This week, I wrote my forum posts about Math in Life. I looked at Fibonacci's sequence of numbers and explored the way patterns can influence math. I really liked looking at the practice way patterns in math can help students learn.
Patterns in math make it more relatable. Math is not about basic rules, and more so about patterns. As an educator, I like the idea of thinking less about math rules and more about math patterns. By seeing math patterns in everyday life, students will be encouraged to learn and understand math in a real-life sense.
However, through discussion with my peers, I became interested in the math in technology videos. I decided to watch them again, and really investigate the way technology can influence math. Throughout our education, the importance of using apps in class is one of the most influential extra support to our students and their learning.
One of the things I noticed from the video is the use of outdated apps or websites that do not seem very appealing. I would prefer to introduce my students to more up-to-date apps because I think they will like them much better. Websites such as Google Play or the iTunes store have a variety of fun math applications that parents can download for students. This way, students are getting more reinforcement from home if they need it. A little extra practice may be necessary for some students to excel at math, and using technology based math apps will make kids think they are still having fun while they are learning. Check out this article on the popular education website Edutopia, which wrote an article about math technology that can be used to increase student understanding at home.
We also did a lot of unit planning. I have really enjoyed planning a unit on measurement. It has been very informative and I feel like I have learned a lot from it. We did grade 5 measurement and focused on the estimation expectations. These expectations are interesting for students because sometimes they do struggle with estimating a realistic number. Through our lessons, we tried to use a variety of means to teach students how to accurately estimate. I would love to implement this unit plan in a classroom as I feel it is a very strong unit. In the action portion of my individual lesson plan, I have students doing Minute to Win It Games and trying to estimate how long it will take them to complete the tasks. I think this is a fun way to reinforce realistic estimations to students, especially when dealing with time to the nearest second.
Overall, I feel that I have come a long way this year in math. I am happy that I have learned so many new and exciting things. I cannot wait to put them into practice in my upcoming teaching block!
Saturday 21 October 2017
Sunday 15 October 2017
Math Magical!
This week, I went to a Professional Development workshop on Math-magical ideas. The professor was so informative and really helpful. It was an awesome experience to be able to learn from her.
One of the things she did that really opened up my mind was start her introduction by explaining that she was not what people often call a "mathematician". She loved teaching literature. Her first love was books and stories. From this, she developed a way to teach math using stories and emphasized the correlation between math and literature.
As an English major in my Undergrad, I loved this! I was so excited about the book list she gave and all the ideas she inspired in me.
One of the books the professor was introduced called "Ten Times Better" (pictured above). Books like these use numbers inside of the story. Using this with any level can really help students have relational understanding. It can also be modified or edited to fit in every grade level. Perhaps before reading the below section, students could estimate how many teeth the dragon-animal has, and then what is ten times better than this? The cool thing is it is easily accessible for students, because most students enjoy being read to. Having a picture book allows for students to have a visual representation of the math problem that is fun and interesting, even older students will buy into this, because they will feel it is fun to be read to. Using literature to tell math-based stories is an easily modifiable task that can be rich and fulfill many expectations in one lesson.
Further, this week I was reading about demonstrating understanding through drawing in math. If students can draw out a problem and how they understand it, they are more likely to be able to get to the answer in an efficient and understanding way for them personally. I love the idea of using drawing in math to show interpretation and thought processes. It is an easy way to differentiate for students.
Drawing out math problems such as fractions allows students to have a real life example as well, because they can relate to it. Oftentimes, teachers use food examples when it comes to fractions because it is super interesting, gets students engaged and excited, and is an accurate representation of a fraction.
Using websites such as Math Playground to get students into math is also a good idea. Fun websites that are interactive and use play-based activities get students excited about learning. Sometimes they do not even realize that they are actually learning math when they are playing the games.
Another website we explored was https://nrich.maths.org which was a really good website for resources for all ages. I am loving compiling multiple resources an adding them to my library for reference later on. I really think they will be super helpful when in placement in a few weeks.
This week, I feel confident I have furthered my math knowledge and I am interested and excited to keep learning more!
One of the things she did that really opened up my mind was start her introduction by explaining that she was not what people often call a "mathematician". She loved teaching literature. Her first love was books and stories. From this, she developed a way to teach math using stories and emphasized the correlation between math and literature.
As an English major in my Undergrad, I loved this! I was so excited about the book list she gave and all the ideas she inspired in me.
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| Retrieved From Google. (October 2017). |
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| Retrieved From Google. (October 2017). |
Further, this week I was reading about demonstrating understanding through drawing in math. If students can draw out a problem and how they understand it, they are more likely to be able to get to the answer in an efficient and understanding way for them personally. I love the idea of using drawing in math to show interpretation and thought processes. It is an easy way to differentiate for students.
