polynomials, solve equations, do calculus inegrals, and more. Powered by WebMathematica. Warning: this is an answer-giver, and may be more detrimental than helpful in helping students understand mathematics.

Of course these have educational use as well.
History of Mathematics archive - Very complete.  Has a poster of the day page.  Mathematicians of the day.

The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences - By The OEIS Foundation. (Originally from AT&T.) Type in a sequence, such as 1,3,6,10,15,21,28 and it will return lots of information about the sequence.

A Geometric Proof of Heron's Formula - with lots of nice diagrams. Uses the right angle inscribed in a semicircle, geometric mean, similar triangles, (and more). It's a long proof but reads pretty well.

What's Special About This Number?

Inverse Graphing Calculator - Generates an equation whose graph says...what ever you type in! See also the article on the equation of a segment.

Number Gossip - Enter a number and I'll tell you everything you wanted to know about it but were afraid to ask - including if it is a weird number.

Geometry Atlas - Self-proclaimed as "the web's largest collection of geometric formulas and figures, all available in MathML, Maple and Mathematica input and Geometry Expressions files."

Open Problem Garden - This is a database of open problems (unsolved problems) in mathematics. For example, the Collatz conjecture.

Tricki - repository of mathematical know-how. Advanced math. College- and graduate school-level. This is a "wiki-style site that is intended to develop into a large store of useful mathematical problem-solving techniques. Some of these techniques will be very general, while others will concern particular subareas of mathematics."

Searchable database of the Mathematics Magazine and the College Math Journal - from the Math Department at Harvey Mudd College.

MathOverflow.net - A place for mathematicians to ask and answer questions.

Convergence - Where mathematics, history, and teaching interact. A magazine of the Mathematical Association of America.

Shortest-path Algorithms - A clever demo of various shortest-path algorithms.

Free University Courses Available Online - there is a growing number of providers. These, generally, are free (and there are quizzes/tests) but you don't get college credit on a transcript. They do provide lot of usable materials and videos. I do not have personal experience with these, so you'll have to find out yourself which ones work well. Here are some links to explore.

• Open Courseware Consortium - Math (and other subjects) Courses online - a number of universities have put course materials online (for free).
• MIT OpenCourseware - (MIT is the leader) a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world. See also the video archive. MIT-OCW app.
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Coursera - partnered with top universities.
• Online Education Database
• Open Culture
• 50 Top Sources Of Free eLearning Courses (posted 9/2012)
• See also the wikipedia article on MOOC's (Massive Open Online Courses) which has a list of links.
• The Ultimate Collection of Online Courses

Study.com (formerly Education Portal Academy) - Good high-quality online videos. Including math videos.

Mysterious Number 6174 - Interesting article on this interesting number.

Top 100 Theorems - One person's opinion. Work in progress, but worth a look. (see also)

Mathematical "Imagery" - The connection between mathematics and art goes back thousands of years. Has Advents Kalendar. Has Five Intersecting Tetrahedra (which I'd like to build someday). From the AMS.

Linear Algebra Toolkit - A number of modules which are designed to help a linear algebra student learn and practice a basic linear algebra procedure, such as Gauss-Jordan reduction, calculating the determinant, or checking for linear independence. From Old Dominion University.

GameTheory.net - Interactive Materials, Quizzes & Tests, Lecture Notes, Dictionary, Games

Origami Links:

• Fourth International Conference on Origami in Science, Mathematics, and Education - under Robert J Lang's page.
• Paper Art Reproductions: Learn Origami!
• Origami USA
• Unfolding Mathematics with Unit Origami - This is the book I have (in MERO too) and use for Math and the Holidays.
• How to Fold a Penultimate Module - modular origami.
• Mathematics of Origami - click the YouTube link. I hope to check this out further some day and build the Bucky Balls!
• Modular Origami - uses modules (different from "unit origami" modules).
• "Complete Guide to Origami" - lists of links.
• The following links may be broken. I'll keep them, I hopefully they can be fixed):
  • Origami Mathematics - The mathematics of paper folding. Includes Five Intersecting Tetrahedra. (I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to someday.)
  • Pentagon-Hexagon Zig-Zag (PHiZZ) Unit - Uses modular origami units. (I haven't tried it yet, but I hope to someday.)
  • The 59 Stellations of the Icosahedron - The Triakisicosahedron and more. Origami.

