Blog 16

 Blog #16!

Observation: Benefits from using the textbook less and less to teach math.

Reflection: While I was at my placement, during math class, I noticed that the teacher was not really using the textbook to teach the lessons. This was odd to me because when I was in grade school, we relied heavily on the textbook and had very few handouts. All of the lessons that were taught were from there, and any homework or assignments also came from the textbook. Although I learned how to understand the concept the teacher was explaining, I remember thinking that there was no real application to the “real world” and that the majority of the questions had to be solved one way.

Reflection on Reflection: At my placement school, my associate teacher rarely used the textbook. Although some questions were taken from it, the students did not rely on it as their main source of learning. They completed many worksheets and the teacher even came up with activities that covered the curriculum, however were not dry lessons and activities straight from the textbook. This is similar to what we were taught in math class at the Faculty of Education. 

The students seemed to obtain a better grasp on the material, and were using it in practical situations. For example, in the data management unit, they were to create a question of their choice and obtain tallies about a topic that would assist them in a future job. (Ex. What is your favourite football team? This would be helpful if you were working in a retail store and needed to know how much product of each team you should order). They then had to graph that information in a bar graph and pie chart and come to some conclusion about the information they had gathered. Not only did this project cover the curriculum expectations for data management, but it also incorporated using angles, when creating the pie chart.

This was something the students really enjoyed doing, because each of them had their own individual question they were working on. It was something that was useful and still taught the lessons.

It made me realize how secondary the textbooks can be when you find alternative ways to teach curriculum. This is something I will most definitely try to incorporate into my lessons whenever I get the chance! 

Blog 15

Blog #15!

Observation: Patterning    

Reflection: On the last day of class before Christmas Break, Professor Antosz went over patterning with us in class and showed us the idea how we could teach a lesson on patterning incorporating the 12 days of Christmas.  Patterning, which is in fact a way of sorting different attributes. 

Reflection on Reflection:  The activity we did in class was something that was very clever and kept with the season that is present. The students will most likely be excited for Christmas, and this is a way to incorporate something relevant in their lives and create a math lesson around it.  I believe it would be a great activity for students to do with patterning if it fell within the Christmas holiday season. It is for sure an out of the "box activity" in which I feel would spark student interest. This lesson was not too difficult, and something that all students could participate in. This would be an excellent "hook" for a patterning lesson. As the course continues, I'm realizing more and more ways to make math fun and applicable to "real life" 

Blog 14

Blog #14!

Observation: Anchor charts are helpful! 

Reflection: While I was in my placement, walking around the school, I noticed many classrooms with various anchor charts hanging all over their walls. While most of them are very visually appealing, I started to wonder if there was even a point to having them hung up everywhere. Did the students even notice they were there? Or was it just for show?

Reflection on Reflection: I started to notice that when the students were completing their math assignments and homework in class, they continuously turned to these anchor charts as a reminder or a refresher. I think that classrooms do not have enough of them! They serve as a helpful tool that students can use to become independent and not rely on the teacher for answers to a simple question. I noticed that it makes the students feel as though they are able to solve the problem on their own, and they really do spend time reading the anchor charts. It just reinforces that visual aids are great learning tools for kids! 

Blog 13

Blog #13!  

Observation: Deal or No Deal game show activity 

Reflection: We learned in math class a fun and interactive way to teach about probability in real life circumstances that I thought would be a fantastic way to introduce average/median to students!  Using file folders you can create brief cases with each dollar nomination that also appear on the board in each brief case. 

The idea to use this in a classroom would be similar to the game show. You would nominate a student and just like we did in class, the student chooses one brief case, which will be theirs throughout the whole game. Then go around the class and ask students to pick a brief case to be eliminated and so on and so fourth.  The teacher would act as the "banker". After each time the banker puts out an offer, the teacher can stop and have the class find out the median amount of the money is left on the board, and decided whether or not it’s a good idea to take the offer.

Reflection on Reflection: I feel as though this game is an excellent and intriguing way to introduce averages in math to junior/intermediate students.  At this point in the junior and intermediate grade levels, the students are beginning to understand the value of money and its importance for a good lifestyle. Therefore, I strongly believe this activity would spark every student's interest and make for a hands-on activity to introduce the topic of averages in math. Great idea and I will definitely try it out!