Drawing out math problems such as fractions allows students to have a real life example as well, because they can relate to it. Oftentimes, teachers use food examples when it comes to fractions because it is super interesting, gets students engaged and excited, and is an accurate representation of a fraction.
Using websites such as Math Playground to get students into math is also a good idea. Fun websites that are interactive and use play-based activities get students excited about learning. Sometimes they do not even realize that they are actually learning math when they are playing the games.
Another website we explored was https://nrich.maths.org which was a really good website for resources for all ages. I am loving compiling multiple resources an adding them to my library for reference later on. I really think they will be super helpful when in placement in a few weeks.
This week, I feel confident I have furthered my math knowledge and I am interested and excited to keep learning more!
Monday 2 October 2017
Connections...
This week in mathematics we learned about making connections! I love using the strategy of making connections in language, so I was particularly excited about this video. I also watched TWO webinars on Differentiated Learning.
First, I watched Bernadette and James present on strategies and techniques for learning with differentiation. They provided awesome resources and I really learned a lot. Bernadette and James did a little trick on us and asked us a really complicated question that they would not repeat the instructions. It was so hard to try and answer this really long and complicated question when it was just asked out loud to us. I was so shocked and confused! But, Bernadette and James were just tricking us a little bit, because they really just wanted us to learn from that. They wanted us to think about the ways we could have changed the question in order to make it more accessible. They went through the three ways to alter a question: process, content, and product. How could the wording make the question easier to understand? How could it be presented in a different way? How could answering it be made easier? These questions got us all thinking. It was awesome to see all the suggestions we all had, because they would have really worked to make it easier for us to answer! In turn, that means it would make it more accessible for students to answer!
Secondly, I watched Kursten and Brittany. They talked a lot about ways to make an environment filled with differentiation. They gave a lot of practical examples and real life experiences. I loved watching their webinar. They talked us through different practical strategies that implement differentiation. My favourite was the Cube that they showed us, pictured below
These cubes all for CHOICE and flexible learning groups. I really think they are an excellent idea for math differentiation.
From these two videos the key thing I took away was the expectations of differentiation which means are:
Key Features of Differentiation:
1) flexible learning groups
2) choice
3) respectful tasks
4) shared responsibility
This link takes readers to a Prezi I made last year on Differentiation. From this presentation, and now these webinars, I learned a lot about what differentiation means in a math classroom. In a math classroom, there are certain expectations that must be met. However, having clear ideas on differentiation make that a bit easier. When differentiating, its important to remember that Universal Design for Learning is better for everyone. It makes learning easier for all students!
First, I watched Bernadette and James present on strategies and techniques for learning with differentiation. They provided awesome resources and I really learned a lot. Bernadette and James did a little trick on us and asked us a really complicated question that they would not repeat the instructions. It was so hard to try and answer this really long and complicated question when it was just asked out loud to us. I was so shocked and confused! But, Bernadette and James were just tricking us a little bit, because they really just wanted us to learn from that. They wanted us to think about the ways we could have changed the question in order to make it more accessible. They went through the three ways to alter a question: process, content, and product. How could the wording make the question easier to understand? How could it be presented in a different way? How could answering it be made easier? These questions got us all thinking. It was awesome to see all the suggestions we all had, because they would have really worked to make it easier for us to answer! In turn, that means it would make it more accessible for students to answer!
Secondly, I watched Kursten and Brittany. They talked a lot about ways to make an environment filled with differentiation. They gave a lot of practical examples and real life experiences. I loved watching their webinar. They talked us through different practical strategies that implement differentiation. My favourite was the Cube that they showed us, pictured below
 |
| (Accessed through:http://www.guided-math-adventures.com/wp-content/uploads/Paper-Fraction-Cubes.jpg) |
From these two videos the key thing I took away was the expectations of differentiation which means are:
Key Features of Differentiation:
1) flexible learning groups
2) choice
3) respectful tasks
4) shared responsibility
This link takes readers to a Prezi I made last year on Differentiation. From this presentation, and now these webinars, I learned a lot about what differentiation means in a math classroom. In a math classroom, there are certain expectations that must be met. However, having clear ideas on differentiation make that a bit easier. When differentiating, its important to remember that Universal Design for Learning is better for everyone. It makes learning easier for all students!
Also this week, I posted in the 18X5 forum, because not many of my classmates chose to participate in the same forum as me. The 18X5 forum was about different ways to solve math problems. It reminded me of the thinking that happens when performing a math string. I loved reading this forum because it reminded me that sharing thought processes can really improve mathematical skills.
We also have an extra math seminar this week! It is a PD day where we learn about Mathe-magical ideas! I can't wait to learn more!
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