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Mary Lyon Pilot High School

Geometry Class Monthly
By: Carol Wu
New Technology This Year!
This year, Mary Lyon Pilot High School has made it a priority
to incorporate more technology into our classes. With the
newly added SMART boards into each of our classrooms,
we are adopting more technology-based programs into our
teachings. Featured in this months newsletter are two new
programs that I will be incorporating into my classrooms this
year: Geometers Sketchpad and Educreations.
Oct 6, 2014
Parent Teacher
Conferences
Oct 13, 2014
Columbus Day
No School!
Oct 17, 2014
Chapter 5 and 6
Unit Test
F A L L 2 0 1 4
Why Use Technology in
Classrooms?
Technology-based
programs provide a more
efficient and accurate way
of solving problems.
Technology has become a
part of our daily lives, so
why not incorporate it into
math education?
Technology will allow
students to be more
involved in the teaching of
lessons.
Supplies Needed for
Geometry Class:
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Graph Paper
- Binder


2
THE LOREM IPSUMS SUMMER 2016
Geometers Sketchpad
What is Geometers Sketchpad?
Geometers Sketchpad is an extremely interactive
program that allows students of various grade levels
to manipulate models to deepen their understanding
of the multiple relationships between geometric
transformations, manipulations, and so much more.
Specifically, the program allows students to create
their own figures and observe how the figures
change according to certain manipulations. This
program provides visual representations of the math
concepts that we will study, which will enable
students to understand the concepts at a deeper
level.

In our next unit, we will be introducing the
Pythagorean theorem and how it came about. Using
Geometers Sketchpad, students will be able to see
exactly how the Pythagorean theorem was created
and how it can apply to any right triangle.
The visual representations featured in this program
will greatly benefit students who prefer to learn
visually. The easy manipulations of the figures
created will benefit students by enabling them to see
that a manipulation of any size will satisfy the
Pythagorean theorem.
Students will be able to use the Geometers
Sketchpad program themselves so that they can
create and manipulate their own figures while
exploring the geometric concepts we cover. The
interactive feature will further deepen their
understanding of the concepts.
FALL 2014 Geometry Class Monthly
The Geometer's Sketchpad is the world's leading
software for teaching mathematics. Sketchpad
gives students at all levels--from third grade
through college--a tangible, visual way to learn
mathematics that increases their engagement,
understanding, and achievement Key
Curriculum Press
How will students benefit?
The educational approach of Geometers
Sketchpad is exactly what Math teachers
are seeking! The accessibility of the
program enables both students and
teachers to easily use the program and
model mathematical concepts in a very
accurate way.
This program is very appealing in that it has
various tools that are available including the
basic transformations as well as even
creating ones own transformations.
With some guidance, I believe that
Geometers Sketchpad is more appropriate
for students in middle school and above.
The features are a bit hidden and may be
hard to find for first time users.
Why use Geometers
Sketchpad?


3
THE LOREM IPSUMS SUMMER 2016

Educreations
Educreations is a global community where
anyone can teach what they know and learn what
they do not know. The website is very accessible
and offers public lessons that individuals can
base their own lesson plans off. In addition to
having public lessons available to everyone,
Educreations is a forum for teachers to record
and upload their lessons for a private class so
that their students can access them at a later
time. What is unique about this program is that
the lessons are interactive in such a way that
teachers are working through problems live on
the online whiteboard while their voice is being
recorded.
Geometry Class Monthly
FALL 2014

Two words: awe-some! Educreations allows you to record presentations
with your own guiding hand evident on the screen. Write and speak over
images or on a blank screen and then play back your presentation, share it
with your students, or with the world. You become Khan, but you dont need
to become an expert with an artists tablet. Any interactive whiteboard or
iPad will allow you to do the same thing Khan does, only better because you
can imbed images Jack West from Sequoia High School
What is Educreations?
will not have to worry about copying down all
the notes and can focus on listening to the
teacher instead. Students can re-watch
lessons through videos, which can be paused
at any point. This feature benefits students
who learn at different speeds. Also, the
lesson template allows for different color pens
to be used, which may help visual learners.
How will students benefit?
Educreations allows teachers to upload their
exact lessons from class so that students can
access them at a later time. The lessons even
include the notes that the teacher adds during
the lesson in addition to what the slide
already includes. This will benefit students
because students
Why use Educreations?
Not only does Educreations provide teachers
with a template for lessons, it also records the
notes and voice of the teacher while the
lesson is happening. This is exactly what all
math teachers are looking for! Thus, the
educational approach to this program aligns
with the needs of math teachers and
students. The program is very appealing
including being able to upload ones own
presentation in the background of the
template. Educreations is perfect for all grade
levels and all ages. It is very accessible and
easy to follow.