Confession: I’m a sucker for sparkly objects. What does that have to do with helpful websites to teach math?
When I discover a new website or a new tool, I’m going to try it out. It’s a sparkly object that grabs my attention. And I’ll even confess I’m typically quick to fall in love with these sparkly objects.
But that love doesn’t always last. I’ll give up a website just as quickly as I fall in love.
However, there are some tried and true websites that I use each and every week in my classroom. Those are the ones I want to share with you today. Maybe they are tried and true websites for you too. Or maybe they are forgotten treasures or even sparkly objects.
Whatever they may be for you, I believe they can benefit both you and your students.
Before we dive into these 5 websites, I have to say that while technology is great there is still a special place in my heart for good ‘ol paper and pencil activities. My students tend to agree. Though they are fans of technology, especially when it provides them with immediate feedback, they are also quick to say that prefer working math problems on paper. I like to do a good mix of both technology based assignments and paper based assignments.
Using choice board templates are easily my favorite way to utilize paper based assignments. You can download this free choice board template and sample to try them in your own classroom.
Build Up Your Technology Toolbox with these Websites to Teach Math
Okay, let’s dive into my 5 favorite websites to teach Math. In no particular order…here we go.
EdPuzzle
Edpuzzle is by far the most used website in my classroom ever since I decided to flip my classroom and start teaching through video. It allows you to share a video with your students while formally assessing them at the same time through embedded questions. When you embed questions, the platform forces the video to pause as students answer those questions. It can also prevent students from skipping through parts of the video and jumping straight to the questions. Students have the option to rewatch sections of the video if they need to hear that information again before answering a question. Edpuzzle allows for both multiple choice questions and open response questions. You can also pause the video with a note. This is great when you want to remind students to write something down or check their notes about something.
Formative
A few years ago my district moved all of our common assessments to Formative. While it may not have been decision to start using Formative, I love it. There are more question times than I could possibly mention here. As a Math teacher, my favorite one is “Show Your Work”. With this feature students are given the option to use the draw feature or upload a picture of their work. This is the perfect solution for my students who prefer to work their math problems on paper. They can work the problem out on pape rand then take a picture to upload to their assessment. Formative also has a large question bank to pull from which has saved me a ton of time in creating my own assessments.
Quizizz
I use Quizziz almost as often as I use Edpuzzle.. This is a wonderful way to provide students with practice problems because they can have anywhere from one to unlimited attempts. Often times when I assign them a practice through Quizizz I will set a required score that they must reach, but also tell them they may do it as many times as they want until they are happy with their score. I choose to set it up so that it shows them when they get something correct but it does not show them the correct answers if they miss a question. Quizizz is constantly working to add new features and improve their platform which is much appreciated. They just recently added some new features specifically for math.
Boom Learning
Another website that provides students with immediate feedback is Boom Learning. This is one that I use as practice after teaching a new concept. I love that I can design cards to force my students to solve problems in a certain way. For example, they just completed a set all about Order of Operations where they have to solve the problem in the correct order without taking any shortcuts. Check out this blog post if you want to learn more about boom cards.
Quizlet
This fifth and final website is easily my students’ favorite out of the five. Quizlet is a great tool for teaching and practicing vocabulary. Quizlet Live is a favorite in my classroom. I try to bring it in every Friday as a warm-up or end of class activity. Students don’t even realize they are learning math vocabulary because they are so engaged in the game aspect of it.
I hope these websites help bring some excitement and engagement to your Math classroom. I also hope you save some time grading using those self-checking websites. Don’t forget to check out this post to learn more about Boom Cards.
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