Comprehensive List of Math Resources - Calculators and pages on everything from ANOVA's to Cross product of 2 vectors. Most are not designed to be educational, but answer-givers.

The 'Top Three' (OK, my opinion today) sites for making (and hosting) free websites are:

• WordPress.com - 27% of all web pages on the Internet are created using WordPress. High quality. Fully functional. (I use it extensively.)
• Blogger.com - It's from Google (so it's good and stable). Popular.
• Weebly.com - Popular. Must be easy to use, I see it often.

Text Formatting Using HTML Tags - How to manually use HTML tags to get, for example, bold print, or super^scripts.

HTML/XHTML in one page - nice cheat sheet.

Link Checker - Check links on a page. You can also use Check My Links in Chrome.

My notes from year ago on making Web Pages - The big picture.

Math (and symbols) in Web Pages and (Math on the Web) Tools

• HTML Formula tool - Scroll down and click "maths online HTML formula tool." This is helpful for putting formulas on a web page (without using graphics)
• w3schools.com - the world's largest web development site. HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and PHP, (oh my!). Has tutorials and a nice Try It Yourself feature.
• Math Symbols in HTML - Good explanation of what's going on.
• Geometry symbols - a page to copy an paste from (e.g., ∠, °, Δ, etc.)
• Graphemica -  a comprehensive site with 1000's of characters and codes.
• Unicode Characters - click to copy.
• Codecogs.com - (click Open Editor) great tool for getting math on the web. Easy once you know how, but it is useful to have an explanation. Drop by my office and I can show it to you in five minutes.
• Equation Sheet formulas and codes - includes code for Latex, MathML, etc. (ex.)
• HTML Characters - These codes can be used in Word. There is much more, including upside-down text (ʇxǝʇ uʍop-ǝpısdn). http://www.whatsmyip.org See also http://whatismyipaddress.com/.
• Superscripts and subscripts to copy an paste.
• Math.typeit.org - another useful tool where you can get math symbols and copy and paste them out -- for example to twitter.

Web Page Hosting

• WordPress.com - comments above.
• Blogger.com - comments above.
• Weebly.com - comments above.
• EducatorPages.com - teachers can make web sites, free.
• Google sites - a good place to create (store) web pages (sites) free. Blogger is more popular.
• pbworks.com - Create a wiki. I use this site and like it. Formerly pbwiki.com
• 1and1.com - this is the company I use (I pay money, it's reasonable) to have drjimo.net and my sub-domains.

§» Internet Stuff

Speed Test Sites

• SpeakEasy Speed Test - test the speed of your internet connection, for uploading and downloading.
• Speed Test - (another site to) test the speed of your internet connection, for uploading and downloading.
• Can also us TaskManager (in Windows8 and higher) and the Performance tab.

Is the website down checkers:

• Is It Down RightNow
• Down For Everyone Or Just Me
• Downdetector
• UpTimeRobot - website monitoring service.

QR Codes

• The-qrcode-generator.com
• QR Code Reader app for iPad: QR Code Reader by Scan (Scan, Inc.) in app store

§» Computer Hints

Computer Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts - on Windows, Word, Internet Explorer, Power Point, etc. I don't have much yet, but hope to add to it. This is a place I look if I've forgotten how to do something (e.g., making a sticky space in Word).

• Basic Computer Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts
• Intermediate Computer Hints, Tips, and Shortcuts
• Online Needs - This is a page of needed plug-ins for Internet use and online courses.
• Web Page Summary - This may help if you are making web pages.

PureText - Have you ever copied some text from a web page or a document and then wanted to paste it as simple text into another application without getting all the formatting from the original source? PureText makes this simple. Free download. The program runs on your own computer. I use this daily.

Dropbox - Any file you save to Dropbox also instantly saves to your computers, phones, and the Dropbox website. 2GB free.

To make a Geometer's Sketchpad file into a JavaSketchpad file so that it can be viewed on the Internet. You have to Save As and select .htm format and you put put it in a folder which also houses the JSP folder.

For more information, see www.dynamicgeometry.com/javasketchpad/about.php.

