Terrified ---------> Excited!!!

For my final blog post this semester I will answer the question:
What was your greatest 'learning' this semester with regard to teaching children mathematics? How has your thinking shifted?

     I can honestly say that the biggest shift for me this semester, in any of my courses, would have been in this mathematics course. I feel as though I went from terrified to teach math to children, to excited about it. 

     I never considered myself to be very strong mathematically, but I have realized that I definitely know a lot more than I realize and a lot more than I give myself credit for. A light bulb went off for me when I was taking a certain University math course, the professor would always show at least 2 or 3 ways to solve each problem. It was one of the first time that math started to make sense to me again since I was a child. What I realized in that course, and a believe that was only strengthened this semester, is that while there may be one right answer but there is not one right way to reach that answer! I was left thinking, how does everyone not teach math this way! A subject that is often so stressful and feared by many students as they get older and it becomes increasingly difficult. Don't teach the students how you find the answer, help them find their way and teach them how they reach the answer! If you have students who learn in different ways, you teach it in a variety of ways so that everyone gets to that answer, so that everyone has a fair chance to find their math strengths.

     I learned that math doesn't always have to be a work sheet or a test, that students should not feel pressure or be put under time constraints. Math is so important, we need to instill a love for it in students, not turn them off from it completely by making it a negative experience. 

     Math can be fun! Teachers can learn just as much about their students mathematical abilities by watching them play games and complete problems, by having them prepare their own problems for a math fair. Observation can absolutely be an assessment tool used in math learning. 

     I have feared having to teach children math, especially with my teaching interest being in the elementary grades. I now realize that I don't have to fear teaching it, and I can teach it in a way that the students walk away with a positive attitude towards learning math. It is no different than any other subject, make the learning, fun, interesting, and relevant and you be successful. 

     Thank you for a great semester! You have helped change my views, and give me confidence when it comes to teaching mathematics. I can not wait for my internship!

Joanne

Classroom Resources for Math

    

     Recently in class we were able to view all the classroom resources provided to teachers for mathematics in the K-6 classrooms in the Newfoundland and Labrador school system. While we have had some exposure to these materials before it was useful to see all the material for each grade together as a collection, to really be able to gauge what we have in each grade to help us along the way. I think, as with the curriculum resources for all grades, it is important to realize that these are not the only math resources we can use in a classroom but the main guide as to where our math should be at each grade level. I think it is important to review all the materials for the grade level we are about to teach, and then to reflect on that material, to consider what we do and do not like about it, and how we would go about teaching the specific materials and lessons. As our textbook states "To make decisions about the use of a textbook, it is good to have an objective view of textbooks and the role they can serve in instruction" (P.61). While the textbook and curriculum materials provide a base, they do not need to be seen as the be all and end all of teaching mathematics. 

     From looking through the materials provided to all the grades I did find it surprising how for kindergarten to second grade there was a large selection of materials to help give a visual to the material being covered. By third grade students were only provided with a workbook/textbook, that was not colorful like those of the earlier grades and was now just a black and white dull looking workbook. I can understand a gradual change from the more colorful childlike presentation, but it was an instant drop from a collection of colorful pictures books and a full color workbook, to nothing but a black and white work book with no additional resources provided. I believe that leaves it even more so up to the teacher to find appropriate resources for making math fun and interesting for these students. 

     Something else that stood out to me while browsing the curriculum materials was some of the actual material itself. For example I found it odd that in the sixth grade in one unit they would be learning how to shade a circle to show a fraction such as 1/3, and in the following unit they would be doing division with two and three digit numbers. I find these two lessons to be very different levels of difficulty, so different that it was hard for me to grasp how they could be for the same grade level. While they are different aspects of mathematics the level of difficulty still seemed to be extremely different. 

