Elsewhere on the Web
Here you'll find many of my favorite math and general reference starting points, as well as some other nifty stuff. If you are one of my students you'll hear me refer to most of these in class.
Math Reference
- MathWorld - this is a very good but very technical encyclopedia. Because it is so heavy with notation and jargon, it is most helpful for those who need to be refreshed on a subject. If you want to learn about a subject, I would look elsewhere.
- MathWords - a good vocabulary reference, arranged by topic.
- Wikipedia - I like Wikipedia as a math reference. The articles are written by (and for) many for whom English is a second language. For this reason, the explanations tend to be more direct and use less jargon.
- Purplemath - this is my favorite text site for extra help with algebra and more
- Khan Academy - this is my favorite video site for learning all kinds of math
- WolframAlpha - a wonderful computational knowledge engine. It's like Google but its answers are mostly calculations, measurments, counts, shapes, patterns (and more.) It can be particular about question syntax, but enter what you want to calculate or know about and see what you get...and don't forget to look at their examples to get the hang of how to ask.
- MathForum - this site has lots of wonderful stuff, such as “Ask Dr. Math,” but it can be very tough to find your way around.
- TI-84 User Guide - at ti.education.com (if you use this calculator, keep a copy of this file on nearby computers for reference)
- TI-84 Statistics - chapters 12 & 13 from User Guide (the two key chapters from the User Guide describing all of the statistical capabilities)
- TI-84 Video Tutorials - Atomic Learning's tutorials will give you step-by-step instructions to help you get started using the TI-84™ family of calculators to explore math and science.
- TI-Nspire Video Tutorials - Atomic Learning's tutorials will give you step-by-step instructions to help you get started using the TI-Nspire™ family of calculators to explore math and science.
Math Standards
- Common Core Math Standards - recently adopted Standards for Math; these will soon replace the ones above for Ohio and many other states. (It also has a useful appendix.) Assessments to these standards begin in 2014.
- NCTM Principles & Standards for School Mathematics - these are the original, more general, more extensive goals for Mathematics teaching and learning. They are a primary source for subsequent standards.
- Ohio Academic Content Standards - these are the standards that were in place at the time of the adoption of the Common Core above. They are now deprecated, but are the prior basis for curriculum design.
General Reference
- Answers - this is my favorite general (scholastic) reference site.
- Wikipedia - I rarely do any research without consulting this site, although to use it properly it is important to also look at the discussion tab (and the history tab if your subject is controversial.)
- Google - arguably the best general web seaching, ranked by links
- Bing - this is a site I use alongside Google for many investigations
- DuckDuckGo - one more general web-searching site
- Safe Computing Practices - a guidebook assembled by Microsoft for keeping yourself and your stuff safe online
Lakewood High School
- Student Handbook - the 2011-2012 Student-Parent Handbook
- Current Course Catalog - the 2011-2012 LHS Course Catalog; all the pages (but not the cover)
Computer Software
- Graph - free mathematical plotting software for Windows. If you need to quickly plot an equation, a function, or an inequality; it will do the trick.
- GeoGebra - free dynamic geometry software that goes above and beyond, incorporating features for connecting to algebra and calculus.
- Microsoft Mathematics - anyone running Windows should download and install this free 2D/3D graphing calculator that performs step-by-step equation solving and more.
- EditGrid - my favorite online spreadsheet software.
- Vertex42 - my favorite source for complicated pre-constructed spreadsheets; use them, but be sure to study any you use and make sure you understand how they work; all work in Excel, and many work in other spreadsheet programs (such as EditGrid, GoogleDocs, Open Office)
- Open Office - free word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software for Window, OS X, and Linux.
Recreational Math
- Erich's Math Puzzles - a nice collection of a wide variety of number, logic, and word puzzles.
MathLore ??
- So what's the story behind that goofy word?