Here is a little history about the journey of e-zgeometry.com.
In
the summer of 1998, I got ambitious and began designing a website for my high
school geometry classes. I put the usual things on the site (the syllabus, the
course expectations, the basic instructor information, and a list of our upcoming
assignments and tests) but I also wanted to provide my students with more 
resources.
This desire prompted me to summarize the entire textbook so that they would
have additional notes to reference while at home or during class if they had
printed them out. The support resources continued: I linked to my textbook's
online quizzes, I provided a few quicktime videos, and I also made a few java
applets for interactive discoveries but the most popular item that was created
was the PoW, the Problem of the Week. Each week students would
be given an online weekly geometry challenge problem that would push their understanding
and ability. The site was a great resource for my classroom. Over the year the
resources of the site grew and so did its impact. I found many of my students
finding greater success in geometry because of this support mechanism.
Next
came outside interest - what I didn't know was that other teachers had found
my little corner of the web and wanted their students to use the site as well.
Mostly they wanted their students to participate in the PoW. Wow... this was
very flattering. So of course I opened the PoW up to anyone who wanted to participate
in it. Little did I know that this eventually turned into 600 to 800 PoW entries
a week and at that time I graded them all myself. Before I knew it, there were
at least 60 teachers of 24 different states using the site regularly. (Thus
the formation of the e-zgeometry friends). It was amazing!!
It was this huge success that led to a very special award that I received. In 2003, I was named by RadioShack, as one of their National Teachers of the Year. (Article I - The View) or (Article II - The Review Journal) This was a great honor but even more rewarding was that this little site was making such a huge impact on classrooms and students.
While
I know a little about web design, the site started to show its age and I didn't
know how to upgrade it...... My answer to this dillema came in a transfer to
a new school. I changed schools and landed myself at, the technology magnet
school in Clark County School District. When I was hired at Advanced Technologies
Academy I discussed my interest in forming a class of the school's most talented
programmers, graphic artists, multimedia designers to redesign the site and
make it into a national website for all schools. The principal loved the idea.
It has taken us two years (New Site Posted on May 1st, 2006) to get the site ready for the public but it has been a wonderful journey and I am sure that you will love the site as much as we love it. The site is 100% free, and 100% designed by some very talented students at A-Tech.
Mike Patterson
e-zgeometry.com Lead Designer
Advanced Technologies Academy
Las Vegas, Nevada