What have I learned about Math?

What was my greatest learning this semester with regard to teaching children mathematics? If I had to choose just one thing, I would say allowing students to figure out for themselves if they have the "right" answer; if there is a "right" answer at all. Too often students rely on teachers for the right answer; it's time to let students think for themselves. There needs to be more authentic teaching that encourages higher-order thinking and connecting the real world to classroom activities. 

Through this course, my thinking about teaching mathematics has shifted quite a lot. I always knew that teachers should make math more fun, as it really does make the whole learning process easier. However, due to my own schooling, I thought it was required to complete worksheets and tests, but I now know (while both are still fine) you cannot rely simply on those methods. Schmidt (2007) says, "“Suppose I offer to teach you to ride a bicycle. I talk and wave my arms and pummel you with suggestions. Three months later, you’re bruised, bandaged, and scared - a loser against the forces of gravity. You take the bus or walk everywhere. So I ask, Did I teach you to ride a bike?” If our students are not learning, are we really teaching? There are many different learning styles in classrooms today and as teachers, it is our duty to ensure that all students are learning the material in a way that they can understand.

Math has been a struggle for many students as it has been simply about rote memorization and standardized tests. Personally, I absolutely love math and I didn't let that kind of teaching deter me when I was younger. In fact I would play many different types of math games at home (i was/am kind of a nerd) and that allowed me to see that math is more than simply memorization and can be fun! It's like disguising the vegetables in the pasta sauce; children love it without realizing they're eating vegetables! Students need to have fun while learning, if they're having fun they don't realize they are learning. I think by incorporating activities such as those in the SNAP math fair, we can revolutionize the teaching of math. I played several of the games at the math fair (including my own) and I have to say, I learned a lot. There were so many activities that I would implement in my own classroom. 

I also really enjoyed the class where this question was asked: "If the answer is five, what is the question?". I enjoyed it so much because students have to dig a little deeper to come up with questions. Some people said "3+2" and "4+1", while others said "10 divided by 2", "2²  + 1", and "the number of people in my family". This is an example of an activity where there is no one "right" answer, I feel like it is a great activity to use in a classroom as it truly demonstrates this concept and allows students to be creative with their answers.

After completing this blog, I have changed my answer to what my greatest learning experience was this semester with regard to teaching children mathematics. My greatest learning experience this semester is that it is okay to make mistakes, it is okay to be nervous about something; it's human nature.  

Mary, thank you for a wonderful semester and good luck with all that the future brings :) 

Source:

Schmidt, L., (2007). Social Studies That Sticks. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Resources in the Classroom

Yesterday in class, we had the opportunity to look through the resources available in K-6 Newfoundland and Labrador classrooms. I had been exposed to some of these resources already through my observation days, but had no idea there were so many available.

I think that the picture and lap books that are available for K-2 students are an excellent resource. The books have engaging pictures and simple text that facilitate the understanding of and interest students in the topics being taught. I feel that the "fun" is sucked out of math as students get older (grade 3 onward); there are no longer any picture books, the workbooks no longer have colour, and there is a lot more work being done from the textbook. I know this is necessary as students are maturing and are capable of now answering these types of textbook questions, but why should we take away the aspects that keep them interested and motivated? I know even as an adult, I am more attracted and more likely to pay attention to a worksheet that has bright colours and images as opposed to one that is dull with all text. Why are there no books available in grades 3-6 classroom resources? Due to a blog post for another course, I know for a fact that there is an abundance of math picture books available for K-6 classrooms. Some of these books include: The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins, The Sir Cumference Series by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan, and Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander. 

I feel comforted by the amount of resources available to teachers, however I know I will be incorporating these books and many other outside resources in my classroom. 

Youcubed

Youcubed is a nonprofit website developed by Jo Boaler to provide parents and educators with free and affordable K-12 mathematics resources. The goal of this website is to make math enjoyable for learners, by basically changing the face of mathematics completely.

I found the article Unlocking Children's Math Potential very interesting. I think it is absolutely amazing what the brain is capable of. With hard work and perseverance, anyone is capable of learning math. Boaler also talks about the importance of not allowing students to limit themselves because of fixed mindsets; students have to believe in themselves. It is important to make mistakes in math, if there are no mistakes, there is no learning being done. Finally the article states that there is absolutely no reason to encourage speed in math, as all it does is cause more stress for the students. Boaler’s article ultimately backs up everything that I already believed in. For a student to be successful in math, they not only need to believe in themselves, they need someone like their teacher or their parent to believe in them as well.

There are also a lot of great games and ideas on this website to engage students with mathematics. I think students would enjoy the Crazy 8’s activity with the glow sticks as it adds a fun element to a subject that may otherwise be boring.

Overall, it is a great website with a lot of new ideas. I cannot wait for it to be fully operational so I can use it as a resource in my future classroom.

What is Math?

Have you ever searched “What is math?” on Google? If you have you know there are approximately 445,000,000 results for this question. Many of the results state that math is about solving problems, numbers, quantity, logic, change, and so on. When I think of math, I think about problem solving, numbers and logic. When you think of math, you may think of something completely different; your answer depends on the experiences that you have had with it.

What does it means to do mathematics? Math doesn’t have to be about sitting down and trying to solve a problem on paper (but it can be). To do math, you could be counting your change when you buy your Dairy Queen, so that you don’t have to break a twenty. Or you could be measuring the length of the new table you want to buy, to see if it’s going to fit in your dining room. You could even be reading a weather graph of the temperature for the next week, to see if it’s really necessary to buy that new coat. Math isn’t always difficult, in fact most of the time it’s actually pretty simple.

