use in our US educational system are based on the textbook selection process in Texas, Florida and California (our three largest states in terms of population), and not so much on the quality of the textbooks or the curriculum. Math instruction and math in general has gotten such a bad rap, that our newer math teachers are using different techniques for teaching math, supplementing whatever curriculum has been adopted by their district. We have a lot more kids coming into our educational system that have learning disabilities or differences, and they don’t always do well with the more traditional teaching styles (lecturing and doing worksheets). Therefore, you’ll see a lot more manipulatives and visuals used in the math classroom. There are even curriculum materials that make learning algebra visual and kinistetic. See: http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/topic_t_2.html

I know of one teacher that uses origami

(the practice of folding paper to make things like animals) to teach geometry. See: 3-D Geometric Origami

by Rona Gurkewitz. Available on Amazon.

I would check out the website given by the first person who answered this question as well as this website:

http://mathforum.org/teachers/

i am in college to become a math teacher, and i always go here for links to sites to give me ideas. hope this helps!