When I first started this class (and the BEd in general) I was so nervous! I remember feeling so ill-prepared to become a math teacher and I was worried I made the wrong decision. From this class, I gained confidence and comfort in my skills, specifically through the group and individual micro-teaching. The biggest thing I learned this semester is that math isn't black and white, it can incorporate outdoor education, art, and even movement. My favourite articles to read this semester were the Skemp article, Flow ted talk, and Battleground schools. All three of these articles made me reconsider what mathematics education truly is, and I hope to incorporate these new concepts into my own classroom.
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Friday, December 22, 2023
Textbooks
As a teacher, I understand why the examples are focused on who the textbook is aimed for, and specifically the language used in textbooks. A wordy textbook may be one that turns students away and is not accessible to students, especially students who are ELL. I also think the language of textbooks can either be engaging or disengaging for students. For example, if the textbook is full of problems that students cannot relate to, like the train is travelling east at 30 km/h example, students can become quite disengaged. Additionally, teachers should be previewing the textbooks given to students because let's say a textbook was written in Montreal and focuses on examples around Montreal, this can be disengaging for students that live in Metro Vancouver.
As a student, I always used my textbook as a tool to study with. I remember from a young age my mom and I sitting with a math textbook and working through the problems so I could be prepared for tests. I always saw the textbook as a holy grail, holder of all knowledge, until I got to calculus in grade 12. In grade 12 I really disliked the textbook we were using in class and I supplemented what we were using in class with resources online. Additionally, as a student, I always found textbooks to be too wordy. I also always found myself losing steam by the time I got to the challenge questions and would often leave them, not necessarily because I did not understand them. I think as a student I would have benefitted from harder and easier questions being dispersed throughout the textbook.
I think textbooks are a great tool for students to have something to fall back on. Textbooks are also great for parents who want to be involved in their child's learning and see what we are doing in the classroom. However, with our everchanging curriculum, textbooks must be supplemented with additional resources. Teacher made resources can often be tailored to student needs, and can provide students with more direct instruction than a textbook can.
David Hewitt and Mathematical Awareness
One stop I had while watching the video is the idea of powers of the mind. Hewitt brings up a good point that students are often relying solely on memory in the classroom rather than thinking and working out why math works the way it does. I think a lot of this comes from the traditional teaching technique of stand and deliver, students are able to take the backseat while the teacher is doing all the thinking and hard work. Using thinking classrooms can help put students in the driver's seat and take control of their learning.
I also enjoyed that Hewitt did not explicitly tell students if they got the question correct but instead lets them figure it out on their own. I think this is important in the classroom because it moves away from the idea that the teacher is the holder of knowledge and rather encourages students to be independent.
Finally, I also liked the idea of doing math verbally. I can see that working very well for certain students who are auditory learners. It can also work well for students who get overwhelmed by mathematics when it has been written down. However, I can also see how for certain students this method of learning can be inefficient because they get confused when things are not written down.
In my own classroom I would love to try out thinking classrooms and fostering independence in students. I feel these methods are quite beneficial for students because it helps them take accountability for their learning.
To solve the fraction problem of finding a number between 5/7 and 3/4 my first step was to make sure they both had the same common denominator. So the numbers would now be 20/28 and 21/28. Hence a number between 5/7 and 3/4 could be 41/56.
I think Hewitt created these problems to be solved as a problem of day or as a way to start off an inquiry-based lesson. All the problems in the video are great examples of problems that have multiple correct answers which can help students understand that there are multiple ways to approach even one problem!
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