A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I have over 40 years of experience teaching high school mathematics, over 30 years with animation. I have taught all levels and topics within the mathematics curriculum for grades 8 through 12, as well as various computer science courses. For over two decades, two courses never were omitted from my teaching schedule – AP Calculus and Geometry.
Early on, I began to understand one of the reasons many students struggled with advanced mathematics. They did not see the ideas as dynamic, flowing and connected. Instead, they saw discrete images in which each problem was entirely different from every other one. Their mental images were rigid and needlessly numerous. Then in the early 1990s, I began to augment my teaching with Geometer’s Sketchpad animations. Beginning just with geometry, I quickly expanded their use to calculus and algebra as I witnessed the dramatic and powerful effect they had on my students’ conceptual development. The animations graphically demonstrate how many seemingly different problems could merely be slight variations of a single theme (or concept). My students did not become dependent upon the computer animations; instead, they were empowered to create their own mental images that adapt to varying parameters and grow from one situation to the next.
I am pleased to offer these animations for use in classrooms everywhere. What has taken me thousands of hours over many years to develop is immediately ready to use with your students. Just launch Geometer’s Sketchpad and open any of my finished animations. I am confident that you, too, will enjoy marked improvement in your students’ conceptual understanding, visualization skills, and enthusiasm, just as I have with my own students.
Sincerely,
Audrey Weeks
*Audrey Weeks is the sole author of all animations sold as “Calculus In MotionTM” and “Algebra In MotionTM”. In addition, since 2002, she has led professional development workshops across the US, and beyond (Canada, Australia, Thailand, Italy, Japan), and has spoken at state and national conferences, on teaching through animation.