I was hunting for new programs for the school year and came across Geogebra. It has apparently been around for a long time as it has won many awards, but this was the first time I have ever heard of it.
It is available for download on your computer for Windows, Macs and Linux. It has a great web site that accompanies it to show all the ways that you can use this program in your math classes. You can use it to show how to do something as similar as perimeters and area. (This is probably the main way I will use it.) Students can "play" with the graphs to see how changing the shape will impact the area and perimeter. You can also do much more, such as showing complex math formulas or playing with a Kaleidoscope in Geogebra. There are many examples from elementary school to college. I recommend you take a minute and download the program just to see what a good FREE program could do for your understanding of math.
