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Learning algebra is difficult for most students. Ask any student what they are learning in algebra and you will probably receive an answer similar to this (after - Why do I need to know this?). "Using Xs and Ys a lot, a bunch of numbers and symbols, and memorizing a lot of rules." This often comes with learning algebra without connection to anything students can relate to. When students learn basic math, they can make a lot of connections.

A framework is provided for making connections between everyday math problem and solving real world math problems. Connections are made regarding project based learning for teachers new to the process, along with recommendations for teachers who are veterans of project based learning.

Teaching Algebra is always a challenge with students, because it is procedural driven and typically taught without any connection to the real-world.

"Use the display and the slider to see how shapes up made up from their nets." Nice visual showing one net for each solid 'fold' up to make it.

Wikis are the most popular Web 2.0 tool being used in science and math classrooms. Based on a survey of readers - 43 percent use them to support their teaching and student learning. A Wiki is appealing, encourages participation, supports collaboration, and promotes interaction by students who love to use technology. By the way - this includes most students today!

Nils Baas of the Norwegian University demonstrates some unusual topological structures that have implications for "new forms of matter."

Want to let students explore with real data then welcome to FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data), a database of 25,176 U.S. economic time series. With FRED® you can download data in Microsoft Excel and text formats and view charts of data series. Students can explore data, create models & hypothesis, and test their models as the year progresses. If their models aren't working they can go back to their original data set and make changes based on what they've learned and see how those predictions work on new data. The best part is the variety of data that is available.  We plan to continually improve FRED® and encourage you to send feedback through our contact form.

Mathematicians at Emory University make a breakthrough in the study of partitions of numbers, using insights from fractal geometry.

From the abstract (full text requires subscription): "Many organisms can predict future events from the statistics of past experience, but humans also excel at making predictions by pure reasoning: integrating multiple sources of information, guided by abstract knowledge, to form rational expectations about novel situations, never directly experienced. Here, we show that this reasoning is surprisingly rich, powerful, and coherent even in preverbal infants. When 12-month-old infants view complex displays of multiple moving objects, they form time-varying expectations about future events that are a systematic and rational function of several stimulus variables. Infants' looking times are consistent with a Bayesian ideal observer embodying abstract principles of object motion. The model explains infants' statistical expectations and classic qualitative findings about object cognition in younger babies, not originally viewed as probabilistic inferences."

Mathematics Teacher Noticing is the first book to examine research on the particular type of noticing done by teachers---how teachers pay attention to and make sense of what happens in the complexity of instructional situations. In the midst of all that is happening in a classroom, where do mathematics teachers look, what do they see, and what sense do they make of it?

A great maths game were players add or subtract fractions to make their racing car go faster. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/maths

A nice maths whiteboard resource where users make flag with fractions of colours. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

Make thousands of printable maths worksheets on many areas of the curriculum, such as basic calculations with + - x ÷, time, measure and money. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

A 13-yeard old naturalist shows how he applied the Fibonacci Sequence to patterns of tree branch growth. Evidently he wasn't done, by any means: http://inhabitat.com/13-year-old-makes-solar-power-breakthrough-by-harnessing-the-fibonacci-sequence/

Movie box office data that is current and very comprehensive. Several different trends are easy to track including exponential, and log functions. Great for using with students to create regression models, making predictions based on the models, checking the results and re-analyzing. Also, when a movie doesn't follow the predictions there are often easy to understand reasons for why the movies behave differently (a holiday weekend may cause the movie to gross more on a given weekend than predicted, etc.)

" The customized interface creates a one-to-one learning environment with the professor while emphasizing graphical explanations and working through solution steps. Below each lecture video are detailed notes which highlight the most important points to remember as well as common student pitfalls. A powerful search engine also locates the exact time in a lecture your problem topic is discussed. Lastly, student comments are moderated by our instructors make sure any questions you have are answered."

Postings include tips on teaching math facts, and information about two math practice books, Two Plus Two Is Not Five: Easy Methods to Learn Addition and Subtraction and Five Times Five Is Not Ten: Make Multiplication Easy.

This unit looks at visualisation as it relates to mathematics, focusing upon how it can be used to improve learning. It will also identify ways in which to make more use of visualisation within the classroom....

Our activities during Mathematics Week focus attention on Mathematics and Mathematics Education with the aim of making Mathematics more interesting, attractive, relevant, challenging, rewarding and engaging to learners and the community at large, e.g. by highlighting the impact of Mathematics on our daily lives and stressing the importance of Mathematics as a foundation for careers in science, technology and managerial jobs. Mathematics Week is a vehicle to popularise Mathematics and to increase public awareness, understanding and appreciation of Mathematics.

I'm a teacher who's doing whatever it takes to make math meaningful for her students.