What is going on if you are thinking mathematically? According to Doctor Edwin, “thinking mathematically is the ability to lift the abstract structure of a situation away from the specifics and answer it based on that alone.” He gives the example that he doesn’t have to sit down to figure out that two people times three meals a day, is six. Personally, I think that thinking mathematically means that you are taking things that you have previously learned and are using them subconsciously in every day life.

Are we killing creativity in schools?

This week we watched Sir Ken Robinson express his thoughts on creativity in schools. Throughout the video, Robinson had many interesting points about the flaws in our system, but the thing that stood out most was when he said was that we are educating children out of their creative capacity.  He talks about how children are not afraid to make mistakes, they believe in taking risks. When people make mistakes, they are learning. In the education system, students are encouraged to not make mistakes. Isn’t that a problem? Shouldn’t we be encouraging students to become creative? Encouraging them to learn? As educators, we are too focused on completing lessons and ensuring that our students come out on top in the main subjects (math, language, science) to focus on the arts, this is happening worldwide. Essentially doing exactly what Robinson is saying, educating children out of creativity.

Honestly, I found everything that he said to be interesting. The video was one of the most interesting things I’ve had to watch so far this semester. There were a couple of things that he said that were also somewhat troubling. The first thing he said was that the purpose of public education is to produce university professors because all schooling focuses on educating the head. People were once told “don’t do art, you’ll never be an artist” or “don’t do music, you’ll never be a musician”, and I think that is sad. You should never tell anyone that they cannot do something, especially a young student. Who are you to say what they can accomplish? Because of situations like that and the current education system today, students think they’re not intelligent enough. They feel like failures because they’re good at music and/or art and not the subjects focused on by schools. Another troubling thing was the story of Gillian Lynne. Her story itself wasn’t troubling, as she ended up being a successful dancer and choreographer. The thing that was troubling is how different her life may have been, had she went to a different doctor, or ever had been born into this generation. Her doctor was smart enough to see that she was in fact very intelligent and did not have a learning disorder, because of him she was sent to a school of dance and became very successful. Had she went to a different doctor, or had been born into this generation where everything seems to have a diagnosis, she would have been told that she had a learning disorder (ADHD), put on medication and would have stayed in regular school for the remainder, maybe never becoming a dancer/choreographer. The thing that troubles me most is this question: how many people could benefit from a different type of learning but never get the chance?

Why would this video be showed in a class for teaching children mathematics? The better question is why isn’t this video being shown in every education course that has to be taken? Robinson has many valid points throughout the entire 20-minute clip. We are educating more people than ever before and everyone is interested in education. Education is meant to take us into the future and unless we want to wipe out creativity and originality all together, we have to rethink the principles that we are teaching. All children have tremendous talents; we have to showcase these talents instead of trying hide them so we can teach the main subjects. Integrate a math rap or a science art project to allow students to show what they are capable of, to make school fun again. Educating a child’s brain is very important, but we have to begin to educate their whole being.

As Robinson said, “Intelligence is diverse, intelligence is dynamic, intelligence is distinct”.

In case you haven't watched the video, here it is:

Math Autobiography

Looking back on the Primary/Elementary grades, I can remember a lot about mathematics. In Kindergarten, we had a number chart on the wall, with the numbers 1 to 20. I don’t remember how often per week, but we would sit on the carpet and count. In grade one, there were numbers everywhere. We learned how to count to 100, by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s. We also learned how to write numbers 1-20. I remember every classroom having colourful posters with numbers, the operations, charts, and eventually multiplication tables.

My best memory of mathematics in my primary and elementary years is from grade two. Due to our school closing, we had limited space so the top ten students from grade two were put in a classroom with grade ones. I enjoyed helping the grade one students with their math (and other subjects) once I finished my own work. I believe that this experience was what set my mind on becoming a teacher, I enjoyed helping others and I loved school. I can honestly say that I have no bad memories associated with math.

I was very good at math. I know this because I never struggled with it and I always received high marks on tests and quizzes. I also know this because the teacher would always pair me with someone who was weaker at math, so that I could help them.

The role of the teacher in math class was to teach the concepts in a way that everyone understood them. I think she (always had a female teacher) did that fairly well as there were only a couple of people who had difficulty with the concepts. I think she felt very strongly about mathematics. She always had a positive attitude towards the subject and always tried to help those who were struggling by either pairing them with a stronger student or sitting down to help them one on one.

Assessment came in various forms. Most times I didn’t know what we were doing was actually an assessment. It’s only now that I know the different types of assessment that I realize what we were actually doing. I obviously knew that tests and quizzes were assessment, but we also had a problem of the week where we had to take home a math problem on Monday and have solved it by Friday.

I absolutely loved math in high school. I always loved math, but I had an excellent teacher and I think that really enhanced my love for the subject.

Once I came to university, I was turned from math. I talked to the academic advisors that came to my school before choosing my schedule. I had an A+ in math, but he suggested that I take math 1050 and 1051, as they were the best courses for the education faculty. I absolutely hated those courses. I achieved an A in both of them, but I really did not enjoy them. After that I swore I’d never take another math course unless I had to.


I engage with math on a daily basis. Even though those university courses turned me from taking more math courses, I still love math. I try to make everything about numbers. I always notice when the clock says 12:34 and I notice numbers on everything, for example on the bottom of drinking glasses (weird, I know). 

Welcome!

Welcome to Lemon Pi, my blog for the MUN Education course 3940. If you’re wondering why I chose Lemon Pi, it’s simply because I love lemons and I love puns.

This blog is designed to help me rediscover mathematics, communicate with my class, and publish my thoughts about mathematics.