Thinkfinity

**__Thinkfinity__**

Thinkfinity.org is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation's literacy, education and technology initiatives. Our goal is to improve student achievement in traditional classroom settings and beyond by providing high-quality content and extensive professional development training. Thinkfinity makes it easy for educators to enhance their classroom instruction with lesson plans, interactive activities and other online resources. Thinkfinity also provides a wealth of educational and literacy resources for students, parents and after-school programs. All of Thinkfinity's 55,000 standards-based K-12 lesson plans, student materials, interactive tools and reference materials are reviewed by the nation's leading education organizations to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, unbiased and appropriate for students.
 * Description of Thinkfinity:**


 * Thinkfinity URL Link: ** [|**http://www.thinkfinity.org/home.aspx**]

Lesson 1: This lesson has students working with slope. First the students learn to determine wether the slope of a line is positive or negative. This lesson then goes on to have the students using triangles that express the rise and run to determine the slope of a line and express the slope as a fraction.
 * Thinkfinity Lesson Links: **

Lesson 2: This lesson has students going through the process of graphing two lines given a set of point, coming up with the slope, y-intercept, and equation for the two lines and then having the students determine the point of intersection for the two lines. This lesson is applying the concepts of this unit to a real life example of comparing prices.

** Process/Other Items to Explore: ** My process for selecting the lessons that I chose was their ability to present the concept of slope exactly how I would in my classroom. When I present slope to my students I often have them use a slope triangle to help them to determine the slope of a line and this is how the Thinkfinity lesson presents it as well. I like this because it is an extension to what I have already taught. I can use this lesson to reinforce the concept. As for the second lesson, I decided to build upon the previous lesson and unit. This second lesson has the students graphing lines when they are given a slope and y-intercept. This is a concept that I teach but I chose this lesson because it actually has my students applying this concept to a real life example. I think it is important for students to be able to take a concept learned in class and apply those skills to a real life example. Other items that I found interesting on Thinkfinity was, the Maps for students. Although I do not teach social studies I found the maps to be very helpful for students who are in a geography class. You are able to locate specific countries or continents. The Essay Map was also very interesting. This is a tool that students can use to help them format an essay if they are working at home and don’t necessarily have the teacher right there to help them. For parents Thinkfinity has many resources from interactive games or activities that they can have their children play but they also even have free courses that they offer to students. Thinkfinity has so much to offer and it is a great resource for everyone from teachers, to students, to parents.

I found this project to be very helpful for me as an educator. As a teacher you know that there are millions of resources out there for us online but Thinkfinity is extremely helpful. I was able to find so many different lessons available for concepts that I currently teach in my 8th grade Math classes. I was able to search and find specific examples that go along with my curriculum. Thinkfinity not only offers lesson ideas but also worksheets and interactive links that would be very engaging for students. I am glad that Thinkfinity was introduced to me. After searching and looking at all the resources that thinkfinity has to offer I plan to incorporate many of the interactive lessons into my current lessons. I also learned that Thinkfinity also has a lot to offer to both parents and students as well, such as interactive games and resources.
 * Reflection: **