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VT's FREE Newsletter for Educators - Insight, Inspiration and Ideas that Work!
Have YOU been attacked by AL-GEBRA
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Hello everyone
Maths is a funny thing when you look into it.
At no other time in our lives do we ever sit done to do Maths, except at school. It is always done in association with other endeavours and professions. Geologists would be lost without it, accountants couldn't account, engineers biologists use it for simulations, mechanics use it, banks, forensic scientists, Doctors and architects us it, Insurance and well everyday folk us it to calculate tax returns and superannuation and credit card expenditure etc, etc.
Conrad Wolfram says "the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. In the YouTube video below he presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming. Not so radical though, Seymour Papert in his seminal publication "MindStorms" championed the use of computer programming for students to advance creativity and thinking in the teaching of mathematics.
And maths is more important to the world now than in any other point in history.
Creativity, imagination and thinking are touted as important aspects of teaching and learning and indeed important in mathematics. Yet they can't be taught where outcomes are known, based on a curriculum that contains the sort of stuff that is best tested by right and wrong answers.
What do you think? How are my teaching mathematics? How would you change it?
MATHSPOWER - FREE ONLINE MATHS TRIAL
Don't miss out try it now. It will make your life sooo much easier and your students will go ahead in leaps and bounds.
 MADE for Australian studentsDESIGNED BY Australian teachers
Thank you for your support & contribution! You can become a supporter too. Maths Hammers have you seen it yet? Take a look, lots of jokes stories and great maths, one of the most important thing to understand and learn in maths are times tables, it allows you guess, approximate and make informed decisions quickly and feeds creativity and imagination.
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Here are a few quotes from one of my favourite Maths Books.
Lots of great mathematical ideas, conjectures and theories that can be incorporated into lessons with students.
WONDERS OF NUMBER by Clifford A Pickover - Oxford University Press 2001 New York
Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier - Charles Kettering
If we wish to make a new world we have the material already.The first one, too, was made in chaos.
- Robert Qullen, OMNI magazine
No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. - Isaac Newton.
A mathematician is someone who can take a cup of coffee and turn it into a theorem. Paul Erdos
The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -
Marcel Proust
If we wish to understand the nature of the Universe we have an inner hidden advantage: we are ourselves little portions of the universe and so carry the answer within us. - Jacques Boivin, The Heart Single Field Theory.
The Universe is a great book which cannot be read until one first learns to comprehend the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is composed. It is written in the language of mathematics. - Galileo, Opere II Saggiatore
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Conrad WOLFRAM: Teaching kids real math with computers
MATHS is more important to the world than in any other time in history.
Maths is more important to the world than in any other time in history. From rockets to stock markets, many of humanity's most thrilling creations are powered by math. So why do kids lose interest in it? Conrad Wolfram says the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming.
Also take a look at the WolframApha site below.
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The Sony PS4 Makes Its Debut
You must watch this video it is amazing Yout students will love it - what an amazing future they have in front of them. This gaming technology is driving forward many advances in including interpreting deaf signing and converting speech into deaf signing onscreen.
Sign Language Translator
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MATHS
See what amazing results you get when you just type in your first name - your kids will love it.
ArthurBenjamin The magic of Fibonacci numbers
Math is logical, functional and just ... awesome. Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin explores hidden properties of that weird and wonderful set of numbers, the Fibonacci series. (And reminds you that mathematics can be inspiring, too!)
6minutes
MathematicallySANE
Promoting the rational reform of Mathematics Education - lots of great articles.
Mathematica
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Christmas
Santa Television What an exciting website and a fantastic way to investigate Christmas. View the Videos of the Northern lights, a Day in the Santa Claus Village, reindeer, and the magic of Roveniemi in Lapland. A huge number of Videos to watch at this site.
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MATHS
If you haven't looked at the Khan Academy as yet, check out the Maths resources there. Take the challenge and gain mathematical mastery, check your progress and graph your performance.
Join Calculation Nation andplay some really interesting mathematical games that require thinking and concentration rather than just calculation. You can play against other online gamers once you register but test it out as a guest. |
I do answer all emails so send them along with your questions ideas and great sites.
Hi there,
I also thought I'd pass along another useful resource that you might want to add to your page:
"The Ultimate Poetry Resource Guide" -
Let me know what you think - have a great day!
Best wishes,
Bev
Hey Virtual Teacher,
Hope to hear from you!
Trevor Zablocki
Hi Trevor - Interesting site goodluck with it.
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Next newsletter I will take a look at illusions - fascinating. 
Please send in any other great ideas or websites, whiteboard sites or fabulous things you are doing.
Join the VT conversation on twitter.
ciao
Cathy
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The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor, Cathy Brown. All other small print clauses apply. Such as: Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. If it doesn't work for you send an email or tweet me.
Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
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