Update on Blog

          My name is Jen Bokermann and I am at math teacher at Waubonsie Valley High School, District 204. I am married and am a mom to an active little boy.  I have been teaching for 8 years now and I currently teach Algebra 1 as well as Honors Precalculus. I got my Master's in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University only 4 years ago and I already feel as though my Master's is outdated. Technology is constantly changing by the second so I am always trying to stay current and keep up with the technological changes. My district is going 1:1 with Chromebooks and I am seeking ways of implementing into a High School math classroom!

       My goal is to use this Blog to help move technology forward specifically for the high school math classroom. I have found that some of my best lessons have incorporated a variety of technology tools.  The main issue that I have run into is TIME. It takes so much TIME to create one 45 minute lesson, and while that went awesome, now what am I teaching tomorrow...? AHH! That is why I hope that we as teachers share the awesome things that we are creating and then we don't all have to start from scratch!

    My go-to resource for utilizing Chromebooks in the math classroom is Desmos and more importantly Desmos Activity Builder. Link. You can search for premade content by Desmos or other teachers and either use their activities or edit what is already created. Students then work through slides at their own pace and use manipulates, discover, answer questions, and even card sort (matching). As a teacher, I can sit back, put my feet up(ha I wish), and watch exactly what slides my students are on and what they are answering. You can anonymize and pause the activity to instruct students further to draw their attention to questions or fix some errors. So if you aren't familar with the classroom activity builder I highly encourage you to check it out!