     I believe that as teachers we are provided with a large selection of resources to use to guide us in our teaching, but they are just that, a guide. We have to use our own knowledge and experience to create lessons around the provided learning objectives that truly engage the students in learning. From experience in this and other courses we have taken, I know that there are countless other resources out there for us to turn to when we want some additional information on a specific lesson or concept. I have also heard many parents state that they sometimes have trouble helping their students with math homework because many ways of doing math have changed since they were children. I think it is important for us as teachers to also take that into consideration, if the parents are able to help students with their math homework more efficiently students may grasps concepts more quickly and have more positive attitudes towards math. The teachers personal webpage they use for their class to keep students and parents informed on whats going on would be a great way to share websites and resources with parents that can help them at home. YouCubed is an excellent example of such a resource. We need to always be trying new things and finding what works and how to reach each new class of students we meet, each student is different but there is always a way to reach them and help them enjoy learning.

Text sourced: Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally by: Van de Walle, Folk, Karp, and Bay-Williams (2011).

YouCubed... Making math make sense!

     Math is often a dreaded subject, for teachers, for students, and for parents. Often the problem is not the material itself but how it is being taught. " Research has shown that there is a better way to teach math that leads to math empowerment rather than math failure." (YouCubed.com). 

     YouCubed is a website aimed at making learning math more enjoyable for everyone involved. It aims to make students aware of how math plays a role in their everyday lives and can help and be of benefit to them. It is being spearheaded by Jo Boaler, a math specialist from Stanford University.

     The website contains a ton of useful information, especially helpful are the videos. The videos aim to help build "self-confident, math-loving children and students" (YouCubed.com). It is a great resource for teachers to find new ways to approach math in the classroom, and be able to actually watch videos of it in action. There are also some really great math games that teachers can choose from to help emphasis a math concept being taught. I know myself as a child I would have definitely grasped math concepts better through using them to play a game, heck that would probably still work just as well for me now! On top of that YouCubed keeps the activities basic enough that anyone can do them, and no special equipment is needed. All you need for a full list of their elementary aged games are a few balls and some glow sticks. 

     Another great aspect of this resource is that it is free and also accessible by parents. So if a teacher were to find a very useful video that clearly demonstrates a math concept that is currently being covered in class, the link could be shared with the parents. I know many parents would be grateful for information that will help them help their child with their homework, especially for math. 

     Once YouCubed is fully operational it will be an amazing resource for all teachers, parents and students. I for one see myself turning to YouCubed when I am planning my math curriculum throughout the years. I think it will also help me as an educator gain more confidence in my math abilities, and even more so in my ability to teach math in an effective but fun way!

What is Math?

Math is...

• Numbers
• Symbols
• Equations
• Sometimes frustrating
• Figuring things out
• Budgeting
• Shopping
• Baking
• Shapes
• Designing
• Building
• Creating
• Sudoku
• Cooking
• Thinking
• Measuring
• Understanding
• Statistics
• Music
• Time
• Travel
• Challenging
• Science
• Space
• Direction
• Invention

Math is all these things and more.

All these things and more are math.

Math is important. 

