MTMI – Money Board

About Money Board
 The software for the money board was interesting to research.  I found this program on Mr. Hiatt’s computer and decided to use it since they had been talking about money in math.  This program has advantages and disadvantages.  The program is easy to use, and the directions are given clearly.  The computer screen shows the front and back of all the coins so that students can become familiar with how the coin looks on both sides.  There are also different levels of questions the students can chose to answer. This way, as they improve they can challenge themselves with more difficult questions.
 One disadvantage to this software is that it does not let the child work with place value.  When a child needs to fill in a money number the place value is already given. The student just needs to fill in the blanks.  Money Board is a program with sound. This would make it difficult to use in the classroom while others are trying to work.

How to use Money Board
 To work this program the student uses the mouse the entire time.  There is no need to use the keyboard.  At the start of the program the student will click on “2 How Much Money?” in the greeen triangle and follow the directions of the woman’s voice to chose a level.  We will chose level G.  Next, the woman will give the student an amount of money written on the screen.  (Example: $1.42)  The student then, using the dollars and coins at the bottom of the screen, needs to create that amount of money.  To create $1.42 he could click on a dollar bill and drag it up to the square, along with a quater, a dime, a nickle and 2 pennies.  When he finishes answering the question he clicks on the box with a green check in it in the bottom of the screen.  If he is right the woman on the computer will tell him and he will get to move on.  Once he has completed five correct answers the game is over.  If he makes a mistake in his answer the woman will tell him to check his answer.  If  he still gets it wrong she will tell him that he has too much or not enough money, to help him try to fix his answer.  Once he gets it correct he can move on to the next problem.
 

Software Evaluation – Reflection
 Aaron had a great time doing this lesson.  He enjoyed using the software, even though he had never used it before.  I only had to do a little explaining for him to understand what he needed to do.  He had no trouble following the directions the woman on the computer gave him.  He has a good grasp of money and what it represents.  He had trouble with one problem, but the computer woman told him he needed less money and let him try again.  He got it right. After we finished playing Aaron wanted to play again, and this time he played perfectly.  I then told Aaron to exit the program and he just clicked on the exit button with the mouse.
 This software may be better used in a third or second grade classroom.  Aaron was very confident in his answers.  We used the highest level when we played.  I would have liked to see him challenged a little more.