Coolors - tool (website) for making color palette. Has a Pick Colors From Image option.
Material Design Colors- easy (click) to get the color number. Including Social Colors.
Color Scheme Designer 3 - use it to find colors that look good together.
HTML Color Plalette (and more) - for web page designers. from www.w3schools.com

Color Number Converter- convert color numbers from one format to another.
Encycolorpedia- Most everything you want to know about color numbers.

Color Picker - for web page designers.
Gradients - uigradients.com

Colour Numbers - Another utility that may help find color numbers.

Web Safe Colors - Colors (with numbers) that work on any browser. Here's another.
Colors on the Web.com - tools for using colors on the web.
ColorMatch 5K

Canva - a good tool for combining graphics and words. Will make collages.

A Few Things I've Learned About Google Images- Video (by me).

A Few Things I've Learned About Wikipedia Images- Video (by me).

Online Image Editor - Good image editor. Includes (under Wizards) a tool to make areas transparent.

OpenClipart.org - Unlimited use and in the public domain.

ClipArtMag - free clipart.

Copyright Free Images - handful of sites. Clipart and photos.

Pikwizard - free images library.

FreeImages.com - Free photographs. Can be used as PowerPoint backgrounds.

FreeImages.co.uk - UK version

FreeDigitalPhotos - Royalty free photos for business and personal use.

Pixabay.com - free high quality images.

TheNounProject.com - Icons for everything.

TheNounProject.com - "Our community is building a visual language of icons anyone can understand"

Graphics (and icons) from Smashing Magazine

ICOConvert - a free online icon maker and favicon generator. With it you can make icons from png or jpg images.

JPEG Compress - Resize and optimize the images including GIFs, JPEG, PNG, JPG, SVG, and WEBP.

Resizeimage.net - a free online graphic re-sizer. (Similar to ICOConver.)

TinEye - Reverse image search. Find where/other places an image appears on the internet.

Da Button Factory - Da Button Factory lets you create appealing buttons for websites, in no time and for free.

Call-to-Action Button Generator - free and simple to use.

 

FreePik.com - Free Vectors, PSD, Icons and photos.

Giphy - Very good site. Can make your own annimated gifs and can find Gifs. Let's start making these for math!

Animated GIFs - Use these as you would a regular gif.

Logomaker - Free. Make your own, professional looking logo.

Lite-Brite Applet - This is an online version of the "old" Lite-Brite game. It could be used to create a graphic sign.

Glitterfy - Custom glitter graphics - photos or words. Can make photo flipbooks.

Christian PowerPoint backgrounds - From heartlight.org. Searchable or all listed here (482 as of 11/05).

Imagechef.com - Nice site. Multiple tools, including how to create custom images with your text on them, a Word Mosaic (cloud), and more.

Says-it.com - Custom make signs - on a McDonalds sign, pop can, delivery truck, and more.

Word Clouds

♦Word Art - Powerful word cloud program. wordart.com

♦Tagxedo.com - Another site to create word clouds.

♦MonkeyLearn word cloud - I haven't used it yet.

♦Wordclouds.com - I haven't used it yet.

♦Worditout.com - I haven't used it yet.

Fodey.com - Creative graphics elements - Ninja, clapper boards, and more.

Nown Project - Large collection of highly recognizable ("international") symbols - could be used as icons.

Seamless backgrounds - at patterns.ava7.com

A few scanning tips - Information on Image Resolution and much more.

Software

SeaMonkey Suite (Formerly Mozilla Suite) - This is free and includes is a Web browser and HTML editor (the "Composer," for making Web pages) (and has advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, an IRC chat client). The Firefox browser is also from mozilla.org and is very popular. Download for free.

Bravenet.com - Lots of free tools (including web page counters) for web developers. Founded in 1997.

Online Needs - This is a page of needed plug-ins for Internet use and online courses.

E-mail Stripper - free program to cleaning the ">" and other formatting characters out of emails, so they're easier to read. Very easy to use.

Videoguys.com - Learn here how to put videos on to DVD's. See the DVD Q&A, which is part of the DVD Cookbook.

Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus Software - Spyware is software that runs in the background of your computer (and spys on you). WIU recommends Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy (use the bulleted links below). See also WIU's resnet site. Lots of good reading on security issues can be found at firewallguide.com.

• Ad-aware anti-spyware software - go to the lavasoft.com site for the free download.
• Spybot S&D - free download.

