In the article, Learning to Speak Math, Jennifer Demski (2009) discusses how “The presence of a bilingual educator is proving pivotal to the success of technology initiatives aimed at developing Spanish-speaking students' grasp of both the concepts and the language of mathematics.” This article discussed two different classroom situations that their was a need for students with low math skills to receive some additional help. In one class, the teacher used Help Math website to aid her students. Demski states (2009)“Badger found that the use of the software quickly sparked the students' enthusiasm for learning math.” The technology helped target individual math needs but they still needed the assistance of the teacher to aid with the technology.

The second technology tool they used in the article was called BrainX. They discovered this was designed more for ELL students. Therefore they found it was helping their students to be successful. Demski (2009) writes “Forty-seven percent of the school's ELLs--including students in ELD--passed the exam; per Phipps, that's a 10-point bump north from 2008.”

In my school, I deal with ELL students daily in every class I have on my schedule. This was a great read to help give me some tips on what programs I could use in my classroom that will help my ELL students to be successful. I will have to make some accommodations to assist those students who will need to use the program but I look forward to the challenge.

Demski, J. (2009). Learning to Speak Math. T.H.E. Journal, 36(8), 18-22.

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The article discussed the struggles of comprehension problems in the middle and high school level students. The authors Palumbo and Loiacono (2009) give the following statistics about reading levels: “Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that from 1992 and 2005 approximately 30 percent of fourth-grade students in the United States read at a proficient level or higher and approximately 36 percent of fourth-grade students read below the basic .students performing at or above basic level decreased from 80 percent in 1992 to 73 percent in 2005.”(p. 75). This is a struggle to try to get students at such different levels of reading at the same time to the proficient level. Therefore there is a need for some assistance to aid these students because differentiation can only cover so many levels of reading.

According to Palumbo and Loiacono (2009), they “believe that current technology offers both special and general education teachers teaching at these levels the opportunity to use instructional cloze to improve students’ reading ability and enhance subject matter knowledge.” (p. 75). This is valuable because as a teacher trying to reach many different levels you need some tool to cover all the various needs. Teachers appreciate having valuable tools that will aid in the classroom to help their student succeed.

I think the article was a good example of an useful way to use technology in the classroom. The authors stated “Instructional cloze offers teachers a number of benefits and can help them meet many of their classroom goals: cloze can engage students in subject matter knowledge, help with word recognition problems, teach subject vocabulary, and improve reading skills.” (p. 77). As a classroom teacher with struggling reading students this gives me encouragement to use this type of technology in my classroom.

Palumbo, A., & Loiacono V. (2009). Understanding the Causes of Intermediate and Middle School Comprehension Problems. International Journal Of Special Education. 24(1), 75-81.

Here is the link to the website for the article. Comprehension Problems

In the article, “For the technologically challenged: Four free online tools to liven up a mathematics classroom” the author Maria Northcote discusses four different free tools that any teacher can use in their classroom. The first tool shared is an online stopwatch, which can be used as a class, small group, or individual tool. Virtual chance tools are the next items that are discussed for usage by students to complete probability activities. The group of tools includes dice and spinners. The third item was an interactive number board. This is useful so (2015),“teachers can modify to explore and demonstrate number patterns, sequencing, and place value.” (p. 20) This is a vital concept for math teachers to teach students.  Last tool shared is (2015), “the online game-creation tool Quizlet (http://quizlet/com/).” (p. 20) Each item is discussed and ideas are given to teachers to decide if it is a useful tool to contribute their classroom.

As far as tools, I think the suggested ones are excellent for levels K-5^th and can be somewhat useful for 6^th  - 8^th .  The Quizlet tool could be used for older students beyond 8^th grade. Maria Northcote made several suggestions for usage that I did not think about as a way to use the given item. In the article, Northcote gave a table of how to evaluate whether or not a technology tool is useful for a teacher. She then provided a blank table at after the descriptions of all the tools for the reader to evaluate the tools she shared.

In conclusion, I would use each of these tools in my classroom. In using the timer, I would only use one for the class. I think it would be too distracting to have multiple alarms sounding off at different times. The other worry is that there are not enough technology devices and the connection will fail. I look forward to utilizing Quizlet especially in my classroom as part of instruction and assessments.