Abigail has made a very comprehensive list here for use in the classroom. On top of those, I was given 20 wooden handmade geoboards (they are my secret favorite) when another teacher from Delaware retired. They were works of art, handcrafted in his workshop. I also tried to balance the paid-for manipulatives with ones that were nearly free, cut from paper, or recycled items I collected. NOTE: this is all BC, before Covid so If I was teaching this today, I would have to change the focus. Our students at DTCC came from three states, PA, MD, and DE so they had very different experiences from each other in their backgrounds in school.
As to transfer, mostly use colored pencils in algebra II, or the finite class, to help the students learn to be organized in their thinking in difficult or "busy" problems, and Legos and counters in Descriptive Statistics,
and Math Talk in all.Thanks for asking. I will be using two of my favorite
nontraditional math problem activities in WEEK THREE of this month-long blog along with pictures of student work and individual student proofs.
Ruth
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Ruth Collins
Professor of mathematics education
Walden Univ (retired from a two year school)
Minneapolis MN
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-14-2021 20:04:38
From: Nancy Sattler
Subject: IMPACT in Action #2 - Manipulatives in the Classroom
Ruth,
What manipulatives were you able to purchase? What manipulatives do you find useful for two-year college students?
Nancy
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Nancy Sattler
Dean Emerita & Adjunct Faculty
Terra State CC (emerita)
Fremont OH
Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2021 12:46:25
From: Ruth Collins
Subject: IMPACT in Action #2 - Manipulatives in the Classroom
I have found that many two-year colleges will have small grants or pocket money left at the end of the fiscal year. We just asked and printed out a list. They got them all and put in a cabinet to store them under lock and key. It was great having the manipulatives right in the room for use. (I used to try to carry them down the halls to take them to MFET classrooms. ) I don't recommend that :)
Ruth
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Ruth Collins
Professor of mathematics education
Walden Univ (retired from a two year school)
Minneapolis MN
Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2021 09:15:48
From: Abigail Bailey
Subject: IMPACT in Action #2 - Manipulatives in the Classroom
I use manipulatives in MFET every week! When we are face-to-face, here are a few manipulatives I use. But since we've been online, I've hunted for open source online manipulatives to recreate these. GeoGebra has some good ones. I used to use NLVM, but my computer doesn't like Java. It has such a great library of virtual manipulatives. : )
- Cuisenaire rods, pattern blocks, popsicle sticks, base blocks (of different bases), color chips, number lines (both on the desk and taped to the floor), clocks, geoboards, fillable solids, rulers, protractors, etc.
I love using manipulatives. But it works the best when I have a nice worksheet to go with it. That way the students control the manipulatives instead of me. I'm going to take a peak at that Tactile Mathematics book Brian Winkel posted. It's a bit harder for me to do in some of my other courses, but I've slowly started.
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Abby Bailey, PhD
Associate Professor of Math
Elgin Community College
Elgin, Illinois
Original Message:
Sent: 07-08-2021 18:40:36
From: Debra Ward
Subject: IMPACT in Action #2 - Manipulatives in the Classroom
Research has shown that using manipulatives in the mathematics classroom has the potential to improve student achievement and understanding, increase math efficacy and fluency, and decrease math anxiety.
How and when do you use manipulatives (virtual or physical) in your classroom? Do you believe virtual manipulatives are as effective as physical manipulatives? Please explain.
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Debra Ward
Utah Valley Univ
Orem UT
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