Blog 7

Blog #7! -Seeing Math as a "Language" 

Observation: Amount of estimation used in daily life events

Reflection: Today, October 11^th 2012, I had to fill up my gas tank. While doing such a repetitive task, it occurred to me the amount of math that is involved in such a routine process, specifically estimation. While at the gas station, if you want to "estimate" how much it will cost to fill up your tank there is a great deal of math that is involved in such a process.  

Reflection on the reflection:  If you wanted to figure out how much gasoline you need to put into your tank or how much money it will cost to fill your tank, there is a great deal of estimation that goes into this task. Firstly, you have to figure out how much the gasoline is per liter that day.  Today it was at 128.7. Next you have to take into consideration where your gas gauge was prior to filling (Ie. did you still have half a tank or was your tank on empty?). I do this every time I go to the gas station, and it has become a game that I play. As this semester goes on, I find it really interesting to see all the different ways that math can be applied to my every day life. It truly does make me look at math differently and believe that math is a "language".

Blog 6

Blog #6! Decimals & Baseball! 

Observation: After discussing decimals in class not too long ago, I found a way to make learning decimals a little more current and interesting for students. Teachers are always looking for ways to get students motivated in a subject, and what better way than to incorporate something current and popular among young kids- sports! Over the weekend, I watched one of the baseball playoff games, the Detroit Tigers against Oakland Athletics. While watching the very exciting game, it occurred to me how much math, especially division and decimal work goes into the sport of baseball!

Reflection:  To find a player's batting average, one would divide the number of times that player gets up to bat by the number of times he actually hits the ball and gets on base.  To then find the same players gross production average, you multiply his on-base percentage by 1.8 and add the slugging average and you divide by 4.  When doing all of these divisions and such, the answer is always written in decimal form.  For example, one of the greatest players on the Detroit Tiger's Miguel Cabrera, his AVG is 0.330, OBP (on-base percentage) is .393, his SLG is .606 and his OPS (on-base plus slugging) is .999.

Reflection on Reflection:  It is amazing how much sports really do incorporate mathematics.  Not only in baseball can you do the above math for every single player, but you can also do it for the team as a whole. The students still understand the concept you are trying to teach them and can actually apply it to something they can use in their lives.  This is a clever way for teachers to get students who are not very motivated in math to participate. By using things they are interested in, such as sporting teams, it allows them to enjoy practicing math. 

Blog 5

Blog #5! Math Manipulations 

Observation: Last week in math class, we learned the importance of shapes when dealing with fractions.  One of the most important things I learned was that when trying to illustrate an idea in mathematics, it is important that you use concrete material to better demonstrate the idea.  Starting on page 61 in the course package, we did the activities matching the assorted shapes into the designated figure.

Reflection: As students trying to understand this concept, this allows them to better understand fractions by visually seeing how you make up 1/2 of an object or 3/4 of an object and so on and so forth.  Research has shown that children learn better by doing activities associated with the lesson rather than simply always taking notes.  I think this concept of using blocks in various shapes to symbolize fractions is a very unique and useful way to demonstrate the mathematical idea and will allow students to remember the concept more easily.

Reflection on Reflection:  What I also found very interesting in math class today was the idea of associating colors with each object.  I was not aware of how useful this method might be to help students remember shapes quicker. For example, yellow comes to represent a hexagon.  It is very useful to see how simple little manipulations, such as the blocks for fractions, or remembering colors with shapes, and help students learn more efficiently.  I will be sure to use these strategies in my practice teaching and for the rest of my educating future.

Blog 4

Blog #4! - Understanding Concepts 

Observation: After reflecting on the math class from last week, even I was having a difficult time grasping that sooner or later the symbol of money in coins and bills will become an idea represented by a piece of paper, such as a cheque. It is unbelievable to see how often society evolves and how quickly this happens. As soon as people understand a concept, there is a new one introduced.

Reflection: It took me a while to fully understand why the change away from coins and bills will occur and how different the world will function should this happen. It is crazy to try and think that something we have become so accustomed to knowing for so long will no longer exist at some point in time.

Reflection on Reflection: Trying to explain something like this to students might be even more difficult! As soon as we fully teach them the concept of understanding that the symbol for money is represented by bills and coins, they will have to alter their idea and understand it in the form of a piece of paper. It also makes me wonder if it will even be necessary to teach students about how to use money, should this happen, as they might not ever get the chance to use it! 

Blog 3

Blog #3! : Keeping an Open Mind

Observation: This past week we have been learning about differentiated instruction and how difficult it can be to explain one concept to an entire group of people. After listening to each classroom discussion that we have as a group during math class, it made me see how many different ways of thinking there are when it comes to solving math problems.  

 Reflection: I realized I would have to create many different ideas and examples of one concept in order to cater to everyone’s needs. You cannot simply teach math one way. There are many different points of view and a concept that may seem simple to one is really difficult to the other.

 Reflection on the Reflection: After reflecting upon that, I understand now that I have to keep an open mind when teaching math and allow myself to understand the viewpoints of students. Although a concept may seem simple to me, I have to really break down each step to make sure students understand what they are learning.