Math resources to enhance excellent instruction in the classroom.
Community Review for Math Central
My Take
The wealth of information available in this location is amazing and even better since the site is accessible in three different languages. This is critical, especially since we are seeing more and more diversity in our classrooms and more need for translated materials. The resources alone in the resource room can assist teachers and students in understanding major and minor concepts in math. The links of information, learning, and application of concepts are important and presented well here. The site is not really intuitive, but the links are working and students who can read can easily find their way around the site and navigate with ease. A few of the resources are dated on the website ( IE conferences and learning opportunities) but the learning available through the research materials and resources far outweigh those dated items.
How I Use It
This website has been useful for me in and out of the classroom. I have assigned portions of it for my students to use in research, and have also given the url to parents to use as a learning support at home. We have used this site for writing in math, and have had students select famous women mathematicians to research and share. Older students at our school have used the careers in mathematics section to explore different career options in math and the possibilities if one was to major in math in school. Some of the additional learning activities are outdated, but overall there is too much great information on this site to not use it in the classroom and as a discussion starter for students in the classroom as well. The Quandaries and Queries section is great for inquiry-based activities and questioning.The vocabulary and concept links are excellent and can be used for independent learning with older more advanced students, or for reinforcement with struggling students or those that need a bit more support. I have also pointed educators to the bulletin board on this site which lists key mathematics organizations for scholars and educators.