SMART Board Information - Interactive Whiteboard

• SMART Technologies for Education - They are committed to helping children learn and have many resources for teachers. Part of Smarttech.com.
  • Free SMART Board software - I have found SMART Notebook to have many advantages over PowerPoint if you are teaching a lesson live. With SMART Notebook the slides can be interactive in that you can move objects around and add and subtract things during the live teaching of the lesson.
  • Educator resources - lesson activities, free software, professional development programs and more.
• SMARTer Kids Foundation - provides grants to schools and higher education.

Mimio Information - Interactive Whiteboard

• Mimio.com - download, support, and more. Mimio Studio (Notebook) User's Guide. Quick Reference Card.
• Mimio Basics Handout - This is a handout we prepared for a Mimio workshop.

StarOffice Suite - This office software package is free for educators. It is similar to Microsoft Office, but it is from Sun Microsystems. Has word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing tool, and database. Click the education link. You do have to register and the download takes a while.

OpenOffice - This office software package is free. It is similar to Microsoft Office and to StarOffice. It is from Sun Microsystems (as is StarOffice-I'm not sure of the relationship between Star- and Open-Office).

GIMP - The GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages. Similar to Photoshop.

Downloads - Winzip, Dreamweaver (30-day trial), Palm OS, you name it. Nicely organized and downloads are rated for quality.

Fonts

• Fonts.Google

  wordmark.it - preview words with the fonts installed on your computer.

• BetterFonts.com - lots of free fonts to (easily) download.

• Free Premium Fonts - ditto.
• Simply the Best Fonts - (self-proclaimed).

Butterick’s Practical Typography - This is a quite comprehensive (online) book on fonts and typography. His typography in ten minutes and summary of key rules are concise and a good place to start. He has lots of good ideas - and he is also selling his fonts (hey, everybody needs to make a living).

$$ Finding Grant Funds $$

• Ten Commandments of Mathematics
• Ten Commandments for Mathematics Students (Jim Olsen's version)
• Math Teacher's Ten Commandments
• The Ten Commandments of Mathematics (alternate version)

• Nation's Report Card Available - The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011 results are out. See the nice interactive map. 4th and 8th graders are tested every two years, including 2011 (for which the results are now released). 12th graders were tested in 2009 and are expected to be tested again in 2013. NAEP National Assessment of Educational Progress (Math portion) The Nation's Report Card sample items. (or here)

• Strategies for Classroom Management - concise list of tips from the Florida Department of Education.
• Disciplinehelp.com - A discipline model and tips for handling over 100 different misbehaviors at home and at school. 
• General Classroom Management Ideas - by Kimberly Steele. Including ideas for rewards and rules.

• Bulletin Boards and 3-D Showcases that Capture them with Pizzazz - online book available from www.netlibrary.com/.
• Ideas for Bulletin Boards - by Kimberly Steele.

Teachers First -  many resources available.

The Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education - A Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization looking to to improve the quality and outcome of mathematics, science, and technology education.

Mathematics placement at Western Illinois University for incoming students - More information about the ALEKS Placement Test. High school students are strongly encouraged to take a mathematics course their senior year.

Why it is important for W.I.U. to make a commitment to the preparation of teachers - three documents

• The Illinois Board of Higher Education adopted The Illinois Commitment: Partnerships, Opportunities, and Excellence as the goals for higher education for the first decade of the 21st century. Goal #2 states, "Higher education will join elementary and secondary education to improve teaching and
  learning at all levels."
• W.I.U. is a member institution in the Renaissance Group, a national consortium of colleges and universities with a major commitment to the preparation of educational professionals. The Group holds the principle that the importance of the education of teachers is an all-campus responsibility.
• W.I.U.'s Strategic Plan Higher Values in Higher Education. Our values state that we are committed to an academic environment that encourages lifelong development of our students as teachers and that we will serve as a resource for and stimulus to economic, educational, cultural, environmental, and community development in our region and well beyond it.

So, Just Who Uses Math Page - Career Information Links

The Mathematical Education of Teachers (MET Report) - The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) is an umbrella organization consisting of sixteen professional societies (MAA, AMS, NCTM, AMATYC, ...) all of which have as one of their primary objectives the increase or diffusion of knowledge in one or more of the mathematical sciences. This report is a very important report in teacher education.

"Sites of the Day"

PDF2Go.com - Rotate, split, merge, create PDFs and more.  Online and free.