Idea #1: Directory website for Secondary Math Teachers in New York City

Over the years working as an educator I have come to realize that there is no centralized location on the Internet or otherwise where educators can go to find all the resources they need to teach secondary math in New York City. The teachers that I am currently teaching as well as my colleagues all seem to have a common struggle and complaint when it comes to easily finding resources to aid them in their teaching. I propose creating a centralized website, a database, which can serve as a guide for all New York City educators that are teaching secondary math. The guide would provide links to different resources such as: ideas for lesson plans, free games and interactive activities, ideas for field trips in the NYC area that would directly relate to the curriculum with the explanation on how it relates and feedback from other educators on set locations. Furthermore it would also provide links to professional development opportunities for teachers, along with updated policy documents that directly effect and relate to education in NYC. The website would be fluid with the ability to grow and possibly expand.

Idea #2: Interactive Textbook (IBook)

I have worked with underprivileged high-school students in a high-need school for over five years. During that time it has always been a struggle to keep these students excited about math. They consistently seem to have a hard time relating to the material or having any interest in the material as it is provided through their textbook.  In order to overcome this to prepare them for their annual standardized test I have consistently had to get creative in my approach to teach them the material. This is why I propose to create an interactive I-Book to diversify the types of materials and activities my students would use on a day-to-day basis to prepare them for the annual standardized test as well as make them proficient in the material from the curriculum. Features of the IBook would include: the ability to add personalized notes to the existing material and highlight anything in the IBook. Ibook would include interactive activities, practice quizzes and tests, that would provide instant feedback for the students, links to relevant instructional videos and other material that is relevant to the curriculum

Idea #3:  Math-Test-Prep App

It has been my observation over the years that many of my high-school students spend a large amount of time on their daily commuting to and from school. This is time that has been lost to study in favor of smart-phone activities like Facebook or Youtube. I propose creating an app, which would give them an easy alternative to these time consuming activities, yet still be easy enough to use while on a bus or subway. This app would provide a rigorous regiment of exercises that would prepare them for standardize test. A feature of the app would be a push alert system reminding the user/student of what activity they need to complete for the day, the time remaining until their exam and a gauge of their progress with the material.