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

     I thoroughly enjoyed Sir Ken Robinson's 2006 Ted Talk on education and creativity. I agree with very much of what he said, we teach young children to be individuals and that they can be anything but then we often completely counter that in the education system. As he pointed out the students in kindergarten this year will be retiring in the year 2065, we cant even imagine what the world will look like then. While this doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to educate students for the world we currently live in, why cant we do that as well as help them find their true selves and be the best person that they can be? Maybe then they would have a better chance at success in a future that we know nothing about. 
     I believe it rings true when Robinson said that "creativity is as important as literacy", this is in no way saying that literacy is not important, but that we need to stop pushing the idea that creative is the lesser of the two. The world is full of endless possibilities for children in the beginning, but we began to force upon them the ideals of our society and what is expected of them and suddenly their possibilities began to shrink. Students began to fall into the hierarchy of school subjects with all their time focused on the maths, languages and humanities with a small fraction of their time in the arts. Students are being educated based on where they can fit in today's work force, pushed towards diplomas and degrees. Of course it is in no way a bad thing for students to be receive the best education, but who are we to say that the same education is best for all students. 
     Why don't we offer more of a variety? More options and personal choice? As Robinson pointed out, there are so many brilliant minds out there in our society who do not believe that they are brilliant simply because they were not very good in school. Why does the general education have to define who is and isn't brilliant? Perhaps it can distinguish some of the best mathematicians and lawyers, but what about the famous artists, dancers, musicians who are also sitting in those classrooms trying to find their calling? No one would say that the education system is a waste of time and has no benefits, of course it does, but we need to recognize that in a class of 25 students we may have to teach things in 25 different ways, and we need to allow all of those students to explore their creativity in as many avenues as possible. Once they have truly found their niche, don't push them away from it, let them explore it to its fullest, let them truly discover who they are. 
     I found the story of choreographer Gillian Lynne to be especially moving. How many students just like her are sitting in today's classrooms with all their energy and talent being bottles up. I remember one of my close friends in high school who was a dancer, all she ever wanted to do was teach dance. She was always told she should have a plan b, it wasn't a secure enough choice, she needed a career. She was an average student and if I remember correctly after her third try gave up on trying to complete grade 12 math. She didn't listen to people and put her dreams of being a dance teacher on hold to go to college or university, she pursued her passion. Now at 30 she owns her own dance school and is incredibly successful. She had a strong enough sense of self that she didn't let other discourage her from her dream, and many young dancers today have the pleasure of learning from her. 
     Education isn't a tiny box that everyone can be squeezed into. It is so much more. I believe it is a downfall of our society that often those who have the chance to pursue their passions in sports, dance, drama, music, etc. are only those whose parents have the time and money to enroll them in private programs. Everyone should have equal rights to that portion of education, schools need to offer a bigger variety of learning. People shouldn't have to wait until they college of university to start discovering where their passion lies, if they feel strongly enough and have a talent it should be explored as the earliest possible time. That's not saying that everyone shouldn't have a certain base education, but there needs to be so much more. As a teacher who has a prescribed curriculum to follow I hope that I can use my own creativity to bring as much of the arts and other aspects of learning into the classroom to help all my students realize their potential in their own way. 

Math Autobiography

      Hello, my name is Joanne and I have math amnesia. Severe math amnesia. My mother says I was always good in math when I was young. I assume I was average, never the top of the class or never struggled and for that reason it really doesn't stand out in my mind. The fact that it was 20-25 years ago really doesn't help either. When having a discussion in our class a few things people said did spark a memory for me here and there. I do now remember using the peg boards, and I remember playing with a lot of the manipulatives but mostly at recess time and not so many memories of actual math class. I remember tracing my numbers to learn to form them correctly and having number charts etc. around the classroom, but that is about as much as I can remember. Almost everything before junior high mathematics is a blur. From that point on my memories are very specific to really good or bed experiences in math and more specifically to certain math teachers. This was also the time in school when we began having different teachers for different subjects instead of just our classroom teacher who taught every subject, so that may also have played somewhat of a role in me being able to separate math class in my memories from other classes. 

      I began high school taking advanced mathematics, however by 11th grade I began struggling more and more in mathematics. I eventually switched to regular academic math. My success in a math course was greatly affected by the teacher. I had one math teacher who was amazing, very passionate about math and about teaching and he went out of his way to make sure he reached each and every one of us. I also had teachers who would stand at the blackboard and just teach a lesson and hand us a worksheet afterwards, their lack of enthusiasm and the fact they it appeared as though they didn't really care about our success, was greatly reflected in the class grades. Many of my classmates who in 11th grade had the teacher who was very passionate about learning did fairly well in math. By the end of 12th grade many of those people, now in the class with the teacher who did not seem to have the same passion, positive attitude or connection for teaching math, were failing. A large number of those students had to repeat grade 12 math. 

      In University I have taken math 1050 and 1051. I enjoyed 1051 very much but struggled a little with 1050. I failed 1050 once when I first came to university, another time I dropped it, until finally I found a professor that made it all make sense for me and I did very well in the course. I did not take any additional math courses or electives. 

     Other than keeping a budget for my household, and in my spare time doing logic and Sudoku puzzles, I don't feel that I engage in mathematics very much in my day to day life. I don't consider myself to be strong in mathematics at all, however I do feel that I know enough to be able to teach primary elementary aged students and hopefully instill in them a love and passion for mathematics that I had lost over the years. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog for ED 3940 at Memorial University. 

Follow along as I learn about and share ideas on mathematics education.