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One of the things I noticed from the video is the use of outdated apps or websites that do not seem very appealing.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!
Hi Casey,
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology is fundamental in the modern classroom, however, not just anything will do. Integrating technology needs to be meaningful, engaging, and help to promote deeper understandings or new ways of thinking.
As part of your group, I have enjoyed working on the unit plan as well. Allot of focus has been put on adapting for various styles of learning, making cross curricular connections, while encouraging creativity. I look forward to teaching this unit in the future as well.