snakes on a plane (week 8)

This week was about geometry and spatial sense. I actually do not mind this unit. I like thinking of how things can work together spatially. While reading through the "guide to effective instruction: geometry and spatial sense grades 4-6" teaching guide, I found a lot of information that I could see being very useful when it comes time to implement a lesson. One of the concepts that stood out to me was the inclusion of teaching strategies that are effective for this particular math lesson. They included several examples of instructions on what methods to use to teach geometry and spatial sense such as, "carefully planned activities will enable students to build on these [personal] connections and identify relationships between and among the various areas of geometry and spatial sense" (25). The document contained ample information on how to teach, the basis of why students need to know this information, where the information came from, and most important of all, how to connect it back to our students in a way they will remember. I will definitely be using this guide in my practicum. 

"Geometry Pun" (2016). Retrieved from tumblr.com

Geometry and spatial sense are so essential because they are skills that can translate to everyday. We use shapes in our everyday life, and need a sense of where things fit in the world. There are many real life examples and connections to be made on a unit like this. 
One of the things discussed was the misconceptions regarding comparing different units. For example, students need to be made aware to be careful of comparing shapes with different units. In my presentation, I introduced students to measuring perimeter with 2 inch grid paper, and 1 inch grid paper, an example like this would help students to see the difference measuring with different square centimetres can make. (featured in next weeks blog)

I will work to make sure my students have a conceptual understanding of geometry and spatial sense by providing them with a variety of demonstrated examples, and scaffolding the work to make it easier for them to understand. With a unit like this, which has foundations all the way in ELKP, if a student has missed a concept or doesn't quite understand something, they will struggle to build up any understanding. I will also focus on the big ideas. As was detailed in the effective instruction document, "These big ideas are conceptually related and interdependent, and instructional experiences will often re ect more than one big idea. For example, when students create or analyse designs made by transforming a shape or shapes (location and movement), they demonstrate an understanding of congruence (geometric relationships), and of how congruence is connected to the properties of a shape (properties of two-dimensional shapes and three- dimensional cues)."  (16). This quote stood out to me because it demonstrates the way every step of a lesson can affect a students conceptual understanding of the whole. 

I enjoyed the presentations this week because I loved playing with the shapes and seeing how that worked. I particularly enjoyed Ashley's presentation because I felt it was a good lesson for junior learners. I liked the use of manipulatives. Our table actually thought making the shapes and putting them into the bigger diamond was going to be very easy, but it was actually harder as she gave us parameters to follow. 

I also enjoyed learning from James. I liked his trick with flipping the paper to be able to see how shapes are translated and flipped and can move. I tried out the method of doing the exact opposite coordinates, and am happy to have learned that because I feel like I can really use that in my practicum. I do sometimes get lost when it comes to translating shapes and moving them across the grid. While working with students, I often try and get them to cut out a paper or have a physical resource so we can actually work with it, like Jacob did. Overall, I really enjoyed the presentations this week. I have been learning a lot from them. 

This week I am working on my own math presentation on measurement so stay tuned for updates on that!